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Canadian paper praises B’nei Brak terrorist as ‘exceptional,’ a ‘martyr’

Arabic-language newspaper compares B’nei Brak terrorist to a movie star, says attack was of “exceptional quality.”

By World Israel News Staff

An Arabic-language newspaper based in Toronto, Canada, published an article praising the perpetrator of last week’s deadly B’nei Brak terror attack, sparking a police complaint from a Jewish advocacy group.

The article, titled “Ramadan comes early in Palestine this year,” was written by al-Meshwar’s editor-in-chief Nazih Khatatba, who lists the Hamas terror group’s Department of Arab and Islamic Relations as a former employer on his Facebook page.

Khataba said the terror attack was like a great movie, writing that the terrorist “executed an operation of exceptional quality against the settlers of the enemy, displaying steadfastness, composure, professionalism and drama that could have come from the world of film.”

The article falsely categorized the victims of the attack as “settlers,” despite the fact that the killings occurred far from the disputed region of Judea and Samaria. Rather, it took place in the center of the country, just east of Tel Aviv.

Throughout the piece, the terrorist is repeatedly referred to as a “shaheed” — an Islamic term which means that he was killed in an honorable manner, as a righteous and pious Muslim.

A separate article in the paper about the B’nei Brak attack called it “an important evolution in the quality and effectiveness of the operations.”

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“These recent articles from al-Meshwar are extremely sickening, and also dangerous,” stated Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, in a statement.

“We have seen, especially over the past year, how violence in the Middle East can spill over into attacks on Canadian Jews. Glorifying the murder of Israeli civilians to a broad audience recklessly endangers Jews and Israelis in Canada.

“As part of its ongoing efforts to legislate against online hate, the Government of Canada cannot limit its attention to material in English or French. Sadly, hate comes in all different languages and from a variety of sources,” he said.

The organization has filed a report with local police about the articles.

B’nai Brith noted that both al-Meshwar and Khataba have a long history of hateful remarks about Jews and Israel.

In October 2020, al-Meshwar wrote that Israel was the true culprit behind the Beirut port explosion. In 2017, Khataba referred to the Holocaust as a “fairy tale.”