University of Ottawa antisemitism advisor resigns over post celebrating pager explosions in Lebanon

The University of Ottawa campus is quiet, Wednesday, April 22, 2020 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The University of Ottawa's special advisor on antisemitism says he has resigned following posts he made on social media celebrating the pager explosions in Lebanon this week.

Pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously Tuesday in parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 12 people -- including two young children -- and wounding thousands. A day later, other devices exploded, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 600.

While Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it carried out the attack against Hezbollah, it is widely believed its intelligence agency, Mossad, was behind it. The leader of Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate.

In a post on X Tuesday afternoon, Artur Wilczynski said what happened was "brilliant."

"Today's targeting of Hezbollah operatives was brilliant. It struck a major blow against a terror group that has fired thousands of rockets against civilians all while the useless UN mission in Lebanon stands by. There is a price to pay #Hezbollah #FAFO," he wrote.

He faced backlash in the replies pointing out that civilians, including children, had been wounded or killed.

"These acts by Israel were indiscriminate - injuring many many civilians. War crimes. Many UOttawa students and their families were placing frantic calls to family in Lebanon to ensure they were safe while you posted this. Take this hate fomenting message down. Completely inappropriate in light of your position at Uottawa," said former UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, Leilani Farha.

"Nothing indiscriminate about targeting the command, control and communications systems of a terrorist organization," Wilczynski replied.

He later posted on X that people misunderstood his use of the word "brilliant.”

"The loss of innocent lives in any conflict is abhorrent & must be avoided," he said. "As a retired national security & intel leader, my use of that word was about the complexity & sophistication of an operation."

On Thursday, he posted again to say he had resigned as special advisor on antisemitism at uOttawa and apologized for the posts. 

"I believe in accountability. My posts on the Hezbollah/Israel war caused harm & affected my ability to help combat antisemitism at U of Ottawa. My intent in sharing is irrelevant when it is clear many were hurt by them. I apologize," he wrote.

Wilczynski told one X user that the resignation was "completely my decision" and told another that he was keeping the offending posts up because, "unlike you people, I don't believe in re-writing history. I did write it and it should be part of the record. It's called transparency."

The University of Ottawa confirmed Wilczynski made the decision to resign.

"Artur Wilczynski informed us of his decision to resign. Determined to make our campuses safer and more secure for the Jewish community, the University of Ottawa remains committed to confronting antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination," said university spokesman Jesse Robichaud.

The group Independent Jewish Voices praised Wilczynski's resignation in a news release Thursday.

"Independent Jewish Voices Ottawa (IJV Ottawa) and IJV's Carleton University chapter welcome the resignation of University of Ottawa's recently appointed antisemitism advisor Artur Wilczynski due to inappropriate comments he made in regards to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon," the release said.

The group claimed nearly 12,000 emails calling for his resignation had been sent to the university this week.

"If the University is truly committed to creating a safe environment for Jewish students, it must actually tackle real antisemitism instead of clamping down on legitimate criticism of Israel and consult with all Jewish organizations including IJV," said Nir Hagigi, a representative of IJV Carleton. "Creating a safe environment for Jews also means creating a safe environment for Palestinian, Lebanese students and any other students or faculty members affected by global events. Anyone else appointed to fulfill this role should reflect that."

According to the University of Ottawa, Wilczynski spent more than 30 years in the Canadian public service working on foreign policy, intelligence, security, and defence issues and was once Canada's ambassador to Norway. He is listed as a senior fellow of uOttawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. 

--With files from The Associated Press