Still no decision on hate charges for B.C. woman 1 year after praising Hamas attack – BC [Video]

Canadian Jewish groups are questioning why B.C. prosecutors have taken more than a year to decide whether a woman who made explosive comments at a Vancouver rally last year should face hate crime charges.

Vancouver police arrested Charlotte Kates and recommended she be charged with wilful promotion of hatred and public incitement of hatred for an April 29, 2024 speech at the Vancouver Art Gallery in which she praised the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as “heroic and brave.”

Kates further led the crowd in a chant of “Long live Oct. 7,” and called for the delisting of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and several other groups as terrorist organizations, describing them as “resistance fighters” and “heroes.”

Kates’ own group, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, was later itself declared to be a terrorist entity by the Canadian government.

But despite the Vancouver police recommendation, the B.C. Prosecution Service has yet …