Elle Canada, which describes itself as “the fashion magazine covering fashion, style, beauty and guidance for fashion savvy Canadians,” is coming under fire for its decision to honour Sarah Jama, a fanatically anti-Israel Ontario provincial politician, as part of a list on Canadian women who have “broken the glass ceiling,” although it soon reversed course.

Initially, its August 19 article, written by Sadaf Ahsan entitled: “These Incredible Canadians Have Broken The Glass Ceiling,” included a fawning tribute to Sarah Jama, an Independent Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton Centre.

Jama was previously a member of the NDP Ontario caucus, but was removed following uproar as a result of a post on X (Twitter) which was widely seen as excusing Hamas’ massacres. She has also publicly denied that Israeli women were raped by Hamas, and, in a visit to the now-dismantled anti-Israel occupation at McMaster University, called to “globalize the intifada,” a reference to a campaign of Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians.

But Ahsan said nothing about Jama’s extremism. Instead, in Ahsan’s telling, Jama has “spoken in defence of the Palestinian people,” praising her as someone who “remains in solidarity with Palestinians,” and saying that she’s “taking on geopolitical issues” and noting her “resilience.”

Following widespread backlash, the magazine removed Jama from its list on the online version of the article, claiming that “due to threats issued, this article has been edited online by the publisher for the safety of everyone involved.” Ahsan’s byline was also removed from the digital version.

And in yet another update, the magazine’s editors claimed that the original article “represents the opinions of a political personality but does not reflect the opinions of the publishers.”

Ahsan, the article’s author, has made little secret of her anti-Israel animus. She has shared on social media a post seemingly glorifying Hamas’ October 7 massacres.

She is also a contributor for Yahoo News Canada, where a recent article of hers made reference to the “conflict in Palestine,” and which gave an extended platform to anti-Israel activists complaining about the Toronto Air Show. Another recent article of hers entitled: “How grief led me back to Islam,” which was published in the obsessively anti-Israel website of the United Church of Canada, Broadview Magazine, told the story of how she became more observant, in part because of the “war in Gaza,” where she omitted Hamas’ name entirely, and told the story of one Florida convert who “turned to Islam after being inspired by the resilience of the Palestinians.”

What is among the most egregious elements of Ahsan’s article in Elle is how it was produced, in part, thanks to Canadian taxpayers.

KO Média, the owner of Elle Magazine, is a major recipient of federal taxpayer funds, having been granted nearly $3.7 million since 2022 from Canadian Heritage as part of the department’s “Canada Periodical Fund.”

While Elle made the correct decision to remove Jama from its digital version, given that it was too late to remove her from its already-distributed September edition, the fact that an individual who has shamelessly spread hateful anti-Israel propaganda was given such an honour at all reflects a striking lack of judgement on the part of the magazine.