TORONTO (JTA) — Toronto’s York University has suspended a student accused of running an anti-Semitic Web site.
Salman Hossain was ordered to appear before a disciplinary panel and, in the meantime, is not permitted to attend classes, the National Post newspaper reported Monday.
"The university is moving on this issue in a serious fashion, and we’re going to let our due process work through and see what happens beyond that," York spokesman Keith Marnoch told the Post.
Hossain is still the subject of a police hate crimes probe over his Web site, which refers to Jews as "diseased and filthy," "the scum of the earth," "fanatic, genocidal maniacs," "psychotic" and "mass murderers."
The Ontario Provincial Police and a team of 13 municipal forces are investigating the Arizona-based Web site, which says "a genocide should be perpetrated against the Jewish populations of North America and Europe."
Canada’s hate crimes law prohibits supporting or promoting genocide, as well as the communication of statements other than in private conversation that willfully promote hatred against an identifiable group.
Last year, Ontario’s Attorney General declined to press criminal charges against Hossain, saying the Bangladeshi-Canadian was undergoing rehabilitation.
Marnoch told the Post that while hearings of this sort must take place within 60 days, it would not take that long in this case.
Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber said the CJC last week wrote to York asking that Hossein be suspended pending an investigation.
Farber told the Post that the Jewish community was "now breathing a sigh of relief" knowing that Hossain was suspended.
"York has done the right thing," he said.
