WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A Winnipeg paramedic has been disciplined after complaints over antisemitic social media posts made following the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023.
A disciplinary panel with the College of Paramedics of Manitoba ordered Saru Chahal to be reprimanded and to pay a $1,000 fine and $5,000 in costs after Chahal admitted to professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a paramedic, according to a Feb. 25 decision recently published online, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
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The panel said two complaints were filed against Chahal, a primary care paramedic with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service since 2013, shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which Israeli officials said killed about 1,200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken.
The first complaint included screenshots of posts and stories from Chahal’s public and personal Instagram accounts that referred to Hamas members as “resistance fighters” and claimed Israelis have hatred toward Palestinians embedded in their DNA since birth, the panel said.
The panel said Chahal also shared an image depicting the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism and Israel, overlaid with a swastika.
A second complaint, filed less than two weeks later, alleged that Chahal posted antisemitic hate speech, misinformation and biased content, along with anti-Israel propaganda and material that incited hatred against Jewish people and the broader Jewish community, the panel said.
The panel said Chahal admitted the posts were hostile and disrespectful toward Jewish and Israeli people, had the potential to cause distress and amounted to professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a paramedic.
The panel noted Chahal had no prior disciplinary history with the college, which was established in 2020, but had previously agreed to complete training on empathy and compassion after a 2021 complaint from a former patient.
“As is likely evident from the material in front of you, I am also a strong, and passionate advocate for the people of Palestine, and I am deeply affected by the injustices taking place there, which we see on the news every day,” Chahal said in a statement, according to the panel. “At the same time, I recognize that as a paramedic regulated by this college, I have a responsibility to remain mindful of differing perspectives, including those that do not align with my own.”
The panel said Chahal has a right to free expression and activism, but must still follow professional standards and does not have unlimited freedom to post on social media as a registered paramedic.
