Overview:

On August 20, 2020 at 4:00 am, an article authored by Mr. Jakob Glogauer titled “Canada’s Conservatives Welcome Extremists, Reject Reformers” was published by the Gatestone Institute.

Although it has been removed, an archived copy can be found here.

Also on August 20, 2020, Mr. Glogauer’s article was re-published with the same headline by the Middle East Forum website. The article’s byline included a hyperlink to the original article on the Gatestone website. 

Who is Jakob Glogauer:

I understand that Mr. Glogauer is a freelance writer whose work has been published in various right wing and alt-right online outlets and newspapers including HonestReporting Canada, the Post Millennial, the Israel Times and the New Right Network. 

A common bio used at the bottom of Mr. Glogauer’s articles states:

“Jakob Glogauer is a Toronto-based writer, with a focus on Israel and Jewish issues. He spends his spare time researching human rights issues of concern in Canada and around the world, as well as advocating for Israel in every way possible.” 

In the summer of 2021, Mr. Glogauer completed the Think Tank Internship (“TTI”) Program at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (“FCPP”). A bio of Mr. Glogauer on the FCPP website states that he is currently a student at the Ryerson University Radio and Television Arts program and that his main policy interests include foreign policy, defence, and political economics.

Mr. Glogauer does not appear to have ever studied extremism or counter-radicalization and has no history of writing on these topics.

I have never been in communication with Mr. Glogauer, either before or after his article was published. I was completely unaware of who he was until I read the article on the Gatestone Institute website.

The Article:

In violation of proper journalistic standards, Mr. Glogauer failed to contact me to comment on or verify the information contained in his article before submitting the article to be published. My contact information is publicly available and he could easily have reached me had he so chosen. Instead, Mr. Glogauer chose to write an article on topics with which he has little experience, including extremism and counter-radicalization, without consulting any of the individuals whose reputations were put at risk by the article. 

Mr. Glogauer also chose not to include information in his article regarding my community and human rights work that is on the public record. Had he simply searched my name or reviewed my social media profiles, he would have learned of my work with the Peel Police Service Board and Human Rights Watch, described above. 

In writing his article, Mr. Glogauer either made no effort to fully research my background or deliberately ignored my community and human rights work. In either event, it is clear that this article was written to damage my reputation rather than provide accurate information for the legitimate public interest.

It is clear to me that Mr. Glogauer’s intention in authoring his article was to portray me as a Muslim extremist who foments hatred and bigotry. The title of the article creates the impression in the mind of the reader that I am an extremist. 

Mr. Glogauer’s article contained other factual inaccuracies that contributed to the creation of an erroneous and dishonest narrative about me. 

Wider Smear Campaign

The timing of Mr. Glogauer’s article was not a coincidence. Since my appointment to the Peel Police Board in May 2019, there has been an active smear campaign by a network of Islamophobes trying to discredit my reputation and remove me from the board, simply because I am Muslim.

This smear campaign has included videos, social media posts and podcasts that disseminate false information regarding myself and other individuals mentioned in Mr. Glogauer’s article.

The information in Mr. Glogauer’s article is similar in nature to what was published by others. Mr. Glogauer did not make any effort to verify the reliability of those sources and their stories or take care to distinguish between assertions and fact. The onus was on him to verify all of this information and he failed to do so.

Gatestone

After receiving a Libel Notice, Gatestone reached out to MEF asking for evidence to support the claims the article made about me. 

Assuming they did not receive any such support, on On December 31, 2020 Gatestone deleted the article and issued an apology on social media.

“On August 20, 2020 Gatestone published an article by MEF writer Jackob Glogauer that included incorrect claims about Ahmad Attia. We apologize for publishing the article and have since deleted the article.”

Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/Gatestone.Institute/posts/4161248710571367?comment_id=4162183893811182 

Twitter Post:

https://twitter.com/GatestoneInst/status/1344669679391035392 

The President of Gatestone then issued a letter apologizing:

“Mr. Attia, 

I write to confirm that Gatestone Institute has removed an article written by MEF writer Jakob Glogauer which was published on our website August 20, 2020 with unproven claims against you.

We have been advised by you of the important public service you have made to the province of Ontario and Canada and apologize for publishing the article which we have since deleted from our website.

Sincerely

Nina Rosenwald
President, Gatestone Institute”

See current website link: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16350/canada-conservatives-islamists 

Middle East Forum Refusal

The Middle East Forum is a Philadelphia think tank that describes its mission as protecting “Western values from Middle Eastern threats.” The article was published by a specific Middle East Forum initiative called Islamist Watch. One of the initiative’s stated purposes is to “combat the ideas and institutions of lawful Islamism in the United States and throughout the West.”

As explained, the article was re-published with the same headline by the Middle East Forum website. The article’s byline included a hyperlink to the original article on the Gatestone website. 

On January 27 a Libel Notice was sent to the Middle East Forum. On January 28, Middle East Forum removed the reference to Gatestone in their version and modified the text of the article in an attempt to protect themselves from defamation.

Jakob Glogauer Settlement

Jakob evaded being served for months. Finally in November 2020 I served him through his mother who he lived with. 

Mr. Glogauer never contacted my lawyers or the court and did not submit a defence.

Immediately before a motion for Summary Judgment in the Ontario Superior Court Of Justice, in December 2021, a lawyer representing Mr. Glogauer contacted me to reach a settlement agreement. In the process Mr. Glogauer confirmed the following:

MEF had reached out to him for a part-time position in the summer of 2020. In August 2020, Sam Westrop, director of Islamist Watch – a project of the Middle East Forum reached out to Nina Rosenwald, president of Gatestone and pitched a story where he says

“One of our writers, Jakob Glogauer, has drafted a piece explaining how Islamists have recently found a home within the Conservative Party of Canada. The frontrunners in the CPC leadership race have each, it seems, embraced prominent Islamists. And at the provincial level, an Islamist conservative MPP has recently climbed the party ranks in Ontario to assume the Deputy Government Whip.
Canadian Conservativism appears to have changed a lot since the days of Stephen Harper, who would never have allowed such infiltrations to occur.
This is rather timely, given the current CPC leadership race. Might it be of interest to Gatestone? Please find attached!”

Gatestone agreed to publish it.

Mr. Glogauer requested the MEF article be deleted but MEF refused. MEF sent a letter stating:

“Middle East Forum has licensed the article, “Canada’s Conservatives Welcome Extremists, Reject Reformers,” from Jakob Glogauer. As such, the Forum has an irrevocable, perpetual license to reproduce and distribute this article in all markets and media. Mr. Glogauer has no legal right, and no ability, to have this article removed from the Forum’s website.”

As previously said, the paper was obviously authored by Jakob and offered to Gatestone rather than MEF, which raises serious concerns. As a result, this piece has nothing to do with MEF, save for the fact that Jakob was employed part-time by MEF at the time of the pitch and that MEF assisted with the pitch. Jacob further acknowledged that he and MEF did not have a “written  agreement” to publish the story in MEF.

Mr. Glogauer explained that he was a University student at the time and was ready to apologise. As such, I accepted to settle.

On February 17, 2022 Jakob published an apology on his facebook account.

https://www.facebook.com/j1k7l/posts/1326487687756936 

On February 24, 2022 Jakob Glogauer sent me a letter stating:

“Dear Mr Attia:

I would like to express my apologies to you for an article I wrote that was published on the Middle East Forum and Gatestone Institute websites (the “Article”).

What I wrote in the Article was untrue and based on unjustified and unsubstantiated claims. I now understand that you are a respected community leader and sincerely regret having defamed you.

I was working as a part-time intern for the Middle East Forum when I wrote the Article at its request.

In spite of my request that it be removed, Middle East Forum has refused, stating that it has a perpetual right to publish my article. As a result, an article that I regret having written remains online under my byline. I wish this were not so.

I regret that my actions have harmed you and apologize to you and your family without reservation.”