A B.C. Supreme Court justice has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by a member of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Social Justice Centre over phony "I [Heart] Hamas" stickers.
The stickers were deceptively produced to appear like they were made by the social justice organization, when in fact they were distributed by a student working for a pro-Israel group.
In a decision released on Monday, July 28, Justice Elin Sigurdson dismissed the suit, finding that while the content of the stickers may be defamatory, the student suing wasn't named on them, so it was not his reputation being impugned.
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas against Israel, university campuses across North America erupted with demonstrations and counter-demonstrations by supporters of Palestinians or Israelis. Tensions were running high.
During the aftermath of the attack and subsequent invasion of Gaza by Israel, members of the UBC Social Justice Centre vocally supported the Palestinian cause. Meanwhile, a pro-Israel Jewish group called the Hillel B.C. Society worked to counter anti-Israeli sentiment on campus.
It was amidst this backdrop that stickers began appearing around campus with the words "I [heart symbol] Hamas" on them, along with the caption "UBC Social Justice Centre."
It turns out that a student working for Hillel, Adam Dobrer had created and distributed the stickers. This made it look like the Social Justice Centre supported Hamas, a designated terrorist organization by the Canadian government.
The Hillel society had hired Dobrer to help quell anti-Israeli sentiment on campus, and he took it upon himself to make the stickers, according to court documents. This went too far for Hillel, and the organization fired him on Nov. 19.
The Social Justice Centre and one of its leaders, Matthew Cheesman, sued for defamation, arguing that stickers harmed the group's and his reputation by making it seem as though they supported a terrorist organization. They argued that the organization and its members do not justify or condone violence, and that while they support solidarity with Palestinians, they oppose antisemitism.
But because the Social Justice Centre is an unincorporated association with a fluid and undefined membership, it could not continue to be a party to the lawsuit. This left Cheesman as the sole plaintiff.
Cheesman continued to press the case, arguing that the sticker caused him "significant distress, fear and confusion," and resulted in social media posts suggesting the Social Justice Centre was "glorifying terror and were pure evil," while threatening to release members' personal information or addresses.
Dobrer and Hillel contended that the stickers were meant as satire, and Cheesman's goal was to silence a political statement.
Justice Sigurdson disagreed. She found that it could be legitimately argued that the sticker harmed the reputation of the Social Justice Centre by tricking people into believing they came from that organization. This could therefore be considered a legitimate defamation complaint.
Sigurdson defined the sticker as intentional mimicry meant to deceive, not political satire.
But Sigurdson also found that the sticker refers only to the organization, not to Cheesman himself.
"Although Mr. Cheesman had a central role in the organization, and even a public-facing role, the evidence does not suggest he was the face or name associated with the organization," Sigurdson found.
Without the Social Justice Centre itself as a plaintiff, Sigurdson decided Cheesman did not have a valid complaint and dismissed the lawsuit.
