A government-funded literary journal, The Ex-Puritan, is under review by the Canada Council for the Arts after publishing a poem that appears to praise Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. The poem, titled "Flood," written by Bahar Orang, describes the events and attackers with positive language. In response to public concern, the council has hired legal counsel to investigate the matter, emphasizing that while they support diverse artistic expression, concerns about content legality require scrutiny. The journal received a $22,000 annual grant for four years in 2024 from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A poem published by The Ex-Puritan, an online literary journal funded with CAD $22,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, praised the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. The poem, titled 'FLOOD' and written by Toronto-based poet Bahar Orang, included phrases such as "praise the paragliders" referring to Hamas fighters who used paragliders in the attack. This deadly assault resulted in about 1,200 Israeli casualties, marking it as one of the deadliest days for Israel since the Holocaust. The Canada Council for the Arts, which received around CAD $364.3 million from taxpayers in 2024 to fund cultural projects, is now under scrutiny for funding such controversial content. An internal review has been initiated following public backlash over the poem's apparent support for terrorism.
Written for “Canada funds anti-israel propaganda” on 2026-10-09,
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Leaning: leans strongly left for article 68567 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-09
An internal review is underway after the latest issue of a journal funded by the Canada Council for the Arts appeared to support terrorism as a form of resistance and featured a poem by a Toronto writer who praises the events of October 7.
asserted
who → fund → October
The poem, called Flood, was written by Bahar Orang and is featured in The Ex-Puritan.
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poem → call → Puritan
In the piece, Orang describes the events of an October morning, a reference to October 7 — the deadliest day for the Jewish community since the Holocaust, when 1,200 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists in 2023.
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Israelis → describe → 2023
“Praise the paragliders, their gentle ascension, their unbroken morning, and of course their triumphant descension…,” she writes.
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she → praise → course
Hamas terrorists fired rockets across the border from Gaza into Israel and then used paragliders to invade and attack civilians.
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terrorists → fire → civilians
Videos and photos obtained by Reuters and CNN showed how those horrific scenes unfolded.
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scenes → obtain → Reuters
In the poem, Orang also writes “praise the fighters,” and acknowledges their courage, cunning and patience.
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Orang → write → courage
She describes “the tanks on fire, the enemy fleeing.”
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enemy → describe → fire
“Praise the missiles, the recognitions written in blood on each one, the names carved already into your own flesh,” she continues.
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she → praise → flesh
In a statement to National Post, the arts council said it has “retained legal counsel to assist with our review of this matter.”
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it → say → matter
It said that the views expressed in The Ex-Puritan do not reflect the council’s views, although the council “takes concerns regarding the content published in the most recent edition of Ex-Puritan very seriously.”
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council → say → Puritan
In 2024, the journal was awarded a four-year grant with annual funding of $22,000 to support its overall operations.
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journal → award → operations
“As an arm’s length funder, the Canada Council supports a diverse range of artistic and literary expression across the country, and funded organizations make their own editorial and artistic decisions,” the council’s statement said.
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statement → support → decisions
“At the same time, freedom of expression is not without limits, and concerns that published content may contravene Canadian law warrant careful review and consideration.”
uncertain
content → publish → review
Orang was a guest editor for the edition and wrote an editorial note explaining why the issue turns “deliberately toward armed resistance.”
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issue → write → resistance
“Among our obligations as Westerners, one is straightforward: to honour that creation of possibility, even when — or especially when — it takes the systematically disavowed form of armed resistance,” she explains.
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she → honour → resistance
“Taking resistance seriously in all its forms alters what we, as cultural workers, are able to perceive: the violence already structuring ordinary life, and those who fight it as political agents.”
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who → take → agents
Orang’s biography on the website of Book*hug Press, which published her first book in 2020, describes her as an award-winning author who lives and works as a psychiatrist in Toronto.
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who → publish → Toronto
Her work is expected to be featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2027.
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work → expect → Poetry
National Post has reached out to Orang’s publisher for comment.
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Post → reach → comment
The Aporia
