"It is ill-intentioned of Monastiriakos to blame students for breaking the law when they are asking their institutions and countries to respect the law. Maybe Monastiriakos should instead start by blaming our State."
RE: uOttawa encampment - thinking your cause is just doesn’t make your actions legal
May 29, 2024
Monastiriakos does not seem to understand that laws are, first and foremost, put in place to control how people behave and conduct themselves according to an idea of society set by those who have power. However, laws are meant to change as societies evolve. Laws were originally set by a certain stratum of society, primarily white men, who don’t represent our societies anymore, and a lot of social changes happened because people broke the law. Think about all the marginalized communities that have fought for their rights to be recognized through civil disobedience. While Monastiriakos is stuck with the legality of the students’ encampments, it is ironic of him to not mention the illegality of Canada not respecting its international obligation of preventing genocide. It is ill-intentioned of Monastiriakos to blame students for breaking the law when they are asking their institutions and countries to respect the law. Maybe Monastiriakos should instead start by blaming our State.