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Canada Issues First-Ever Jail Sentence for Holocaust Denial
A drone view of the “Arbeit macht frei” gate at the former Auschwitz concentration camp ahead of the 80th anniversary of its liberation, Oswiecim, Poland, Jan. 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
Canada has handed down its first-ever jail sentence for Holocaust denial.
A court in North Bay, Ontario, sentenced Kenneth Paulin, 51, to nine months behind bars and two years of probation after finding him guilty of willfully promoting hatred against Jews and “condoning, denying, or downplaying the Holocaust.” Crown prosecutors confirmed that the ruling on Sept. 18 marked the first time in Canadian history that someone has received imprisonment specifically for denying the historical reality of the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people.
The conviction followed a seven-month investigation by the North Bay Police Service’s Criminal Investigation Section. Police said they launched the probe in November 2024 after receiving complaints about Paulin’s online posting. Following multiple warrants and a request to Ontario’s Attorney General for formal approval, law enforcement arrested and charged Paulin in June.
Authorities said his assortment of social media posts and videos targeted Jews with slurs, conspiracy theories, and calls to violence. He called Jews “demons” and said they are “to blame for every American who falls.” He condemned Jews as responsible for “almost 100 percent” of the world’s problems. He even called for a “Worldwide Jew Hunt” and said that “antisemitism is the only thing that can save the world.” In one video he titled “Their victim card gets permanently denied as the hollow-cost-Hoax is exposed” he mocked the Holocaust as a “hoax,” while another post read, “Six million didn’t happen, but it should’ve.”
In a community impact submission to the court, Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, senior director of policy and advocacy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC), described the content as “an orchestrated effort to spread hatred, to normalize antisemitism, and to encourage others to view Jews as enemies to be mocked, hunted, and destroyed.”
Kirzner-Roberts said that “the vile antisemitism we are confronting today has inflicted deep and lasting harm on Jewish Canadians, the minority group most frequently targeted by hate crimes in this country. But it’s important to note that such hatred does not end with Jews – it corrodes our democracy, emboldens extremists, and threatens the values that hold Canada together.”
The statement praised those who had investigated, charged, and prosecuted Paulin.
“We are grateful to police, the Attorney General, and Crown prosecutors for ensuring this precedent-setting case was pursued with the seriousness it deserves. We are also pleased that a jail sentence has been handed down, not only for the incitement of hatred against Jews, but also for the denial and glorification of the Holocaust,” Kirzner-Roberts stated. “By standing firmly against such hateful rhetoric, this ruling affirms that every Canadian deserves to live with dignity, safety and freedom, free from intimidation, dehumanization, and fear.”
The North Bay Police Service stressed that the case was a reflection of the impact that hate crimes can have on a community. Acting Deputy Chief Jeff Warner said the investigation demonstrated “the great work being done by the officers in our Criminal Investigation Section” and emphasized a commitment to “sending the message that hate has no place in today’s society.”
Canada’s Criminal Code has long criminalized the “willful promotion of hatred” under Section 319, but until recently it did not explicitly single out Holocaust denial. That changed in 2022, when the Canadian Parliament adopted Bill C-19, a budget law that added a new subsection, 319(2.1), making it a crime to “willfully promote antisemitism by condoning, denying, or downplaying the Holocaust.” The amendment carries a maximum of two years’ imprisonment.
The statute defines the Holocaust as “the planned and deliberate state-sponsored persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazis and their collaborators,” and applies to public communications outside private conversation.
With the new subsection, Canada joins a group of countries that explicitly outlaw Holocaust denial. In Germany, Section 130 of the criminal code (Volksverhetzung) makes denial, trivialization, or glorification of the Nazi genocide punishable by up to five years in prison. In France, the 1990 Gayssot Act criminalizes questioning crimes against humanity, including the Holocaust. Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, and Romania are among the other countries with similar laws. A 2021 study by the European Parliament noted wide variation in enforcement but confirmed that the principle is well-established in Europe that Holocaust denial is not protected speech but a form of incitement.
Paulin’s conviction reflects the continued proliferation of Holocaust denial propaganda, which can often reflect the paradoxical sentiment of rejecting the historicity of the Nazis’ crimes against humanity, while simultaneously wishing they had occurred, as the convict revealed in his posting “Six million didn’t happen, but it should’ve.”
A UNESCO report in 2022 found that 16.2 percent of Holocaust-related content on major social media platforms involved denial or distortion. On fringe platforms, the proportion rose to 49 percent. The United Nations has warned that social media continues to amplify denial narratives, feeding extremist propaganda and violent ideologies.
In Canada, antisemitic hate crimes have spiked to new highs. According to an annual audit by B’nai Brith Canada, there were 5,791 incidents reported in 2023, with nearly half occurring online. Jews remain the religious minority most frequently targeted by hate crimes in the country.
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French Officials Replant Olive Trees to Honor Murdered Jew Ilan Halimi After Vandalized Memorial
A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas
More than a month and a half after the olive tree planted to honor Ilan Halimi was vandalized and cut down, French authorities are continuing efforts to replant olive trees in memory of the young Jewish man who was brutally tortured to death in 2006.
On Tuesday, local officials unveiled a commemorative plaque in the garden of Paris City Hall and planted a new tree to honor Halimi’s memory.
“This tree is a symbol of life,” said Ariel Weil, mayor of Paris Centre. “Next year will mark the tragic 20th anniversary of Ilan Halimi’s murder.”
“At the time, he was barely a young man. At 23, full of passion and the energy of youth, he pursued the promise of love — but met a tragic death instead,” Weil continued. “With this tree, however, it is Ilan Halimi’s life that is being planted in our garden.”
Last week, the southern French town of Pollestres also planted a new olive tree in honor of Halimi, calling it “a symbol of peace and remembrance” and a stand against hatred and antisemitism.
“We aim to promote values against barbarism, racism, and antisemitism, and I must say that right now, there is a climate of hatred between communities,” said Jean-Charles Moriconi, the town’s mayor.
“I believe that to unite everyone, we need gestures like this — proof that when something is torn down or destroyed, it will be replanted,” he continued.
Last month, French authorities planted the first olive tree in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris in the Île-de-France region, two weeks after Halimi’s previous memorial was vandalized.
Hervé Chevreau, mayor of the northern Paris suburb Épinay, announced that several olive trees will be replanted in Halimi’s memory, praising “a remarkable outpouring of solidarity” reflected in the donations.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — the main representative body of French Jews — praised these gestures as a powerful symbol of “the deep roots of the Jewish people in the [French Republic], and in the history of France,” saying that “no one will be able to uproot them.”
Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Three weeks later, he was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. In August, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in Epinay-sur-Seine.
Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne.
Shortly after this latest attack, two 19-year-old Tunisian twin brothers, undocumented and with prior convictions for theft and violence, were arrested for allegedly vandalizing and cutting down Halimi’s memorial.
Both brothers appeared in criminal court and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.
They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
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Israel Diverts Gaza Flotilla Ships, Says ‘Greta Thunberg Safe’
Sailing boats, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, sail off Koufonisi islet, Greece, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis
Several vessels of the international flotilla heading to Gaza have been stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner, and her friends are “safe and healthy,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X alongside a video that appeared to show Thunberg and several masked and armed Israeli military personnel.
The flotilla’s organizers said that Israeli military personnel intercepted and boarded the ships, which aim to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza — the Palestinian enclave that has been ruled by the terrorist group Hamas for nearly two decades — and deliver some aid there.
Some 20 vessels were seen approaching the flotilla earlier on Wednesday night, multiple people on board said, as passengers put on life vests and braced for a takeover.
“Multiple vessels … were illegally intercepted and boarded by Israeli Occupation Forces in international waters,” the organizers said in a statement. “We are diligently working to account for all participants and crew.”
It said that its communications were jammed before boarding began, which interfered with cameras that were providing live streams from various boats and communications between vessels.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers, and activists including Thunberg, is trying to break Israel‘s blockade despite repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
It is about 70 nautical miles off the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching.
A live video feed from one of the boats in the flotilla showed passengers in life vests sitting on deck.
It is not clear how many of the boats had been intercepted or stopped. Some passengers said their vessels continued to advance.
Organizers remained defiant, saying in the statement that the flotilla “will continue undeterred.”
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment about intercepting the vessels.
Its foreign ministry earlier said the navy had warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked them to change course.
The ministry said that it reiterated the offer to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza.
TRYING TO BREAK THE BLOCKADE
The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel‘s blockade of Gaza.
The flotilla had been hoping to arrive in Gaza on Thursday morning if it was not intercepted.
This was the second time the flotilla was approached on Wednesday. Before dawn, the mission’s organizers said two Israeli “warships” had approached fast and encircled two of the flotilla’s boats. All navigation and communication devices went down in what one organizer on board described as a “cyber attack.”
A video post on the flotilla’s Instagram page showed the silhouette of what appeared to be a military vessel with a gun turret near the civilian boats.
Reuters confirmed that the video was filmed from the flotilla, but could not confirm the identity of the other vessel in the video or when the video was taken.
Last week members of the flotilla claimed the mission was attacked by drones, which reportedly dropped stun grenades and itching powder on the vessels, causing damage but no injuries.
Israel did not comment on that attack, but has said it will use any means to prevent the boats from reaching Gaza, arguing that its naval blockade is legal as it battles Hamas terrorists in the coastal enclave.
Italy and Spain deployed naval ships to help with any rescue or humanitarian needs but stopped following the flotilla once it got within 150 nautical miles (278 km) of Gaza for safety reasons. Turkish drones have also followed the boats.
Italy and Greece on Wednesday jointly called on Israel not to hurt the activists aboard and called on the flotilla to hand over its aid to the Catholic Church for indirect delivery to Gaza – a plea the flotilla has previously rejected.
Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt.
“This systematic refusal [to hand over the aid] demonstrates that the objective is not humanitarian, but provocative. They are not seeking to help, they are seeking an incident,” Jonathan Peled, the Israeli ambassador to Italy, said in a post on X.
PAST ATTEMPTS TO DELIVER AID
Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007 and there have been several previous attempts by activists to deliver aid by sea.
In 2010, nine activists were killed after Israeli soldiers boarded a flotilla of six ships manned by 700 pro-Palestinian activists from 50 countries.
In June this year, Israeli naval forces detained Thunberg and 11 crew members from a small ship organized by a pro-Palestinian group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as they approached Gaza.
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FBI Cuts Ties With Anti-Defamation League, FBI Director Says
FBI Director Kash Patel attends the signing of an executive order by US President Donald Trump on a deal that would divest TikTok’s US operations from ByteDance from its Chinese owner ByteDance, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The FBI said on Wednesday it had cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish group that tracks antisemitism, after Republicans criticized the group for including slain activist Charlie Kirk’s organization in a glossary on extremism.
In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau “won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.”
The ADL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear what sort of ties the FBI had with the ADL.
Patel’s announcement followed criticism of the ADL by right-wing activists and leaders, including billionaire Elon Musk, over its inclusion of Kirk’s Turning Point USA in a “Glossary of Extremism and Hate” on its website. Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in September.
After that criticism, the ADL removed the entire glossary from its website. The glossary had said that Turning Point USA had a history of “bigoted statements,” a charge the group rejects.