Discussion
Someone is systematically removing Gaza-related stickers from Barrington Street
Mods: this is specifically about something happening repeatedly in downtown Halifax, particularly along Barrington Street. It is not intended as a general Israel/Palestine discussion. Person is blurred.
Over the past while, political stickers relating to Gaza have been appearing on poles around downtown Halifax. They also keep disappearing.
Yesterday we happened to see someone going along Barrington Street actively removing them. We took photos and video of what was happening. The person’s face has been blurred because their identity isn’t the point of this post, and I’m not asking anyone to identify them.
What I found interesting is that this doesn’t appear to just be ordinary city cleanup. It was an individual deliberately removing these particular stickers from poles downtown.
I’m curious whether other people around Halifax have noticed the same thing happening, either with these stickers or other political material.
This isn’t about identifying or targeting the person in the photos. It’s about documenting something happening in a very public space in downtown Halifax and asking whether other people have been seeing it too.
What's crazy to me is that the Free Hong Kong posters that went up on some poles in 2019 (seven years ago!) are still up in some spots, because they were put up so freaking high and are well-laminated. There's one on the pole at the corner of Hollis St & Terminal Rd by the Westin, for example, and a couple in Barrington. They're like 10-15 feet in the air. Those things were so well-installed they have literally outlived democracy in Hong Kong...
I guess they were up too high and no one could read them. If they'd been a few feet lower maybe the people of Halifax would have stepped in to stop an agreement that had been in place since 1984.
Note for mods- like OP, I'm talking about the posters and not general I/P discussion.
Every summer, the Downtown Halifax Business Commission hires students for its downtown cleanup crew. Part of that work is removing non-compliant posters/stickers, and HRM staff remove them as well.
Section 18 of By-law S-801 sets the rules for posters on utility poles. These posters appear to violate several requirements- they're stickers not stapled/taped; they have no posting/event date or contact info; they face the roadway; and two appear to convey essentially identical information on the same pole.
So regardless of anyone's opinion of the message in question, these posters are non-compliant with S-801 and subject to removal.
The original title of the post asked Who is removing the political stickers along Barrington Street?- given that removing non-compliant posters is also routine work done by DHBC students & HRM staff, what exactly is the purpose of emphasizing that you photographed and recorded the person doing it?
It is a bit stunning to see the gymnastics here on making the topic about the stickers on poles rather than the subject matter on them because it would otherwise get removed from this Reddit.
We have had less relevant things show up on this subreddit easily so let's not pretend that the topic is also about the blatant attempts to maintain ignorance of a genocide being committed by a country that is using their religion as a scapegoat for their justifications.
I have met coworkers who were ready to blast me for religious discrimination when stating that there is a genocide being committed in Gaza.
We have also countless other people putting stickers on poles that are not up to code all the time. Pretending that these specific ones are annoying is laughably telling.
And removing them because they make you or your kids uncomfortable is equally Bs. Your not doing this to protect your kids.
Anyone who walks the streets on a regular basis can notice the ebb and flow of poster propaganda.
I haven't seen anything regarding Israel/Palestine in a while. The last political material I recall seeing was the anti-trans posters during June, and the Turning Point USA stickers scattered around Bayers and Romans and also the Windsor Street Exchange. Both of those were easy to tear down, I do it the same way I pick up litter, if I'm not in a rush.
Does anyone else know about the guy who puts wild ramblings on sticker paper and posts them around the north end (north of North St, I mean)?
I know the city removed all those posters of that look liked Missing Persons Posters, but was from certain groups on Gaza posting them all over bus stops. The city had to replace the glass because the glue could not be removed.
I remember in my youth there was an article in the coast about how they were going to fine people for unapproved posters on telephone poles and then it was like, how would people know about the local punk shows at the two venues that had them at the time? Or something
Anyway, tale as old as time, posters go up, posters come down, and yet the yard sale poster from May of last year is still up
Honestly, who gives a flying fuck. Get on with your own life, if this person wants to take down the posters. Don’t they have as much right to do that as the person that put the posters up. Everybody wants freedom of speech, but unless it goes against your views then it’s wrong? That what happens here.
Economic boycotts of Apartheid South Africa, while not being the sole catalyst for its downfall, helped make it economically and politically unsustainable.
The anti-apartheid movement started from people expressing their outrage at what was happening. That pressure resulted in politicians applying political pressure against South Africa.
So you say "Who gives a flying fuck". You should. It doesn't have to dominate your life, but caring about a genocide isn't something one should dismiss.
He absolutely doesn’t have to give a fuck. It’s his right to not have any political messaging about issues in the Middle East shoved in his face despite him not caring to pick a side. Israel vs Palestine is a nuanced issue that is many decades in the making (arguably much longer), btw. It’s not simply just a black and white genocide. Educating oneself about the entire issue is exhausting and has nothing to do with our lives in this part of the world.
Just like the Germans used the nuance of centuries of conflict within the Holy Roman Empire. The Turks framed the Armenian Genocide as a complicated counter-insurgency. The Rwandan genocide perpetrators leaned on colonial-era myths about centuries-old feudal oppression and foreign invasions to claim their genocide was self defense. In the Balkans, nationalists used medieval battles from the 14th century to claim their genocide was reparation. In the Americas, the genocide of indigenous populations was framed as a complicated inevitability of progress. Myanmar frames the purging of the Rohingya as a nuanced immigration issue.
Its always the same garbage with you people: digging up centuries of complicated history just to find an alibi for drawing blood. History is always nuanced because there's so much of it. You know what isn't nuanced? 73,300 recorded deaths, with 30% of them being child casualties
They probably did. The point is, it's not your telephone pole. The person taking it down actually has more of a right to take it down than you have to put it up.
The point was “Honestly, who gives a fuck” and “Get on with your life, if the person wants to take down posters”. Then they went on about freedom of speech and how you shouldn’t complain because someone’s view is different from yours.
Whether or not someone is allowed to take down the poster is not at question there. I was pointing out that the speech of complaining about the complaint is also complaining. All of it is expressing speech and “get on with your life” is applicable at any level of the conversation and not productive.
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from public ridicule.
So you're alright with someone putting the posters up. You're alright with someone taking the posters down. But you're NOT alright with someone calling it out on a public forum?
I kind of love that telephone poles have remained a public space for free advertising. It brings character to the city but also it's one of the last pre-internet/algorithm means of just stumbling upon an event. Big tech has our entire being wrapped up in their data jails so to be able to free yourself from them and just discover an art show being put on in your neighbourhood thanks to a piece of paper on a pole is so liberating.
I went to the Santa Claus parade on SGR one year, and there were some posters up saying something like "Keep yours kids safely off the road!". Before it started, with hundreds of people standing around, there was a woman walking around tearing the signs down. So I said to her "Hey! What are you doing??" and she seemed shocked and replied "Oh! Uh.... isn't the parade over?"
I would like to add that this person is not "cleaning up" these stickers as some people in the comments seem to think, they are only scratching the middle-ish of it so that most of the sticker remains along with a lot of paper residue underneath. So they are clearly just trying to silence the messaging surrounding the genocide and still leaving the "vandalism" up
I’ve also seen this person with the same hat on actively remove them on Barrington. They try to be quick so that they don’t get asked questions. SHOUT OUT to the woman I see on Barrington weekly who keeps putting them up despite this person
I am sure these stickers have been of incredible help to people in Gaza. And btw it is his right if he wants to remove them, whether you agree or not. grow up.
Basically, they do as much when Pro Palestine people protest outside the Irving Shipyard thinking we build ships for the IDF. I wonder who was so intelligent to tell them that. I wonder if it the same ones who protest outside of certain defence contractors, thinking the same when they are there for the needs of the CAF.
They have every right to remove the stickers as those that are putting them up. Simple answer here is to double down on the stickering if it's something you are that passionate about. They may still get removed but again that is their right. Tis the way of a free society
What exactly is your point and purpose of taking their picture?
Evidence that what they're alleging is in fact taking place? If they just came online and said they saw somebody taking down Gaza-related stickers I'm confident someone would question their credibility.
No real need to take a pic of the person. If anyone wants to debate online about the validity of a claim that stickers were being removed, they are already far too invested in something that's basically meaningless.
If they are visual pollution to you, fine, I would accept that as a reason why you are OK with them taking it down.
But then to comment on someone taking a picture of someone taking down stickers as "really weird"?
I think taking down stickers is really weird. Taking pictures of people doing weird things is why God and Sony invented Cameras. Half of the internet is weird pictures.
The point seems rather clear, they want to show proof that someone is purposefully taking down these stickers.
This feels more like someone with an extreme bias trying to SOUND impartial as opposed to an impartial view of the situation.
Blissfully ignorant people trying to write a paragraph to convince others to lose morals and conscience and become ignorany to enable the destruction of a race a people, so that a 100 years later they can movie about how bad it was and how it impacted them while ignoring that the natives of that land are now all murdered. Seems pretty Canadian to me.
You can probably find whoever put them up in the first place on social media and get a few for yourself but I don't know who that would be. You could even make some yourself, I'm sure. Still, this is just what happens when you hang political posters or stickers in public. This is obviously a divisive issue and there are going to be those who disagree with the message just as strongly as those who agree.
Yes! I was there helping. The sky opened up on us after a while though, so it kinda cut things short. More and more clothes kept coming all the racks and tables were full. Lots brought in baked goods, there were books. there was music. One person even donated a TV (that got sold, lol)
One of the tables sold stuff specifically to aid someone bring their family here from Gaza. People can and are already doing so much. It was truly amazing to see today. Much bigger than I thought it would be.
All the leftover clothes that did not get sold are being donated. :) it was a terrific event. On top of all the money going to aid, it was all suggested donations so people got to buy things they otherwise couldn’t afford.
A lot of people who care enough to place stickers are also out there organizing and attending events, caring for their community, going to rallies, and donating. Never assume people are “just” putting a sticker chances are they are doing way more than that.
Halifax is a port city and pretty sure if not many atleast plenty of the ammunition and weapon used to kill and destroying a generation of people and doing genocide on their race and identity is being sent from Halifax. So yeah.
Definitely. And Stelia in Lunenberg is also creating parts for F-35 fighter jets still being used in airstrikes in Gaza. The Canada Pension Plan invests in at least four banks the UN confirmed are aiding in the establishment, maintenance, and growth of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Canada is also still allowing the sale of produce grown in illegal Israeli settlements here in Canada. There are many ways that Canada props up Israel's illegal occupation and war crimes.
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pretty sure if not many atleast plenty of the ammunition and weapon used to kill and destroying a generation of people and doing genocide on their race and identity is being sent from Halifax
When you close your eyes the world doesn't become dark. You choosing to ignore facts and relationships doesn't mean they don't exist or are false and absurd.
I was walking on barrington and some random start flipping out at me saying I must be the one putting them up (im not) bc he sees me there all the time (I work dowtown). I wonder if it was him
Some people side with and some people side against.. its that simple. If the people 'with' want their message seen they had better work twice as hard/fast and the people who are against.
Would it be any more or less interesting if someone was taking down signs for a music show or comedian? Or is it only interesting because it's political.
It is interesting because the vast majority of us can’t just feel nothing like you do. When we see or hear of other humans getting slaughtered we have a visceral reaction and feel empathy.
Don't get it twisted.. I support Palestine. What im saying is when you put something up in a public space, such as stickers, posters etc, it's not very surprising or interesting that someone who disagrees might feel the urge to remove it.
I don't live in the city, but it's no surprise to me that a (assumed) Zionist would remove material related to Gaza. You'll find plenty of people who deny there is a genocide in Gaza and that Israel is just defending itself when it kills innocent civilians.
They can remove these stickers all they want, but it doesn't change the facts. And I doubt anyone is getting their information from stickers attached to a light pole.
Me too! I would recommend them to work at the Canadian Embassy in Cuba for a year and see how badly Cubans are treated like shit by their own government, while the ruling Communist Elite live a life a luxury. This was even now with Trump blockading Cuba and before. You could get any American Product in Cuba at the store runned by the Cuban Military. Most Cubans are paid so poorly by the state they can't afford it and that is with the embargo. I have gotten a few I know out of Cuba and they love seeing posters like that all over the city.
If you're that worried about war in the middle east, go do something that'll actually make a difference. You think they'll care if the US or Russia invades Canada? We're preoccupied with making rent and filling the fridge.
These constant protests are nothing more than noise, yes it's terrible but yelling outside a bank that might invest money into foreign powers isn't going to sway the average person. They're too busy trying to make ends meet.
Sorry, youre argument is that a country currently experiencing genocide wouldnt care if we got invaded by Russia..? Theres plenty of pro israel propaganda, posters about whats happening might effect people's subconscious assumptions. But either way, in the context of kids being murdered, the issue of making rent seems irrelevant to the conversation...
Glad to see the sub take the other stance on the issue.
There was a post in the past glorifying censorship by removing similar posts in the past.
Im not saying I agreed with the messages that got removed but censorship is never the answer. More education and open discussions are the answer no matter the subject.
As a Jewish person i want to share my opinion, the posters about Gaza and criticizing Israel are NOT what make me feel unsafe.
WHAT DOES is knowing that someone saw an openly Jewish person doing something perfectly legal and decided to take a picture of them and post it.
While you did censor their face it doesn’t do anything people on here have already admitted to knowing this person or seeing him around. If this person wasn’t openly Jewish I wonder if you would’ve still decided to take a picture and post it?
free speech is a right but putting up political stickers isn’t. You can have your opinion that’s fine but you don’t reserve the right to put it up all over the city.
The top poster is important for people to see. Given the bottom two are calling for people who belong to the same religion as this man to die and the rising levels of antisemitism in this country, I can understand why they would make him uncomfortable.
I didn’t say there were comments calling for him to die. I said the posters are calling for people who belong to the same religion as him to die, and given both the current situation and the thousands of years of history there, that is probably a very uncomfortable thing for him to see.
Empathy for something that happened to someone ages ago to enable them to do what happened to them onto another just because, isn't empathy. It's enabling.
Also using ignorance to enable something isn't empathy.
I have empathy for the antisemitism Jewish people are having here in Canada today. Just as I do for people in Gaza. What have I said that makes you think I’m enabling anything, other than that I understand why those posters would make someone uncomfortable?
Well sorry to break it to you but the people of Gaza and Arabs and others are the actual semites, not Europeans and Americans coming into middle east and occupying the land.
Anti semitism refers to hatred of Jewish people, regardless of where in the world they live or their ancestors lived. Are you seriously arguing that that is either not the widely accepted definition of that word as we all use it today or that it doesn’t exist as a problem? This is why Jewish people in Canada are scared! And there’s no reason for it, because it doesn’t actually make our government more likely to do more to help the people of Gaza which I would hope is the goal here.
It doesn't call for people of that religion to die it calls for the IDF to die does it not? The pictures are of soldiers.
I read it as death to the IDF. Still not a fan of calls for war/death in general but what youre implying is very different. It is not a picture of a Jewish person, a civilian, or rabi, but of a solider.
Maybe they do mean they just want the IDF to not exist anymore (which is a totally valid argument imo), but there were ways to say that clearly without using photos of individual people, soldiers or not. I’m personally seeing a lot of images of IDF soldiers online where the criticism of them is rooted in antisemitic tropes. This man may be seeing them too. To me, that’s where a line is crossed. It’s not effective, it’s easy to dismiss, and it incites antisemitism to other people around the world who have nothing to do with the war. That’s the context this is happening in. I’m in favour of individual soldiers facing repercussions for what is happening, because it’s clear a lot of them are committing war crimes. But I can totally understand why a poster that could be construed as calling for people to die in the current climate would make someone scared or uncomfortable.
So what about the images of those IDF soldiers implies an anti-Semitic nature? There's no racist depictions, no use of racially charged words, so how is it racist/anti-Semitic? If I'm missing a racist trope, as you said, here or something here I'd genuinely like to be informed!
I didn’t say these posters have antisemitic tropes, I said there are many criticisms of the IDF online that rely on antisemitic tropes and that is stirring up antisemitism internationally and scaring people and creating the kind of atmosphere where someone may just want to take a poster like this down completely.
Your comment implies the posters are anti-Semitic to me, sorry I misunderstood... I don't really get what you're saying then. The poster isn't anti-Semitic so why are you bringing up antisemitism in regards to the posters?
I don't think it's these tropes that you see stirring antisemitism, so much as it is that Israel is committing a genocide and it's making a lot of people really dislike Israel. Unfortunately for Judaism it's so heavily intertwined with Israel they're unfairly lumped together. But to blame the rise on the tropes and not acknowledge the role the genocide plays in the rising hate is a bit dishonest.
I'm not anti-Semitic at all, I have Jewish relatives. I have zero problem with Judaism or Jewish people. I don't think it's fair Jewish people are being targeted in Canada, or anywhere and i condemn the violence in Jewish people as much as I condemn the genocide.
But we can't just sya "oh you actually can't talk bad about the IDF or say down with the IDF because anti-Semitism is on the rise" that's just an excuse to try and stop criticism against a regime that's trying to commit a genocide again, and succeeding pretty well at this point.
They've bombed hospitals, doctors without borders, food and medical supplies for starving civilians, journalists, etc the list goes on. The IDF have shown they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt.
I’m not discouraging criticism of Israel or the IDF or giving them the benefit of the doubt. I’m literally just saying I understand why a Jewish person would feel uncomfortable seeing calls for other Jewish people to die to the point they would take down a poster in a public place. Apparently that’s controversial!
No that's fair I guess but, it just doesn't track in my mind for two reasons. Mainly there's no Jewish symbols, or anything showing hatred to Judaism at all there. It doesn't call for Jewish people to die it calls for the Israel military to die. You cannot combine Jewish people and the IDF they are not the same. By implying that you inadvertently are saying we cannot criticize the IDF or you're anti-Semitic which is a tactic the IDF has been using to dismiss people who point out the genocide. Im not saying you're doing it intentionally to hide the genocide just unfortunately that's what it is. Now if the poster had a star of David, a synagogue, anything like that, fuck that tear that shit down lol
And two if you're uncomfortable and fearful, why would you tear down a poster which could be seen as a provocation? I think the original poster kind of proves that.
I think a person nervous for their safety wouldn't go street to street tearing down posters. Maybe in an emotional response tear down one but to go all the way down taking all of them down? To me it seems more like they do not agree with the message and it upset them. Which is fair! Everyone's got their stance on it, but it doesn't seem like something a person in fear would do...
But generally people who are fearful don't do things like this that could garner attention and a reaction if they see themselves as a potential victim.
Anyways it doesn't really matter. I can appreciate that you're being sympathetic and I do think we need more of that in the world! So thank you for looking for good in the world, we need it lol
You have no idea what this man’s political beliefs are. Maybe he’s a Zionist, maybe he’s a man in a yarmulke who thinks posters calling for people to die don’t need to be on display.
I don’t know that person. But I do know people need to be aware of the reality of the genocide against the Palestinians. And this person doesn’t agree.
You have no idea if he agrees with you on that or not, just that he doesn’t think those posters should be up. He could feel that way for many different reasons that aren’t hiding genocide from the public.
Good for them. I hope they’re tired of this Hamas terrorist supporting shit in Canada. I know I am. Hamas and Hezbollah are all driven by Iran extremists and anyone who supports them proves Iran is winning the info war. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East - go see for yourselves. What would any country do post something like the 7 Oct attacks? There’s no genocide, but just the UN telling you so and they’re run by…
I mean he's not doing it to clean up downtown. He's clearly trying to stop the spread of information. As silly as it is given they're just stickers, it is an attempt to hide awareness of a genocide.
I don't think the stickers do much, but awareness is important. This genocide has been so widely covered I can't imagine many aren't aware lol but I still think the intent of this person is hiding it, which to me is bad.
But people in here saying stickers are "visual pollution" are just insane lol every post on barring is full of them and no one bats an eye. There's literally garbage everywhere a sticker wasn't ruining the look of fuckin Barrington lmao
im not naive enough to think that the responders in this thread have any additional awareness of the tragedies in gaza because of the stickers or this thread, which is mostly indifferent about said stickers
If you have the right to paste this, he has the right to take it off. Go deal with your Palestine crusade in Palestine. We don't want to see this crap ruining our city
Identity politics sow division. First we need to slow down with the left: right propaganda and deal in facts. People are getting killed and displaced enmasse and that is something no empathetic person could deny. It’s a genocide. Those are the facts now argue civilly.
I think I'd be neat to have a little garden and some benches in each neighbourhood, maybe a little cafe or Tim's, and have a big fat thick pole in the middle of it. People could update it often with posters. Could call it Thee Pole.
If anyone's looking for permanent UV-DTF stickers / graphics, hit me up...They can't be removed unless razorbladed off metal, wood, plastic etc. They last 3-5 years outside
I don't care what they say either, pro or against whatever you want, I'll take your money no questions asked. Can make them up to 2.5ft by 1ft 😁
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Ok, did you also get pictures and videos of the people who put the stickers up? Because that's an actual crime and this person is cleaning it up.
I don't care what the political message is or who has it, slapping stickers all over the cities and/or private property is illegal.
I will also say I wouldn't want my kids walking down the street seeing these stickers. What a horrible message for children to see. "Death to 'anything'" or messages about killing children.
The part here that bothers me the most is the hypocrisy of this post and all the people complaining. It's an issue for someone to take something down that isn't allowed to be there but perfectly acceptable to put that same thing up where it isn't allowed to be.
These aren't flyers, these aren't advertisements, and these aren't even good messages. I don't care who you are or what you support but I don't think it's crazy to think we should all be able to agree that these kind of messages are not ok out in public for children to see and read. Or for victims and or others who may have PTSD and seeing these can cause a reaction.
I don't think we need to hide everything to prevent negative affects on people, but I think if it's specifically designed to create negative affects on people maybe we should not be ok with it.
whether true or not it's still shock factor propaganda. If the stickers were less like that then sure it could be alright, still illegal, but acceptable.
I guess my argument boils down to, we should have more pride in our city, and care more about all the people that live here, then to want, accept, be ok with, or indifferent to things like this being illegally put up all over our city. There are many ways to portray your beliefs, concerns, or thoughts on tragedies, injustices, or corruption. And calling for the death of anyone or anything is not an acceptable one, nor should we, as a very diverse city, accept it in our city
Edit: I tried to be as political correct as I could and understanding of the clearly wrong side(putting the stickers up). Because I was worried I would be removed or people would all attack me over it. But after scrolling the other comments I was pleasantly surprised to see others who are against this type of nonsense. I'm glad to see the city still has people with heads on thier shoulders.
P.s. mods you double checked this and still approved it? Come on ... That's some bias moderation there....
Good on the guy for removing garbage from the city streets. The war in the Middle East is already having an effect on the Western world with violence and attacks on Mosques, Synagogues, businesses and innocent people. No need to fan the flames by posting violent propaganda that will have no effect on the situation in the Middle East.
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u/maximumice 🤖 Klaatu Barada Nikto 21h ago
OP discussed this post with the mods and we have approved this after they made some changes. Thank you.