'I am not a terrorist,' Galloway tells crowd

George Galloway addressing Canadians

George Galloway addressing Canadians*
[Thanks to Luke]

British MP speaks at Bronson Centre via weblink

By Katie Daubs, The Ottawa CitizenApril 3, 2009 3:02 AM

Amid cries of bravo he couldn't actually hear, George Galloway told the crowd gathered at the Bronson Centre that he is not a terrorist.

"I have instructed my lawyers in Canada to bring an action for defamation against Bernie Farber, the CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, and CTV for comments he made that they allowed him to make," the British MP who was controversially barred from Canada for his ties to Hamas said via an Internet connection.
"I am not a terrorist. I am not a threat to Canada's national security."
The Galloway controversy began in mid-March, when he received a letter from a senior Canadian government official, informing him he wouldn't be allowed in Canada for his speaking tour because of his "material support" of Hamas.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the Conservative government didn't make the decision, but indicated he would not overturn it. An action brought to the Federal Court by Galloway's supporters failed on Monday.
The outspoken Galloway is known for his anti-war views and his support for the Palestinian movement. He was recently in the Gaza Strip with a humanitarian convoy, donating money and supplies to the Hamas-led government.
"We gave it to the elected government of Palestine," Galloway said. "Should we have driven around Gaza looking for opposition parties?"
He told the crowd that after Israel's 22-day offensive, Gaza looked like an earthquake had hit. He said Israel had committed war crimes "with the full backing of the Canadian and U.S. governments."
Galloway called Kenney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper attachés of the Israeli embassy in Ottawa.
"We will not be intimidated by Farber, Kenney, Harper and other apologists for the crimes. We will go on telling the truth about the plight of the Palestinian people," he said.
He spoke at length about his time in Gaza, consistently reiterated the reasons he is not a terrorist and briefly spoke about Afghanistan near the end of his speech, regretting he did not have more time. "Nobody has every successfully occupied it in all history, not even Alexander the Great," he said. "Stephen Harper, you ain't Alexander the Great."
Before the speech began, Larry Rousseau from No-War-Paix said the government didn't "think everything through" when they barred Galloway from entering the country.
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