activism

Remembering 2025 “Queer Cinema for Palestine: No Pride in Genocide”, as 2026 program to screen in London this June 

“Queer Cinema for Palestine is about exposing and fighting Israel’s pinkwashing agenda, which uses all queer and trans identities to create a pink smokescreen attempting to hide Israel’s violent oppression of Palestinians. When an Israeli soldier committing genocide in Gaza poses for a photoshoot among the devastation while holding a pride flag with the words ‘in the name of love’, this is a textbook example of pinkwashing,” says activist Ghadir Shafie in her recorded introduction to Queer Cinema for Palestine’s 2025 program.  “Queer Cinema for Palestine is about creating an ethical space for the hundreds of filmmakers who have withdrawn…

Read MoreRemembering 2025 “Queer Cinema for Palestine: No Pride in Genocide”, as 2026 program to screen in London this June 

PERSPECTIVES: It’s About Time We Take Our City Back From Corporate Interests 

On March 28, I had the pleasure of participating in the province-wide Fight Ford protests right here in London, Ontario at Victoria Park. I was incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to speak to an issue that Londoners across this city know all too well— our city being an increasingly unaffordable rental market with working-class Londoners priced out of housing by corporate developers and predatory landlords.   Now, with the news that our city has officially earned the unfortunate distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.1%, this housing emergency has become all the more dire.   As…

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“Two Nations. One Voice”: Palestine and Lebanon rally grips Victoria Park

“I was born in Haifa. I am older than Israel,” said Lilian Mattar-Patey, a Windsor-based United Church minister. She addressed crowds gathered beneath a grey sky at Victoria Park in London on April 19 for a Palestine and Lebanon rally; a social media post about the protest read Two Nations. One Voice. Together, we rise. “In 1948, the first day of the Nakba or ‘catastrophe’, my brother was carrying me. I was less than two years old then, and he said that the Israeli soldiers were shooting at us, and one bullet came beside my ear and he said if…

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“Prime Minister Carney: No War. Period.” — A letter from 70+ Canadian artists and cultural producers

The following is an open letter from 70+ Canadian arts and cultural producers addressed to the Canadian government about the US-Israel attacks on Iran that began on February 28, 2026. It was provided to the Antler River Media Co-op by Iranian artist Gita Hashemi.  We, the undersigned arts and cultural producers, strongly and unequivocally condemn the US-Israel attacks on Iran. We condemn the targeting of Iran’s schools, hospitals, factories and other civilian infrastructures. We demand an unconditional end to the war that has been devastating the entire region. We firmly support the people of Iran in their courageous movements for…

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Frontline workers supporting the city’s unhoused population sound the alarm about cuts to service

Frontline workers in London’s supportive services sector are sounding alarms about proposed changes by City Council to the city’s warming centres and funding for outreach services provided by London Cares. In advance of federal funding expiration — which had provided $4.2 million in support for the city’s homelessness response — city staff recommended London’s Community and Protective Services Committee extend a multi-year contract with London Cares and further evolve the homelessness response system.  However on January 23, Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson, Ward 2 Coun. Shawn Lewis, Ward 5 Coun. Jerry Pribil, and Ward 8 Coun. Steve Lehman, proposed amendments…

Read MoreFrontline workers supporting the city’s unhoused population sound the alarm about cuts to service

The Rise of Anti-Immigrant Racism Led to Violent Attacks and Silence in London Community

On January 18, a group of South Asian youth from the Malayali community were targeted and attacked in Victoria Park. This racist violence seriously injured four of them, including one suffering a critical eye injury. They are workers in the London community, having recently graduated as international students from local post-secondary education.   The London Police didn’t release a media statement for public safety.  Only days after the attacks, upon seeing statements by London Malayali cultural groups raising community safety concerns, did anyone from the wider community respond.  Both the racist attacks and the following silence are symptoms of anti-immigrant racism.  …

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“Grounding: States of Gender”: Persian calligraphy documents memoir of womanhood in Iran 

“What are the ways in which gender — our gender as women — has actually conditioned our life?” asked Iranian artist Gita Hashemi, introducing her performance Grounding: States of Gender at Western University’s John Labatt Visual Arts Centre on January 8. Curated by Soheila Esfahani, the exhibit will be displayed at the artLAB Gallery until January 29.  Grounding features Persian calligraphy in red and black ink that tells the story of a woman in Tehran named Zahra. The swaying script is written on twenty-two scrolls that cover the gallery walls, circling audiences from all sides. Live-streamed footage of Hashemi writing…

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Londoners gather at London Courthouse in support of local activist

Yesterday morning, a crowd of Londoners gathered to support longtime activist David Heap at his court hearing. Heap faces charges related to protesting the ‘Best Defence’ weapons manufacturing conference held in London in October 2025. Heap, an associate professor at Western University, was charged with one count of obstructing a peace officer after the London Police Service (LPS) Street Crime Unit executed search warrants at his home on November 25. In their press release, the LPS announced that a variety of items had been seized, including computers, cell phones, radios and protest placards during their pre-dawn searches at activists’ homes…

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Housing crisis brings community organizations together

On November 29, within the backdrop of the increasing housing crisis that affects both Canada and the city of London, a collection of leftists organizations in the city, volunteers and community members, all came together to find concrete solutions to a problem that has been affecting the city of London for several years. With the passing of the controversial Bill 60 by the Ontario Provincial Government led by Premier Doug Ford; that housing crisis has expanded in scope and complexity in the last few years.  The Democratic Socialists of Canada, Forest City Solidarity, Spring Socialist Network, the East of Adelaide…

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