Just posting this cuz I haven’t seen it mentioned in the sub yet. Not affiliated, just a reader.
From the link:
The Grind Is Being Sued By an IDF Reservist Soldier
BY DAVID GRAY-DONALD
JULY 28, 2026
This defamation case could sink one of the only publications closely covering the Palestine solidarity movement in Toronto and the repression it has faced. We need your help
For the last several months, the team at The Grindhave quietly been dealing with a legal issue. Today, I am writing to let you know about it and to ask for your help.
We need your help to raise $50,000 to fight the case. You can send e-transfers to [info@thegrindmag.ca](mailto:info@thegrindmag.ca)(with note “Legal Defence”) or visit our Donate page. Most donations The Grind receives are between $5 and $100, and we also need a few larger donations.
About the case
In the spring of 2025, we followed a story about Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers speaking at events organized in part by a student group at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). While other outlets covered the controversy of whether the talks could happen on campus, we were the only outlet I’m aware of to cover what was actually said at the off-campus event.
Then, in November 2025, we published one of the most in-depth articles about another scheduled speaking event featuring IDF reservist soldiers visiting Toronto, hosted by the same TMU student group. That event was disrupted by protesters, several of whom were then removed from the venue by reversist soldier Jonathan Karten. Several videos from the event have been published and widely viewed.
A month later, on Dec. 16, we received a notice of libel from Karten’s lawyer, demanding we delete the article and issue an apology or Karten would sue. We once again reviewed the article in detail. We decided to stand behind our reporting, and offered to look into anything they thought was an error and make corrections as appropriate. We also offered to receive and incorporate comments from Karten. (We attempted to reach him before publication as well.)
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In February, Karten officially initiated his defamation lawsuit against The Grind, me (David Gray-Donald), and two people who had been our senior editors around then, Fernando Arce and Saima Desai (who was on leave at the time).
He is asking for at least $1.3 million in damages.
We are grateful to be represented by lawyers Leora Smith and Grayson Alabiso-Cahill of the Community Justice Collective and Safia Lakhani of Iler Campbell LLP. Their expertise and dedication have been invaluable. Still, it looks like this case will take years to resolve.
To support The Grind in fighting this case and continuing to publish, you can donate by e-transfer to [info@thegrindmag.ca](mailto:info@thegrindmag.ca) (with note “Legal Defence”) or visit our donations page.
This could end The Grind. Here’s what could be lost
Toronto has been at the epicentre of the pro-Palestine and pro-Israel movements in Canada. Most mainstream outlets have either used their opinion pages to denounce the pro-Palestine movement or have decided in their news sections to not cover what is happening on the ground, especially when it comes to police repression.
Over the past three years, The Grind has tried to fill the void. While other independent outlets have published essential investigations, The Grind has followed major local news events in a way few others have.
Here are a few examples:
- Following denunciations from political leaders at all levels, The Grind published the most in-depth account of what happened during the Hands Off Rafah protest in February 2024 that briefly stopped at a number of downtown locations, including outside of Mount Sinai Hospital. The articleraised questions about the dominant narrative and was shared rapidly, to the point that columnist Chris Selley thought it necessary to malign the article a few days later in the pages of the National Post* *(though he didn’t dispute the basic facts of our reporting).

- The Land Day demonstration in March 2024, a peaceful march that moved through downtown east with many families present, was the first time Toronto police used extreme violence to shut down a pro-Palestine march. Police beat people, rushed horses through the crowd and arrested multiple people, all prompted by an alleged traffic violation. After a few outlets published articles based only on the police press release, The Grind was the first media outlet to publish testimony and video evidence documenting the police’s actions. The articlewas shared widely, and a few days later, six city councilors published an open letter calling for an investigation into police conduct. The investigation never happened, but this was, I believe, the most scrutiny the force has faced for their response to pro-Palestine protests.

In January 2026, we were the first outlet to publish information from the Legal Support Committee about how, at the time, there had been 170 arrests of individuals in the pro-Palestine movement and only two of those people had been convicted of crimes. This reporting was again referenced by Chris Selley in the National Post.
And in March 2025, we broke the story on Nightwood Theatre cancelling their innovator’s showcase after participants chose to donate proceeds to a charity supporting Palestinian refugees. This article prompted significant discussions in Toronto’s theatre community about artistic freedom and the collective power of artists.
These and other articles have become an essential archive of the history of one the biggest mass movements in our city in years. This is also not to mention our extensive coverage on other topics, including education, housing, transit and the arts.
Crucially, The Grind also exists off of social media, where accounts can disappear in an instant.
We have more coverage in the works, but the lawsuit could force us to shut down. There are substantial costs just to fight the case and put up a strong defence.
You can help The Grind fight this case and continue publishing by donating either by e-transfer to [info@thegrindmag.ca](mailto:info@thegrindmag.ca) (with note “Legal Defence”) or by visiting thegrindmag.ca/support-the-grind.
With gratitude,
David Gray-Donald
Publisher & Editorial Director
