Vasanthi Venkatesh

UWindsor law prof; Social Movements, Immigration, Labour, Law & Resistance || Irreverent cynic, wanderer, many interests

[Kavita Algu @KavitaAlguMD]

Ko Tinmaung, Rohingya Toronto based humanitarian, arrived at Toronto Airport last night after being kidnapped and tortured by the IOF for trying to bring aid to Gaza.

He was detained by @PeelPolice and not allowed to see his friends or parents who were waiting for him.

Ko was forced into a police vehicle and driven to a masjid in the middle of the night.

For comparison, just last week, Ontario welcomed weapons companies like Elbit and IAI – directly involved in genocide – with open arms.

[WasimSaid @wasimsaidharbid]

Yesterday, a graduate student was arrested. Israeli army forces arrested him after coordination had been made with the Red Cross to evacuate him so he could complete his education in Italy. It is worth noting that this student is the sole survivor.
His wife, his children, his father, his siblings, and their families were all killed by Israeli missiles...

[Leilani Farha 🍉 @leilanifarha]

You should have someone read this back to you. Perhaps perhaps THEN you could hear the lack of accountability, the hall pass you give a genocidal state, and the inappropriate conflation of issues. It's so enraging. You are the Min of Global Affairs. You have a duty to prevent genocide. You have a duty to ensure international law is upheld. "Don't do it again"
is the best you can do? You have an arsenal of means to show you're serious - that you won't countenance genocide. But ofc you're not serious. When will you just do your job?

[Alex Cosh @AlexCosh_]

The owner of this team is Canadian billionaire Mitchell Goldhar. https://t.co/s2s9ObdMzV

[Cuban Embassy in US @EmbaCubaUS]

🇨🇺 Cuba has done it again.

Meet VAXIRA® — a therapeutic cancer vaccine developed by Cuban and Argentine scientists that helps the immune system recognise and destroy lung cancer cells. Approved in both Cuba and Argentina for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

🔬 It works by mimicking a molecule found on cancer cells but almost entirely absent in healthy human tissue — meaning it targets tumours with remarkable precision and very few side effects.

📊 Clinical trials showed a significant improvement in survival for advanced lung cancer patients, with 1-year survival nearly doubling compared to the control group. Real-world data shows median survival of up to 24.5 months in maintenance therapy.

💉 Minimal side effects. Suitable for long-term use. Affordable and accessible — unlike many Western immunotherapies that price patients out of treatment.

And in 2025, VAXIRA® received Cuba's National Technological Innovation Award. All of this achieved by a country under decades of US economic blockade.

The United States spends billions on cancer research. Cuba, under sanctions, develops vaccines the world hasn't seen before. 🇨🇺🔬

#VAXIRA #CubanScience #LungCancer #CancerResearch #Biotechnology

[Mondoweiss @Mondoweiss]

There are over three decades of evidence that Israeli doctors harvest Palestinian organs in direct violation of international law. These stolen body parts were not just used for transplantation and research but for sale and profit. https://t.co/a4sCyngDOq

[World BEYOND War Canada @WBWCanada]

Absolutely despicable to see these new numbers laying out the continued flow of weapons from Canada to Israel's escalating violence. Come find out what to do about it and the next stage of the Arms Embargo Now campaign. This is a big one - RSVP now:
https://t.co/eGtiCrOL1r

[CTV News @CTVNews]

Human rights panel accuses Canada of genocide against Indigenous population https://t.co/W4B95jZysh

[Christo Aivalis 🌹🍊 @christoaivalis]

100% correct. Carney is using the Trump crisis to push Canada is a sharp right-wing direction

[Scott Robertson @sarobertson_]

Avi Lewis: "Leadership that brings back internationalism, that fights imperialism, that says Canada must come to the defence of Cuba and use our place on the world stage to fight for a free Palestine. Leadership that never apologizes for defending the most vulnerable and excoriating the most powerful. That's the kind of leadership that I hope to deliver."

[Nisrin Elamin @minlayla77]

Shame on my employer @UofT for sponsoring CANSEC's weapons fair. Stop investing in death and genocide when your mandate is to invest in life and education! Image courtesy of @KavitaAlguMD

[Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) @MsJamshidi]

I wrote a piece about the evidentiary problems w/claims that 30,000-40,000 protestors were killed in Iran in 2 days in Jan. There is no doubt the bloodshed was significant. But the evidence supporting these specific numbers is unreliable /n https://t.co/0yQIyXZdn2

[Muhammad Shehada @muhammadshehad2]

🚨Israel added to UN blacklist of perpetrators of sexual violence, a huge blow to r@pe deniers

It takes a substantial amount of evidence of systematic & widespread sexual violence for the UN Secretary General to add a gov or entity to this blacklist

Guterres has been avoiding calls to add Israel to this UN blacklist list for years, despite an abundance of cases. So the fact he accepted to add it now speaks volumes about the amount of sexual violence cases the UN has documented!

[Alex Cosh @AlexCosh_]

NEW: CANSEC, Canada's largest arms fair, has barred multiple critical journalists from attending this year's event in Ottawa.
https://t.co/ltLLHLGx4k

[Harsha Walia (she/her) @HarshaWalia]

Canada is using borders to police Palestine solidarity, with pro-Pal advocates increasingly facing interrogations, visa revocations, denials of entry.

Weaponisation of immigration law, surveillance powers & institutional pressure is becoming normalised.

https://t.co/5ptxgz6yay

[Harsha Walia (she/her) @HarshaWalia]

Devastating memoir of Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Srour on surviving torture inside Israel’s prisons from 1993 until 2025.

"I have decided to write because things do not find existence outside the borders of language, not even genocide."

https://t.co/RunTQgzZRt

[Just Peace Advocates @AdvocatesJust]

Today, ICJP and Just Peace Advocates submitted a complaint to the Canada Border Services Agency requesting that representatives of Elbit Systems Ltd and Israel Aerospace Industries be denied entry to Canada.

Tell CBSA to take action now! https://t.co/hUqoe2ToT6

[Kavita Algu @KavitaAlguMD]

You “summoned” the Israeli ambassador over the torture of flotilla participants, but you’re still allowing him to attend CANSEC to help Israel access markets and partnerships for Israeli genocide weapons.

Truly horrible.

Sever diplomatic ties. Sanctions now.

[Kavita Algu @KavitaAlguMD]

🚨BAN ISRAELI WEAPONS COMPANIES INVOLVED IN GENOCIDE FROM CANADA🚨

We only have a few days left.

Send a letter to @MarkJCarney @SeanFraserMP @gary_srp @CanBorder here
👇🏾

https://t.co/DYfuk7ZFjm

[Kavita Algu @KavitaAlguMD]

Amongst flotilla civilians there are reports of at least 36 broken bones, 12 cases of r*pe including r*pe with a handgun, people tased in face, and @AnitaAnandMP @MarkJCarney have taken absolutely no real action against Israel.

Absolutely horrific.