TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA | Toronto Police are investigating remarks made by university lecturer Abbas Hamze at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in a heavily Jewish area of Toronto after video showed him invoking longstanding antisemitic tropes, including references to “black magic” and claims that Zionists rape, kill and eat children.
The comments were made during an August 23 rally near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West, an area with a large Jewish population. Video of the speech circulated widely online and drew condemnation from Jewish advocacy organizations.
Reporting on August 25 and 26 said Toronto Police’s hate-crime investigators were reviewing the incident. No criminal charge had been announced as of the latest information available.
At the same time, the University of Niagara Falls Canada, where Hamze is listed as a lecturer, confirmed that it had opened an internal investigation.
“We are aware of a video that has surfaced and that allegedly involves a sessional faculty member,” the university said in an August 25 statement.
“These are not our views, and UNF has zero tolerance for discrimination, hate, harassment, or any conduct that threatens the dignity and well-being of others.”
The university added that it was treating the matter “with the utmost seriousness.”
Remarks Invoke Longstanding Antisemitic Tropes
Video from the rally shows Hamze describing Zionists using language that closely resembles classic antisemitic conspiracy theories.
At one point, he said Zionists had been “the most kicked-out people in the world for making black magic and horrible things.”
He also said: “They have raped and killed and eaten children at the same time.”
In another portion of the speech, Hamze referred to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged that Zionists used sexual exploitation to blackmail and control political leaders.
Such claims echo historic blood-libel accusations that falsely portrayed Jews as harming or murdering children for ritual purposes, as well as conspiracy theories portraying Jews as secretly controlling political institutions through manipulation, corruption or occult practices.
The remarks were directed at “Zionists,” but Jewish advocacy organizations argued that the substance of the speech relied on classic antisemitic themes rather than ordinary political criticism of Israel or Zionism.
B’nai Brith Calls for Police Action
B’nai Brith Canada publicly condemned the remarks and called for law-enforcement intervention.
“When classical antisemitic tropes, such as that Jews use ‘black magic’ and eat children, are broadcast in public using a megaphone, there is no ambiguity,” Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s director of research and advocacy, said.
“It is the wilful promotion and public incitement of hate.”
Robertson called on Toronto Police to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
Under the Criminal Code, wilful promotion of hatred and public incitement of hatred are distinct hate-propaganda offenses. Charges under those provisions generally require approval from the Attorney General.
Toronto Police have not publicly announced whether investigators believe Hamze’s remarks meet that threshold.
Rally Took Place at a Sensitive Location
The August 23 demonstration took place at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West, an intersection that has become a recurring focal point for pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrations.
The same area was the site of a separate March 15 protest that later produced multiple hate-propaganda charges.
On August 8, Toronto Police announced two additional arrests in that earlier investigation, bringing the number charged to eight.
Police allege demonstrators in the March case retrieved antisemitic signs from a storage locker, displayed them publicly and advanced toward pro-Israel demonstrators while shouting derogatory slurs.
The recurrence of high-conflict demonstrations at the same intersection has heightened concern within Toronto’s Jewish community about public safety and the normalization of antisemitic rhetoric in Jewish neighborhoods.
UNF Opens Internal Investigation
The University of Niagara Falls, Canada, moved quickly after the video circulated.
Its public statement did not name Hamze directly, but the university said the video allegedly involved a sessional faculty member and confirmed that an internal investigation had begun.
Hamze remained listed in the university’s faculty directory as of August 26. The directory identified him as a lecturer.
UNF offers graduate programs in data analytics and applied artificial intelligence, fields in which Hamze has been publicly identified as teaching.
The university said it would not comment further because the matter involves personnel.
Georgian College Says Hamze Is No Longer Employed There
Hamze has also been publicly associated with Georgian College and Conestoga College.
The Forward reported that Georgian College said Hamze is no longer employed there and had taught an online data analytics course during the previous academic year.
A Georgian spokesperson described the remarks as “violent, derogatory and hateful” and said the institution does not tolerate racism, discrimination, harassment or antisemitism.
No comparable public disciplinary announcement from Conestoga College was identified in the reporting reviewed.
No Charge Has Been Laid
The legal distinction remains important.
Toronto Police are investigating the remarks, but an investigation does not establish criminal liability.
Hamze has not been charged in connection with the August 23 speech.
Nor has a court determined that the comments constituted criminal hate speech.
The comments themselves, however, are publicly documented in video footage, and Jewish organizations have argued that they cross from political rhetoric into classic antisemitic incitement.
That is now a question for both police and the institutions that employ or have employed him.
The University of Niagara Falls, Canada, has already begun its own review.
Toronto Police are examining the matter through the hate-crime process.
And the case is likely to intensify an already active debate in Canada over where the line should be drawn between political expression, anti-Zionist rhetoric and speech that reproduces longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theories.
For Toronto’s Jewish community, the location and language of the August 23 rally have made that debate particularly immediate.
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