Canada’s new human rights commissioner resigns over past Israel comments probe

OTTAWA (AFP): Canada’s new human rights commissioner resigned Monday, before ever starting the job, after concerns were raised by Jewish advocacy organizations over his past comments on Israel.

Scholar Birju Dattani was appointed to the role in June, and was set to being working last Thursday, but announced that day he would take a leave of absence while Justice Minister Arif Virani considered the results of an independent investigation.

On Monday, he said in an online post that he has “agreed to resign as Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, effective today.”

“I remain a steadfast believer in the Commission’s work, mandate, and its importance to our democracy,” he added.

The probe’s findings, detailed in a report released on Monday, found that Dattani had omitted the name Mujahid Dattani in his background check forms, which he’d used in online activities and speaking engagements on the Middle East.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs pointed to a post under that name that compared Israel to Nazi Germany. Dattani told public broadcaster CBC it had been intended to generate a conversation.

The report found there was no evidence that Dattani, who was raised Hindu but converted to Islam, is antisemitic.

“We cannot find that Mr. Dattani harboured or harbours any beliefs that would be characterized as anti-Semitic or that he has demonstrated any biases (conscious or unconscious) towards Jews or Israelis,” it said.

However, the report concluded that Dattani should have been more forthcoming in the job application, and said he “deliberately de-emphasized the manner in which his academic work was critical of the State of Israel in respect of its treatment of Palestinians” in interviews and materials submitted to investigators.