Why is a registered Canadian charity working with a Belgium-based extremist group led by a man who acknowledges being part of Hezbollah, a banned terrorist organization?
Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights is a registered Canadian charity which claims to “promote international human rights within and in connection to Canada.”
But in reality, the group’s role appears far darker.
Its president is James Yap, who, shortly after Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, signed an open letter which we consider to be a de facto excusal of Palestinian terrorism. He is a vocal anti-Israel activist, having vocally defended the extremist anti-Israel occupations on university campuses in the spring of 2024, and called for Israel to be prevented from effectively defending itself from terrorism.
Its advisory board includes William Schabas, a radical anti-Israel activist who despite claiming to be an advocate for human rights, has previously defended the Burmese dictatorship after it committed genocide against the Rohynga minority group.[MF1]
And on at least two recent occasions, the charity sought to have Canadian officials ban Israelis from entering Canada, working with a shadowy Belgium-based organization which targets Israeli citizens, and which critics allege has multiple connections to terrorism.
In December, 2025, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights unsuccessfully petitioned the RCMP to arrest Israeli officials visiting Canada for a speaking engagement, and in January, together with the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), it sought to ban the entry of Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, for previously having served as an Israeli soldier fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza, despite no evidence of him engaged in any war crimes.
Subsequently, media reports say Hochman was held for multiple hours at a Toronto airport upon his arrival for questioning, with the group showing footage on social media of apparently one their representatives delivering a legal complaint to the Canada Border Services Agency beforehand.
According to research from NGO Monitor, the Hind Rajab Foundation – which does not share any financial information – is led by Dyab Abou Jahjah, who in a New York Times article, boasted about having “joined the Hezbollah resistance” and that he had received “some military training” from the terrorist group.
According to these investigations, Abou Jahjah – a Lebanese national – has close ties allegedly to Hezbollah’s financial network.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese terrorist organization banned in Canada.
Another senior employee according to NGO Monitor, Karim Hassoun, works as the Hind Rajab Foundation’s secretary. He has allegedly called the October 7 massacres of Palestinians “returning home and reclaiming their properties,” and called for the destruction of Israel “by any means necessary.”
This apparently has not stopped Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights from working with the group.
As anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activists seek to target Jewish charities across Canada, the news media must shine a critical light on Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, and why such a group enjoying tax-charitable status can engage in the targeting of Israeli citizens, working alongside a foreign organization led by a man who acknowledges being part of Hezbollah, a banned terrorist organization.
