The 1980 bombing of Paris’s Rue Copernic synagogue shocked France as the country’s first major antisemitic attack since the Holocaust. Decades later, the case has reignited controversy on Canadian soil as the man convicted of the attack takes up a university teaching position.
On that fateful October 3 evening, a 22-pound bomb concealed in a motorcycle’s saddlebags exploded prematurely outside the synagogue, where 320 worshippers had gathered for Sabbath services. The blast claimed the lives of a young motorcyclist, an Israeli television presenter, a driver, and a Portuguese hotel worker, while devastating the street and surrounding buildings.
In 2008, French authorities named Lebanese-born Hassan Diab as their prime suspect, launching a complex legal battle that would span fifteen years. Though charges were initially dropped in 2018, allowing him to return to Canada, French prosecutors revived the case in 2021. By April 2023, a Paris court had convicted him in absentia, handing down a life sentence.
Now Diab is preparing to teach “Social Justice in Action” at Carleton University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, sparking outrage among Jewish organizations and victim advocacy groups.
“Hassan Diab, the PFLP terrorist convicted in France for his role in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue that left four people dead and dozens wounded, is inexplicably currently employed as a lecturer at Carleton University,” says B’nai Brith Canada, which has launched a petition demanding Diab’s dismissal.
“He not only presents a danger to the well-being of its students, but it is an insult to the memory of the innocent victims of his heinous crime and an affront to all Canadians who value law and order.”
To date, Carleton University has ignored B’nai Brith’s formal request to terminate Diab’s employment. According to JNS, Carleton University’s sociology department has supported Diab throughout his legal battles, even calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to prevent his extradition.
