The University of Alberta faces yet another controversy after hosting academics who belittled the October 7 atrocities in Israel.
On February 9, the post-secondary institute held the “Mediations of Racial Capitalism Conference” to highlight how capitalism is rooted in settler colonialism and “anti-Blackness.”
Among the event speakers included four academics who cheered on the recent barbarism of Hamas. As recipients of federal funding, courtesy of the Canada Research Chairs (CRC), among others, appeared to blame Israel online for the slaughter of 1,200 Jews and foreign nationals last fall.
Francesca Sobande, a British digital media studies professor, retweeted an account justifying terrorism against Israel. “Any media narrative that does not acknowledge the occupation and the siege as the root cause of all of this is insidious and inaccurate,” it said.
Speaker and fellow media studies professor, Roopika Risam, condemned the narrative that Hamas attacked Israel unprovoked. “The only way I can understand how people think that Palestinian resistance is ‘unprovoked’ is that people must think settler colonialism is … an event, rather than a structure,” she said.
BREAKING: Anti-Israel protesters disrupt Parliament in the House of Commons during question period, chanting “Free, free Palestine. Stop arming Israel.”https://t.co/9Wj3bkgpLw pic.twitter.com/d1IAZS4G3D
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) February 14, 2024
In addition, Diana Flores Ruíz, a cinema studies scholar at the University of Washington, shared a painting that romanticized Hamas entering Israel. It portrayed a bulldozer breaking through the border wall between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip.
Then Kareem Estefan, the director of art history at Christ’s College in the U.K., failed to denounce the October 7 attacks as among the worst cases of anti-Semitism since the Holocaust.
“It is deeply concerning that government funds are being used to give a platform to speakers who openly support terrorist organizations and their terror attacks,” said Richard Marceau, the vice-president of external affairs and general counsel for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
“After the Laith Marouf scandal, the Government of Canada promised that funding would never again be used to platform hate and there would be increased scrutiny on funding recipients,” said Marceau. “These changes were supposed to be implemented across all federal government bodies, not only Canadian Heritage’s funding programs,” he added.
Formerly sponsored by Heritage Canada, Laith Marouf’s Community Media Advocacy Centre pocketed over $602,000 in taxpayer dues in 2021, including a $133,822 grant from to host ‘anti-racism’ workshops. Meanwhile, his funding came at the time Twitter suspended his account.
Canadian journalist Jonathan Kay revealed that one of CMAC’s senior advisors, Laith Marouf, made numerous comments calling on the deaths of American soldiers and for Jews to be expelled from Israel. https://t.co/HORRB6gGIQ
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) August 23, 2022
Since 2020, telecom consultant Mark Goldberg collected dozens of screenshots of Marouf’s tweets in which he disparaged the Jewish people, including one post where he threatened Goldberg with “a bullet in your head.” In other posts, he fantasized about shooting Jews, whom he described as “human feces.”
Goldberg repeatedly warned government officials of Marouf’s conduct, reported Blacklock’s Reporter, but MPs on both sides of the House failed to take action. “They did nothing to counter it,” he said.
“The Canada Research Council and all other government bodies must review their vetting process to ensure that funds are not allocated in ways that run against the government’s own anti-hate and anti-terror strategies,” Marceau told The National Post.
Heritage Canada did not cancel the Marouf contract until September 23, 2022, and have unsuccessfully recuperated the taxpayer funds.
Conservative MP Rachael Thomas slams the Liberal government for doing nothing to recoup the $130,000 given to ‘anti-racism’ consultant Laith Marouf after his vile antisemitic social media posts were exposed.https://t.co/X0YeZBwFoB pic.twitter.com/4ecAs7a6T2
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) December 1, 2023
On February 13, 2023, department executives could not explain why they failed to conduct background checks on Marouf. However, they pledged to revamp its vetting process for federal funds.
Nicole Swiatek, a communications advisor with Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) — another sponsor of the February 9 conference — did not mention their new vetting procedures circa the Marouf scandal or if amendments were needed following the Edmonton event.
“SSHRC grant and scholarship applications are submitted through eligible post-secondary institutions and awarded through a competitive process of independent merit review designed to ensure the highest standards of excellence and impartiality in the selection process,” said Swiatek.
“Neither SSHRC nor the CRC program are directly involved in the organization of events that stem from research funding, including the choice of speakers and participants. As such, we encourage you to contact the event organizers directly for more information.”
UofA spokesperson Michael Brown clarified the school did “not organize this event.” Event organizers have yet to respond to requests for comment by media or university administrators.
The University of Alberta fired a campus director Saturday for calling reports of sexual violence by Hamas an “unverified accusation.”
MORE: https://t.co/zjjvuddkfm pic.twitter.com/9hh1GYfhVC
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) November 21, 2023
The post-secondary institute earlier fired a campus director after she called reports of sexual violence by Hamas on October 7 an “unverified accusation.”
Samantha Pearson, director of the U of A Sexual Assault Centre, is among the signatories to a ceasefire petition from Ontario MPP Sarah Jama that appeared to minimize those reports regarding the massacre.
University president Bill Flanagan tendered a statement that afternoon to condemn the “improper” and “unauthorized” use of the centre’s name to endorse the open letter. “Effective immediately, the director of the centre is no longer employed by the university,” he said.
