Vanessa Beeley - The greatest heroes of all are those who speak the truth in the face of opposition and intimidation. Donald Lafleur is a hero who defied the dominant narrative managers on #Syria to attend the Trade Union Conference in #Damascus in September, with his wife Cecile.

Since that visit, made in his free time, Donald has been vilified by NATO aligned media in Canada and the leadership of the Canadian Labour Congress. Cecile told me last night, at my talk in Ottawa, that she felt safer in Damascus than in Canada. Donald described a Syria that he experienced as a far better socialist model than the majority of the so-called civilized "global north".

Please stand in solidarity with this courageous family and with Donald, a humble hero, a man of integrity and principle that are so desperately needed to lead us out of the paradigm of institutionalised spinelessness and moral bankruptcy.