'Spitting on the graves of Jewish victims': Terrorist to teach social justice at Canadian uni

A man convicted of terrorism and sentenced to life for his involvement in the murder of four Jews in a French synagogue bombing, is an active Professor of Sociology at a Canadian University, and teaches a course on "social justice in action."

Carleton University in Ottawa stands by Diab, and has worked to prevent his extradition in the past.

Dr Hassan Diab, a Lebanese terrorist, was convicted by a French court over his involvement in a 1980 bombing that killed four people and injured 46 outside the Rue Copernic reform synagogue in Paris.

Diab fled to Canada, and after being arrested in 2008, entered into a six-year legal battle to avoid being extradited to France. However, Diab was extradited in 2014, but after two years in prison, a judge allowed him to be released to house arrest. He escaped to Canada on the same day.

The subsequent trial was held in absentia, and the court unanimously ruled that Diab was guilty and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Despite the international arrest warrant against him, Diab will be teaching a sociology course this year at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The sons of one of the victims of the bombing, Aliza Shragir, an Israeli TV presenter, said that reinstating Diab as a lecturer was "outrageous."

"It is outrageous that an academic institution that is supposed to promote values of equality and justice decided to employ a cold-blooded murderer, who was unanimously convicted in a court in France. Apparently carrying out a murderous terrorist act against a Jewish target does not go against the values of Carleton University," the sons said in a statement.

Idit Shamir, the Israeli consul general in Toronto, Idit Shamir, called the decision "unconscionable" in a post to her X/Twitter.

"Hassan Diab, the terrorist who murdered my friend’s mother,  Aliza Shagrir, before his eyes in the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing still lectures at  Canada’s @Carleton_U."

This is Aliza Shagrir. Forty-four years ago, she was murdered in a terror attack in Paris. The man convicted of planning the attack that killed Aliza and three others, Hassan Diab, escaped to Canada. He was just appointed as a professor at .@Carleton_U. pic.twitter.com/pIB6TUxzYf

— liel leibovitz (@liel) November 4, 2024

"A French court gave him life for murdering 4 souls & maiming 46. Yet Carleton University rewards him with a teaching position?"

"This isn't just a failure of justice," Shamir added. "It's spitting on the graves of Jewish victims."

The course "Social Justice in Action" aims to teach students about "the relationship between abuse of power and miscarriages of justice."

B'nai Brith's campaigning

B'nai Brith Canada posted a statement on Friday in which it lamented how "despite being handed a life sentence by a French court, Hassan Diab continues to live freely in Canada, while Carleton University, unconscionably, continues to allow him the privilege of teaching at a Canadian Institution."

B'nai Brith added that the university ignored its formal request to terminate Diab's position, calling the silence "deeply disturbing"

This is not the first time B'nai Brith has taken action against Diab; in July 2009, when Diab was hired to teach a course in introductory sociology at Carleton, B'nai Brith released a statement condemning the university for employing a suspected terrorist.

Soon after, university officials cancelled Diab's contract, stating that he had been replaced with someone else "in the interest of providing students with a stable, productive academic environment that is conducive to learning." 

Frank Dimant, the then VP of B'nai Brith, lauded the University for doing "the right thing."

However, Carleton University's Department of Sociology and Anthropology stands firmly with Diab. On its website, it refers to Diab as having been "unjustly accused" and has previously facilitated events allowing Diab to tell his version of the story.

One such lecture, on 19 October 2023, was named "When Political and Judicial Factors Collide: Dr. Hassan Diab tells his story."

The first thing a user sees on the webpage for the Department is a button that reads "support for Hassan Diab" which links to an official statement from the Department calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister of Justice Lametti, "to use their discretionary powers to declare that Dr. Hassan Diab will not be extradited in response to an extradition request from France."

The department has previously organized rallies demanding that the Canadian Government refuse to extradite Diab, including a protest outside the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument in 2022.

In 2020, CBC reported that Diab and his family sued the Canadian government for $90 million over the role it played in his extradition.

The family sued for "intentional infliction of emotional distress" and "malicious prosecution."