Toronto Metropolitan University: Faculty For Palestine

"The report is exhaustive in listing the relevant university codes and guidelines, including the Student Code For Non-Academic Conduct, which recognizes freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, provided those occur lawfully, without harassment, discrimination, intimidation or violence."

"The review meticulously details examples of members of the Students for Justice in Palestine organization engaging in intimidation and violence, in breach of that code, but Benotto's subsequent conclusions have been redacted."

"The published report includes Benotto's statement that TMU must be prepared to enforce its codes of conduct consistently, but the published version redacts her finding that those codes were broken repeatedly."

John Ivison, Investigative Journalist, National Post

 

"Your analysis fundamentally misinterprets the facts, leading to conclusions that are demonstrably incorrect."

"The measures are necessary to ensure that established processes can proceed fairly and appropriately, without compromising the rights of those involved."

"We will not compromise the integrity of ongoing proceedings by disclosing information that must remain confidential."

Toronto Metropolitan University, rejoinder to journalistic scrutiny 

Have questions about the external review or the university's next steps? Explore our answers to common inquiries. Toronto Metropolitan University

 

A review was undertaken by retired justice Mary Lou Benotto at the request of Toronto Metropolitan University, seeking to respond to criticism that it has permitted antisemitism to permeate its hallowed halls of learning, without taking any steps to put a stop to the propaganda, harassment of Jewish students and violent verbal expressions and actions seemingly condoned by some university faculty members by Students for Justice in Palestine, at the university.

 

Justice Benotto investigated the antisemitic incidents and produced a fairly exhaustive report, one that constituted a damning indictment of the policies of the TMU administration in failing to support breaches of its own code-of-conduct policies. The university administration responded by redacting the review that concluded with the observation that absence of clear enforcement of its own code contributed to tension escalation at the university through rampant expressions and incidents of antisemitism.

 

Instead of addressing the report and releasing it, the administration of the university decided to appoint another investigation to take place; in essence investigating the conclusion of the initial investigation. To that end, TMU president Mohamed Lachemi and his staff appointed former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae as chairman of an implementation task force to study the Benotto review and produce a report of their own on that review by the following spring.

 

The task force membership includes a number of faculty members of the university along with others who have heretofore expressed opposition to one of the key recommendations of the Benotto report: adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism. TMU must also be prepared, according to the Benotto report, to enforce its codes of conduct consistently. The Benotto report concludes that by establishing clear behavioural expectations to be enforced adequately TMU could solve its problem. 

 

Two events drew Justice Benotto's attention in her appraisal of the situation at TMU; one of which was Students for Justice in Palestine disrupting a Democracy Forum panel discussion on artificial intelligence where their operatives shouted "war criminals", "baby killers" and "murderers" at attendees, forcing the event to be cancelled. When a number of the activists were arrested, the protesters accused the police of "brutalization". Another incident off-campus sponsored by Students Supporting Israel was broken into by SJP protesters shouting accusations of "Zionist murderers"; the event cancelled, violence causing some hospitalizations and a few arrests. 

 

 

 

"Freedom of speech is not an unlimited right", stated Judge Benotto in her finding of a deeply polarized camps environment that emerged following the Palestinian terrorist attacks that took place in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The university's Faculty for Palestine, listed as being present at the September 2025 protest, involves themselves by sending their students out to volubly protest and get arrested whereupon the professors claim the students are penalized for the simple act of protesting. 

 

Also in the review are references to faculty members denying or minimizing the Holocaust while leading discussions on how much violence is justified in support of the activities of supporting Palestine. TMU's sociology department issued a statement criticizing the university for the "systematic silencing of Palestinian and Arab students". A message from F4P in support of the pro-Palestinian student protests was circulated by the TMU faculty association which declined to distribute a response from a member of the Jewish Employees Community Network.

 

Should it ever come to this pass, the Ontario government recently announced its intention to cut operational funding to institutions failing to address racism and hate. The TMU efforts to place the Benotto report high up on a shelf, undisturbed until the next century might just qualify for that special attention and defunding.

 

Anti-Israel protesters hold a rally against Toronto Metropolitan University on April 30, 2024. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

 

Jewish Canadians, Victims of Antisemitic Violence

"Jewish people must be able to worship safely. To live free, open, proud Jewish Lives."

"Canada's government will do everything in our power to support law enforcement in ensuring that the perpetrator is held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

"My thoughts are with the injured officer and his family, and the entire Jewish community."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney

 

"This vile antisemitic violence in Canada must end, and this Liberal government must act now to protect our people."

"Jewish Canadians must once again be able to live in their communities and pray in their places of worship without fear of being shot at or attacked."

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre 

Sons of Jacob Synagogue, Belleville, Ontario

 

Of the two political leaders' statements with respect to the latest violent attack on a synagogue in Ontario, that of the prime minister of Canada is one of studied sanctimony. This is a prime minister who cannot mouth 'antisemitism' without pairing it with 'Islamophobia'. One descriptive is a reality, the second is a mockery. It is not Jews who worldwide commit terrorist acts -- against Western symbols and non-Muslims but jihad-infested Muslims who are also creating mortal carnage among their own. Under this Liberal government the gates of Canada were flung wide open to welcome largely unvetted migrants, refugees and immigrants from cultures reflecting Islamic values incapable of ever accommodating themselves to Democratic and human rights laws.

 

On Sunday evening in Belleville, Ontario, at the cusp of the arrival of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement...Yom Kippur, congregants in the Sons of Jacob Synagogue became suddenly alert to the sounds of gunfire. Outside, on the street near the  synagogue, sat a Belleville police officer in an unmarked vehicle, on protective duty at the synagogue. Approached by a man with a shotgun, Constable Jeffrey Smith was shot and seriously injured. Nonetheless, he returned fire and with the assistance of another officer who soon arrived detained the attacker from his intent to enter the synagogue.

 

A barrage of shots rang out, many hitting the synagogue, before the attacker was subdued. His goal was obvious, to murder Jews at prayer during the most sacred day of the year for Jews. His injuries were critical. Both the assailant who was identified as a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces in Alberta, and Constable Smith were taken to Kingston General Hospital. Constable Smith will survive his ordeal, the would-be terrorist succumbed to his wounds and in this way 'justice was done'.

 

Politicians declare their horror at the violent event and thoughts of the possible outcome with scores of people dead. In Toronto, Mayor Olivia Chow expressed her insincere sympathy: "My thoughts are with the Jewish community and the injured officer in Belleville. The Jewish community will see an increased police presence as we take precautions to keep people safe." This is a mayor who refused to take part in a discussion on rampant antisemitism in Toronto. 

"Jewish Torontonians should not need police presence to observe Yom Kippur, or to simply live their day-to-day lives."

"As long as we contend with rising antisemitism and hate, we will spare no expense keeping the community safe."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow 

These hypocritical words of comforting empathy from a mayor of all the people who has somehow found herself unable to support the Jewish community, preferring the company of Muslim associations where she obligingly mouths condemnation of Israel for its 'genocidal' actions in Gaza, effectively smearing the Toronto Jewish community even further at a time of rancid, growing antisemitism expressed in threats and covert vandalization of Jewish businesses, houses of prayer, children's schools and old-age homes.

 

On the board of Allies for a Strong Canada, dedicated to mobilizing non-Jewish Canadians in an effort to fight antisemitism in Canada, Laryssa Waler expressed her goal to have decision-makers and policy leaders understand that "it's not the responsibility of the Jewish community to solve antisemitism". The plain fact is that Jews in Canada have been abandoned by their governments at all levels, who are all too aware of the weight of the voting bloc of Canada's new Muslim demographic, as opposed to the infinitely smaller Jewish presence of far longer presence.

Police vehicles on scene after a shooting near a Belleville synagogue on Sept. 20, 2026. CITYNEWS/Bert Dandy

 

"Jewish people can't make non-Jews not hate them. They can't be nicer. They can't be more giving. They can't be more polite. It's on us not to hate them and to defend them and to say loudly 'We live in Canada. You can't hate another group of people."

"In Canada, we would not tolerate any other community being shot at, being harassed. We would lose our collective minds if a Catholic girls' school was shot at three times."

"Are Canadians going to continue to be tolerant of other Canadians being shot at, harassed and made victims of violence for the crime of their religion?"

Laryssa Waler, board member, Allies for a Strong Canada 

"Injury to Dignity, Feelings and Self-Respect"

"Ayman Elkasrawy is a teaching assistant at Ryerson University. In 2016, he publicly made extremely hateful statements about Jews."

"Oh Allah! Count their numbers; slay them one by one and spare not one of them." 

"Oh Allah! Purify the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews."

CIJ News 

 

"One of Ryerson's core values is our commitment to community and inclusion ... your comments are in contravention of this core value, do not foster a respectful learning environment and reflect adversely on, and are to the detriment of the University."

Ryerson University dismissal letter teaching assistant 

Masjid Toronto on Dundas Street West. FACEBOOK PHOTO

 

Ayman Elkasrawy, a former teaching assistant with Ryerson University in Toronto (renamed Toronto Metropolitan University in 2022) was fired following his having publicly denounced "desecration by the Jews" in 2016 in a prayer delivered in Arabic, at the Masjid mosque in Toronto. There he called for Jews to be slayed 'one by one', none to be spared. At the time the prayer was condemned by Masjid Toronto as well as the Muslim Association of Canada. It was identified by them as "an inappropriate supplication that was offensive to those of Jewish faith".

 

There was additional repercussions when Ryerson University decided to dismiss Elkasrawy from his work as a teaching assistant in the engineering faculty. Elkasrawy's prayer clips were circulated at the time by  CIJ News, now defunct. The translation circulated by CIJ News represented a mistranslation, claimed Elkasrawy's counsel; the comments "twisted, to make them appear inappropriate, violent and antisemitic". 

 

What he actually did say, according to Elkasrawy was: "Oh Allah: has full cognizance of them, slay them one by one, and don't let one escape your punishment. Oh Allah; cleanse the Aqsa Mosque from the desecration by the Jews". Furthermore testifying before the Ontario Human Rights Commission that his 'slay them one by one' statement referred to members of Syria's Assad regime. That he was referring to Israeli control of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque; however on second thought he would alter the prayer to "the occupying Jews".

 

In a statement university said it learned last week "that a teaching assistant had made disturbing, anti-Semitic comments off-campus" in the summer 2016, and took "appropriate action." (Facebook)

 

On the grounds that he was the victim of an "Islamophobic attack" Elkasrawy  had taken his complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. He had been, he claimed, the victim of an Islamophobic attack resulting from posters pasted on the Ryerson University campus with his photograph alongside the caption "fire him now". The posters, Elkasrawy informed the tribunal, were created by "the Islamophobia industry" in which Ryerson had "participated in the Islamophobic attack" by respecting their demands for his dismissal.

 

The Jewish group B'nai Brith had sent a letter to President Mohamed Lachemi of Ryerson University calling for Elkasrawy's dismissal. Following the termination, President Lachemi replied to B'nai Brith with the news that Elkasrawy was "no longer employed by he university", that "we remain actively engaged in addressing antisemitism in our community". 

 

In adjudicator Cherniak's ruling, Lachemi's decision to comment violated the university's usual privacy regulations even while rejecting Elkasrawy's claims of having been fired because he was Muslim.  Ironically, she deemed him a victim of discrimination, relating to the email Ryerson President Mohamed Lachemi, himself a Muslim, sent to B'nai Brith. Which moved her to the decision to award him $7,000 for "injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect". 

 

Ayman Elkasrawy accused of making anti-Semitic statements while leading prayers at his downtown mosque / Cole Burston for the Toronto Star

"Who amongst us has not at some point in their lives said something they wish they could take back and learned a life lesson because of it."

"[The prayer was a] human moment [that ultimately did not represent] his sincerely held beliefs."

"I find that his identity as a Muslim is not the reason he was terminated because there is no evidence to support such a conclusion."

"I find that Dr. Elkasrawy has not presented clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the poster was made by the Islamophobia industry or is Islamophobic on its face."

"I am satisfied that Dr. Elkasrawy's creed was a small factor in President Lachemi's decision to breach Ryerson's confidentiality policy and send an email about Dr. Elkasrawy's employment status to B'nai Brith Canada."

"I award Dr. Elkasrawy a remedy in the sum of $7,000.00 as compensation for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect for this Code violation."

Cyndee Cherniak, adjudicator, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal 

Posters that were put up at Ryerson University, calling for Ayman Elkasrawy to be fired.

 

"More than 53 percent of all incidents referenced Israel, Gaza, the war or October 7"

"The deadly reality of antisemitism that Jewish communities worldwide confront at levels unprecedented since World War Two [is the] picture that emerges from this report, both sobering and urgent."

"Extremists are targeting Jews in every aspect of society, from Jewish camps to allies who stand against hate. Activists across the country are working to push Jewish presence out of public life -- from unsuccessful attempts to exclude Jews from participating in Pride celebrations, to the deliberate targeting, harassment, and violence against our community members at schools, summer camps, community centers, in our workplaces and in unions."

JT Annual Report on Antisemitism for 2025 

 

"Canada remains one intelligence failure away from a mass casualty event, and ... the Jewish community is keenly aware."

"We are grateful to our police and security agencies for disrupting at least four ISIS-inspired terror plots since October 7, 2023."

"But it should not take a Bondi Beach on Canadian soil before leaders at every level respond with the urgency this threat demands."

Noah Shack, CEO, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs 

On May 21, 2025, a gunman killed two young employees of Israel’s U.S. embassy outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The next month, an 82-year-old woman was killed in Boulder, Colo., when Molotov cocktails were thrown at a group of people demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages. Two people were killed in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, U.K., on Oct. 2, during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Photo by Getty Images

 

An annual report on antisemitism in major Jewish diaspora regions worldwide point out that antisemitic attacks are now at their deadliest level in over 30 years. A combined 20 people were murdered in 2025, in antisemitic attacks that have taken place in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, representing a record number of hate-impact fatalities since the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994 where 84 people were killed. 

 

No Canadians lost their lives to antisemitic attacks, but they were targets of 71 percent of religious hate crimes, according to Statistics Canada. In 2025, an Islamist killed two employees of Israel's U.S. embassy outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. An 82-year-old woman was lethally victimized in Boulder, Colo., when Molotov cocktails were flung at a group of people demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages. Two more people died in an attack in Manchester, U.K. on a synagogue. In December two Islamists killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in Sydney. 

 

The J7 Large Communities' Task Force Against Antisemitism takes into account the seven largest Jewish diaspora countries represented by Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Britain and the United States. Over 23,000 Jew-hatred incidents were documented for 2025 across the region, comprising over nine=tenths of the diaspora population.   

"Antisemitism in our seven countries is no longer a surge; it is our new normal."

"Governments must stop reacting after Jews are attacked and start acting before, with real security funding, stronger laws and social media platforms that enforce their own rules."

JT Large Communities' Task Force Against Antisemitism  

While each of the countries involved still see antisemitic incidents dramatically above pre-October 7 levels, the sharpest rise of such incidents since 2021 (270 percent) took place in Australia, followed by Germany (215 percent), the United States (131 percent), and France (124 percent). The highest per-capita rate takes place in Germany with almost 70 incidents per 1,000 Jewish residents in 2025, some five times the rate of Australia, six times the U.K.'s and almost 70 times the rate in the United States.

 

Mourners gather by floral tributes at the Bondi Pavilion in memory of the victims of the Hanukkah shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney on Dec. 15, 2025. Authorities labeled it an antisemitic terrorist attack. (Saeed KHAN / AFP)

 

As for Canada's levels, there was a drop of 16 percent to 788, translating to roughly two reported incidents per thousand Jewish residents, from 943 incidents the prior year, yet antisemitic incidents remain 50 percent higher than they were in 2022. JT countries recorded a combined total between 2022 and 2025 of over 91,000 antisemitic incidents. A "persistent toxic environment remains on campuses", while public school classrooms can be "hostile" with "inadequate institutional responses". 

 

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada is calling for a new criminal offence to punish wilful promotion or glorification of terrorism, and for "consistent enforcement of Canada's existing laws", contending that "hate-motivated criminals" are most often released on bail, or are never even charged. Proactive measures that safeguard Jewish communities are urged by the J7, before incidents take place, rather than responding only following the occurrence of harmful incidents.

 

Anti-Zionism or anti-Israel activism, noted the report, were used as a "vehicle for antisemitic expression" in a sizeable number of incidents; 48 percent in the U.K.; 45 percent in the U.S; and 23 percent in Germany. "More than 53 percent of all incidents referenced Israel, Gaza, the war or October 7", states the report.  

 

 

"Canada has made important progress by investing in community security and strengthening hate laws."

"Those are important steps.While we strengthen our defence, we also need to go on the offence against violent extremism."

"That means getting tough on terrorism, deepening intelligence partnerships with our allies, giving police and security agencies the resources they need, and confronting the extremists who radicalize and incite violence here at home."

Noah Shack, CIJA CEO