The University of Victoria has cancelled a scheduled on-campus talk by the extremist preacher Younus Kathrada.
Kathrada, who is on record calling for the annihilation of Jews and denouncing Canada as “evil and filthy” for its tolerance of homosexuality, was invited by the UVic Muslim Students Association to conduct a Nov. 24 lecture entitled The Importance of Connecting with the Muslim Community.
“Join us for an insightful lecture by Sheikh Younus Kathrada on the significance of building strong ties within the Muslim community,” the Muslim Students Association wrote in a Facebook page advertising the event.
After the event was publicized by the National Post and Global News — and was widely criticized on local reddit forums — the university issued a statement saying that the Muslim Students Association’s “space booking request for this event has been declined.”
“We will not limit debate or prohibit the reasonable exercise of freedom of expression on campus,” said a UVic spokesperson. “However, it is imperative that these conversations take place in an inclusive and constructive manner and that, above all else, they are safe for those engaged — directly or indirectly.”
The statement also noted that the Muslim Students Association is ratified by the University of Victoria Students’ Society, a non-profit organization that is a “separate entity from the university.”
Kathrada himself responded to the backlash with a series of Tuesday Facebook posts denouncing it all as a Zionist plot.
“The pro-Zionist, anti-Islam, anti-Muslim, dishonest media continues to churn out lame, stale and factually incorrect material,” he wrote in one. “As expected, they rely on a Zionist run organization which is clearly pro-ethnic cleansing, pro-genocide, pro-apartheid and pro-murder.”
In another post from last week, shortly after Global News reached out for comment, Kathrada wrote “these pro-Zionist, pro-apartheid, pro-genocide, supporters of murdering children pieces of filth need a wake up call. May their tongues be muted, may their hands be paralyzed and may they experience misery and live wretched lives.”
Kathrada runs the Muslim Youth of Victoria Islamic centre, and his video sermons are often highlighted by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a U.S. non-profit that provides translations and transcriptions of extremist content.
In August, MEMRI published details of a sermon in which Kathrada glorified jihadist violence against Jews.
“The Jews have an ancient and dark history of bloodshed and breaking covenants and treaties,” he said. “If Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them Himself, But He ordered armed struggle. Listen! He ordered armed struggle to test some of you by means of others.”
The UVic Muslim Students Association has been one of the central organizers of anti-Israel rallies outside the B.C. Parliament Buildings, with club president Yahya Odatallah frequently quoted in local media as a coordinator.
And Kathrada is far from the first Islamic extremist that they have invited to speak in the B.C. capital. In July, they advertised a talk with Farhat Hashmi, founder of the deeply conservative Al Huda Institute Islamic school in Mississauga. In 2015, a CBC investigation found that four alumni of the school had allegedly left Canada to join ISIS. An affiliated school in San Bernardino, Calif., meanwhile, was attended by Tashfeen Malik, perpetrator of a 2015 terrorist attack against a California Christmas party that killed 14.
In August, the Muslim Students Association sponsored an event in Victoria featuring the Saudi cleric Assim Al-Hakeem, although this was similarly cancelled following backlash. Al-Hakeem has called the niqab mandatory for women, has referred to Jews as “our enemies” and calls Canada a “Kafir” (infidel) country in which it is a sin for Muslims to swear allegiance.
The Kathrada talk was one of two events the Muslims Students Association organized in conjunction with his Muslim Youth of Victoria.
The other is a virtual talk by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Baydetainee who will be delivering a tribute to Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national currently serving an 86-year sentence in U.S. prison following her conviction for plotting a deadly attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan.