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Sid Ryan
Sid Ryan defended Hamas terrorism, spread anti-Semitism during an Israeli war against Hamas and denied multiple Hamas war crimes in late 2023. Ryan has also expressed support for other terrorists and spread hatred of Israel and Israelis on social media.
Ryan wrote his statements about Hamas after its terror atrocities and war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings, which were executed on October 7, 2023. The attacks left over 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.”
Ryan is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. He led BDS campaigns in 2006 and 2009 as President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Ontario (CUPE Ontario).
Ryan served as the former president of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) from 2009 to 2015 and of CUPE Ontario from 1992 to 2009.
As of December 2023, Ryan’s Facebook bio said he was a “Labour, equity, human rights and social justice activist.”
As of the same date, Ryan’s LinkedIn profile said he lived in the Greater Toronto Area.
On November 10, 2023, Ryan tweeted in defense of a pro-Hamas graphic that criticized CUPE’s pro-terror stance and was reportedly circulated on social media. The graphic was about the kidnapping of an Israeli civilian who Hamas murdered.
Ryan tweeted: “Under the terms of the Geneva conventions an occupied people have the right to armed resistance against an occupying army. Ukranians are resisting the Russian occupation of their land are you suggesting they should not ‘resist’ ? #gobsh**e.”
The graphic that Ryan defended quoted CUPE Local 3906, with the tweet’s text below a photo of the limp body of 23-year-old Shani Louk, who had her face down on the back of a truck after Hamas kidnapped her at an October 7 music festival. She was declared dead three weeks later. Below Louk’s body was the CUPE local’s quote, followed by more text. The graphic said: “‘PALESTINE IS RISING, LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE 🌹’ October 7, 2023 / CUPE / Canadian Union of Public Employees.”
Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Many Palestinian civilians participated in and supported the attacks, and Gazans working in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.
For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
On November 5, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “It is foolish to think that you can put a rope around the neck of an idea. No amount of bombings will kill the idea of a #freepalestine / Sure, Israel might be able to kill most,if not all, of the Hamas fighters in Gaza. But soon, they will be replaced by a new army of resistance.”
On October 24, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “...you can not kill the cry for freedom. Sure, Israel can kill every last member of Hamas, but they will not kill Palestinians right to self-determination. Out of the ashes of Gaza will rise a new and more militant resistance.”
On October 7, 2023, Ryan tweeted in opposition to the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) condemning that day’s Hamas terror attacks. Ryan wrote: “What will it take for the @NDP to grow a spine…What does it take for a social democratic party in Canada to be on the side of social justice.”
On the same day, Ryan tweeted to a Canadian broadcaster that she should not be “outraged by the oppressed fighting back against the oppressors.”
Also on October 7, 2023, Ryan tweeted against the mayor of Toronto for condemning Hamas. He wrote: “@oliviachow What a terrible disappointment you are to all of those around the world who are fighting for social justice…”
On November 13, 2023, Ryan tweeted about multiple senior Canadian politicians, writing: “Trudeau,Poilievere, Ford, and Stiles are a bunch of cowards, afraid to show their faces for fear of a backlash from the usual suspects in the Israel lobby. / #CeasefireInGazaNOW.”
The tweet included a video of Ryan speaking at an anti-Israel protest held the day before. Ryan said [00:00:10]: “I want to speak to the politicians of this country, I’ve never seen such a bunch of cowards in my entire life.”
The “Israel Lobby” is a conspiracy theory alleging Israeli and Jewish control over the U.S. government. Proponents of the theory decry the negative effects on American interests, particularly in foreign policy.
On November 24, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “...the Gaza resistance has far more in common with the Warsaw Jewish resistance who fought their Nazi occupiers…”
On December 16, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “The Nakba and illegal occupation should not have been there in the first place. Nor should the open air concentration camp of Gaza. History did not begin on Oct 7th.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
Referring to Gaza as an “open-air prison” is a way to delegitimize the UN-approved [pp. 39–41] joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed in 2011 to prevent Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets. Following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli military discovered that Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.
On December 11, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “This article is riddled with deliberate factual errors. There were no babies beheaded or burned in ovens.The article neglects to mention that the IDF fired on and killed some of its own people…” His tweet referred to an article titled: “The Things I Never Thought Possible—Until October 7.”
Hamas terrorists murdered Israeli Jewish babies during its October 7, 2023, terror attacks. Some of the babies were beheaded and some were murdered in front of their parents.
On December 6, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “This is a prime example of how the Israel lobby has brain washed politicians and the mainstream media into parroting every one of its bs talking points. Genocide Joe still insists he has seen photos of beheaded babies, and no one in the msm will challenge his false assertions.”
On December 5, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “Israel's response to hostages waving goodbye, hugging, smiling, and shaking hands with Hamas fighters, The wheels have come off their propaganda wagon. / #FreePalestine.”
Ryan’s tweet included a screenshot of an article titled: “Hostages given tranquilizers to 'look happy' upon release from captivity,” and a GIF of a man rolling his eyes. The article included a video of Israeli Health Ministry officials describing the kinds of drugs Hamas gave hostages before being released before the media.
On November 23, 2024, Ryan posted on X: “Whether your opinion is that Yayah Sinwar was a ‘terrorist’ or a ‘freedom fighter,’ there is no denying he has changed the world we live in. He exposed UN and international laws as a sham, exposed Israel as a brutal colonial,apartheid power, and their leaders as war criminals.”
Yahya (Yehiya) Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel and had been a Hamas leader since the 1980s. Sinwar was nicknamed the “Butcher of Khan Younis” after he admitted to killing 12 suspected Palestinian “collaborators,” and in 1989 was sentenced to four life terms in Israeli prison for crimes including the killing of two Israeli soldiers.
In 2011, Sinwar was released by Israel to Gaza following the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal and resumed his leadership role in Hamas. On October 17, 2024, the Israel Defense Forces eliminated Sinwar in Gaza.
On July 7, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “This is THE message that everyone who supports Palestinian freedom and human rights ought to be expressing. Resistance to the illegal occupation is not terrorism nor anti-Semitic. What Israel did in Jenin is terrorism.”
In early July 2023, Israeli forces launched a two-day counterterrorism operation in the Jenin refugee camp. Its goal was to target terrorists and dismantle the terror infrastructure of organizations such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). By the end of the operation, the Israeli army had reportedly dismantled “hundreds of explosives, weapons caches and underground tunnels.”
Ryan’s July 7, 2023 tweet also linked to a video posted on Instagram of anti-Israel activist Ilan Pappé saying [00:00:05]: “The Palestinian national movement is not a movement of terrorism, it’s an anti-colonialist movement…”
On July 2, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “Every day, we hear about an Israeli raid into Palestinian towns and villages to assassinate young Palestinian resistance fighters. Isn't it time to arm the Palestinians so they can protect themselves ?...”
On May 3, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “...Khader Adnan gave his life and died a martyr fighting to free his people…”
Khader Adnan was a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. A 2007 YouTube video showed Adnan praising and encouraging suicide bombings: "Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?” In May 2023, Adnan died in prison after refusing medical treatment during a hunger strike.
On March 4, 2023, Ryan tweeted an article glorifying the Lions’ Den terror group and wrote: “The oppressed has a legitimate right to take up arms against their oppressors…”
The “Lions’ Den” [عرين الأسود] is an independent “armed group” with operatives hailing from various other Palestinian terrorist organizations. The group reportedly emerged from Nablus in August 2022. The Lions’ Den has claimed responsibility for the death of Israeli soldiers. They also targeted Israeli civilians in multiple terror attacks in October and November 2022.
On January 26, 2023, Ryan tweeted: “Typical ignorant BS from the usual suspects in
@CIJAinfo / . Intifada simply means 'Uprising', which is allowed under the Geneva Convention for illegally occupied nations…”
His tweet was in response to a tweet by the Canadian Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), that said: “The first and second intifadas were waves of extreme violence that killed thousands of Israelis and Palestinians. / Calls for an intifada in #Canada are direct threats of violence against Jewish Canadians…”
The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.
On August 16, 2022, Ryan tweeted about terrorist Ahmad Manasra: “Another example of the sick mentality of the Israeli apartheid regime. Confining a child with mental health issues to solitary confinement…”
Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara) and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem on October 12, 2015, during the Knife Intifada. The pair critically wounded a 13-year-old Israeli boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. Manasra later admitted to investigators: “I went there to stab Jews,” and was convicted on two counts of attempted murder.
On July 14, 2021, Ryan tweeted that “Khalida Jarrar is a human rights activist” and claimed she had been imprisoned by Israel “as punishment for her activist opposition to the apartheid occupation and her key role in bringing Israel to the ICC for war crimes.” Ryan was responding to a tweet that said: “The PFLP isnt a human rights group it's a terror organisation that Jarrar helped run while it carried out numerous attacks.”
Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. In 2019, she was arrested for her role as the leader of the PFLP in the West Bank, which had carried out a deadly 2018 bombing and was reportedly “planning additional attacks.” She was among 50 PFLP operatives arrested.
The PFLP is dedicated to the violent destruction of Israel. It is designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the United States. The EU, Canada, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Australia and Israel also list it as a terror group due to its history of carrying out assassinations, suicide bombings, hijackings and multiple murders.
On February 5, 2025, Ryan posted on X: "Trump proposes to forcibly ethnically cleanse 2.2 million Palestinians from Gaza, and sitting beside him grinning like a Cheshire cat is Netanyahu, the wanted war criminal. You couldn't make this stuff up."
On December 28, 2024, Ryan posted on X, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Irish member of Parliament ‘ I hope Benjamin Netanyahu burns in hell’.” Ryan’s post was quoting an Irish politician Thomas Gould.
On November 21, 2024, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, Ryan posted on X: “Finally, the Israeli war criminals have been legally exposed to the entire world as murderous monsters that should be arrested and placed on trial in The Hague. This should put an end to any more bs talk about "Israel sharing our values". #LockThemUp.”
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders in connection to alleged crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s Swords of Iron War against Hamas. The arrest warrants were condemned as politicized, with several ICC member states indicating that they would refuse to comply with the warrants. U.S. President Biden condemned the arrest warrants as “outrageous.”
On November 18, 2024, Ryan posted on X: “The majority of the entire world's population knows that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza…”
On November 5, 2024, Ryan posted on X: “The Israeli war criminals are now fighting among themselves. Their government is polluted with war criminals, bigots, and racists. They should all end up behind bars.”
On November 21, 2024, Ryan posted on X: “The BDS movement is chugging along in Canada. Every union in Canada should be looking at their pension plans to ensure they are not investing in Israel. @CanadianLabour needs to apply pressure to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to divest from Israel also.”
On June 15, 2006, when Ryan served as president, CUPE Ontario voted to support BDS and referred to Israel’s security barrier as the “Israeli Apartheid Wall.”
Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
On January 2, 2009, during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead (OCL) against Hamas, Ryan was quoted in a CUPE Ontario press release titled: “CUPE Ontario to Recommend Support for Ban on Israeli Academics in Response to Gaza Bombings.”
Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead (OCL) in 2008-09 in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. In 2010, Hamas admitted that nearly 700 of the Palestinian casualties in OCL were combatants.
