Ex-Imam Removed From Canadian Elections Over Anti-Semitic Comments

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

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MONTREAL (JTA)—The Liberal Party of Canada ousted a candidate for upcoming national election after B’nai Brith Canada revealed past allegedly anti-Semitic comments.

Hassan Guillet, a former imam running for election in a Montreal district, was removed on Friday from contention for the Oct. 21 election. Gulliet gained international attention when he spoke out following a 2017 mosque attack in Quebec City.

But according to B’nai Brith, Guillet’s past has included celebrating the release of a pro-Hamas activist Raed Salah, who said Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks; accusing “Zionists” of controlling U.S. politics; and describing Israel as an “apartheid” state.

B’nai Brith CEO Michael Mostyn welcomed Guillet’s turfing and said, “the anti-Semitic tropes of ‘Zionists controlling governments’ and of ‘dual loyalty’ are two of the more abhorrent expressions of paranoid anti- Jewish conspiracy theories.”

The Liberal Party of Canada said in a statement that Guillet’s past comments “do not correspond to the party’s values.”