Charges dropped against woman filmed pulling pro-Palestinian protester’s headscarf

Crown prosecutors dropped charges of assault and harassment against a woman who pulled off a protester’s headscarf at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Ottawa in May, saying it needed to balance the public interest in prosecution with the reasonable likelihood of conviction.

As part of its reasoning for withdrawing the charges on Thursday, assistant Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee said the Crown took into account a number of factors, including that the victim chanted “From River to Sea Palestine Will Be Free.” It was reasonably concluded that it was “a call for genocide against the Jewish people.”

Karimjee noted that when Haifa Abdelkhaleq said this sentence in front of Ottawa City Hall on May 14, Lorna Bernbaum approached her and pulled her headscarf.

On his way to Israel’s Independence Day celebrations, Bernbaum encountered Abdelkhaleq, who was waving a Palestinian flag and protesting Israel’s attack on Gaza.

In the video, Bernbaum, 74, can be seen pointing her middle finger at the camera before pulling down Abdelkhaleq’s headscarf and revealing her hair.

Abdelkhaleq responded by shouting “Shame on you, shame on you” as Bernbaum walked away.

Following an investigation by the Ottawa Police Service’s hate crime and bias unit, Bernbaum was charged with criminal harassment by threatening conduct, assault and mischief.

Crown says defendant’s actions were ‘serious offence’

In an 11-point statement read to Judge Trevor Brown, Karimjee described Bernbaum’s actions as “a serious offense against law and order”.

She also stated in her victim impact statement that Abdelkhaleq said his life was turned upside down because of the attack. He left both his job and his country because he didn’t feel safe.

“My body shakes when I think of going back to Canada,” said Abdelkhaleq, a Canadian citizen.

Karimjee said the attack also affected the sense of safety and belonging of other members of Canada’s Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities.

Woman removes hijab at pro-Palestinian demonstration at Ottawa city hall

Haifa Abdelkhaleq removed her hijab while attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration protesting Israel’s flag-raising ceremony for Independence Day. Ottawa police said they are investigating the incident as hate-motivated.

The right to protest is not absolute

But he also said Abdelkhaleq’s constitutionally protected right to protest was not absolute. The royal specifically called her use of the hymn “problematic.”

“Slogans made during a protest cannot evoke genocide of a people,” Karimjee said. he said. “While some may attribute a peaceful meaning to this statement, it is equally reasonable to infer that it is a call for genocide against the Jewish people.

“Everyone says this at their peril, because if additional evidence in a particular case establishes genocidal intent, the person could be criminally charged.”

He said the use of the hymn was taken into account in the Crown’s reasoning for withdrawing the charges because of its “duty to consider the public interest, having regard to all the circumstances”.

“The truth is that this hymn is perceived by many Jews and non-Jews alike as a call for genocide against Jews. It feels counterintuitive to protest a perceived genocide of Palestinians by using a phrase in which one interpretation is a call for genocide of the Jewish people.”

The defendant admitted his mistake and apologized

Karimjee also noted that Abdelkhaleq, who said many of his friends and relatives had been killed in Gaza, had the right to protest what he perceived as the “Israeli occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Many UN Security Council Resolutions and the Canadian government recognize Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal.

Moreover, Karimjee said that removing her hijab “violated her personal security, her sense of belonging to Canada, and her dignity.”

However, the Crown acknowledged that Bernbaum had made amends since the incident, acknowledging his mistake, issuing an apology to Abdelkhaleq through the Crown and offering to pay compensation. She also spoke with a Muslim community representative to understand the importance of the hijab for Muslim women and the importance of the right to protest.

He also stated that he had no prior criminal record and that this was the first time he had been arrested and charged.

Karimjee said Abdelhaleq supports the Crown withdrawing the charges.

‘I’m not happy’

But when contacted by CBC on Thursday, Abdelhaleq said he felt pressured to agree to the Crown dropping the charges and that he could face prosecution if he didn’t.

“I’m not happy. I’m just really shocked,” he said.

He regretted that Karimjee described his hymns as open to interpretation as a call for genocide.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this,” he said, comparing it to being told you don’t have the right to shout “Free Canada.”

He said hearing Karimjee’s chanting had the same effect on him as the initial attack.

“Just as I do not have the right to say ‘freedom’, I also do not have the right to say ‘peace’,” he said. “Just saying.”

Abdelhaleq said there was no comparison between his words and Israel’s actions in Gaza, where he said his family was bombed.

“I’m basically calling for freedom,” he said. “I didn’t touch anyone, I didn’t hate anyone.”

The Crown’s decision cast doubt on whether she would return to Canada, and she said: “Perhaps as a Muslim woman I have no right to be in Canada.”

Expenses withdrawn

But in court on Thursday, Judge Trevor Brown thanked Karimjee for his efforts to “balance the complex realities of this case.”

Addressing Bernbaum, Brown said: “I will mark these charges as withdrawn and you are free to go.”

Bernbaum declined to comment to CBC.

Criminal lawyer Michael Spratt, who is not involved in the case, said it was “dangerous” for Crown lawyers to comment on the meaning of the protest chants.

“I think the Crown, lawyers for His Majesty the King, need to be very careful about diving into what slogans mean, especially in complex situations like Middle East peace,” he told CBC.