Sarah Jama reopens office, vows to fight censure after statements on Israel-Hamas war

Sarah Jama, the rookie Hamilton Centre MPP who was censured by the Ontario legislature last month after a controversial social media post about the Israel-Hamas war, says her lawyers are launching a judicial review into the move.

The Ford government passed a motion to censure Jama on October 23rd in response to her posts, which some considered controversial.

On Oct. 10, Jama posted a two-paragraph statement under Ontario NDP letterhead that made no mention of the surprise attack by Hamas, instead focusing on the decades-long struggle of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, which she referred to as “apartheid.”

Her post included the hashtag “FreePalestine.”

She later posted an apology online but did not retract the original statement and was later kicked out of the NDP caucus.

On Tuesday, Jama reopened her Hamilton office and announced she was launching a fight against the censure, which essentially bans her from speaking in the legislature.

“We are not of the mindset that the censure was legal — to censure somebody indefinitely using censure protocol for something that was said outside of the house on social media.”

We will be fighting that,” she stressed. “I have every intention to get the censure undone and we are going to exhaust all remedies.”

Jama says she received death threats at the height of the controversy.

She also says she has not heard from Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles since being kicked out of the party and plans on moving forward as an Independent.