B’nai Brith Canada is demanding that the Quebec government charge “notorious anti-racist consultant” Laith Marouf with wilful promotion of hate.
B’nai Brith noted that Marouf has been widely exposed in the media for regularly tweeting hateful comments against Jews, Francophones and Black Canadians.
Last August, B’nai Brith called for an independent review of anti-racism seminars funded by the government of Canada after uncovering evidence of antisemitic content by a contracted organization.
The call came after the Department of Canadian Heritage suspended the work of the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC), which was awarded a $133,000 government contract to study alleged racism in the Canadian media. The funding was cut after “virulently antisemitic and racist tweets” by CMAC consultant Laith Marouf came to light, including referring to Jews as “Jewish white supremacists” and “loud mouthed bags of human feces.”
In response, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the government would be putting in place rules "to make sure this never happens again."
"It is absolutely unacceptable that federal dollars have gone to this organization that has demonstrated xenophobia, racism and antisemitism,” he said.
B’nai Brith pointed out that Marouf’s hatred extended beyond Jews to other groups.
According to B’nai Brith,“he expressed regret that too few Americans were killed in Vietnam and denounced Canada as a racist colonialist society. Marouf also tweeted that French is an ‘ugly language,’ French-speakers have ‘IQ less than 77’ and used the anti-Francophone slur ‘frogs’ no less than six times. He reiterated his contempt for ‘Apartheid’ Canada and insulted Black Canadians."
The government issued an apology and severed funding to Marouf’s CMAC organization after his antisemitic tweets were brought to light, and promised B’nai Brith in a letter that it would take steps to ensure no hateful individuals received future funding.
In the letter, it acknowledged that his statements were “antisemitic, hateful and xenophobic.”
But B’nai Brith urged the government to do more than simply admit to its failure and pledge to do better in the future. The group is calling for Marouf to be prosecuted for his actions.
“While we appreciate the government’s rejection of Marouf and commitment to scrutinizing future grant-receivers, more must be done,” B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn said.
“Marouf’s hateful posts against various groups based on immutable characteristics is a clear violation of the Criminal Code. We want to see him criminally charged, Canadians must forcefully reject this hate.”