Canadian MPs host Holocaust-denier, antisemite who called Judaism a ‘terrorist religion’

A Canadian politician was filmed in a kefiyeh as well as a Palestine scarf saying, “I take marching orders from the official representative of Palestine to Canada.”

By World Israel News Staff

Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May hosted known antisemitic publisher and Holocaust-denier Nazih Khatatba in Parliament Hill, prompting outrage from Jewish groups.

The Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group hosted a reception to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and Khatatba, editor of the Arabic-language Toronto-based Meshwar Media, was in attendance.

Khatatba has referred to the Holocaust as a “Holohoax” and “the biggest lie in history.”

His newspaper has also referred to Judaism as a “terrorist religion.”

“Two days ago, Canadian Members of Parliament, including Federal cabinet minister Omar Alghabra and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, met with and hosted a dangerous antisemite and Holocaust denier,” Documenting Antisemitism Canada wrote on Twitter.

Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman raised the issue in the House of Commons. “Liberal members of Parliament and the Minister of Transport welcomed a dangerous anti-Semite, Holocaust denier and terrorist sympathizer to this place,” she said.

Lantsman noted that Khatatba “praised last week’s heinous murder of a 16-year-old Canadian teenager by terrorists.”

Aryeh Schupak, a Canadian yeshiva student studying in Jerusalem, was killed in a double bombing at a bus stop near the entrance to the capital that injured 21 people and killed two.

“Will the Minister of Transport denounce this man, his publication and apologize to Canadians?” Lantsman asked.

Alghabra replied that “anti-Semitism is real and all of us must condemn it whenever we see it. This individual should not have been invited to this event. He should not have been welcomed to this event. That event was hosted by MPs from all parties. I am always happy to participate in parliamentary events, but we all should condemn anti- Semitism and all forms of hate wherever we see it.”

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Lantsman did not accept Alghabra’s response, saying there was “no apology and no condemnation.”

“Members of the Canadian government should not be meeting with Holocaust deniers and Hamas sympathizers who praise the murder of children. They invited him and they got caught. I will ask this again. Will the Minister of Transport have the courage to stand up on his feet in the House and apologize to Canadians?”

Alghabra claimed Lantsman was “misleading the House.”

“I did not meet with the individual. Let me be very clear that as members of Parliament, we attend events everywhere, we are accessible to our community members and there is always a risk of us meeting unsavoury individuals. The issue here is how we, as MPs, react to this. I want to make sure that I am clear. I condemn anti-Semitism. I will always condemn anti-Semitism. Will the members of the opposite side do the same when they encounter people who are spreading hate and anti-Semitism across Canada?”

A Canadian politician was filmed standing in front of the Canadian and Palestinian flags, dressed in a kefiyeh as well as a Palestine scarf saying, “I take marching orders from the official representative of Palestine to Canada.”

“Particularly at a time when Canadians are increasingly concerned about foreign interference in Canadian politics, no Canadian elected official should get their ‘marching orders’ from a foreign government and its official representatives,” The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) wrote on Twitter.

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B’nai Brith Canada called on chairman of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group and Liberal MP Salma Zahid Zahid to “definitively and by name disavow Holocaust-distorting Meshwar Media newspaper and its editor Nazih Khatatba, in light of her ongoing and numerous encounters with the publication.

“Zahid has her own history with Meshwar Media. In 2019, the media reported that Zahid agreed to stop advertising in Meshwar Media after being notified of its toxic content by B’nai Brith. Khatatba also participated in a 2020 Zoom call hosted by Zahid when she assumed the Chair of the Friendship Group.”

B’nai Brith Canada noted that while MPs at the event disavowed Khatatba, “while Zahid issued a statement against antisemitism and ‘discrimination based on faith,’ she did not renounce or distance either herself or the Friendship Group from Meshwar Media and Khatatba.”

Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, said that “considering her ongoing history of association with Khatatba, Salma Zahid has a special obligation, particularly in her capacity as Chair of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, to reject Meshwar Media and its publisher by name. Additionally, Zahid owes it to the public to better explain through what channels Khatatba gained access to the event on Parliament Hill. Zahid must commit her Friendship Group to end all association with those who distort the Holocaust and pursue antisemitic agendas.

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“If Zahid is unable to do the bare minimum and disavow Holocaust-distorting media attending her Friendship Group events, we consider her unqualified to serve as Chair.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs posted that on Twitter: “It’s disappointing and difficult to understand how these failures of vetting continually occur, and now we have yet another incident that sends a troubling message to the Canadian Jewish community.”

Khatatba’s Meshwar Media in 2012 ran an antisemitic cartoon showing Israelis eating Palestinian children and drinking their blood.

More recently, Khatatba praised Udai Tamimi, the Palestinian terrorist who killed Sgt. Noa Lazar and days later opened fire on Israeli security guards, saying, “Glory and eternity to the martyr Udai al-Tamimi, who carried out the Shuafat operation on the eighth of this month, which resulted in the death of a female soldier and the wounding of a guard, as he was martyred while carrying out a new operation on Wednesday evening after he opened fire on Israeli guards at the entrance to the Ma’ale Adummim.”

“In a statement, the [Fatah] movement called for ‘an escalation of confrontations at all points of contact in the country’s governorates, in loyalty to the martyrs and an affirmation of the approach of national struggle.’

“The Palestinian Teachers Union also announced that there will be a comprehensive strike in all schools, directorates and the Ministry of Education, mourning the spirit of Tamimi and in response to calls for a comprehensive strike.”