On January 7th, an Ontario Superior Court Judge rejected the spurious claims that Iain Aspenlieder was motivated by “hate” or “antisemitism” when he wrote “FEED ME” on the Holocaust memorial last June. Aspenlieder had already pleaded guilty to a charge of “mischief” but argued that he acted out of concern for the fact that Canada was doing nothing to allay the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. Read more….

In early June 2025, an Ottawa lawyer named Iain Aspenlieder wrote an impassioned letter to Prime Mark Carney imploring him to do something about “the genocide and starvation of Palestinians”. He urged Carney to declare Benjamin Netanyahu a War Criminal, and to immediately start food drops in Gaza. Failing action by the Prime Minister, Aspenlieder warned, he would start a hunger strike. He wrote the same letter to several MPP’s, two United Church ministers and several media personalities.

Not receiving an answer from Carney, Aspenlieder decided to act. He bought a can of red paint at a local hardware store and on the night of June 8th, rode his bicycle to the National Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa where he painted “FEED ME” in huge red letters.

When Ottawa police arrested him a few days later, Aspenlieder readily admitted what he had done.

Immediately, leaders of the Jewish community, led by CIJA and local criminal lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, claimed Aspenlieder was motivated by hatred of Jews. The cry was taken up by Assistant Prosecutor Moiz Karimjee, who charged Aspenlieder not only with “mischief”, but also “criminal harassment”, a charge usually used when an individual or persons are violently attacked. It has very serious penalties

The prosecutor claimed Aspenlieder had attacked and traumatised “the whole Jewish community” and deserved to pay a price. He claimed that choosing to paint the Holocaust Memorial proved his antisemitic intent.

Muzzled

For six months, Aspenlieder was prevented by the court from explaining his intentions to the public. He was held incommunicado in jail for several months. Even after he was granted bail, the conditions imposed by the court did not allow him to talk to anyone about the case. He was effectively muzzled.

Meanwhile CIJA, B’nai Brith and Lawrence Greenspon, co-chair of the Holocaust Memorial committee, were speaking to media actively promoting the idea that Aspenlieder was motivated by hate and constituted a serious threat to the Jewish Community requiring a severe punishment. “We were all shocked and fearful.” Mina Cohn, the chair of Ottawa’s Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship, told the Canadian Jewish News. “They were so fearful, they didn’t know at the time who did it, what does it mean, where would it lead?”

The crown called for two years in prison plus 3 more years of probation. Acting Deputy Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee argued that Aspenlieder decided to cause harm to the Jewish community — justifying “a significant sentence.”

No evidence of hatred offered

While the judge heard many statements about the impact on the Jewish community, no evidence was introduced to show any ‘hatred”.

Aspenlieder wrote “FEED ME” on the monument. He had made no threats against anyone. Police did a thorough search of Mr. Aspenlieder’s house looking for evidence and found no antisemitic material. It also searched his social media posts. Nothing remotely antisemitic was found. Work colleagues and fellow congregants from his church described him as a gentle man, slightly eccentric, caring and “incapable of hate”.  

The whole “hate motivated’ case against Aspenlieder rests on imputing his intentions. “How can you intentionally target the National Holocaust Monument without being motivated by hatred?” asked B’nai Brith’s Richard Robertson.

Unmuzzled

It was not until nearly six months later, on December 2nd that Aspenlieder was finally allowed to explain his motivations and answer why he chose the Holocaust monument.

“My decision to splash red paint on the Holocaust monument was an intentional use of a powerful symbol to speak my belief that the current Israeli genocide is wrong,” he told the judge on December 2.

Aspenlieder explained he deliberately chose the Holocaust Memorial because it stands accusing Canada and all Canadians for their inaction during the Nazi Holocaust. Aspenlieder was directly challenging the Canadian government and all Canadians to prevent another genocide happening in Gaza. In speaking to the Judge, Aspenlieder referred to the statement made by then Prime MInister Justin Trudeau. The leitmotif of the Holocaust Memorial is ‘never again” – not just for Jews, but for anyone.

According to the Ottawa Citizen account   “Aspenlieder told the court that he didn’t intend to cause fear and harm to the Jewish community when he vandalized the monument.”  

Conclusion

The Judge did find Aspenlieder guilty of mischief and imposed 5 months of “time already served”, a very heavy punishment indeed.

Crown Prosecutor Moize Karimjee and the Israel lobby intended to make an example of a principled opponent to the genocide in Gaza by vilely and dishonestly painting him as a vicious and dangerous antisemite. It was a shameful excercise which caused irreparable damage to Aspenlieder, who spent 5 months in prison, lost his job and faces disbarment as a lawyer.

The Holocaust Memorial monument was largely financed by the Canadian government. Its purpose is to remind all of us of a heinous crime that should never be allowed to be repeated. “May this monument remind us to always open our arms and our hearts to those in need”, said then Prime Minister Trudeau at the opening ceremony in 2017.

Iain Aspenlieder opened his arms and heart to the people in Gaza who are today in need. Unfortunately neither the Crown prosecutor, CIJA, Bnai Brith nor other members of the Israel lobby seem able to open their hearts to “those in need”. Instead, they were prepared to irreponsibly sow the fear in the Jewish community that Aspenlieder somehow represented a danger to them.

Aspenlieder told the judge that in standing up for Gaza, he was proud of what he had done. Mr. Aspenlieder deserves praise, not punishment, for stepping in to do what the Government of Canada has so far refused to do – take some concrete actions – any concrete action at all – against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine is the weekly newsletter of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion about Canada’s response to the Israel/Palestine issue. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
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