Translating the printemps érable
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For more useful English-language sources on the conflict, see:
CUTV - broadcasting live from the protests nightly
Rouge Squad - Tactical Translation Team
Rabble.ca's Maple Spring Coverage
Savignac June 7th 2012
Original French Text: http://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/savignac/amir-khadir-arrestation_b_1576297.html
Other than Magnotta’s macabre puzzle, and the envelopes of revolutionary flour that have been found throughout the city, Amir Khadir was really the news item of the week. Arrested and handcuffed in Québec City during a peaceful but illegal demonstration, given an absurd charge, Amir spent several hours in a bus-prison of the SPVQ (Service de police du Ville de Québec), and many more hours on the front pages of our media. What’s more, his daughter was featured in the news just a little later!
Political opponents first. Members of the government have not passed up a chance to attack him, pointing out his civil disobedience, an unacceptable tactic for a deputy in their eyes. “This is fair,” they say, “this is the healthy game of democracy – and then there goes Amir, going over the top, comparing himself to Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He must be kidding!”, they cry, “He always has to go that one extra step. And then, to top it off, he doesn’t even back down. After the fracas about the portrait of W.Bush, there he goes with a new casserole (sauce-pan). He’ll be banging it for a long time.”
Journal Métro- Readers’ letter for June 1, 2012
Original French Text: http://journalmetro.com/opinions/courrier-des-lecteurs/83001/courrier-des-lecteurs-du-1-juin/
In response to Catherine Girard’s article published on Tuesday, “A ‘pure laine’ québécois spring?” [transl.note: “pure laine” means literally pure wool, and is an expression referring to citizens who are of original French-Canadian ancestry.]
Unfortunately, it’s just like déjà vu…Once again, the non-“de souche” [transl. note: like pure laine, de souche, meaning old stock, refers to people who are French-speaking and have lived here for many generations] must justify their existence and defend themselves against the “pure laine” prejudices.
Let’s be honest, the gratuitous and unfounded comments made by sociologist Joseph Yvon Thériault, who alleges that the current quebecois protest movement is mainly de souche, only reinforces the fascist cause in Quebec. Himself belonging to the pure laine majority, he could have thought twice before speaking up about minorities, whom he clearly demonstrated to know nothing about.
Yes, I was arrested tonight in a mass arrest of around 70 people that were kettled on Parc and Milton. About 5-10 minutes earlier, I had just arrived and joined a part of the protest on Sherbrooke. We turned north on Jeanne-Mance when I realised we were being chased by riot police. We turned onto Milton and then were violently pushed/beaten by police onto Parc where we were kettled and later separated into two groups on the sidewalks. Many bystanders who were just standing outside the Second Cup were also rounded up into the kettle. We were detained for about an hour or more, one woman was forced to urinate in a bottle, before we were read our rights/arrested, handcuffed and (aggressively at times) loaded onto “special” STM busses. Our belongings were taken and all our red squares were removed.
During my arrest, I was treated to blatantly racist attacks, with an officer Larouche (I believe), among others, saying I was Kim Jong Il’s son, making weird “asian” noises at me, and telling me that they were going to send me back to Korea. When I attempted to speak back to them in a civil manner about their racism and my Quebec citizenship, force was applied to my handcuffed arms. In general, we were all treated with uncalled for disdain and disrespect.
For more, see the original text on Facebook.
