Canadian author, journalist and human rights activist, Yves Engler was detained and spent five days in jail for his criticism of pro-Israel commentator Dahlia Kurtz.
The charges stemmed from a series of social media replies on X. Months prior to Engler’s arrest, he replied to a couple of X posts from Dahlia Kurtz.
“I’ve had no other interaction with Dahlia Kurtz in my life except for responding to her anti-Palestinian and pro-genocide messages on X,” said Engler in an interview with rabble.ca.
On February 18, Engler received a call from Montreal Police stating that he was being charged by Dahlia Kurtz for alleged harassment and indecent communication. According to Engler’s blog post, it reads that “the police officer said I described Kurtz as a ‘genocide’ supporter and ‘fascist’ on Twitter (X), which is true.”
“[The officer] asked me to come into the station the next day to be charged … Basically they were trying to bring in conditions that would curtail my ability to talk about Dahlia Kurtz and, effectively, talk about the case,” said Engler.
“To which myself and my lawyer immediately said, ‘we’re not going to accept that.’ That’s ridiculous.”
Later that day he documented the case online and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute (CFPI) launched an email campaign to drop the charges against Engler.
Within a day, about 2,000 letters of support were sent to drop Engler’s charges.
“Instead of recognizing the ridiculousness of it all, [the police] decided to double down,” said Engler.
Four more charges were added by the Montreal police including intimidation, harassment and “entrave” which prompted two more email campaigns from CFPI and another from PEN Canada. To date, there were nearly 17,000 letters sent.
On February 25, Engler was released, with his next court hearing scheduled for April 25.
Lawfare as a means of silencing dissent
Engler’s case is a prime example of lawfare—the strategic use of the legal systems to intimidate, silence, or suppress political opponents.
This is not an isolated case either. Journalists and human rights activists in Canada have encountered this tactic before. Faisal Kutty, lawyer and human rights activists, witnessed this firsthand in his line of work.
“I have seen publishers threatened with defamation suits for reporting on controversial issues, human rights advocates facing legal harassment, and lawyers pressured simply for defending Palestinian rights,” said Kutty in an email to rabble.ca.
“The goal is not necessarily to win cases, but to drain activists financially, exhaust them legally, and chill political discourse. Engler’s case is a textbook example of this tactic, and it must be challenged aggressively to prevent it from becoming a legal precedent.”
Within the Palestine-Israel conversation, Kutty noted that pro-Israel advocates and organizations implement lawfare tactics to deter criticism of Israel. Defamation suits, SLAPP lawsuits and criminal complaints are the legal mechanisms used.
Both Engler and Kutty highlighted the case of McGill encampments. In Neil Oberman, lawyer and conservative candidate, was a key driver of behind the injunctions to dismantle McGill’s Palestine solidarity encampments—although he ultimately failed to obtain the injunction, Oberman is now involved in Engler’s case.
Even though the initial charges against Engler were dropped, Oberman pressured police into pursuing charges according to Kutty.
“This is part of a larger trend of weaponizing legal mechanisms to suppress pro-Palestinian advocacy. We have seen academics and activists targeted by lawsuits and legal complaints for criticizing Israel, employers pressured to fire individuals over pro-Palestinian statements, and legal action used as an intimidation tool to deter advocacy and free expression,” said Kutty.
Other cases include the arrest of Palestinian-Canadian activist Wesam Khaled, the resignation of Birju Dattani as Canada’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner, and the Indigo 11. More recently, Kurtz filed an ethics complaint against Senator Yuen Pau Woo for supporting Engler and questioning the spurious charges.
“Canada prides itself on being a defender of free speech, yet these cases expose a double standard. When pro-Palestinian voices speak out, they face criminal charges, reputational smears, and institutional retaliation. Meanwhile, those who incite violence against Palestinians, dox activists, and promote genocidal rhetoric face little to no legal consequences,” said Kutty.
Precedence of freedom of expression in Canada
Although Engler is facing criminal charges for speaking out against pro-Israel commentators, he says that this is somewhat reflective of the success of the pro-Palestinian movement. In the past 16 months, Engler noted that there has been a popular uprising of mass dissent against the Canadian government’s involvement in international crimes.
“It’s really important that people don’t respond to things like this by becoming so fearful that it leads to inaction. There’s obviously a healthy paranoia of state power and abuses targeting dissent,” said Engler.
“But also realize that we mostly have freedom to speak, to protests and to participate in actions. In fact, it’s absolutely essential to stop Canada’s complicity to Israel’s genocide. The way you maintain rights here in Canada is by asserting those rights,” said Engler.
Kutty stated that the fight is far from over—with Engler’s trial hearing in April, Kutty said that if the prosecution succeeds then it could embolden further lawfare tactics.
“The legal system must not become a tool to suppress political expression. Freedom of speech is not conditional on supporting the right political narratives. If Engler’s charges are upheld, the legal door will be open to criminalizing dissent under the guise of ‘harassment’ or ‘indecent communication,’” said Kutty.
“I urge people to support Engler’s legal defense—not just for him, but because this case will set a precedent for future activists, journalists, and human rights advocates in Canada.”
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