(SeaPRwire) –   A non-Jewish Canadian professor claims he was dismissed from his university position after expressing support for Israel in a social media post amid rising antisemitism in Canada following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Paul Finlayson told Digital that he lost his job at the University of Guelph-Humber after publicly condemning the massacre and kidnapping of Israelis and foreign nationals—including Americans and Canadians—in an online statement.

In November 2023, Finlayson responded to a LinkedIn message from an international educator who reportedly called for the destruction of Israel. Although the original author later deleted both their post and associated comments, the National Post quoted Finlayson’s reply in a December 2023 article.

“If you say ‘from the River to the Sea,’ you’re a Nazi,” Finlayson wrote. “I’m not neutral. I stand with Israel. I stand against antisemites who seek nothing but dead Jews: those who divert millions from education and healthcare funding to fueling war… You claim to support Palestine? Then you side with Hitler. You don’t desire peace—you want dead Jews… They slaughtered 1,400 innocent people and took 250 hostages, while others celebrated rapists and murderers as heroes.”

Since making the post, Finlayson says he has been subjected to a targeted campaign that damaged his professional reputation and career prospects.

According to Finlayson, students at the university discovered his LinkedIn response before the original poster removed the thread, prompting public backlash. During a meeting with a student in his office on Nov. 27, Finlayson said an administrator waited outside and ultimately handed him a suspension notice.

A copy of the suspension letter, provided by Finlayson, references “inappropriate online comments” and places the professor “on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.” It also prohibits Finlayson from contacting “any of your departmental staff or students or broader members of the [university].”

Finlayson described himself as highly regarded by students, consistently ranking among the top faculty in the business department. He asserted that false rumors about the allegations against him destroyed his academic standing, including his ability to develop courses and publish textbooks.

“My trial has been conducted through defamation, and it continues via defamation,” Finlayson remarked, characterizing the process as “Kafkaesque.”

He further stated that his union, OPSEU Local 562, declined to represent him. The union did not respond to Digital’s request for comment.

Finlayson was formally terminated by the university in July 2025. He submitted a copy of his termination letter, which cited a “formal complaint of discrimination and harassment.” An investigator concluded that his “conduct violated the Ontario Human Rights Code and Humber’s Human Rights and Harassment Policy, and that [he] engaged in reprisal under both instruments.”

The Humber harassment policy specifies that “anyone who attempts Reprisal or threatens Reprisal against a person who initiates a complaint or participates in proceedings under this Policy may be subject to disciplinary action.”

The same policy affirms that “Humber upholds and supports the right to equal treatment without Discrimination” based on protected grounds, including religion and ethnic origin—which encompasses antisemitism.

The University of Guelph-Humber declined to comment on Finlayson’s suspension, investigation, or dismissal. The institution also did not address whether anti-Israel posts shared by its students or professors violate the Humber Human Rights and Harassment Policy.

The University of Guelph’s “UofGforPalestine” Instagram page, which identifies itself as representing “students, staff, and faculty who stand in solidarity with Palestine,” has shared content featuring the inverted red triangle used by Hamas to designate targets. Like the United States and Canada, Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization.

In November 2024, the group posted images on Instagram depicting a guillotine displayed on a walking path in Guelph, showing decapitated figures of Canadian, American, and Israeli leaders painted red. Though labeled as an “anonymous submission,” the post included the caption: “Death to empire, death to colonialism and imperialism, death to the war machine.”

A University of Guelph-Humber professor whom Finlayson believes initiated the complaint against him has published inflammatory statements on his personal LinkedIn profile, referring to Israel as a “terrorist state” and asserting that true peace cannot coexist with Israel’s existence.

This professor did not respond to requests for comment from Digital.

In contrast, three York University staff members faced legal consequences but retained their positions after participating in activism linked to the Oct. 7 attacks. In November 2023, these individuals were among 11 charged with “hate-motivated mischief” for vandalizing a bookstore with graphic images accusing a Jewish CEO of genocide and splashing the premises with red paint, as reported by the National Post.

Although initially suspended, at least two of the staffers now have active profiles listed on the York University website. One, a professor, most recently taught courses during the Winter 2026 semester. York University did not respond to inquiries regarding the reinstatement of these staff members.

Following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, antisemitic incidents surged across Canada. According to a report released in April by B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, there were 6,800 such incidents recorded in 2025—a 9.4% increase from the previous year. This averages to 18.6 incidents per day and represents the highest number ever documented since the organization began tracking such events.