Marilyn Porter, a Memorial University professor emeritus, came home one day to find a mural painted on her property. Porter’s property features a concrete retaining wall that has been subject to graffiti numerous times in the past, not once evoking concerns for removal. Currently, the wall is painted black with the website URL of the activist organization Arms Embargo Now. The link opens with a title card featuring “arms embargo now” in bold lettering with an illustrated missile being snapped in two. Below, there is a statement from the organization. “We’re coming together to demand the Canadian government impose a full, immediate arms embargo on Israel,” it reads.
The City of St. John’s informed Porter that two complaints were filed against the mural, claiming that it violated signage bylaws. Porter’s property is a designated heritage site, which means it has attained historical value and is under legislation that acts to preserve it. It requires permission from St. John’s Built Heritage Experts Panel to put up signage, which the mural has been considered as. The city’s Corporate Communications Manager, Jackie O’Brien, stated that “no political motivation for the removal was referenced” in the filed complaints.
An arms embargo is a sanction that seeks to cease military relations with a designated country. In an arms embargo, the import and export of arms is strictly prohibited, preventing the trade of weapons and military equipment between the two countries. Arms Embargo Now states that presently, Canada risks direct or intermediary complicity in “Israel’s grave human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank” by continuing to allow the import and export of arms. Arms Embargo Now implores members of Parliament to sign onto the cause and encourages readers of their website to call upon their designated MP for action.
Similarly, the “F-35 Day of Action” portion of their website chronicles the organized protests of November 16, 2024 against companies profiting from the production of F-35 fighter jets. Arms Embargo Now states it is “the most advanced warplane currently being used by the Israeli Air Force to bomb Gaza and Lebanon.” The Maritimes’ Apex Industries in Moncton, BAE Systems Canada in Halifax, and Stelia North America in Lunenburg faced protests, all of whom produce key components of the fighter jets.
Arms Embargo Now acts to hold Canada accountable for their negligence. Enforced by law, if it is proven that there is a substantial risk that international humanitarian or human rights violations will be facilitated with the exported military equipment; the transaction is prohibited, and both the United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice have found substantial risk in the matter.
Porter has applied for a permit to allow the mural to remain, and the panel is scheduled to convene on November 27. Meanwhile, St. John’s has allowed the mural to remain until a decision has been reached.
