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Screen shot
On June 9, the
annual Al Quds day was held in Toronto, starting at Queens Parks, a
public venue, and ending with a march down to the US consolate on
University. Speeches were given at Queens Park by various individuals
concerning the 'occupation' of Palestine. One of the speakers, Sheikh
Shafiq Hudda, was accused of alleged hate speech by several
organizations. This speech was recorded and published on video, with transcript.
The individual
targeted has decided to serve a libel notice, in spite of the
overwhelming evidence of actual hate speech. Can one be sued
for telling the truth?
"Toronto: Al
Quds Day speaker accused of speaking hate serves libel", June
27, 2018, thanks to ACD
"On June 27,
2018 Toronto lawyer Stephen Ellis posted the following
statement:
So-called “Hate
Preacher” Serves Libel Notices on MP, right-wing media
Over the past week,
Sheikh Shafiq Hudda and the Islamic Humanitarian Service, both of
Kitchener, Ontario, have served Libel Notices on several
organizations and individuals, including, but not limited to, the
following:
B’nai Brith Canada,
The Toronto Sun, The Center for Jewish and Israeli Affairs
(CIJA) Peter Kent (MP-Thornhill), Waterloo Region Record
The serving of a
Libel Notice is a requirement under the Libel and Slander Act in order
to sue for defamation.
“My clients intend
to sue for the wildly defamatory comments made by each of these
organizations and individuals following the Al-Quds rally of June 9,
2018,” said lawyer Stephen Ellis. “My clients have been accused of
preaching hate and calling for genocide, when a clear and honest look
at the words spoken show a call for an end to unjust empires the
world over.”
“The yearly Al-Quds
event is attacked because it symbolizes resistance to Israeli
apartheid. In my opinion, supporters of the apartheid system have
launched an attack on Sheikh Hudda by deliberately taking his words
out of context, painting him as a monster. Luckily, there’s a legal
remedy for such acts.”
Sheikh Shafiq Hudda
was one o the speakers at al-Quds Day rally held in Torotno on June
9, 2018. MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute) published segments from
Hudda’s speech:
More than any other
nation on the face of this earth, the Zionist entity of Israel has
been condemned by the United Nations, by human rights organizations,
by any believer of justice and love of humanity. Why, you’re saying
that it’s antisemitism? It’s anti-Judaism? Then I would say why are
my Jewish brothers and sisters here today and every year? It’s not a
matter of Semitism or antisemitism, it’s a matter that the government
of Israel, the state of Israel has committed acts that no other
country and no other nation, no other entity has committed. Against
innocents, against children, against the vulnerable, against the
elderly. You will see them, everywhere around you. Those who are the
most vulnerable get attacked by the Zionist. Why? If you are not cowards,
if you are brave, send your army into Palestine. Why bomb, why send
missiles, and aerial bombardments? Start fighting solider to soldier,
face to face. We know you can’t do that, because you are cowards.
You’re afraid, because you will leave in body bags.
The same body bags
that you have caused for the Palestinians, your army, the Israeli
Defense forces will leave from Palestine in those same body bags.
Come forward, we challenge you, we challenge the Israeli Defense
Force. Fight like men, not cowards. Cowards will bomb babies, destroy
homes, uproot trees, cause economic desecration. Somebody who is not
my favorite person, David Cameron, called Gaza the world’s largest
open-air prison. No freedom to move around or travel. No medical
availability. Basic medications or antibiotics are not available.
Children and the elderly and the vulnerable die for simple basic
medications that you and I are probably throwing in the garbage every
year. This is one thing, I will mention one thing that perhaps may be
a bit of a surprise. I am praying for a day to come in our lifetime,
where we won’t need the Al-Quds rally because Palestine will be free.
Oppression will be eradicated, injustice will end, that’s the day we
pray for. So we don’t have to meet every Saturday in the holy month
of Ramadan. This is our prayer to the almighty creator, whether you
call him God or Allah. You call him Jehovah or whatever name you want
to call him. We pray to the creator and to the almighty, a day will
come when we see justice throughout the world. The eradication of the
unjust powers such as the American empire, such as the Israeli
Zionists. And the same way that we saw the British Empire wither
away, the sun never set on it… the sun sets on it. We will see a day
coming inshallah, God willing in our lifetime, where this empire, the
Zionist empire, the American empire will be down in the dustbins of
history inshallah God willing.
On June 10, 2018
B’nai Brith Canada issued a statement on
AL-Quds Day rally in Toronto. The following are excerpts from the
statement:
“B’nai Brith Canada
is in the process of filing a complaint with Toronto Police after a
speaker at Saturday’s al-Quds Day rally in downtown Toronto called
for the “eradication” of Israelis. Sheikh Shafiq Huda of the Islamic
Humanitarian Service in Kitchener, Ont., made the remarks as part of
the annual hatefest dedicated to the destruction of Israel,
inaugurated by Iranian dictator Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979… Advocating
genocide or wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group,
such as Israelis, is a criminal offence contrary to sections 318 and
319 of Canada’s Criminal Code…”
on June 11, 2018
the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) published an open
letter to Premier-Designate Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor John Tory.
The following are excerpts from the letter:
In recent years,
the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has monitored and
exposed examples of hatred and extremism at the event. Examples
include incitement to violence, calls for Israel’s destruction, the
promotion of anti-Israel and antisemitic conspiracy theories, and the
display of symbols associated with terrorist groups that are banned
in Canada. This year was no exception. In one illustrative example, a
speaker called for the “eradication” of Americans, Israelis and
Zionists against the backdrop of hateful placards and the flags of
terrorist organizations.
This should be of
grave concern to all Ontarians and Torontonians. Antisemitism is a
telling indicator of the overall health of a society. Those who
target Jews ultimately threaten the freedom, equality, and security
of all.
On June 12, 2018
Conservative MP Peter Kent (Thornhill, ON) stated in Parliament
the following:
Mr. Speaker,
hundreds of worthy Canada summer jobs employers were denied funding
for thousands of young people this year because they refused to
accept the Liberals’ imposed values. Now, the Islamic Humanitarian
Service of Kitchener ticked the box and funding was personally
approved by the Liberal House leader. Well, Sheikh Shafiq Huda of
this organization now calls for genocide, the eradication of
Israelis, and says, “You will leave in body bags.” Does the minister
not believe those words clearly violate the Liberal values
attestation?
In response, Patty
Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and
Labour, said the following:
Mr. Speaker, as I
have said clearly time and again in the House, all recipients of
Canada summer jobs funding must adhere to the terms and conditions of
the program. That includes not undermining the rights of other
Canadians and ensuring young people have quality jobs that will help
them move forward in their future. If the member is concerned about
that organization, then he can bring it to my attention.
On Jun 13, 2018
Waterloo Region Record’s Luisa D’Amato reported on the statement
issued by B’nai Brith Canada adding the following:
For his part, Hudda
says he finds it “very insulting and upsetting” that anyone would
think him anti-Jewish. He said Jews were marching beside him at the
rally. He also says he doesn’t single out Israel for criticism.
He calls for eradication of other governments whose actions he
dislikes. For example, “I have called for the eradication of the
state of Saudi Arabia.”
During our
conversation, Hudda agreed with me that a Zionist is someone who
believes in the right of Jews to a homeland in what is now
Israel. He says he is generally on board with that, but not the
“expansionist” version of Israel’s government.
In the end, the
only way to judge Hudda is not by what he says he meant, or who he
was with, but simply by the words he spoke on Saturday. It seems
to me that criticizing Israel for its policies is fair game, just as
you might criticize Canada or the United States.
But that wasn’t
what was happening in Hudda’s shouted, apocalyptic speech. The
word “eradication” means “complete destruction.” Calling for the
complete destruction of the citizens of the world’s only Jewish
state, and of those who believe in its right to exist, seems to me to
be an act of hatred, plain and simple. There is no room for it
in civil Canadian society.
The Toronto Sun
published two articles on al-Quds Day rally: “City turns blind eye to
illegal anti-Israel hatefest — again” by Sue-Ann Levy and
“Federal jobs program gives funding to hate preacher’s group”
by Candice Malcolm."
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