Tory MLAs apologize to Jewish community in aftermath of nursing student’s suspension

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This article was published 04/12/2023 (712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Progressive Conservative MLAs have apologized after urging the government to review the University of Manitoba’s decision to suspend a nursing student for making social media posts deemed to be antisemitic.

Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan and Selkirk MLA Richard Perchotte sent a letter to Advanced Education Minister Renee Cable Nov. 23 advocating on behalf of student Arij Al Khafagi.

The university has accused Al Khafagi of making discriminatory remarks and demonstrating wider unprofessional conduct and suspended her last month from in-person courses and clinical work.

Khan released a public statement on Friday apologizing for the “significant amount of pain and trauma” caused by the letter he penned.

“I want to start off with a sincere apology to those I hurt within the Jewish community, and to all those who stand against antisemitism,” Khan said in the statement.

“I want to start off with a sincere apology to those I hurt within the Jewish community, and to all those who stand against antisemitism.”–Obby Khan

The MLA wrote that he did not do his due diligence before bringing the matter forward to Cable and called Al Khafagi’s online remarks “hateful.”

“I unequivocally condemn antisemitism in all its forms. It has no place in our society,” he wrote in the statement.

Al Khafagi told the Free Press she had taken to social media to raise awareness about the ongoing tragedy in Gaza and to criticize the state of Israel after it declared war following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

The suspension followed a series of posts Al Khafagi made over the Oct. 14-15 weekend that university administrators found to be antisemitic, including reposting a controversial cartoon equating the actions of the Israeli military to those of Nazis during the Second World War.

She has retained legal counsel and is in the process of appealing the suspension through the university’s internal disciplinary process.

In his letter to Cable, Khan wrote the suspension “sends an unacceptable message to academically (penalize) a student for expressing herself.”

He urged the advanced education minister to look into the situation and work with the U of M to allow the student to continue her studies while the appeal process was ongoing.

The letter was also signed by Perchotte in his role as critic for advanced education and training.

PC caucus spokesman Matt Preprost said Perchotte has also apologized to the Jewish community.

“The PC Caucus is united against antisemitism in all its forms,” Preprost said in an emailed statement.

Khan was not made available for an interview Monday.

Two days before issuing the apology, Khan told reporters his intention was to advocate for a constituent and that he had not seen the posts that led to the suspension.

In his statement, posted to his social media channels, Khan wrote that he takes full responsibility for the letter, which he described as not representative of himself, the PC party and his colleagues, or Opposition Leader Heather Stefanson.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca