Saturday Market sign censoring policy in limbo

A market vendor’s sign expressing opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza has prompted a firestorm of community controversy.

Sofya Raginsky of Heyday Farm first hung a simple hand-written “Stop Genocide, Free Palestine” sign at the back of her Saturday Market and Tuesday Farmers Market stalls last October, and did so again for the 2024 market seasons. On July 10 she received an email from a member of the Salt Spring Island Saturday Market Society (SSISMS) board — which does not run the Tuesday market — asking if she was willing to “tone down the signage in some way. If we don’t have to create a policy to make sure you do, the option remains to express oneself in some less overt way.”

At the next market day on July 13, SSISMS president Alvaro Sanchez came to Raginsky’s booth and politely asked her if she would remove the sign for the sake of preserving neutrality. She refused to do so at such short notice and, as Raginsky said in a letter to the SSISMS board, “I wasn’t interested in expressing myself in a less overt way.”

Then all Saturday Market vendors received an email from the SSISMS advising that a new guideline for vendors was being added regarding signage and displays. It read: “All vendor signage and literature on display and available for public consumption within the market may promote only the vendor’s business name and products for sale. No other signage, literature or other material is permitted.”

The board said its rationale for the change was to maintain a “safe space where all our vendors can share their passion for the items they make, bake or grow. We know that there are very concerning things happening all over the world. We believe during the market hours this should be a time to unplug from those things and celebrate the good that we are creating as individuals living on Salt Spring Island.”

The email also stated: “We know this [guideline change] may be a challenge for some, but we feel this is the best approach to maintain a safe, neutral atmosphere for all to enjoy the products created by our vendors. This decision has been made through a consensus process by the board after much input from many places. It does not indicate the political opinions of the board or any of its members on any issue that is happening locally or globally.”

In her written response to the SSISMS board, Raginsky said, “I do not think it’s a market board’s place to dictate how and when individuals engage with the world,” referring to the suggestion that market hours “should be a time to unplug” from negative things taking place elsewhere.

“I also believe that business and politics are inextricably linked. No business is neutral, ever,” she said.

Vociferous support for Raginsky’s position and opposition to the policy change was expressed directly to the SSISMS board and through social media channels.

Adina Guest was one of many addressing the SSISMS board in writing: “We should all be standing against these horrors, and I am grateful for people like Sofya who are doing so bravely in a general atmosphere of complicit silence . . . let us not silence the one among us who is brave enough to do so. We do not want our island to be known as one who oppresses and silences voices of dissent.”

According to a July 25 Reuters news service, “Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, mostly civilians, and driven most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes.

“The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israeli communities. Israel says the militants killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 253 into captivity in Gaza.”

Raginsky observed that opposition to protests or signs in Centennial Park has never been an issue in the past.

“It was really that Palestine issue that — I don’t know — there’s just such a forceful opposition to it, and I guess the Saturday Market board was just trying to appease those complaints.”

Sanchez told the Driftwood on Friday, Aug. 2 that the board received a lot of feedback about the proposed signage ban — much of it vehement but not all of it against — and confirmed that the guideline change has been suspended as the board gathers more information, including further legal advice.

Sanchez said some of the comments made to himself and other board members about their proposal have been hurtful.

“I am trying to not take it personally and to just do what’s best for the market.”

Raginsky said the situation has also been extremely uncomfortable and stressful for her, and she hopes a censoring policy will not be adopted.

She is not sure what her response will be if that did occur, but said, “I would think very seriously about not going to the Saturday Market anymore if they did pass that rule.”

No guideline change has been raised as a possibility for Tuesday Farmers Market vendors.

Centennial Park falls under Capital Regional District (CRD) jurisdiction through the Salt Spring Island Local Community Commission (LCC). However, as of this year, the Saturday Market is no longer under direct CRD control as it was in the past through its parks and recreation department.

“We are now at arm’s length from day-to-day management decisions affecting market operations,” said LCC chair Earl Rook. “That is not to say that the subject won’t come up with the LCC, but any discussions or actions would have to respect the terms of the existing management contract.”