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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne Condemns Antisemitic Arabic Newspaper

 

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

By Aidan Fishman
Campus Advocacy Coordinator
B’nai Brith Canada

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has condemned an antisemitic article appearing in a Southwestern Ontario publication.

In an email sent to B’nai Brith Canada, Wynne did not mince words.

“I want to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the statements in the al-Saraha article that deny the Holocaust and express anti-Semitic and homophobic views,” Wynne said in the email. “Statements like these, filled with hatred, prejudice and lies, have no place in our society. That is why we have established the Anti-Racism Directorate, with a mandate to fight racism in all its forms. . .

“The Ontario Liberal Caucus was completely unaware of al-Saraha’s intent to publish this article when it purchased advertising space to convey Ramadan greetings to the community. I assure you that our caucus will no longer purchase advertising space in this publication.”

Earlier this week, B’nai Brith Canada exposed the article that was headlined, “The Question Which Everyone Ignores: Why Did Hitler Kill the Jews?” which appeared in the June-July edition of the Arabic al-Saraha newspaper based in London, Ont. The article, which accused Jews of introducing homosexuality and “every type of sexual deviance” into Germany and causing the country’s economic collapse, was widely panned by Canadian media.

In a separate statement, Deputy Premier and London North Centre MPP Deb Matthews, whose advertisement had also appeared in al-Saraha, said: “I want to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the statements in the Al-Saraha article. Statements like these, filled with hate, prejudice and lies, have no place in Canadian society.”

B’nai Brith Canada also has reached out to all MPPs whose faces appeared in advertisements in the June-July edition of al-Saraha.

For more information contact:

Marty York
Chief Media Officer
B’nai Brith Canada
416-633-6224 x163
[email protected]