York University in Ontario, Canada. Photo: Andrei Sedoff via Wikimedia Commons.

A top Canadian Jewish group called on Tuesday for action to be taken against a York University professor who defamed Zionism and downplayed Holocaust denial.

On June 10, Faisal Bhabha — an associate professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School — said during an online debate, “Zionism isn’t about self-determination, it’s about Jewish supremacy.”

Challenged on his statement, Bhabha added, “I’m equating white supremacy with Jewish supremacy.”

Going even further, Bhabha commented, “Accusing Israel of exaggerating the Holocaust could be, for some, a plausible argument.”

In an online petition to York University President Rhonda Lenton published on Tuesday, B’nai Brith Canada called for Bhabha to be removed from teaching a course on human rights at the school, saying, “Any version of human rights that does not include a firm rejection of antisemitism is ethically and morally bankrupt.”

Michael Mostyn — chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada — stated, “Now is the time for York to show that its commitment to fighting antisemitism includes concrete actions, not just words.”

“In our opinion, someone who believes that the vast majority of Canadian Jews subscribe to ‘Jewish supremacy’ and that the Jewish State might ‘plausibly’ have exaggerated the Holocaust is clearly unfit to teach anyone about human rights,” he added.