A student running in the 2025 University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) general election has been disqualified for antisemitic remarks made on social media, according to a ruling by the chief returning officer (CRO) Jodie Smith.
Ishraqul Alam, whose name was fully redacted from the ruling “due to the highly sensitive nature of the allegations,” was deemed to have “most likely” made the public posts to an X account (formerly Twitter) that is now deleted.
Alam confirmed to the Manitoban in an email statement that this ruling resulted in his disqualification, but denied making the social media posts and operating the account.
The posts from January 2024 accused Ashkenazi Jews of being Nazis and “[acting] like they are the Aryan race,” according to the ruling. One post accused the Israeli army of committing “heinous crimes boldly under the cover of Holocaust sympathy.”
The complainant, whose name was also redacted, stated that the remarks were discovered on Feb. 27, 2025, but that the “repeated pattern of behaviour” started in October 2023.
Smith ruled that the posts “undermine the dignity of an identifiable group of members,” were “antisemitic” and violated UMSU’s equitable campus position statement. The position indicates that UMSU opposes forms of oppression — including antisemitism.
The CRO’s decision also referenced the Safe Environment Policy from the UMSU Governance and Operations Manual, which defines a safe environment as a “space which does not condone behaviour, language or action that is likely to undermine the dignity, safety, self-esteem or productivity of any of its members of employees.”
Alam cites ‘fraudulent impersonation’
After the CRO brought the X account to the candidate’s attention on March 1, which was “in his name with his picture,” the candidate responded that it “is a fraudulent impersonation of me, using my name, likeliness and professional affiliations without my consent,” according to the ruling.
The ruling also stated that the candidate submitted a complaint to X on March 2, but that the account was then deleted less than 24 hours later.
“It is highly unlikely that X/Twitter would be able to investigate and remove the account in less that 24 hours,” wrote the CRO. “He did receive a response from X/Twitter indicating that they tried to start an investigation, but that the account was deleted.”
The ruling stated that only the candidate and complainant knew about the investigation.
The CRO’s decision also stated that “it is not reasonable to believe that the candidate was unaware” of the account until it was brought to his attention, as he had other social media accounts with the same name — including another active X account.
The account “posted very frequently” with thousands of posts, according to the decision.
The chief returning officer will assign demerits to candidates who violate election rules, according to the UMSU Election Manual.
Candidate disqualified for breaching ‘student in good standing’ clause
“I find that it is most likely that this X/Twitter account did belong to this candidate and that the posts in question were written by him,” ruled the CRO.
Alam was deemed to have breached the student in good standing clause, which was revised at the Jan. 16 UMSU board of directors meeting.
The UMSU Election Manual states that a student must be in good standing with the union to stand as a candidate for election. The term is defined as a student who actively adheres to UMSU governing documents and demonstrates integrity and professional conduct.
The CRO also “has the jurisdiction to determine a student’s eligibility, even if specific circumstances may not strictly align” with the student in good standing definition.
An appeals committee upheld the CRO’s ruling on March 6, the first day of voting.
Another student was previously denied candidacy in the election under the same clause, bringing an emergency motion to the Feb. 13 UMSU board of directors meeting to appeal the decision.
‘Decision was based on speculative reasoning,’ says Alam
“I firmly believe I deserved a fair chance to contest the elections,” Alam told the Manitoban in an email statement.
“Unfortunately, the CRO’s decision was based on speculative reasoning rather than concrete evidence.”
Alam claims that an email he received from X Support on March 6 “[proves] that the complaint was not valid” and that he “was not the one operating the account.”
The email from X Support, which was reviewed by the Manitoban, states in-part, “we have removed the reported account for violating our authenticity policy.”
When questioned about the message in the CRO’s ruling stating that X to tried to start an investigation, but that the account was already deleted, Alam responded, “X must have temporarily removed the account when it was initially reported and then proceeded to permanently remove it after verification.
“While the permanent removal occurred after the CRO made their ruling, that timing is entirely out of my control and shouldn’t be held against me,” he stated.
Alam said that following this message from X Support, he did not raise the new evidence with the CRO, stating “by the time I received it, there was no recourse available to have my name reinstated on the ballot. The damage had already been done.”
Alam was contesting the position of vice-president university affairs.
