Former U of T imam says he was let go for social media posts he never made, petition calls for reinstating him

A former campus imam alleges he was dismissed by the University of Toronto Scarborough after a social media post he says was falsely attributed to him, and says the school failed to properly investigate. 

Omar Patel says the university formally cut ties with him on Jan. 22 after nine years of offering "Islamically integrated" mental health and spiritual care to Muslim students.

"I loved working with the students of U of T, I loved working with administration. I had an extremely good relationship with them, which is why I thought everything was going to be okay," Patel said. 

"I thought, the university trusts me, and I trust them to do an investigation."

His dismissal came roughly seven weeks after screenshots of an image related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, allegedly shared on Patel's Instagram stories, was flagged to administrators. Patel denies ever sharing the image and alleges he was unfairly targeted.

The screenshots were sent to administrators by Hillel Ontario, a group that says it "works to amplify Jewish campus life" at nine schools across the province. Hillel Ontario is part of Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.

The image depicts an Israel Defence Forces soldier, standing with an Israeli flag, mirrored with the same soldier holding the battle flag of Nazi Germany. Two superimposed captions suggest support for Israel is tantamount to support for Nazi Germany and genocide. 

The Muslim Chaplaincy of Toronto, which directly employs Patel, has called for him to be reinstated at U of T Scarborough, saying the school's investigation lacked transparency and due process.

On Dec. 1, a U of T administrator sent Patel an email with a screenshot attached, telling him school was deeply concerned. Patel was told to stop going to campus and to postpone counselling appointments with students while an investigation got underway. 

"To me, when I saw the image, I was shocked. I was appalled," Patel told CBC News. He said he noticed that the screenshot had no Instagram username or profile picture, which would typically appear in the top left corner of the Instagram stories function. 

Patel responded to the school, questioning how the Instagram story could be attributed to him absent his handle or picture.

Five days later, the same administrator sent another nearly identical screenshot, except now the image had both features.

At about the same time, Hillel Ontario posted an open letter on its website, addressed to U of T Scarborough Principal Wisdom Tetty, calling for Patel to be held "accountable." The group said Patel was "spreading lies based on antisemitic blood libel tropes" that could contribute to violence against Jewish people. 

Initially, the post included the screenshot without Patel's username and picture. It was then replaced with a screenshot with both. On Dec. 1, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) posted on X, formerly Twitter, directing users to the open letter.