Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May met and hosted known antisemite, Holocaust denier and Meshwar Media editor Nazih Khatatba on Tuesday, according to an antisemitism watchdog.
"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 reported on their Twitter account.
Two days ago, Canadian Members of Parliament, including Federal cabinet minister @OmarAlghabra and Green Party Leader @ElizabethMay, met with and hosted a dangerous antisemite and Holocaust denier. #CdnPoli #Antisemitism 1/8 pic.twitter.com/wPmBQNRim9
— Documenting Antisemitism (@AntisemitismCA) December 1, 2022
A Canadian politician, standing in front of a Canadian flag and a Palestinian flag, dressed in a kfiyah as well as a Palestine scarf said, "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 their Twitter with a video of the Canadian politician saying this.
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 & its official representatives. pic.twitter.com/EnsylLjfBK
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) December 1, 2022
"The all-party Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group hosted a reception for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29," chairman Salma Zahid, who hosted Khatatba, wrote in a Twitter thread. "The invitation was circulated widely within the Palestinian community and nearly 150 people attended."
"We were unable to research the history of every attendee," she continued. "I have long been a voice against antisemitism and all forces of discrimination based on faith. In 2016, I spoke in the House of Commons to condemn several recent antisemitic incidents and antisemitism in general.
"I continue to oppose and condemn any and all incidents and comments of antisemitism, Islamaphobia and other forms of discrimination based on faith.
The all-party Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group hosted a reception for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29th. The invitation was circulated widely within the Palestinian community, and nearly 150 people attended. (1/5)
— Salma Zahid (@SalmaZahid15) December 1, 2022
"As chair of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, I will continue to be a voice for the human rights of the Palestinian people and for a just and fair two-state solution achieved at the negotiating table."
Antisemitic publications in Canada
HonestReporting Canada (HRC) revealed that the federal government had been funding anti-Israel publications, one being Meshwar Media, an Arabic-language newspaper. They received $2,000 for COVID-19-related relief payments between 2020 and 2021.
Several complaints have been filed with police hate crime authorities against Meshwar due to their repeated publication of antisemitic content.
In August 2022, Khatatba wrote and published an article for Meshwar claiming that the murder of 11 Israeli athletes that were murdered during the 1972 Olympic games in Munich was committed by the Israeli Mossad.
In December 2021, Meshwar published a column calling for the destruction of Israel. "We must actually start working to end the project of the State of Israel on Palestinian land and build our historic national home on every inch of it," the writer Kamal Khalaf wrote.
In 2012, Meshwar published an antisemitic cartoon that showed Israelis eating Palestinian children and drinking their blood.
More recently, Khatatba praised the Palestinian terrorist who killed Sgt. Noa Lazar, injured a security guard and shot at security guards near Maale Adummim ten days later to his personal Facebook page, saying, "Glory and eternity to the martyr Uday 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 settlement in the occupied West Bank.
"According to the statement of the occupation police, the martyr opened fire at the entrance of Ma'ale Adummim in the direction of the guards. One of them was wounded in the hand before he was martyred as he fired his pistol until his last breath and was carrying a grenade that he was unlucky to throw at them.
"In addition, both the Lions' Den group and the Fatah movement called for an announcement on Thursday of a comprehensive strike 'to mourn the souls of the martyr Uday al-Tamimi and to condemn the crimes of the Israeli occupation,'" he continues.
"In a statement, the 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."