There's just better places where the food isn't dry, such as Go Tango, and LL always seems to only have one person working for a twenty person lineup.

The show will go on: Hamilton theatre reverses decision to cancel film critical of Israel

by Samantha Beattie, CBC News

The Westdale cinema's board apologizes for cancelling the screening of Israelism

A Hamilton community theatre has apologized and reversed its decisions to cancel the screening of a film critical of Israel.

| [!A movie theatre](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/israelism-westdale-theatre-1.7046127) | |:--:| | The Westdale is an independent cinema in Hamilton. (Samantha Beattie/CBC)caption |

The documentary Israelism will play at The Westdale on Dec. 6, as originally planned, said a statement from the Westdale Cinema Group's board of directors Friday.

"After careful review, we determined that there was no credible evidence that the screening would cause harm to anyone in our community," the statement said. "We also acknowledge that the screening of this film was important to many in our community."

The board said it had missed some "important voices and context" when deciding to cancel the event, which had been scheduled months in advance, included an in-person discussion with the film's director and had already sold 200 tickets.

• Hamilton theatre cancels film critical of Israel, board says it's the wrong time to 'court controversy'

The board's chair, Fred Fuchs, told CBC Hamilton Wednesday they'd cancelled the event after hearing from some members of the local Jewish community. The Hamilton Jewish Foundation, for example, said the event would "spread more hate" and "inflame" an already difficult situation.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas war has exposed tensions between communities across Canada, sparking demonstrations and a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic threats. The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages, dozens of which have been released in recent days.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation and the bombardment has killed more than 15,000 Gazans, according to health authorities in the Palestinian enclave.

Film director pushed back at cancellation

The Hamilton group that organized the event, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), and Israelism's director Erin Axelman had pushed back against the cancellation, saying the theatre was failing in its mission to encourage using art to explore differences and include diverse voices.

Israelism was released in February, co-directed by Axelman and Sam Eilertsen. It follows two American Jews raised to "unconditionally love" Israel but who are confronted with "the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians," according to the film's description.

"Israelism uniquely explores how Jewish attitudes toward Israel are changing dramatically, with massive consequences for the region and Judaism itself," it says.

The board, on Friday, said it had "belatedly" reached the same conclusion and "screening a film that deals with a controversial topic is core to that mandate."

| [!Man takes selfie on city street](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/israelism-westdale-theatre-1.7046127) | |:--:| | Hamilton Rabbi David Mivasair, member of Independent Jewish Voices, helped organize the event. (David Mivasair) |

David Mivasair, a Hamilton Rabbi and member of IJV, said in an email he deeply appreciates that board's willingness to reconsider its decision. He's a controversial voice in the Jewish community and has been outspoken against Israel.

"In our Jewish religious tradition, we learn that teshuvah — the willingness to be open to reflecting on our own actions in this world and changing them if necessary — is one of the keys to hope for making this world a better place," Mivasair said.

"Not being locked into mistakes that we've made, but rather being able to change is fundamental to human progress. I sincerely think the board of The Westdale has exemplified this virtue."

Archive link: http://archive.today/1x2Ww

> On November 4 2023, a small group of anti-colonial feminist organizers in Hamilton, Ontario dropped a banner over Highway 403 in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians who are experiencing the current genocidal peak of Israel’s violent settler-colonial state project. > > Reading ‘FREE GAZA’, the banner was dropped in response to a call for a Day of Action across Turtle Island to put pressure on the Canadian settler-colonial state to end its support for the Israeli Zionist regime’s unfolding genocide in Gaza. The following day, November 5th, Hamilton’s downtown streets were filled with people mobilized in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian struggle against Israeli Occupation. > > Keep up the momentum! Keep up the pressure! CEASEFIRE NOW! END THE OCCUPATION!

Join us in #hamont on October 15! Running Down the Walls is an annual fundraiser – we’ll be splitting proceeds between the ABCF Warchest for Political Prisoners and Barton Prisoner Solidarity (BAPSOP). Run, walk, bike, roll or just hang out. We’ll be collecting donations at the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair too.

Excerpt:

> Making a ton of noise (“Bottoms! Tops! We all hate cops!”), we took Barton Street for a block and then turned back north to reach the abandoned city housing complex at James and Strachan and the tent city that has sprung up around its perimeter, where a person who lives in an encampment briefly addressed the crowd. > > We then went down the hill to Bay Front Park, where the mainstream Pride event would happen. That event — with its fenced perimeter, its security guards, its bag searches, and its cops — really seems like a caricature of what happens if you don’t believe that queers have the ability to keep each other safe. Yes, past Pride celebrations in Hamilton have been shitshows, but they have been shitshows where queers fought and won.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/5060059

> I'm going to be honest, Bonnie Crombie throwing her hat into the ring convinced me to sign up to vote against her. Ontario does not need a Blue Liberal NIMBY today.

> Using therapy dogs to put smiles on faces across senior residences, hospitals, schools and more, the Niagara Charity is now expanding to Hamilton.

> Stewart Hill, the CEO of Therapy Tails Ontario, joined us this morning to talk more about the charity and their need for more teams within the area.

Here's a show from earlier this year to check out: https://youtu.be/R0w6dY7m6uQ

"An Ottawa courtroom heard today that Crosby knew there was a risk of an explosion when he stole two water heaters from two homes under construction and left a natural gas line open."

> Due to the deteriorating conditions of its building on 85 Oak Knoll Dr. in Westdale, the aviary has been asked by the city to leave by Christmas, aviary board director Tom Priestly told CBC Hamilton.

> The volunteer-run centre, which is managed by the city, is hoping to find a new home in an existing building in Hamilton or on land where they could build one.

So Westdale is still dotted with "construction" and "road closed: local traffic only" signs even though they finished building weeks ago.

I don't want to hear road workers complaining "why don't people take these 'road closed' signs seriously?" ever again.

This is why people keep on driving normally when they see those warning signs. Because we can see the number of times that there's nothing going on behind the signs. Alert fatigue is real, don't contribute to it.