Legal group apologizes after cancellation of noted Syrian Canadian speech sparks 'profound' reaction

Shanifa Nasser · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 5:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A salient Canadian ineligible relation is apologizing aft it cancelled a keynote code by Syrian Canadian humanitarian advocator Tareq Hadhad, prompting crisp disapproval from galore of its members.

Last Friday, CBC News was archetypal to study that The Advocates' Society rescinded an invitation for Hadhad, laminitis of Peace by Chocolate, to present a keynote speech, saying immoderate members expressed concerns astir his presumption connected Israel's warfare successful Gaza.

Now, the enactment says it's acknowledging the "profound reactions" surrounding its decision. 

"Our members person expressed heavy concerns with the mode our decisions were made, the ground for them and with the deficiency of divers consultation successful our deliberations," it said successful a connection Friday.

"We perceive you. We are atrocious and regret the harm we person caused," it said, adding "through these decisions and related communications we person not afloat lived up to our ngo and halfway values."

CBC News has asked The Advocates' Society if it present plans to reverse its decision and is awaiting a response.

The connection comes aft a question of lawyers resigned from the ineligible enactment including precocious illustration transgression lawyer Marie Henein, who served arsenic president of TAS from 2010 to 2011.

Litigator Danielle Robitaille besides confirmed she cancelled her rank and an upcoming speaking engagement implicit the move.

"Personally, it is precise hard for maine to align myself with an advocates' enactment that cancels speakers due to the fact that we whitethorn disagree with them," Robitaille wrote successful a societal media station this week.

"I proceed to prosecute with enactment and rank astatine the TAS to spot if determination is simply a way guardant for the organization. In the meantime, I americium out."

Employment and quality rights lawyer Arleen Huggins cancelled her rank arsenic well. "Rather than engaging successful dialogue, determination are those who, successful the Trumpian manner, privation to cancel and stifle escaped thought and speech, and privation to usage associations specified arsenic the Advocates' Society to bash so," wrote Huggins successful a missive to TAS.

As CBC News reported past week, TAS, which says connected its website that it was "established to guarantee the beingness of a courageous and autarkic bar," rescinded Hadhad's speaking invitation astatine its upcoming end-of-term meal successful Toronto aft it said immoderate members had raised concerns astir his "public posts connected the ongoing struggle successful the Middle East."

The connection did not constituent to immoderate circumstantial posts made by Hadhad oregon elaborate connected what astir them raised concerns.

The Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association (CMLA) antecedently told CBC News that erstwhile it pressed the enactment for specifics, it was told the concerns stemmed from complaints astir Hadhad's usage of the word "genocide" connected societal media, adding helium had not provided what they deemed "equal comment" connected different impacted groups.

TAS would not corroborate those details to CBC News.

Lawyer flagged 'one-sided view' of warfare successful Gaza

On Oct. 19, 2023, amid Israeli aerial raids successful Gaza pursuing the attacks by Hamas days earlier, Hadhad wrote connected X, calling for humanitarian assistance to beryllium allowed into the enclave and for an extremity of the fighting.

"Our Canadian authorities needs to not lone call, but to unit for an contiguous ceasefire and prevention civilians' lives. All quality lives person adjacent value and bid should prevail," Hadhad wrote.

In different X station connected Oct. 30, 2023, helium wrote successful part: "A kid successful Gaza is being killed each 15 minutes ... How galore are enough? Stop the killing. Stop the war."

On May 27, 2024, Hadhad wrote successful notation to the children of Gaza: "This genocide indispensable beryllium stopped. Children should aftermath up to the dependable of birds, not the dependable of bombs."

Lawyer Jonathan Lisus was among those who wrote to the enactment to emblem what helium described arsenic Hadhad's "one-sided view" of the conflict, noting Hadhad did not look to person posted successful solidarity with the Israeli victims of Hamas's Oct. 7 onslaught oregon the hostages taken that day.

"I admit and advocator for the favoritism betwixt bona fide disapproval of Israel and its policies connected 1 manus and sick volition towards the Jewish radical connected the other," helium said successful a missive dated March 15.

"Sadly, Mr. Hadhad's grounds of nationalist statements makes a beardown lawsuit that portion expressing understandable interest for civilian deaths successful Gaza helium is unsympathetic, and surely indifferent, to the harm and suffering of Jewish radical and the Jewish state."

'If lawyers are not warring for state of code past who the hellhole will?'

Since the decision, fallout has continued, with galore lawyers and advocacy groups, including the National GC Network (NGCN) and the South Asian Bar Association of Canada, calling connected the enactment to reverse course. 

"In cancelling Mr. Hadhad's keynote, TAS has abandoned its rule of giving a dependable to all, reflecting a troubling deficiency of respect for the state of its members to clasp divers ideological perspectives. This determination has alienated galore members and is plain wrong," NGCN said successful its letter, dated March 31.

On Thursday, 40 instrumentality professors from crossed the state besides issued a missive containing a akin message.

"Put simply, the willingness to support pro-Palestinian look has go the canary successful the coalmine for an organization's quality to efficaciously foster divers perspectives, and ultimately, to enactment arsenic a meaningful unit for antiauthoritarian values," the lawyers' missive said.

"It is disturbing to spot that, faced with this test, the Advocates' Society has profoundly failed, and decided that the way of slightest absorption was to let a veto implicit immoderate talker whose position whitethorn propulsion members retired of their comfortableness zone."

In its letter, the South Asian Bar Association said: "Diversity and inclusion are not conscionable words, they necessitate enactment and commitment. In caller years, TAS has vocally committed to these ideals and fostered them. This determination sends that committedness stumbling backwards."

And portion TAS alluded to members raising concerns implicit Hadhad's stance connected the warfare successful Gaza, lawyer Kathryn Marshall spoke retired implicit the determination connected societal media Tuesday, saying she was speaking "as a lawyer who is simply a staunch protagonist of Israel and volition combat to the extremity for my clients, galore of whom are victims of anti-Semitism."

"It is highly disturbing to maine to spot lawyers who assertion to beryllium apical support litigators engaging successful cancel culture," Marshall wrote.

"If lawyers are not warring for state of code past who the hellhole will?"