TORONTO — A series of social media posts documented by X user @leviathan, and attributed to Hammam Farah, president of the Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists (OSRP), provides contemporaneous evidence of how he publicly characterizes violent actions by Palestinian militant groups.
In one Instagram post dated October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas carried out mass attacks against Israeli civilians, Farah wrote: “Today, the Palestinian resistance destroyed the Erez checkpoint. Mission Accomplished,” accompanied by a Palestinian flag emoji. The Erez crossing, used primarily by civilians and humanitarian traffic, was among the sites affected during the October 7 assault, which Israeli authorities and international observers have described as the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.
Other posts shared from the account “hammam.therapy” amplify imagery and language associated with armed groups. One widely circulated Story reposts a video of masked militants holding rifles, overlaid with the text: “The Palestinian resistance emerges victorious, unshaken, undefeated & unyielding in the face of genocide!” Another repost features a large formation of uniformed armed men amid cheering crowds, accompanied by revolutionary language celebrating the “new world” being born through violence.
Additional posts show graphics explicitly branded with the insignia of the Palestinian National Resistance Brigades, an umbrella term associated with factions linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is listed as a terrorist organization under Canadian law. One graphic reads: “UPDATE: We struck a gathering of Zionist enemy forces south of the Netzarim Axis with heavy mortar shells.” Another seasonal-themed image states: “Calling it the Silent Night tactic, our fighters lured enemy units with Christmas carols, drawing them under a structure that was then collapsed onto their heads.”
The posts are not framed as news reporting or detached commentary. They are presented approvingly, with celebratory captions and music, and in some cases are accompanied by affirming text from Farah’s account, including “Still going” and “Merry Christmas from Gaza.”
Separately, Farah has publicly confirmed his leadership role within OSRP. In an Instagram Story posted earlier, he stated that he was elected interim president in June and subsequently elected to a full term following the association’s annual general meeting. In that same post, he wrote that he spent two years on the board “defending members targeted for advocating for Palestine” and described himself as “the first Palestinian to lead a large, representative therapists’ association on this continent.”
The Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists is a voluntary professional association, not the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, which is the statutory regulator responsible for licensing, discipline, and public protection. Nonetheless, senior officers of professional associations are understood to be standard-bearers for ethical conduct and public trust within their professions.
Canadian law draws a clear distinction between political advocacy and support for terrorist organizations. While expressing political views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is lawful, public praise, glorification, or promotion of violence carried out by designated terrorist entities raises serious legal and ethical concerns, particularly for regulated health professionals bound by codes emphasizing nonviolence, non-discrimination, and the safeguarding of vulnerable populations.
For Jewish communities in Canada, the language used in the posts is especially alarming. Referring to October 7 as “Mission Accomplished” is widely viewed as an endorsement of mass murder, rape, and kidnapping of Jewish civilians. Community leaders have repeatedly warned that rhetoric celebrating such violence contributes to antisemitism and the normalization of attacks against Jews, both in Israel and in the diaspora.
As of publication, neither OSRP nor the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario has issued a public statement addressing the posts or clarifying whether any review is underway. No disciplinary action has been publicly announced. Farah has not issued a public retraction or clarification regarding the content cited above.
What is not in dispute is the authenticity of the posts themselves. The images and text referenced are drawn directly from Farah’s own social media accounts and reposts. They provide an unfiltered record of how a sitting president of a major psychotherapy association has chosen to publicly characterize armed violence against Israelis.
As scrutiny continues, the central question facing Ontario’s psychotherapy community is whether leadership that publicly celebrates violent “resistance” aligned with designated terrorist groups is compatible with the ethical responsibilities of a profession built on care, trust, and the protection of human life.
