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Carleton University faces backlash for employing professor convicted in 1980 Paris synagogue bombing
Carleton University is under significant scrutiny from Israeli universities and Jewish advocacy groups for employing Hassan Diab, a professor convicted in absentia by a French court for a 1980 synagogue bombing in Paris that killed four people and injured 46.
Diab, 71, who has taught at Ottawa’s Carleton University since 2006, is currently teaching a class on social justice in the university’s sociology department.
In November, a letter signed by all nine of Israel’s public research universities, coordinated through the Association of University Heads of Israel, called on Carleton to immediately terminate Diab’s employment, describing the hiring decision as a betrayal of academic values and a failure to uphold justice.
“While we respect Carleton’s commitment to social justice and diversity, the continued employment of an instructor convicted of multiple murders by the judicial system of a democratic nation raises profound questions about the university’s values,” the letter states.
“How can an institution dedicated to instilling moral principles in its students justify appointing someone convicted of such serious crimes to a teaching position? While we fully support academic freedom and the expression of diverse viewpoints, these principles do not extend to employing individuals convicted of hate-motivated acts of terror.”
The letter emphasizes the obligation of academic institutions to ensure their hiring practices reflect the values of justice and accountability, saying that the hiring decision crosses a “clear ethical line.”
The letter, signed by presidents of Israeli universities such as University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, emphasizes the obligation of academic institutions to ensure their hiring practices reflect the values of justice and accountability, saying that the hiring decision crosses a “clear ethical line.”
The Canadian Jewish News emailed the communications office of Carleton University for comment about Diab’s employment and the letter, but did not receive a response.
The Rue Copernic bombing
The Rue Copernic bombing occurred on Oct. 3, 1980, when a bomb exploded outside the synagogue during Shabbat services. The attack killed four people, including Israeli television producer Aliza Shagrir, and injured 46 others.
French authorities attributed the bombing to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group and terrorist organization. Diab, a Lebanese-Canadian citizen, was identified as a suspect decades later and extradited to France in 2014. He spent three years in jail, awaiting trial.
In 2018, French courts released Diab, citing insufficient evidence. However, prosecutors reopened the case, and in 2023, Diab was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Diab has denied involvement, maintaining that he was in Lebanon at the time of the attack. His defense team has argued that evidence used against him, including handwriting analysis, is unreliable.
Students demand answers
One student at Carleton, involved with Jewish advocacy on campus who chose to remain anonymous, said that the university’s lack of transparency on this issue has left students feeling frustrated and disappointed.
“We deserve, at the very minimum, an explanation as to how the employment decision was made and why it was deemed appropriate considering his conviction in absentia in France.”
As a member of the Jewish community on campus, he said the situation is deeply troubling. “The Jewish community deserves better. There’s been a lid put on this, and it seems like there’s little accountability.
“Time and time again, it feels like Jewish students are left to fight these battles alone. We deserve better, he said. “When it comes to (protecting) the Jewish community, there always seems to be a higher burden of proof required for things to be taken seriously.”
CIJA calls for accountability
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has also been outspoken in its criticism of Carleton’s decision, describing it as a failure of institutional responsibility and a dangerous precedent for Canadian academia. In a statement sent to The Canadian Jewish News, Judy Zelikovitz, vice-president of university and local partner services, emphasized the broader implications of Carleton’s choices.
“The incident at Carleton University highlights a glaring oversight: the lack of effective background checks at institutions of higher education,” Zelikovitz wrote. “While Canadian universities claim to prioritize the safety and well-being of their faculty, staff, and students by implementing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies, the absence of rigorous vetting for educators undermines these commitments.”
CIJA also pointed to concerns about how Diab’s employment affects the accessibility of education for students. “A classroom environment cannot reasonably be considered accessible to those who oppose terrorism if an individual with a conviction in a democratic state is present,” Zelikovitz said.
She also called for a stronger approach to academic hiring practices, arguing that academic freedom must come with responsibilities. “Ensuring rigorous evaluations of proposed curriculum content and upholding academic integrity must be a standard practice in all academic institutions,” she wrote.
On behalf of CIJA, Zelikovitz demanded immediate action, urging Carleton to terminate Diab’s employment and for the Canadian government to act on France’s extradition request.
“We call on Carleton University to immediately sever its relationship with Hassan Diab and to ensure no other academic institution offers him a position. Furthermore, CIJA urges the Canadian government to respond promptly to France’s request for Diab’s extradition. It is imperative that our educational institutions and government leaders prioritize safety, accountability, and justice in their decisions.”
Condemnation from B’nai Brith
B’nai Brith Canada has been vocal as well in its opposition to Carleton’s decision to employ Diab. In a post on social media, the organization wrote:
“Despite being handed a life sentence by a French court, Hassan Diab continues to live freely in Canada, while Carleton University, unconscionably, continues to allow him the privilege of teaching at a Canadian institution.”
B’nai Brith Canada added that Canadians “cannot stand by while a convicted terrorist, affiliated with a listed terrorist group, teaches on our campuses! The university has ignored B’nai Brith’s formal request to terminate his position, allowing Diab to remain in a position of authority over students.”
B’nai Brith says Carleton’s employment of Diab “not only presents a danger to the well-being of its students, but it is an insult to the memory of the innocent victims of his heinous crime and an affront to all Canadians who value law and order.”
B’nai Brith Canada has intensified its opposition to Hassan Diab’s employment through launching a public letter-writing campaign on its website. The campaign, addressed to Jerry Tomberlin, interim president and vice-chancellor of Carleton, calls for the immediate removal of Diab and highlights concerns over Carleton’s decision to retain Diab as a professor.
The letter further criticizes Carleton for ignoring its previous formal requests to terminate Diab’s employment, raising inquiries about the university’s commitment to ensuring a safe and supportive learning environment.
Support for Hassan Diab
While Hassan Diab’s employment at Carleton has drawn significant criticism, he has also received support from advocacy groups, academics, and members of his department. Supporters argue that he has been unfairly targeted and that his conviction in absentia by a French court lacks credible evidence.
The Hassan Diab Support Committee, which has campaigned on his behalf for over a decade, describes the accusations against him as a miscarriage of justice.
“Dr. Diab is a victim of wrongful allegations based on discredited evidence and unfair legal proceedings,” the committee states on its website. They also highlight that Canada’s courts previously deemed the evidence insufficient to justify his extradition to France in 2018.
Carleton’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology has publicly defended Diab in the past. In a 2021 statement, department chair Blair Rutherford expressed solidarity with Diab, calling the French court’s decision to pursue a trial “shocking” and based on “discredited evidence.” The department further urged the academic community to support Diab against what they described as an unjust prosecution.
In November 2022, the department promoted a rally calling on the Canadian government to protect Diab from what they described as “baseless prosecution” and to reject further extradition requests. The event was attended by supporters advocating for academic freedom and justice for Diab.
Supporters also argue that employing Diab reflects Carleton’s commitment to inclusivity and the presumption of innocence. “Dr. Diab’s return to teaching is an important step in restoring his career and reputation after years of legal persecution,” wrote one supporter on a public forum.
Calls for accountability
Israeli officials have also expressed dismay with Carleton’s hiring decision. Idit Shamir, Israel’s consul general in Toronto, described the university’s decision as “unconscionable,” highlighting her personal connection to the terrorist attack that Diab faced conviction for.
“[T]he terrorist who murdered my friend’s mother, Aliza Shagrir, before his eyes in the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing still lectures at Canada’s @Carleton_U,” Shamir posted on social media in November. “A French court gave him life for murdering four souls and maiming 46. Yet Carleton University rewards him with a teaching position?”
“Every class this convicted terrorist teaches dishonors the lives he destroyed,” Shamir added. “This isn’t just a failure of justice—it’s spitting on the graves of Jewish victims. Shame on those who enable this.”
The post Carleton University faces backlash for employing professor convicted in 1980 Paris synagogue bombing appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Documents Reveal Hamas Uses Gaza Hospitals for Military Purposes, International NGOs Complicit in Operations
Israeli soldiers inspect the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Gaza City, Nov. 15, 2023 in this handout image. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Internal documents from Hamas’s Ministry of Interior and National Security dating back to 2020 reveal the Palestinian terrorist group has long used Gaza’s medical facilities for military purposes, according to a new report.
On Wednesday, NGO Monitor — an independent, Jerusalem-based research institute that tracks anti-Israel bias among nongovernmental organizations — released two documents declassified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), revealing how Hamas has weaponized Gaza’s hospitals for years to shelter its operatives and leaders.
Translated from Arabic, the documents also reveal that international organizations — including the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders — are aware of Hamas’s presence in Gaza’s medical facilities, even as they publicly deny or downplay it.
“While repeatedly echoing Hamas allegations and condemning Israel’s operations to end the exploitation of hospitals for terror, these groups clearly knew that Hamas exploited these facilities and chose to remain silent,” Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, said in a statement.
BREAKING: Leaked docs show Hamas admits to using Gaza hospitals as terror infrastructure, in files authored by its Interior Security Mechanism and obtained by NGO Monitor. Hospitals served as command hubs while NGOs went along under Hamas rules.
Here’s what they reveal
pic.twitter.com/HXI6hULYTG
— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) September 10, 2025
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Hamas’s exploitation of hospitals has drawn heightened attention, with Israel facing international criticism for its operations near medical facilities as it seeks to crack down on the terrorist group.
According to NGO Monitor, the internal Hamas documents show a deliberate strategy of “embedding its military infrastructure, fighters, and leadership within hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza … thereby violating international law and endangering civilian lives.”
The documents also show that foreign NGOs have not only been aware of Hamas’s presence in Gaza’s medical facilities but also have sometimes worked alongside them.
For example, one internal memo notes that the Red Cross occupied a wing in the Al-Shifa medical complex directly adjacent to offices used by Hamas.
Despite international claims to the contrary, the documents show that the Palestinian terrorist group views medical facilities not as neutral spaces but as integral parts of its infrastructure.
“These facilities are considered to be of interest to hostile security parties and an important source for intelligence gathering, especially in times of war, since these health facilities are a place of gathering for the wounded during times of escalation, and these wounded cases hold sensitive positions in the resistance,” one of the internal memos reads.
“Furthermore, these health facilities are a place of gathering for numerous leaders of the movement and the government during times of escalation,” it continues.
The documents also reveal how Hamas closely monitors and controls foreign NGOs working in hospitals due to fears that they might serve as channels for Israeli intelligence.
“Do not let these associations have their own locations to work inside health facilities. When a location is allocated for these associations, it shall be outside the main building of the clinic or hospital, and far away from movement locations, and following security authorization,” one of the internal memos reads.
“Medical members from the Gaza Strip must join incoming delegations, whether the delegations work in hospitals or their own locations,” it adds.
Under this structured oversight, NGO Monitor explains that foreign organizations had to operate according to Hamas’s rules, “making them complicit in a system” that exploits medical centers for terrorist purposes.
“The internal Hamas documents reviewed in this report expose a systematic Hamas strategy to militarize Gaza’s health-care system, using hospitals and medical facilities as extensions of its military and security apparatus,” NGO Monitor says.
“This arrangement is fundamentally inconsistent with the principle of medical neutrality in Gaza, transforming humanitarian spaces into dual-use facilities that serve both medical and military purposes,” it continues.
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Mamdani Maintains Comfortable Lead in New York City Mayoral Race, Despite Jewish Opposition
Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS
Zohran Mamdani maintains a substantial lead in New York City’s mayoral contest, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday, as discontent with City Hall continues to rattle the electorate.
The survey of likely voters found Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, taking 45 percent in a four-way matchup, well ahead of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at 23 percent, Republican activist Curtis Sliwa at 15 percent, and embattled incumbent Eric Adams at just 12 percent.
If Adams were to exit the race, Mamdani’s margin would narrow, with 46 percent support compared to Cuomo’s 30 percent. Sliwa would hold 17 percent of the electorate.
The poll underscores Adams’s strong standing among certain demographics, particularly Jewish voters, who make up a crucial bloc in several boroughs. Among Jewish voters, Adams receives 42 percent support, while Mamdani and Cuomo are tied at 21 percent each. Moreover, 75 percent of Jewish voters view Mamdani unfavorably, according to the poll, highlighting a key vulnerability for the progressive candidate.
The results came days after another poll showed similar results.
Mamdani holds a commanding 22-point advantage over his chief rival in the mayoral race, Cuomo, 46 percent to 24 percent, according to the poll by the New York Times and Siena College. Sliwa polled at 15 percent, and incumbent Adams polled at 9 percent among likely New York City voters.
Perhaps most striking, the survey found that Mamdani would still beat Cuomo in November’s election, 48 percent to 44 percent, if the other candidates dropped out and it was a one-on-one matchup.
Adams and Cuomo are both running as independents.
A little-known politician before this year’s Democratic primary campaign, Mamdani is an outspoken supporter of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination.
Mamdani has also repeatedly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, falsely suggesting the country does not offer “equal rights” for all its citizens, and promised to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York.
Mamdani also initially defended the phrase “globalize the intifada”— which references previous periods of sustained Palestinian terrorism against Jews and Israels and has been widely interpreted as a call to expand political violence — by invoking the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II. However, Mamdani has since backpedaled on his support for the phrase, saying that he would discourage his supporters from using the slogan.
Mamdani’s overall strength appears to rest not only on name recognition among progressives but also on enthusiasm. Approximately 91 percent of his supporters say they’re enthusiastic about their choice, far outpacing backers of other candidates, the Quinnipiac data found. Cuomo, despite his experience and political legacy, is hurt by a 56 percent unfavorable rating.
Voters rank crime — 30 percent — and affordable housing — 21 percent — as the most pressing concerns, with inflation a distant third.
Moreover, Mamdani’s adversarial and combative rhetoric aimed at President Donald Trump seems to help him in the race.
“The name not on the ballot but seen having influence on this race is President Trump. And likely voters in New York City make it clear they want the next occupant of Gracie Mansion to stand up to Trump when it comes to issues inside New York City,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Mary Snow.
The findings paint a picture of a fractured electorate, with Mamdani consolidating left-leaning voters while Adams maintains strongholds among more moderate constituencies, including Jewish neighborhoods, and Cuomo tries to galvanize support among voters as various scandals loom over his campaign. Sliwa remains in the mid-teens but could play spoiler if the race tightens.
Mamdani has also sought to distance himself from some of the most radical policies he previously advocated for, such as defunding the police. Mamdani’s attempt to strike a more moderate tone seems to be paying dividends thus far. Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a Democrat from a swing district, endorsed Mamdani on Wednesday.
“@ZohranKMamdani fights for the PEOPLE. Andrew Cuomo is a selfish POS who only fights for himself and other corrupt elites. I know whose side I’m on. I’m with the people. I’m with Zohran,” Ryan posted on social media.
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‘Pro-Hamas Terror Ties’: US Sen. Tom Cotton Warns of CAIR’s Push Into Philadelphia Schools
CAIR officials give press conference on the Israel-Hamas war. Photo: Kyle Mazza / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has warned in a letter to the Department of Education that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a nonprofit advocacy group long accused of having ties to terrorist organizations including Hamas, is seeking to infiltrate the city of Philadelphia’s public education system.
The letter was dated Tuesday, about two weeks after the Philadelphia chapter of CAIR announced that it was partnering with local schools.
“CAIR-Philadelphia is partnering with schools this year to make sure every student feels seen, safe, and supported,” the group said in an Instagram post. “Invite the CAIR Philly staff for a training to educators and staff on cultural competency, anti-bullying, and inclusive practices.”
“The CAIR Philadelphia staff works not only with staff and administration, but also directly with students!” the post continued. “We can visit classrooms as guest facilitators to lead student-centered discussions.”
Given CAIR’s controversial history, the federal government should act to prevent such a program from becoming reality, according to Cotton.
“It is well documented that CAIR has deep ties to pro-Hamas terrorist organizations and publicly supports Hamas’s terrorist activities,” Cotton wrote in the letter to US Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “As I noted in a previous letter, the Department of Justice listed CAIR as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee in the largest terrorism-financing case in US history. Further, CAIR-Philadelphia’s executive director, Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, stated that Israeli ‘occupation’ was the reason for the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel.”
Cotton’s letter cited materials which CAIR distributes across the city and promotes in its programming — notably its “American Jews and Political Power” course — and other attempts to revise the history of Sharia law, which severely restricts the rights of women and is opposed to other core features of liberal societies.
One of CAIR’s most controversial documents demands that teachers omit key facts about the 9/11 terrorist attacks which, in addition to destroying the World Trade Centers and severely damaging the Pentagon, claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans.
“Avoid using language that validates the claims of the 9/11 attackers by associating their acts of mass murder with Islam and Muslims,” CAIR insists in the material. “For example, avoid using inaccurate and inflammatory terms such as ‘Islamic terrorists,’ ‘jihadists,’ or ‘radical Islamic terrorists.’”
Additionally, since the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, CAIR-Philadelphia has lobbied the state government to enact anti-Israel policies and accused Gov. Josh Shapiro of ignoring the plight of Palestinians.
In a 2023 speech following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities, CAIR’s national executive director, Nihad Awad, said he was “happy to see” Palestinians “breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas.” CAIR has disputed the accuracy of the ADL’s claim, despite government trial exhibits indicating its founders participated in meetings with Hamas supporters in Philadelphia. The organization has asserted that it “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”
“Such an organization should never have access to our nation’s children,” Cotton wrote in his letter, urging the Education Department to “ensure” that CAIR is not able to push its ideology on American schoolchildren.
“Sen. Cotton’s comments bring much needed scrutiny to the alarming trend of unchecked outside groups influencing public school curricula. CAIR, with their ties to Hamas, should have no involvement with the Philadelphia School District,” said Steve Rosenberg, Philadelphia Regional Director for the North American Values Institute (NAVI). “This raises serious concerns about balance, transparency, and educational integrity, not to mention basic decision making. Parents and taxpayers deserve assurance that their children aren’t being exposed to ideologically driven lessons — especially from groups with dangerous political affiliations.”
CAIR’s pushing into K-12 education comes at a time of rising antisemitism in public schools.
In August, for example, the Education Department promptly opened an investigation into allegations of antisemitism in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) following the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) filing a complaint regarding the matter.
Jewish students allegedly experienced relentless bullying in BCPS, where students pantomimed Nazi salutes, treated campuses as a canvas for Nazi-inspired and antisemitic graffiti, and sent text messages threatening that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas will be summoned to kill Jewish students the bullies do not like, the ADL complaint said, noting that teachers behaved even worse than students. At Bard High School, an English teacher allegedly performed the Nazi salute three times and later admitted to administrative officials that he did so intentionally to harm “the sole Jewish student” enrolled in his class. Following the incident, he suggested that the student unregister for his class because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be discussed in it.
“The allegations that Baltimore City Public Schools tolerate virulent Nazi-inspired antisemitic harassment of its Jewish students is at once appalling and infuriating. When a teacher allegedly directs a Nazi salute toward a Jewish student, or non-Jewish students harass their Jewish contemporaries by saying ‘all Jews should die,’ we are not simply talking about contemptible bullying; we are talking about a shocking abdication of educator responsibility that constitutes unlawful antisemitic harassment under Title VI,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
Last month, The Algemeiner reported that the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) in California, which stands accused of refusing to address antisemitism, ruled that a teacher who allegedly showed her students antisemitic, discriminatory, and biased content violated policy when she screened an offensive video about the Holocaust in her classroom.
The move came without the prompting of the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, with which two Jewish civil rights groups, StandWithUs (SWU) and the Bay Area Jewish Coalition (BAJC), filed a complaint against the district in April.
Among other things, SWU and BAJC alleged that an SCUSD employee, Wilcox High School teacher Kauser Adenwala, screened a documentary produced in Turkey which compared the war in Gaza to the Holocaust. The graphic film at one point “displays a picture of a young Jewish child who was branded with a number by the Nazis during World War II and then suddenly shows an untraceable image of children with Arabic writing on their arms,” according to the complaint, which alleged the teacher’s conduct violated numerous district policies and potentially state law.
She remains employed by the district to this day.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.