These remarks prompted harshly-worded responses from representatives of the Canadian Jewish Congress and several prominent Canadian Muslims. He also criticized the 2004 bombings of hotels in Taba, Egypt on the grounds that some of the victims there were not Israelis. He also stated that 'a Toronto Jewish businessman had threatened to withdraw his financial support for a chair of Jewish studies.' In an article entitled 'When Jews Target a Canadian Muslim', Elmasry accused the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) and Bnai Brith Canada of 'putting pressure on my university to fire me' and that his words were 'mis-represented to the public exactly as the CJC wished'. Įlmasry also criticized Canadian Jewish groups over this incident. Instead, they totally and completely relied on the heavily selective one provided to them, which was one-sided and referred only to my remarks, but not to those by Aptowitzer. The media never questioned the completeness or the accuracy of the radio show transcript that was given to them. It was widely reported, for example, that 'Elmasry said all Israelis over 18 were legitimate targets for suicide bombers.' This is totally false. While never referring to Aptowitzer's statements, the media used news stories, editorials, op-ed pieces, columns, photos, front-page coverage, cartoons, and radio and television commentaries to paint a negative picture of CIC and myself which seriously distorts and falsifies the truth. In a letter to the Toronto Star following Sellar's column, Elmasary complained about the affair:Ĭanadian news media - including the Star - launched a relentless and unfair attack against the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) and me while covering up for weeks the outrageous statements made on the same show by Adam Aptowitzer, then the Ontario chairman of the B'nai Brith Institute of International Affairs. Toronto Star city editor John Ferri told the Toronto Star's ombud, Don Sellar, 'we all had egg on our faces.t was embarrassing for every paper in the city not to get the whole story from the outset.' Following the CAF press release, Aptowitzer retracted his comments and resigned his position with the B'nai Brith. to be terrified of what the possible consequences are, I'd say that's an acceptable use to terrify somebody.' The remarks only received attention several weeks after the broadcast, and after Elmasry's apology and proffered resignation, when a press release by the Canadian Arab Federation highlighted them. The Elmasry affair led to criticisms that the media focussed entirely on the comments of the CIC president while neglecting controversial comments made on the same program by a B'nai Brith official, Adam Aptowitzer, who stated that 'When Israel uses terror. He has edited the following books for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Digital MOS Integrated Circuits (1981) Digital VLSI Systems (1985), Digital MOS Integrated Circuits II (1991) and Analysis and Design of BiCMOS Integrated Circuits (1993).Īppearance on The Michael Coren Show Īsked by Michael Coren in an interview on Octoif '.everyone in Israel, irrespective of gender, over the age of 18 is a valid target?', CIC President Mohamed Elmasry responded, 'Yes, I would say.'Įlmasry later apologized for his remarks, calling them his 'biggest mistake' in 30 years of public life and offered his resignation, which was not accepted by the CIC's board. He has accused some of his opponents of being anti-Islam.Įlmasry has authored and co-authored more than 500 research papers and 16 books on integrated circuit design and design automation, as well as having several patents to his credit. His remarks, especially those concerning the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, have drawn significant attention in the Canadian media.

Since 1974, he has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario where he is a founding Director of the VLSI (Microchip) Research Group.Īs a spokesperson for Muslim causes through the Canadian Islamic Congress, he has been a regular contributor to The Globe and Mail. He has worked in the area of digital integrated microchip design for over four decades.įrom 1965 to 1968, Elmasry worked for Cairo University and from 1972 to 1974 for Bell-Northern Research in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He continued his studies in Canada earning masters and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Ottawa in 19. He was born in Cairo, Egypt and received his Bachelor of Science in 1965 from Cairo University. Mohamed Elmasry ( Arabic: محمد المصري) (born December 24, 1943) is a Canadian engineering professor, imam, and Muslim community leader.

Elmasry elyoum