The Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association in a brief submitted to the Commons Justice Committee Canadians complained anti-Israel street protestors have been facing workplace shaming. Pro-Hamas demonstrators face blacklisting and workplace reprisal, the association said. The brief follows complaints by a cabinet advisor that employers won’t hire activists,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter. Reprisals included “public shaming,” “workplace bullying and harassment,” “poor performance reviews,” “unwarranted investigations” and “threats of contract non-renewal,” wrote lawyers. It detailed “persistent misconduct by co-workers and supervisors including verbal abuse, threats and hostile work environments.”The association said its Muslim Legal Support Centre received 330 requests for aid in eight months compared to 22 in the same period last year. “The Legal Support Centre has handled 123 cases of individuals who were unjustly dismissed without proper cause or notice as well as 45 employees who were placed on leave for the same reason,” it wrote.“These figures represent only the Ontario cases,” said the association. National figures were likely much higher, it added. Reprisals included “blacklisting by potential employers or professional networks due to political beliefs or activism.”“Since October 7 our communities have faced serious employment consequences in response to legitimate pro-Palestinian speech,” wrote the association. “This includes wrongful termination.”Amira Elghawaby, a former Toronto Star columnist currently acting as cabinet’s $191,000-a year Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, wrote in a July 2 report to Parliament that outspoken advocates faced workplace reprisals. “Over the past several months Canadian Muslims have shared their growing concerns about an increase in an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab backlash that has already led to loss of income, threats to current or future employment, harassment, violence, vandalism and exclusion,” wrote Elghawaby. She provided no examples.“We have been watching heartbreaking scenes from the Middle East over the past several months, particularly the distressing number of civilian deaths and injuries,” said Elghawaby’s report, entitled A Hopeful Path Forward For Canada’s Muslim Communities. “The war has had a direct impact on many in our country including Canadian Muslims and particularly those of Palestinian descent.”Elghawaby as a Star columnist in 2021 described Jews as “hostage takers” and condemned “an Israeli occupation that is being more widely described as ‘apartheid’ than ever before.” Palestinians in Gaza were “long held hostage by the Israel government,” she wrote.“Call out Israel’s actions, not only Hamas’ rockets.”
