Calling his threatening Facebook posts aimed at Jewish children “absolutely beyond unacceptable,” a Calgary judge on Thursday handed a city man a suspended sentence and probation.
Justice Brandy Shaw accepted a joint Crown and defence submission which will see Mohamad Ghandour undergo counselling for psychological issues, anger management and cultural sensitivity while on probation for two years.
Ghandour, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of threatening children at the Calgary Jewish Academy.
Crown prosecutor Todd Buziak said last Oct. 29, shortly after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, triggering the war in Gaza, Calgary police received a call from the head of the academy about posts to the school’s Facebook page.
Among the multiple comments captured on screen shots were “I hope your kids pass away like how you guys took all the children’s life’s (sic) away in Palestinian (sic),” “you guys ain’t gonna stay peaceful” and “that school should be destroyed,” Buziak told Shaw.
The profile of the sender identified the poster as Neil David, the prosecutor said.
“Police, through their investigation, were able to determine Mohamad Ghandour was the poster,” Buziak said.
Defence counsel Rame Katrib said his client’s posts were “terrible, awful comments,” made behind the veil of online anonymity.
“If Mr. Ghandour was having strong feelings of what was happening geopolitically there were other ways to express himself,” the lawyer acknowledged.
Katrib said the born and raised Calgarian was sorry for his conduct.
“Mr. Ghandour is remorseful for his actions and he believes what he did was wrong,” the lawyer said.
“It was not reasonable to attack and berate a community of Jewish people for something that he does not believe (should be occurring) on a global scale,” Katrib said.
“This was wrong. He understands that.”
He said Ghandour was involved in a car accident prior to the threats and was unemployed then and now.
“He had more time on his hands than an individual should. Not that that’s an excuse,” the lawyer said.
Katrib said that although there were potential defences to raise, Ghandour indicated he wanted to plead guilty to the charge of uttering threats.
“He understands he caused fear and anxiety. It certainly wasn’t his intent to cause anxiety to children,” he said.
“That’s why he’s pleading guilty.”
Shaw said the postings were completely unacceptable regardless of Ghandour’s views of what is occurring in the Middle East.
“As a society we do not accept this type of conduct,” the Calgary Court of Justice judge said.
Among the other conditions of Ghandour’s probation is that he is prohibited from coming within a half kilometre of the academy, as well at the Calgary Jewish Federation and a Jewish temple.
He’s also barred from contacting any Jewish school or temple and is prohibited from accessing Facebook during his two-year probationary term.
X: @KMartinCourts