Canadian Professor Says University Fired Him for Social Media Defense of Israel

A non-Jewish Canadian professor said he lost his position at the University of Guelph-Humber after posting a defense of Israel on social media in November 2023. Paul Finlayson told Fox News Digital that he responded to a LinkedIn message from an overseas educator who he said was calling for the eradication of Israel.

The original post and comments were later deleted. Finlayson wrote that using the phrase "from the River to the Sea" amounted to supporting Nazis and stated he stood with Israel against those who he said wanted dead Jews. He added that standing with Palestine meant standing with Hitler and criticized the celebration of individuals involved in the Oct.

7 attacks that killed 1,400 people and took 250 hostages. The National Post quoted the response in a December 2023 article. Finlayson said students at the school saw the post before it was deleted, which led to an outcry. On Nov. 27, 2023, while he met with a student, an administrator waited outside his office and then presented him with a suspension letter.

The letter, which Finlayson provided, cited "inappropriate online comments" and placed him on leave pending an investigation. It barred contact with departmental staff, students or other university members. The professor said he had been well-liked by students and ranked highly in the business department.

He had formulated courses and written textbooks, but said rumors destroyed his academic reputation. "My trial has been by defamation, and it continues by defamation," Finlayson said of the situation he described as Kafkaesque.

Finlayson said his union, OPSEU Local 562, refused to represent him. The union did not respond to a request for comment. The university fired him in July 2025. The termination letter stated that after a formal complaint of discrimination and harassment, an investigator found his conduct violated the Ontario Human Rights Code and Humber’s Human Rights and Harassment Policy.

It also found he engaged in reprisal under both. The Humber policy states that anyone who attempts reprisal against a person who initiates a complaint may face disciplinary action. The same policy upholds equal treatment without discrimination on prohibited grounds that include antisemitism.

The University of Guelph-Humber did not respond to questions about the suspension, investigation, firing or whether anti-Israel posts by students or faculty violated its policy.

and Campus Activity B’nai Brith

Canada’s League for Human Rights reported 6,800 antisemitic incidents in Canada in 2025, a 9.4 percent increase from 2024 and the highest volume recorded. That averaged 18.6 incidents per day. The University of Guelph’s “UofGforPalestine” Instagram page, which describes itself as representing students, staff and faculty in solidarity with Palestine, has shared content including an inverted red triangle symbol used by Hamas to mark targets.

Canada, like the U.S., designates Hamas as a terrorist group. In November 2024 the same account posted photos of a guillotine on a Guelph walking path that featured images of Canadian, American and Israeli leaders coated in red paint. ” Finlayson identified a professor at the university whom he believes brought the complaint against him; that individual did not respond to requests for comment.

In a separate case at York University, three staff members among 11 people charged with hate-motivated mischief in November 2023 for an incident at a bookstore were initially suspended. At least two staff members, including a professor, later maintained or regained teaching roles, with courses taught as recently as the Winter 2026 semester.

York University did not respond to requests for comment.