Dimitri Lascaris Resigns from Law Firm Amid Zionist Smear Campaign

Kalamata, Greece – March 12, 2025 – Veteran Canadian lawyer and journalist Dimitri Lascaris announced his decision to withdraw from the Toronto law firm Kogan Myers LLP, citing a wave of politically motivated complaints against him for his outspoken advocacy for Palestinian human rights. Lascaris, known for his fearless critique of Western foreign policy, declared that his departure would only strengthen his commitment to justice rather than silence him.

Lascaris, speaking from Greece, revealed that Kogan Myers had received hundreds of baseless complaints from pro-Israel groups since late 2023, when Israel launched what he describes as a Western-backed genocide in Palestine. Rather than allow his advocacy to be used as a weapon against the firm, Lascaris made the principled decision to step away, emphasizing his respect for the firm’s lawyers, whom he called individuals of “the highest professional integrity.”

Zionist Lawyers Targeting Free Speech

Lascaris detailed a disturbing pattern of harassment by members of the Canadian legal profession who attempted to undermine his work by filing ethically and legally dubious complaints with professional bodies.

Among them was Leila Manasian, a New York real estate lawyer, who falsely claimed that Lascaris attended a funeral in Lebanon to support Hezbollah. In reality, he had attended as an accredited journalist, a fact she omitted. When confronted with a defamation lawsuit, Manasian quickly retracted her claims.

Another key player in the smear campaign was Amir Epstein, director of the Tapf Organization, which has direct ties to the Israeli Consulate. Epstein openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, advocated for starving Palestinians, and smeared journalists covering Israeli war crimes. Yet, he positioned himself as an authority on legal ethics while attempting to have Lascaris disbarred. When faced with legal action, Epstein immediately deleted his defamatory statements.

A Legal Profession in Crisis

Lascaris condemned what he called the cowardice of Bay Street lawyers, noting that not a single high-profile lawyer in Canada had publicly condemned Israel’s genocide. Instead, many have actively supported it, while others remained silently complicit, afraid of professional repercussions.

“Whether Israel is committing genocide is not a political question. It is a legal fact,” Lascaris stated, emphasizing that the International Criminal Court has already indicted Israeli leaders for war crimes.

His departure from Kogan Myers frees him to intensify his advocacy, allowing him to dedicate even more time to pro bono legal work for Palestinian solidarity activists, who face increasing repression in Canada.

Yves Engler and the Criminalization of Dissent

Lascaris’s case is not an isolated one. The recent politically motivated arrest of Yves Engler, one of Canada’s most well-known pro-Palestinian activists, illustrates the increasing criminalization of dissent. Engler was jailed for five days on frivolous charges after responding to Zionist propaganda on social media. The case against him was pressured through by Conservative Party candidate Neil Oberman, despite police initially dismissing it.

In court, prosecutors struggled to justify restricting Engler’s freedom of speech, presenting a flimsy case built around 72 tweets responding to anti-Palestinian content from Zionist influencer Dalila Kurtz. The judge swiftly dismissed the prosecution’s attempt to impose broad restrictions, recognizing that Engler’s criticism of Zionist narratives is not a crime. Upon his release, Engler led chants of “Free Palestine!” outside the courthouse.

Oberman, who initiated the charges, has a history of legal failures—including a botched attempt to dismantle the McGill pro-Palestine encampment through an injunction. His actions, along with the broader crackdown on pro-Palestine voices, reflect a disturbing escalation of state-backed censorship and political repression.

Far from backing down, Lascaris vowed to continue exposing war criminals, defending activists, and confronting Western complicity in Israel’s crimes.

“This is just the beginning,” he said.