Sami Hamdi

By Joel Goldenberg

Concordia University has cancelled a scheduled speech by Sami Hamdi, a British commentator who, on video, celebrated the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in which 1,400 people in Israel were brutally murdered and more than 200 kidnapped. As The Suburban has reported, Concordia has received legal demand letters over the past month from attorney Neil Oberman, senior partner at Spiegel Sohmer, on behalf of Jewish students who accuse the university of allowing rampant antisemitism by pro-Hamas students that have included physical attacks on Jews.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs stated that both Concordia and Carleton had cancelled the speech, and welcomed the decision. “Our assessment revealed that this individual has made remarks that include celebrating violence,” Fiona Downey, a spokesperson for Concordia University said. “Based on this assessment we concluded that this event would create a climate of intimidation which we will not allow.”

Hamdi said in a speech 10 days after the massacre, “Allah has shown the world that no normalization can erase the Palestinian cause. When everybody thought it was finished, it is roaring. How many of you felt it in your hearts when you got the news that it happened? How many of you felt the euphoria? Allahu Akbari!” Hamdi also denied reports Hamas’s female victims were raped.

The commentator denies he celebrated Oct. 7. Hamdi has already spoken at Western University in London, Ontario.

Judy Zelikovitz, CIJA’s Vice-President of University and Local Partner Services, had posted Feb. 8 that “it’s outrageous that Sami Hamdi, an individual who has publicly and unabashedly celebrated the atrocious terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Jews on October 7, is being brought in by campus groups to speak at Canadian universities in Ontario and Quebec.

“By platforming Hamdi, these clubs are endorsing his beliefs and helping to spread hate on our campuses. Inviting Hamdi makes the clubs’ motives clear: it’s not about opposing war or supporting Palestinians, but rather celebrating harm to Jews. We’ve heard from students that they are overwhelmed with fear that a supporter of terrorism will be speaking on their campus at a time when Jewish students, faculty, and staff are the targets of increased hate. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are fundamental principles of Canadian society, but a reasonable limit should exist when it comes to celebrating terrorism.”

She added that “Jewish students, faculty, and staff have a right to feel safe on their campus. We call on the provincial governments to work with university administrators to ensure hate speech is not tolerated on Canadian campuses.” n