Notorious Vancouver-based anti-Israel agitator Charlotte Kates was given a "human rights" award in Iran earlier this month during a trip to Tehran in which she appeared on numerous state broadcasters parroting regime talking points.Kates, the international coordinator for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, is currently facing potential charges in connection with a speech she delivered in Vancouver in April praising Hamas and the "heroic and brave" actions carried out by the terrorists on October 7.According to Samidoun, Kates was just one of many international activists recognised at the eighth annual Islamic Human Rights and Human Dignity Awards, which also dedicated time to honouring Ismail Haniyeh, the recently-assassinated chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau.Kates' flight to Tehran from Istanbul was delayed, so she delivered her acceptance speech from the airport. In it, she thanked the Iranian regime for recognizing her role in the global anti-Israel movement, and expressed her hope that Hamas and other pro-Palestinian terrorist groups would "take the necessary measures to punish" Israel."This award is truly for the martyrs and the prisoners of Palestine," she said, "for the prisoners of the high sentences, those the Zionist regime refuses to release, the leaders, the resistance strugglers who continue to fight for the liberation of Palestine every day behind bars."Kates was also invited to speak at the Iranian Parliament Research Centre, where she suggested that October 7 "changed the world irreversibly" and "made clear before the world that it is quite possible to envision a Palestine free of Zionism and a region free of imperialism.""There is a great global Intifada today," she continued, pointing out that "millions upon millions of people march, demonstrate and take direct action in the heart of the imperial core."After returning from her trip, which was organised by the Institute for the Protection of Women’s Rights, Kates was approached by Global News."I'm not interested in speaking with you because you're engaging in Zionist propaganda," she told Kristen Robinson when the news crew arrived at the front door of her home in Vancouver. She did note that she was "very honoured to have had the opportunity to go to Iran," and rejected claims she was being paid by the regime, or was not a Canadian citizen.Kates was arrested in April, but has not yet been charged over her comments.
Notorious Vancouver-based anti-Israel agitator Charlotte Kates was given a "human rights" award in Iran earlier this month during a trip to Tehran in which she appeared on numerous state broadcasters parroting regime talking points.Kates, the international coordinator for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, is currently facing potential charges in connection with a speech she delivered in Vancouver in April praising Hamas and the "heroic and brave" actions carried out by the terrorists on October 7.According to Samidoun, Kates was just one of many international activists recognised at the eighth annual Islamic Human Rights and Human Dignity Awards, which also dedicated time to honouring Ismail Haniyeh, the recently-assassinated chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau.Kates' flight to Tehran from Istanbul was delayed, so she delivered her acceptance speech from the airport. In it, she thanked the Iranian regime for recognizing her role in the global anti-Israel movement, and expressed her hope that Hamas and other pro-Palestinian terrorist groups would "take the necessary measures to punish" Israel."This award is truly for the martyrs and the prisoners of Palestine," she said, "for the prisoners of the high sentences, those the Zionist regime refuses to release, the leaders, the resistance strugglers who continue to fight for the liberation of Palestine every day behind bars."Kates was also invited to speak at the Iranian Parliament Research Centre, where she suggested that October 7 "changed the world irreversibly" and "made clear before the world that it is quite possible to envision a Palestine free of Zionism and a region free of imperialism.""There is a great global Intifada today," she continued, pointing out that "millions upon millions of people march, demonstrate and take direct action in the heart of the imperial core."After returning from her trip, which was organised by the Institute for the Protection of Women’s Rights, Kates was approached by Global News."I'm not interested in speaking with you because you're engaging in Zionist propaganda," she told Kristen Robinson when the news crew arrived at the front door of her home in Vancouver. She did note that she was "very honoured to have had the opportunity to go to Iran," and rejected claims she was being paid by the regime, or was not a Canadian citizen.Kates was arrested in April, but has not yet been charged over her comments.
