More shocking news has emerged about violent speakers at the al Quds day rally last weekend in Toronto, Canada.
First came news of speaker Ali Mallah, who called for Israelis to be shot, and now it’s reported that Nadia Shoufani, a Toronto schoolteacher who once called a jihadist who smashed the skull of a 4-year-old Israeli toddler a “hero” on her FB page, also spoke. What makes this kind of news shocking is not the perverted minds of these pro-jihadists – as nothing different should be expected from these brutish mentalities — but the tolerance for such murderous and propagandist-driven hatred in democratic nations that supposedly advance human rights for all.
Almost 7 months ago, Nadia Shoufani wrote on her Facebook page that “the ‘martyrdom’ of Samir Kuntar is a ‘testament for heroism…Blessed be Samir for his martyrdom with dignity and pride.’”
As a member of the Palestine Liberation Front, Samir Kuntar participated in the killing of an Israeli policeman and tried to kidnap an Israeli family in Nahariya. His attack resulted in the deaths of four Israelis. One of the victims was an Israeli civilian dad. Kuntar smashed the head of his 4-year-old daughter on beach rocks, and then finished off his brutality by crushing the toddler’s skull with the butt of his rifle.
This is who Nadia Shoufani called a martyr and hero on her Facebook page. This is the man she blesses for his “dignity and pride”.
There is now a campaign to shut down the al-Quds Day display of hate speech and incitement of violence which I hope will succeed; and to think that this person is a teacher in a classroom with children. We entrust our children’s physical safety and also their psychological wellbeing to a school system. Nadia Shoufani, who reportedly teaches at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Mississauga, should be promptly dismissed as a peril to the children. Many teachers have been fired for FB posts that were sexist, cruel, debased and racist, but this woman is hailing jihadist murder, advancing it, and she is teaching children. Shoufani has also declared on her FB page….
“O my people, you have a rifle… O my people, You have Allah and a rifle, or, sorry, perhaps more correctly to say that you have only a rifle, only a rifle, only a rifle. O my people fight/ resist. Whatever was taken by force will never be restored but by force!”
Shoufani is affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Movement and Actions4Palestine, and is a director at the Arab Canadian Cultural Association.
“Toronto teacher calls a terrorist who killed a 4 year old Israeli girl a ‘hero'”, CiJNews, July 6, 2016:
Nadia Shoufani, a Toronto teacher, was one of the speakers at the annual pro Iranian Islamic Al-Quds Day Rally in Toronto which was held on Saturday, July 2, 2016 in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in support of the call of Iranian regime to oppose Zionism and Israel’s right to exist.
A graduate of the American University of Beirut and a former employee at UNRWA, Shoufani is a teacher for Special Education, ESL, Literacy and Science at Dufferin-Peel District School Board. “Ms. Shoufani” is mentioned as a SERT/ESL teacher at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Mississauga. Nadia Shoufaniis also affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Movement and Actions4Palestine and is a director at the Arab Canadian Cultural Association.
In her speech at AL-Quds Day rally, Shoufani expressed her support of the Palestinian struggle “in any form possible” to liberate “all Palestine”, meaning the destruction of the State of Israel. The following are excerpts from Shoufani’s speech accompanied with CIJnews comments:
Nadia Shoufani: “Yesterday [July 1, 2016] the Israeli occupation forces shot dead, executed a 27 year oldwoman, a pregnant woman, killing her. That means killing two, two people, the woman and her baby. Hercousin Mohammad 17 year old, was executed the day before.”
CIJnews: The Palestinian pregnant woman Sarah Tarairah who was shot dead while committing a stabbing attack in an attempt to kill an Israeli policeman. “Her cousin Mohammad” is Mohammad Tarairah who was killed by Israeli forces after her broke into a house and stabbed a 13-year-old American-Israeli girl to death while she was sleeping.
Nadia Shoufani: “I urge you not to be silent. I urge you to speak up, to resist this occupation and support the steadfastness of Palestinians. Support the resistance in any form that is possible. I urge you to support the BDS, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions against Israel…”
CIJnews: Since September 13, 2015 till July 3, 2016, the Palestinian al-Quds Intifada (“popular” struggle which includes terrorist attacks), also known as the Knife Intifada, claimed the life of 40 Israelis and 511 were injured in 155 stabbing attacks (including 76 attempted attacks), 96 shootings, 45 vehicular (ramming) attacks, one vehicle (bus) bombing and thousands incidents of firebombings and stone/rock throwing.
Nadia Shoufani: “Palestine will be liberated with your efforts. Glory to the martyrs. Victory, freedom to theprisoners and liberation for the Palestinians, all Palestinians From the river [Jordan River] to the sea [Mediterranean Sea] Palestine will be free.”
CIJnews: Who are the “Palestinian prisoners”? Most of the Palestinian prisoners were convicted of involvement in terrorist activities. This group includes among others suicide bombers captured alive, dispatchers of suicide bombers, mass murderers, leaders of terrorist organizations, terrorists who killed civilians and those who attempted or planned to kill civilians.
One of the so called “Palestinian political prisoners” is Abdullah al-Barghouthi (عبد الله البرغوثي), who was a leading commander of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in the West Bank and was also one of the organization’s chief bomb makers (“engineer”).
Barghouthi was convicted of involvement in terror attacks that claimed many victims, including the suicide attacks in Café Moment and Sbarro in Jerusalem, the Sheffield Club in Rishon Lezion, and the bus 4 line in Tel Aviv. In total, Barghouti was responsible for the murder of 66 Israelis and the injury of some 500. In 2004 he was sentenced to 67 life sentences.
In his book “The Prince of Shadow” Abdullah al-Barghouthi tells the story of his life focusing on his role in masterminding the series of deadly terrorist attacks aimed at Israeli civilians.
The following are excerpts from his book (originally Arabic), that shed a light on the terrorist (“political”) nature of Barghouthi’s activities:
Blowing donkey’s head in live experiment of an explosive charge
- 49-50
“One day when I stayed at the warehouse I [went] to pray the morning prayer at the village’s mosque and on my way back I noticed a white donkey, which had no tail because one of the teens set its tail on fire few months before. After the [second] Intifada broke out [September 2000] one of the teens wrote on its two sides [of the body] the words ‘death to [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon’ and since that day the name of this donkey was Sharon’s donkey.
“An idea occurred to me and I went with it. I grabbed Sharon’s donkey and I went with the donkey to the warehouse, and from there I took one of the bobby-trapped cellular phones and rode on the donkey to a land lot owned by my father, which is located in a land in the outskirts of the village [most probably Beit Rima], which is planted with olive and almond trees, many many almond [trees].
“There I placed the [cellular] phone on the head of donkey ‘Sharon’ and I tied it tight. I dialed the [number of the] phone from another [cellular] phone and the line was automatically connected. After I moved away from the donkey Sharon, meaning Sharon’s donkey, I heard the sound of its breathing through the other [cellular] device which I had with me. I sent the command from my cellphone in order to blow other cellphone, and thus the head of the donkey Sharon was blown.
“That was the first live experiment I executed in Palestine, and thus Sharon became headless. In spite of the small size of the cellular phone the [explosive] material I planted inside it was very powerful, and even more powerful than necessary”.
Chronology of suicide bombing attack in a restaurant
- 55-67
“The [story of the] hero, the martyr of al-Qassam [Brigades] Izz a-Din al-Masri… I asked Iyman Halawa [commander of al-Qassam Brigades in the area of Nablus] to send me one of the people who want to blow themselves…