Former Liberal MP and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center Michael Levitt blasted his former colleagues for not taking a stand against the hiring of fired “anti-racist” antisemite consultant Laith Marouf.
Marouf who benefited from a $130,800 federal grant was exposed earlier this month for a series of antisemitic tweets in which he said “Jewish White Supremacists” deserved a “bullet to the head.”
“Looking back on events over the last week (with) regards to (the) Marouf affair, I’m utterly disheartened,” tweeted Levitt.
“Taking a stand against antisemitism should be a given & yet so few of my former Liberal colleagues have done so. This truly hurts. Jewish MPs shouldn’t be left to call this out alone.”
Critics have accused the Liberals of refusing to take responsibility over the hiring of Marouf.
In a statement by Minister of Housing and Diversity Ahmed Hussen, he placed blame on Marouf’s organization, the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC), instead of taking responsibility for hiring him.
“We call on CMAC, an organization claiming to fight racism and hate in Canada, to answer to how they came to hire Laith Marouf, and how they plan on rectifying the situation given the nature of his antisemitic and xenophobic statements,” wrote Hussen.
CMAC is composed of Marouf and his wife.
Recent reports have shown that the Liberal government was aware of Marouf’s antisemitic views as far back as April.
In an interview with the National Post, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather claimed Hussen was informed of Marouf well in advance of the news breaking in August.
“I said the contract had to be cancelled. I alerted him and I persistently communicated with the minister in his office, from the day I learned about it, until today, and aggressively demanded that action be taken. Action could have been taken more quickly,” said Housefather.
