Malik Zulu Shabazz, national chairman of the racist and anti-Semitic New Black Panther Party (NBPP), has been denied entry into Canada by customs officials on a five-year-old misdemeanor charge.

Shabazz, who has a long record of bigotry and threatening violence, was detained at Pearson International Airport on May 15, 2007, en route to two scheduled speaking engagements in Toronto. Upon being denied entry, Shabazz flew to Buffalo and reportedly attempted to drive across the Canadian border, where he was again turned away.

When asked about the incident, Ontario Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter expressed concern over Shabazz's record of anti-Semitic and anti-police rhetoric. "Anyone who incites violence against a recognizable group is committing a crime," Kwinter said.

Shabazz was scheduled to lecture at Ryerson University and to speak at an afternoon rally called "Education not Incarceration" organized by New Black Youth Taking Action (BYTA). Nkem Anizor, BYTA's president, criticized Jewish groups that had informed authorities about Shabazz' record of bigotry for "injecting themselves, trying to dictate who the black community can and cannot hear" and blamed his absence on "the power of the Jewish lobby to influence politicians, to influence media, to influence whatever it took."

Shabazz also responded with accusations of Jewish control: "B'nai B'rith has won this one, and I'm starting to see the power of the Jewish lobby in Canada, full force. I thought Canada was free."

NBPP chief of staff Hashim Nzinga repeated similar charges of Jewish power: "They let these groups like the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) and the JDL (Jewish Defense League), which is nothing but a bunch of gangsters, dictate what happens in the world today," and "they told Canada not to let us in and Canada followed their rules, because this country is run from Israel."

Despite Shabazz' absence, about 100 people protested outside the Ontario legislature as planned. Attendees carried signs that read: "No to Zionism."