Jewish group wants investigation into online posts following Ottawa terror arrest
A Canadian Jewish organization wants police to investigate Facebook posts allegedly made by the father of a teenage terror suspect arrested in Ottawa.
On Facebook, a user whose name and photo match the father of the youth arrested by RCMP on Friday night posted several comments about Jews and Israelis.
According to the Facebook translation of the Arabic-language posts, they refer to Zionists and Jews in a derogatory manner, while one says to get rid of all Israelis.
The posts were made in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,200, and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
Global News is not repeating the Facebook posts in order to avoid identifying the son, who cannot be named because he is a minor.
Asked to confirm the Facebook page was his, the youth’s father said his lawyer had advised him not to talk to reporters. The posts were subsequently taken down.
He did not respond to questions about the specific posts, and whether they may have contributed to his son’s alleged targeting of Jews.
In an interview Saturday, the father told Global News the Iraqi family had warned the youth to steer clear of extremists, and had sent him to sessions with an imam.
He said when he saw his son in court, “I told him I told you to stay away from any extremist person and he said, ‘Dad, I’m sorry.”
The youth was charged on Saturday with two terrorism offenses over what police allege was a plot to attack Ottawa’s Jewish community.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said it was seeking a police investigation into the social media posts amid a spike in anti-semitism.
“Those Facebook posts from the father of the accused appear to be incitement to violence and we expect law enforcement to
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