OPSEU organizer who allegedly praised Hitler on social media placed on leave
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — Rawan Qaddoura, the newly-hired OPSEU organizer who found herself in hot water after an alleged string of tweets expressing her love for Adolf Hitler, has been placed on administrative leave.
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That’s according to an internal memo viewed by the Toronto Sun from the Ontario Public Service Staff Union (OPSSU) steward Vic Wojciechowska, who confirmed Qaddoura has been suspended.
“Some of you may have already heard that the employer has put Rawan on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an employer-initiated investigation,” read the memo, sent to members of OPSSU’s Political Action and Education (PAE) committee Wednesday evening.
“On behalf of Rawan, we want to affirm that Rawan is being supported by OPSSU and a dedicated steward throughout this process.”
OPSSU is an internal employees’ union representing unionized employees of OPSEU.
Invitations for comment were sent to both OPSSU and OPSEU.
Posts heaped love on Third Reich leader
Last week, concerns were expressed via a letter to OPSEU board members about Qaddoura’s now-deleted X, formerly Twitter, posts.
In a January 2012 post from Qaddoura’s X account, a tweet said, “I honestly wish I was born at the time of the second world war just to see the genius, Hitler, at work,” followed by a second post later that year that said, “Every time I read about Hitler, I fall in love all over again.”
In August 2013, Qaddoura’s account quoted a now-deleted X account that said “the whole world is controlled by Zionist Jews and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”
Qaddoura’s X posts were no secret — online antisemitism watchdog Canary Mission has extensive documentation of Qaddoura’s years of questionable anti-Israel activism , and the tweets were the subject of a 2017 call-to-action by B’nai Brith Canada urging McMaster University to take action against members of a campus pro-Palestinian group praising Hitler on social media.
That prompted many observers to question the hiring practices of OPSEU, which is the subject of a 2024 human rights complaint launched by its Jewish members alleging the Oct. 7, 2023 Palestinian terror attacks introduced a culture where anti-Jewish and antisemitic propaganda are openly advanced, leaving Jewish members feeling marginalized.
Jewish members were also concerned after OPSEU disregarded recommendations from its Jewish caucus and hired fringe anti-Zionist group Independent Jewish Voices to facilitate mandatory antisemitism training, as well as OPSEU flags being waved at a 2024 anti-Israel rally supporting Iranian-backed Houthi ship hijackings.
OPSSU said they are standing by Qaddoura
In the OPSSU memo, Wojciechowska said they’re standing by Qaddoura and are committed to supporting her.
“Per Rawan’s wishes, we want to ensure that support happens on her terms, not terms set by external forces,” he wrote.
“To that end, we relay the request that members respect the integrity of the investigation and refrain from speculation unless and until Rawan’s wishes to the contrary are expressed explicitly.”
On Wednesday, an internal memo was sent to OPSEU employees from human resources head Shazia Tarar, acknowledging the Sun’s coverage, advising employees to watch what they say online, and reminding them of the company’s social media policies.
That memo, a copy of which was viewed by the Sun, made no direct mention of Qaddoura — and appeared to rankle OPSSU officials.
“Yesterday, the employer issued a notice regarding employee policy and conduct online,” OPSSU’s memo read.
“We also want to recognize that an organization-wide directive like this to OPSSU members, without any forewarning or context, contributed to a workplace culture of fear and confusion.”