My name is David Shultz. I am a community-organizer, teacher, and writer in Toronto, Canada.

Because of my activism for Palestine, I have been assaulted and harassed by racists, arrested three times for peaceful protesting, and fired from my teaching job with the TDSB.

My activism for Palestine consists primarily of standing on a street corner holding a flag for an hour per day or more. I give out bracelets and necklaces and other items to friendly people who approach for conversation, or who give peace signs, or say "free Palestine," or otherwise indicate their solidarity. I also attend protests and demonstrations whenever I can.

As a result of my activism, I was labeled as the “Toronto Terror” by white-supremacists and Zionist doxxers, who first offered $1800 for information about me, then $3600. I was assaulted by racists over a dozen times. I was threatened with a knife twice, and also by two guys with a metal pipe, who said "go home". I've been called a "race traitor" when people could tell I'm white, and I've been told "we're gonna kill all of you" when they couldn't tell I was white.

The police detained me just for holding a Palestine flag. While I was detained, the cops were Googling “Palestine flag” and “Hamas flag.” The police parked squad cars nearby to watch me; one time there were three cars. The cops monitored me so routinely and excessively that it was making my neighborhood uncomfortable. (It is a neighborhood with marginalized people who have been given plenty of reason to be uncomfortable around Toronto police).

The cops arrested me for burning an Israel flag. (Not illegal). The cuffs were so tight my wrists were bleeding, and it took 9 months to recover from the suspected nerve damage, during which time I was wearing prescribed wrist supports.

The cops arrested me for stepping on an Israel flag, because a pro-IDF Zionist counter-protestor complained that I was “inciting discourse”. A cop on the scene wrote in his notes wrote that I was stepping on a “Jews flag”. The Zionist who complained was later sworn in as a special constable. As a condition of release, they banned me from 3/4 million square meters, centered on the protest location. Because stepping on a flag is not a crime, they charged me with "obstruction".

The cops arrested me for wearing a plastic toy sword as part of my expressive clothing at a Nakba day memorial. They brought 56 officers to arrest me. (That's not a typo). Because it was a plastic toy sword, instead of "weapons dangerous" they arrested me for "public mischief," which is the crime of making false statements to police to get someone else arrested. Because that didn't make sense, they later added the charge of "wearing a mask at a demonstration". Because that's not a crime, they later changed all the charges, eventually settling on three: "common nuisance," "disguise with intent," and "weapons dangerous." I spent 4 days in jail. As a condition of release, I was banned from all protests, and prohibited from living at my own home. The crown had initially asked for house arrest and $30,000 bail.

I have been told not to give any details about being fired from TDSB, since the process is still ongoing. They have about 2 years to rectify the situation through the grievance process, and I am not supposed to share information about it in the interim. I will try to figure out with my lawyers what exactly I can share.

Fighting these legal battles against systemic racism is very expensive. It is even more difficult when you have also lost your job as a result of institutional racism. First and foremost, I need to pay my legal costs.

I am continuing to fight. The police and the crown have been engaged in a campaign of systemic racism and abuse of rights for the purpose of suppressing support of Palestine (see for e.g. here , here , here ). To the best of my ability, and with the help of my lawyers, I intend to expose these people and institutions for their fascism and racism, using the legal system and the media.

But I really need your help. Please support in any way you can, whether it is $100,000 or $1 or anywhere in between. Or just spread the word. We are in late-stage capitalism and not everyone has money to spare. Sharing my story with people would help a lot. I really, really appreciate it. All of the funds will go towards legal fees.

Thanks so much.

In solidarity,

David Shultz