Donors supporting a defamation fund for Birju Dattani, a former Liberal appointee to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, have called on him to “free the world from Zionism” and “take them all down.”
Blacklock's Reporter says the comments were posted on a crowdfunding site where Dattani is raising money for a libel suit against three Jewish defendants.
“Bring them down!” wrote one contributor, while another urged, “Take them all down!” A separate anonymous post stated, “Weaponization of anti-Semitism has no place in a just society.” Another donor wrote, “How refreshing it is to see someone fight institutionalized Islamophobia and other forms of racist ideological supremacy.”
Most donations were made anonymously.
Dattani, a former organizer with the Muslim Students Association at the University of Calgary, is suing for $2 million in Ontario Superior Court.
His lawsuit names the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, Ont.), and Ezra Levant, founder of the Rebel News Network.
In his online appeal for donations, Dattani urged supporters to “Help Birju Dattani put CIJA, Lantsman and Levant on trial!”
He is seeking to raise $200,000 to cover legal expenses. As of last night, six weeks into fundraising, donations had reached $19,183.
Dattani was appointed Chief Human Rights Commissioner by cabinet on June 11, with an annual salary of $394,000. However, his appointment was suspended just hours before he was to take office following protests from pro-Israel groups.
Dattani previously apologized for remarks made in a 2014 lecture in Istanbul, where he described terrorism as “a rational and well-calculated strategy that is pursued with surprisingly high success rates.”
He also acknowledged participating in a street protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London and attending “Israeli Apartheid Week” events at Cambridge University in 2014 and 2015.
Additionally, Dattani expressed regret over past social media posts in which he compared Palestinians to Holocaust victims.
According to an August 12 report commissioned by the Department of Justice, Dattani explained that, “with the benefit of hindsight, he would not have sent that tweet,” attributing it to “rapid fire tweeting” during his time as a graduate student.
The report, authored by lawyers from Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP in Toronto, criticized Dattani’s explanations, stating that he “deliberately de-emphasized the manner in which his academic work was critical of the State of Israel in respect of its treatment of Palestinians.”
The report also noted that his failure to disclose this work prevented the government from properly assessing the impact of his views on his role as Chief Commissioner.
Dattani maintains he was defamed and is taking legal action to restore his reputation. “I am taking this step today to reclaim my reputation,” he told reporters on February 6. His claims have not yet been tested in court.
