Human rights scholar Birju Dattani was forced to resign as Canada’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner following a pro-Israel smear campaign. His case reveals how false charges of antisemitism are used to silence support for Palestinian rights.
“Another antisemite gets promoted by Trudeau. Birju Dattani, known for perpetuating hate toward Jews, has been appointed chief of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.”
That was the charge leveled by Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman against Birju Dattani, a human rights scholar who was forced to resign as Canada’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner before even assuming office. In a matter of days, a coordinated smear campaign—led by Lantsman, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), and far-right media figure Ezra Levant—turned a respected legal academic into a political liability. The accusations were not based on any actual evidence of antisemitism, but rather on his past critiques of Israel’s policies, which were deliberately distorted to frame him as an extremist.
Dattani is pushing back with three defamation lawsuits against Lantsman, CIJA, and Levant, accusing them of distorting his record to ruin his career. His case is not just about clearing his name—it tests whether racialized voices can speak freely in Canada without being silenced.
The attacks on Dattani followed a well-worn script used to silence racialized and marginalized voices who challenge Western foreign policy, especially on Israel. The moment he was appointed, his academic work on Israel-Palestine, a 2015 panel discussion, and years-old social media posts were selectively weaponized to paint him as antisemitic. Accusations of extremism, antisemitism, or even terrorism sympathies are routinely deployed to discredit critics of Israeli policies, and Dattani became the latest casualty of this smear machine.
Yet, an independent investigation commissioned by Justice Minister Arif Virani found no basis for the allegations. (more...)
How antisemitism is weaponized to silence critics of Israel: The case of Birju Dattani
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