A spokesperson for Justice Minister Arif Virani says that when he appointed Birju Dattani as head of Canada’s human rights commission, the minister was unaware of tweets Mr. Dattani had sent.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Jewish advocates have raised concerns with the Justice Minister about whether he fully vetted the new head of Canada’s human rights commission after it emerged that Birju Dattani posted links on social media to articles comparing Israelis to Nazis, and Palestinians to Jews incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, met Justice Minister Arif Virani last week to express disquiet about his appointment of Mr. Dattani as chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) earlier this month. The commissioner would play a key role in combatting hateful posts under the government’s online harms bill.
Mr. Dattani had also shared a platform with a member of a radical Islamist group opposed to the existence of the state of Israel and attended an anti-Israel rally in London after a senior Hamas figure was killed in an air strike.
Mr. Koffler Fogel said positions and tweets he posted around a decade ago in Britain were of “serious concern” and undermined his group’s “confidence in the Human Rights Commission to adjudicate issues of hate and discrimination.”
Chantalle Aubertin, a spokeswoman for Mr. Virani, told The Globe and Mail that when he appointed Mr. Dattani, the minister was unaware of tweets he had sent. They included one saying Palestinians are Warsaw Ghetto Prisoners of Today, linking to an article of that title, and another tweet he sent linking to a news story referring to summary executions which mentioned Israelis and Nazis.
Mr. Virani appointed Mr. Dattani, former executive director of the Yukon Human Rights Commission, to the helm of the CHRC, which would play a key role under new powers in Bill C-63, now going through Parliament. If passed, the bill would give people the ability to make complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act about hate speech to the Commission.
Complaints deemed valid would be forwarded to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to assess. The tribunal could demand that a post be taken down or that the victim of a hateful post gain up to $20,000 in compensation.
“It is critical for the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission to maintain the confidence of all Canadians and to be seen as an impartial and fair judge of matters before them,” said Ms. Aubertin. “We have become aware of potentially troubling statements attributed to Mr. Dattani as well as events he participated in while he was a graduate student in London, England, a decade ago. Mr. Dattani did not disclose information about these statements and events during the appointment process.”
“We have been carefully reviewing these statements and events, and discussing them with Mr. Dattani, as well as relevant stakeholders, to ensure that we have complete and accurate information,” she added.
Mr. Dattani did his postgraduate studies in England at the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies, where he also taught, publishing on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He was interviewed in November, 2012, at a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in response to Israeli air strikes which killed, among others, the Hamas military commander Ahmad Al Jabari.
Mr. Dattani, whose tweets were under the name Mujahid Dattani, also shared a platform in England with a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist fundamentalist organization which is opposed to the existence of the state of Israel and banned in Britain.
Mr. Dattani told The Globe and Mail he did not share the views of Hizb ut-Tahrir, nor did he believe that Israelis were like Nazis or that Palestinians are like prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto. He said tweets he had sent 10 to 12 years ago, which have now been deleted, were flagging an academic paper and a news story, without comments from him.
“The title is ‘Palestinians are Warsaw Ghetto Prisoners of Today’ so I’m not myself saying, Okay, here’s my view. I’m saying this is the article,” he said.
He said another tweet he sent flagged an article about summary killings which included a reference to Nazis. “I didn’t say, and have never said that Israelis are Nazis or Israeli policies are analogous or comparable to Nazi Germany – that I’ve always found offensive.”
He said he had a proven track record of impartiality, supported mainstream Jewish voices being platformed and since he was a student in London his views have evolved and become more well rounded.
“My record of leadership at the Alberta and Yukon Human Rights Commissions demonstrate that I impartially defend the human rights of Canadians from all walks of life, backgrounds and lived experiences in line with Canadian law. I am wholly committed to combatting both antisemitism and Islamophobia.”
“What you’re seeing from Twitter is not a reflection. My belief is that all people have human rights, that includes Israelis, that also includes Palestinians,” he said in an interview.
He added that he was not told he would be sharing a platform with someone from Hizb ut-Tahrir, saying that he has also shared platforms in Britain with representatives of the Zionist Federation of the UK, and Labour Friends of Israel.
He said he has asked to meet with CIJA to reassure them of his impartiality.
Mr. Koffler Fogel said he recognized that Mr. Dattani’s posts “were made some years ago.” He said Mr. Dattani “must demonstrate that his current perspective is consistent with what any reasonable individual would expect of the chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.”