We cannot afford to treat the role art has in “politics” as some abstract or existential dilemma. In Toronto, the delegitimization of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian speech has taken on many forms, including high-profile firings, acts of censorship, cancellations and arrests. Indigo and the Giller’s assaults on language have had material, and potentially irreversible, consequences.

Anyone who has studied the history of propaganda must have rolled their eyes as I did upon hearing reports of babies being beheaded by Hamas militants after their incursion into Israel a year ago. History has repeatedly shown that such reports are inevitably fabricated or at least wildly exaggerated in order to influence public opinion in favour of war.

The mass killing operations of Israel are there for all to see but the military objectives of the Zionist onslaught have not been met. Even in the confined quarters of the Gaza enclave, a year of unrestrained criminality hasn’t subdued the armed resistance. Even if all out regional conflict takes place with direct US involvement, imperialism will reap what it sows.

There is no greater example of human agency at this moment than the resilience of Palestinians against Israel’s attempt to erase life, culture and history in Gaza. If there is any lesson to draw, it is from this resilience, which has reshaped our perceptions of the liberal international order and inspired young people around the world to resist the damage we have created and condoned.

Facebook has been both a source of disinformation and an antidote to it by carrying links to factual investigative articles. Since Meta blocked links to news on Facebook and Instagram last year to avoid paying tens of millions a year to publishers under the Online News Act, there is now little opportunity to counter disinformation on its popular platforms.

When I am freed, I will not be able to thank him, hear his voice again, or learn from his opinion on the latest pressing issue. As time passes, we all become more isolated, losing beloved conversationalists, teachers, and respected colleagues. And we must rely on ourselves. But we still have students, followers, and comrades. Fred had many of them.

Voter turnout is an important indicator of a political system’s legitimacy and well-being. For the better part of a century, Saskatchewan had one of the highest levels of voter turnout among the provinces. This pointed to a considerable support for, and engagement in, the political system on the part of Saskatchewan citizens. Those days are now behind us.

To solve the housing crisis we need to turn away from neoliberal doctrines and look towards solutions that actually work. Our own history, as well as the experiences of our contemporaries abroad, teach us that the only way to restore housing affordability is to create non-market housing alternatives that anchor prices and push the investor class out of the housing system.

We live in a world in which wealthy imperialist countries dominate and exploit the nations that are poor and oppressed. It is not surprising that this great international injustice involves the devaluing of human life. The conduct of political leaders in the West attests to this but it is also in evidence if you examine the track record of the corporate media.

On September 27, Israel dropped US-supplied 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on the Dahiya residential area of Beirut, flattening six apartment blocks and killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The cost of Nasrallah’s scalp was likely several hundred Lebanese civilian lives. The Palestinian journalist got it right. Their dead don’t seem to count the same way.