B’nai Brith Canada has called on London, Ontario to not give a platform to American comedian Amer Zahr due to his past antisemitic comments and praise of terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
This comes only days after London Public Library refused The Society for Academic Freedom (SAFS) to host a free speech event with author Joanna Williams at their venue because she was critical of woke politics.
In a letter published to the organization’s website, B’nai Brith CEO Michael Mostyn said that London was giving Zahr access to municipal space – which should be revoked immediately.
“The City of London must do the right thing and refuse to give this radical American access to its municipal space,” said Mostyn.
“All levels of government in Canada need to do a better job of preventing those with a history of propagating hate from accessing public resources.”
In the past Zahr has spoken in support of designated terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas who stand against the “Israeli occupation.”
Additionally, Zahr has praised terrorist and flight hijacker Leila Khaled calling her his “valentine” on social media.
Zahr has also claimed that Jewish people have no connection to Jerusalem, their historic homeland, furthermore he claimed “Israel is based on Jewish supremacy.”
“We are calling on the City of London to cancel the event. There is a need for all governments in Canada, including the City of London’s administration, to utilize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which has already been adopted by both the federal and Ontario government, and to employ the IHRA when vetting those who may be granted access to public space,” wrote B’nai Brith.
Earlier this week, True North reported on how SAFS was barred from booking a space at the London Public Library for a May 19 talk titled “Sex, Gender, and the Limits of Free Speech on Campus” with Williams.
The library claimed the event went against policies on workplace harassment and poses a risk of “physical danger.”