Offensive comments in and of themselves are not a reason to justify punitive measures against someone. One needs to evaluate what is being said, whether it is true or false, what the motive is for the offensive comments, and the outcome of the comments.
Take for example, the valid criticism of jihad violence and Sharia oppression, and the harm they inflict upon societies. Islamic supremacists are unjustifiably offended by criticisms of normative Islam and falsely accuse critics of “Islamophobia.”
In Canada, a Muslim has been accused of offensive speech against the Jewish community and against Zionists. His name is Hassan Guillet, “an Islamic religious leader who gained international attention for speaking out in the aftermath of the Quebec City mosque attack of 2017.” He was, until his statements came to light, “the Liberal Party nominee for the riding of Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel in Montreal.” Guillet did much more than offend the Jewish community’s sensibilities. He reportedly celebrated the release of Raed Salah — a Hamas jihad terrorist — from jail, and declared that Allah would support this murderer of Jews. Guillet also openly advocated for the Palestinian jihad against the Jewish state of Israel, and prayed for its success.
In January of 2017, Guillet celebrated the release of Raed Salah, a Hamas-aligned activist who has accused Jews of staging the 9/11 terror attacks and has claimed that Jews use children’s blood for baking “holy bread.” The candidate went on to hail Salah as a “jihad-fighter” and “frontier-fighter” whom “Allah will surely support.” Guillet offered his congratulations to Salah on being freed from “the prisons of occupied Palestine,” and prayed that he will some day be successful in the fight to liberate “the whole of Palestine.” Salah had been serving a nine-month prison term in Israel for “incitement to violence and racism.”
Guillet also spewed other outlandish, hateful and harmful propaganda against Jews. But it was his approval of Raed Salah’s “incitement to violence and racism” (for which Salah was jailed), as well as Guillet’s own incitement to violence and murder, that was most disturbing and worthy of investigation. Yet even though Guillet had gained notoriety for his statements going back to 2017, he wasn’t scrutinized under Canada’s hate laws. It is noteworthy that the Liberal government of Canada is so determined to crack down on “Islamophobia” and monitor citizens for compliance, yet had no interest in cracking down on Guillet for his antisemitism.
So Hassan Guillet decided that he wanted to pursue the job of “serving” all Canadians (which includes Jews) in Canadian Parliament. It’s difficult to imagine how he could fulfill such a role for all his potential constituents, given his hateful sentiments about Jews and the Jewish Democratic nation of Israel. Yet he was allowed by the Liberal Party to run as a candidate in the upcoming federal election on October 21.
But all didn’t go quite as planned. When the Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith released the information about Guillet to the public, it caused outrage in the Jewish community and beyond. The leader of the opposition, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, also tweeted:
The anti-Semitic comments by one of Justin Trudeau’s hand-picked candidates are absolutely repugnant. He needs to fire this candidate right now and explain to Canadians why he appointed someone which such racist and hateful views.
Guillet then found himself dropped like a hot potato by the Liberal Party of Canada, which issued a statement:
Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party have firmly stood against statements of anti-Semitism, hate, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, sexism, and all forms of discrimination. The Liberal Party strongly condemns all forms of discrimination, and the same is always expected of our candidates.
But why was Guillet allowed to run in the first place? Why was he only dropped when his statements came to public light? B’nai Brith alerted the Liberals about the comments weeks before the organization released the information to the public, and only in the face of bad publicity was Guillet turfed by the party.
In a followup, Guillet rebutted “soon the truth will be known by all….we have an appointment with history.” He also “told CTV that he questioned the timing of the decision coming on the eve of a long weekend.” The nerve of this man to reprimand CTV in light of his contemptible comments being exposed.
“B’nai Brith Seeks Disqualification of Liberal Candidate with History of Antisemitic Comments,” B’nai Brith Canada, August 30, 2019:
MONTREAL – B’nai Brith Canada has uncovered a pattern of disturbing antisemitic and anti-Israel statements made by a Liberal Party candidate running in the coming federal election on Oct. 21.
Hassan Guillet, an Islamic religious leader who gained international attention for speaking out in the aftermath of the Quebec City mosque attack of 2017, is currently the Liberal Party nominee for the riding of Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel in Montreal.
B’nai Brith is shocked by a number of his statements over the past few years and believes they must preclude his candidacy.
In January of 2017, Guillet celebrated the release of Raed Salah, a Hamas-aligned activist who has accused Jews of staging the 9/11 terror attacks and has claimed that Jews use children’s blood for baking “holy bread.” The candidate went on to hail Salah as a “jihad-fighter” and “frontier-fighter” whom “Allah will surely support.”
Guillet offered his congratulations to Salah on being freed from “the prisons of occupied Palestine,” and prayed that he will some day be successful in the fight to liberate “the whole of Palestine.” Salah had been serving a nine-month prison term in Israel for “incitement to violence and racism.”
These posts no longer appear on Guillet’s social media.
In a late 2017 interview with Radio Canada International, Guillet called Israel an apartheid state. Guillet also accused Jared Kushner, the Jewish son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, of directing his government to support an “Israel first” agenda. He accused Kushner of dual loyalty because of his Jewish background and inaccurately described him as an “ultra-Orthodox” and “fundamentalist” Jew.
Guillet has also stated on Facebook that “the Zionists control American politics,” promoting the common antisemitic trope of Jews manipulating world governments.
“Montreal Liberal candidate turfed following anti-Semitism allegations,” by Kerri Breen, Global News, August 30, 2019:
The Liberals have removed Hassan Guillet as the candidate for a Montreal riding after some of his past remarks were called anti-Semitic by a Jewish human rights group.
The Liberal party said the decision to revoke Guillet’s candidacy came after a review that was ongoing for a few weeks.
“The insensitive comments made by Hassan Guillet are not aligned with the values of the Liberal Party of Canada,” the party said in a statement on Friday.
“Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party have firmly stood against statements of anti-Semitism, hate, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, sexism, and all forms of discrimination. The Liberal Party strongly condemns all forms of discrimination, and the same is always expected of our candidates.”
Guillet, who was running in Saint-Leonard-Saint-Michel, is a former imam who spoke at the funeral for several of the victims of the Quebec City mosque attack in 2017….