Canadians of Academic Distinction

"[The internal investigation ended with the employee being allowed to return to work with] the expectation they would comply with the college's policies and initiatives which support a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning and working environment."

"Further, they were expected to take care to ensure any future remarks could not reasonably be interpreted as celebrating violence against civilians."

"The employee proceeded to engage in activities contrary to the expectations laid out by the college and as a result this employee is no longer an employee of Langara College."

"We are focused on supporting those in our community who are living with immense pain over the continuing violence and tragic loss of life in the Middle East."

Langara College statement 

"She demonstrably failed in her obligation as an instructor to create a safe environment for all students."

"By dismissing Knight, Langara College has acted to ensure the safety of its Jewish and Israeli community and taken a stand against antisemitism and the glorification of terrorism."

Nico Slobinsky, spokesman, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

Natalie Knight, pictured centre holding microphone, faced criticism and calls to be fired from her academic job after a speech she gave at a pro-Palestinian rally in late October. Knight defended her comments as legitimate speech in the face of Israeli actions against Palestinians. (United in Struggle)

Claiming to have been reinstated to her position at a Vancouver college with no disciplinary consequences, openly pro-terror academic Natalie Knight announced to her followers and friends that Langara College in Vancouver placed her back on staff. "It means we won. It means I did nothing wrong. It means none of you are doing anything wrong", she said delightedly during a small rally. 

 

She had been suspended in November from her position as an English instructor and Indigenous curriculum consultant at Langara College. A video had circulated of her praising the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7. She had appeared as a speaker in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery at an October 28 rally. There, she characterized the October 7 atrocities in southern Israel that took 1,200 lives and saw over 200 children, women and elderly abducted, as an "amazing, brilliant offensive".

By that time, details of the heinous crimes committed against innocent people living in towns and kibbutzim close to the Gaza border, and the horrendous events at the Nova Music Festival where over 300 young people had been raped, mutilated and slaughtered, had become public knowledge. She knew, as did her co-celebrants, the details of the savagery meted out on that day, and still found it in their moral code to celebrate the sadism perpetrated that day.

The event she spoke at was an All Out for Palestine rally sponsored by the Palestinian Youth Movement and Samidoun, representing two organizations known to openly celebrate the massacres, endorsing Hamas terrorism. Video and photographic evidence had emerged illustrating the inhumanity of the attacks including many images that the terrorists themselves had videoed in celebration of their unbelievable depravity.

Langara, two days later, placed Knight on leave, with the statement that the matter was "under investigation" and her views "do not represent those of the College". When she was temporarily reinstated the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, arguing for her initial suspension stated: "The college ha a choice to make here; to decide whether or not it is a safe school for Jews or not", CIJA spokesman Nico Slobinsky related to the news media.

At an earlier date, two days after the Hamas invasion of Israel, a former director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association herself stated "how beautiful is the spirit to get free that Palestinians literally learned how to fly on hang gliders", in reference to the tactic of some of the terrorists using paragliders to ambush the  Nova music festival. Harsha Walia was relieved of her position with the B.C. Civil Liberties, but went on an acclaimed speaking tour.

Both events reflect Canada's academia with its many apologists for the October 7 terrorism where students, faculty unions and tenured professors haven't  hesitated to justify the atrocities as an act of "resistance" -- "decolonization". Uahikea Maile, a professor of Indigenous politics at the University of Toronto wrote a social media post on October 7 that the ongoing attacks constituted "anticolonial resistance", suggesting similar violence should be visited on the rest of the settled world. He remains on staff as director of Ziibling Lab, the offiical Indigenous Politics Collaboratory at University of Toronto.

A 'law of war' researcher at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School, Heidi Matthews wrote a social media post decrying the "obfuscation going on about what the right of resistance looks like in brutally asymmetrical contexts". That was her comment on October 7. Osgoode Hall later touted her as an expert on the Israel-Hamas conflict. She wrote an op-ed entitled "Canada is hypocritical by not supporting South Africa's genocide case against Israel."

 

Natalie Knight is no longer an employee of Langara College, said the post-secondary institution in a letter to its students, staff, and faculty on Friday. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG