37 Facts About Mohamed Elmasry

Mohamed Elmasry was born on December 24,1943 and is a Canadian engineering professor, imam, and Muslim community leader.

Mohamed Elmasry was born in Cairo, Egypt and received his Bachelor of Science in 1965 from Cairo University.

Mohamed Elmasry continued his studies in Canada earning masters and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Ottawa in 1970 and 1974.

Mohamed Elmasry has worked in the area of digital integrated microchip design for over four decades.

From 1965 to 1968, Elmasry worked for Cairo University and from 1972 to 1974 for Bell-Northern Research in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Mohamed Elmasry has accused some of his opponents of being anti-Islam.

Mohamed Elmasry has authored and co-authored more than 500 research papers and 16 books on integrated circuit design and design automation, as well as having several patents to his credit.

Mohamed Elmasry has edited the following books for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Digital MOS Integrated Circuits ; Digital VLSI Systems, Digital MOS Integrated Circuits II and Analysis and Design of BiCMOS Integrated Circuits.

Mohamed Elmasry later apologized for his remarks, calling them his "biggest mistake" in 30 years of public life and offered his resignation, which was not accepted by the CIC's board.

Mohamed Elmasry criticized the 2004 bombings of hotels in Taba, Egypt on the grounds that some of the victims there were not Israelis.

At first, Mohamed Elmasry defended his remarks by insisting that he was merely sharing the standard Palestinian point of view.

Specifically, Mohamed Elmasry stated that Fatah is "well known in Canada for smearing Islam and bashing Muslims".

Mohamed Elmasry has asserted that the war against terror is actually being used to oppress Muslims as a whole saying that:.

Mohamed Elmasry wrote that the Canadian government should "review its 2002 decision to place Hezbollah and Hamas on its list of banned alleged terrorist organizations" because doing so "is an unconscionable act of hypocrisy and a mockery of justice" since Canada has not placed Israel on the same list.

Mohamed Elmasry stated that the decision to place Hezbollah and Hamas on this list was "dictated by special interest groups with agendas that are contrary to peace with justice".

Mohamed Elmasry has been outspoken in opposition to Islamophobia stating that "Today's Islamophobia and yesterday's anti-Semitism are starkly similar" and expressing fear that at the parallels between historic anti-Semitism in Europe and modern anti-Muslim sentiment in the West.

Mohamed Elmasry argued that the modern world should draw lessons from the past and work to halt the spread of anti-Muslim sentiment lest it establish the same groundwork for anti-Muslim violence the way that centuries of anti-Semitism laid the groundwork for violence against Jews.

In 2002, Mohamed Elmasry denounced an email from the Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque that urged followers not to wish anyone a "Merry Christmas" asserting that this was tantamount to congratulating someone for murder and adultery.

Mohamed Elmasry said that Islam allows followers to marry Christians or Jews and that his own family is multi-faith.

Mohamed Elmasry says he and the CIC support "smart integration where Muslims can practise their religion but can be involved in advancing the well-being of their home country, which is Canada".

The MCC stated that Mohamed Elmasry accused the group of blasphemy, a crime that carries the death sentence in several Islamic countries.

Mohamed Elmasry responded by stating that Islam has no punishment for denouncing the religion, its holy book, or Muhammad, and he dismissed as "nonsense" the notion that his words could be construed as a death sentence.

Mohamed Elmasry urged a moderate response to Danish cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad published in 2005.

Mohamed Elmasry urged Canadian Muslims to have a "controlled and calm" response consisting of writing letters to the editor and the Danish government.

Mohamed Elmasry urged Muslims to engage in outreach by inviting non-Muslims into their homes and have open houses in mosques.

Mohamed Elmasry supported this view by citing a 1953 book by French pacifist Jean Lasserre, La Guerre et L'Evangile.

Bnai Brith Canada sharply criticized Mohamed Elmasry, stating in a press release that Mohamed Elmasry's "thesis that the Old Testament is the root cause of all hatred and violence in the world" is an "attack on the core of Judaism".

Mohamed Elmasry has referred to Israel as "Israel and apartheid" and has praised Israeli activist Uri Davis because he has "worked to expose the real truth behind Israel's so-called 'democracy'".

Mohamed Elmasry has stated Uri Davis work makes it clear "to any thinking person that Israel and apartheid and Apartheid South Africa are remarkably similar".

Mohamed Elmasry has called for a two-state solution with Israel withdrawing to its pre-1967 border and praised Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat for making peace with Israel in exchange to its withdrawal from the Sinai Desert.

Mohamed Elmasry has stated that there is nothing wrong with the "one-state" solution.

Mohamed Elmasry stated that, on the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation, Kovel's book "is must-read for this difficult and bitter-sweet occasion".

Father Raymond J de Souza criticized Elmasry for this op-ed, writing that Mugabe is "a man so isolated that even his fellow African dictators have distanced themselves from him".

In July 2008, Mohamed Elmasry wrote that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is "playing politics" and remains indifferent to Omar Khadr's incarceration at Guantanamo Bay prisoner because Harper had calculated that refusing to press Washington for Khadr's return would score him "political points".

Mohamed Elmasry contrasted Khadr's case with that of dual Canadian-British citizen William Sampson, who was freed from a death sentence in Saudi Arabia in 2003.

However, Mohamed Elmasry later stated that he was attempting to explain Harper's stance on the file and was not accusing the prime minister of prejudice against Muslims.

Mohamed Elmasry suggested that Canada follow the example of Europe rather than the US when it comes to the environment.