Antisemitic Advocacy -- Joy At Hamas' Butchery

"The respondents have collectively engaged in systemic discrimination against the complainants by promoting and engaging in antisemitism. This has caused the complainants to feel isolated, unwelcome. scared, silenced, discriminated against, threatened and harassed."

"In posting these comments, the respondents were celebrating the murder and rape of Jewish children and civilians, calling it justified and promoting violence and discrimination against Jewish people."

"[The social media posts are not isolated incidents but part of] a long pattern of discrimination against Jewish union members."

Complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

 

"Change wasn't coming, it was just becoming more and more toxic, and I felt more and more unsafe and less heard. Enough is enough."

"This is not the way I would want to bring about change. I was hoping to educate, hoping to work together, but clearly that's not working."

"Those tweets, like day after the massacre and horrendous terrorist attack -- for him [CUPE Ontario's president Fred Hahn] to be celebrating the death of Jews?"

"I cried."

Carrie Silverberg, CUPE member, former CUPE executive Local 1734

 

"CUPE Ontario hasn't seen the complaint and can't speak to the allegations made."

"However, our union understands the fundamental importance of human rights and we take these matters very seriously."

"We firmly believe there has been no violation of Ontario's Human Rights Code and in any forum we will be happy to stand on our record of fighting discrimination and oppression in all their forms."

"Causing any form of pain to our members was never my intent, but I understand that it has been the impact. I am deeply sorry for this unintended consequence."

"That was an error, and I apologize. My social media posts became a giant lightning rod for both legitimate anger, and also for bad faith actors with a divisive agenda."

Fred Hahn, president, CUPE Ontario

 

A formal complaint to the  Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario by Jewish members of the largest public sector union in Canada speaks of antisemitic incidents going back at least five years. In Canada, labour law has it that wherever unions exist, it is obligatory for all employees to pay union dues, irrespective of whether or not they approve of the union. The underlying understanding is that unions work to improve the lives of employees, and wherever unions exist, workers are advantaged by their lobbying and bargaining with management for improved labour conditions.

Unions, however, are infected with the virus of political activism, ostensibly in support of workers' rights and the human rights of perceived underdogs everywhere, a relatively recent occurrence which unions justify as activism for social justice everywhere. Unions are also supposedly active in the fight against racism but obviously antisemitism doesn't count since Jews are now universally lumped in with the privileged sector of society, and it is Jewish 'imperialism' linked to the 'white race' privilege that immunizes Jews against racism, antisemitism be damned.

Among the complainants is a former CUPE executive who spent years fighting antisemitism in her union local, a fight she ultimately felt was futile, and she resigned her position as a result. Although the complaint is recent, it speaks to historical levels of antisemitism dating back years ago, but what really precipitated the complaint was the outright celebratory tone taken by one union leader who just happens to be a vice-president on the national CUPE board, while also head of CUPE in Ontario.

Fred Hahn and other CUPE executive members expressed messages on October 7 congratulating Hamas on its human rights victory in killing Jewish civilians. What Mr. Hahn posted on social media as top executive of CUPE Local 3906 representing academic workers at Hamilton's McMaster University was: "Palestine is rising, long live the resistance!" The next day he posted of being thankful on Thanksgiving for "the power of resistance around the globe. Because resistance is fruitful and no matter what some might say, resistance brings progress".

'Resistance' in his view equates with mass murder, making it excusable because the cause was just in his opinion. Hahn also posted on Instagram an image with the legend: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", which anyone with a grain of intelligence recognizes as the Hamas slogan that calls for Israel's destruction. What followed was a public backlash over the posts, many from federal and provincial politicians, leading Hahn to express regret for his unfortunate timing.

But in his apology, he obliquely and none to subtly, blamed 'bad faith actors', aka Jews, for making a big fuss over the death of 1,400 mostly civilians, and the sadistic savagery with which Jews were slaughtered, including infants, children, teens and entire families. Much less the abduction of children, the elderly and the infirm, the rape and kidnapping of girls and women, and hostage-taking of soldiers to be bartered for Palestinian criminals in Israeli jails, found guilty of lethal violence against Israelis. 

The human rights complaint alleges that CUPE condones and encourages antisemitism and discrimination against its Jewish members while deliberately excluding education on antisemitism in CUPE policies despite calls for inclusion. He is also on record as having informed Jewish members of the union that "he doesn't believe that Jewish people should live in Israel and that Jewish people 'stole' the land from Palestinians".

The claim cites several CUPE resolutions; one in 2018 that Israel was "illegally" occupying Palestine; a 2021 resolution to oppose the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism; and a 2023 "emergency resolution" to conduct member education about the history of Israel's "occupation and colonization" of Palestine. A Jewish delegate at a CUPE Ontario virtual convention had her camera and microphone cut for wearing a shirt supporting the Israel Defense Forces, even though other members were permitted to raise Free Palestine flags on their screens as they spoke.

Other CUPE members expressed interest in joining the complaint, but were hesitant and frightened of lash-back, according to Kathryn Marshall, lawyer with Levitt Sheikh LLP law firm representing CUPE members in the complaint. CUPE has 740,000 members in health care, emergency services, education, municipalities, social services, utilities, transportation and other sectors throughout Canada.