In these two outspoken advocates, there’s a microcosm of all the tension that has engulfed the Jewish and Muslim communities in recent weeks, but they still manage to make it work.
They’re both outspoken advocates, high profile members of their communities and tenacious debaters.
She’s Muslim. He’s Jewish.
They work together.
And somehow, they make it work.
Muneeza Sheikh and Howard Levitt are employment and labour lawyers, partners in their firm Levitt Sheikh.
Like many Canadians, they found themselves with strong feelings and opinions this fall after Hamas’s slaughter of innocent Israelis and Israel’s subsequent bombing of innocent Gazans. But unlike many Canadians, they have a large platform to express themselves.
Levitt writes a regular column in the National Post.
Sheikh’s opinions have appeared in the Star.
A sampling:
“Any employee in a public-facing or managerial position who participated in any of Canada’s Hamas-supporting ‘hate fests’ should … be fired for cause. And if any of them sue, I will personally act for their employers, pro bono,” wrote Levitt barely a week after the Oct. 7 attacks.
“When you tell a Muslim person that their sympathy for Palestine is synonymous with their support for a terrorist organization, it is offensive, and really, you should not say it,” wrote Sheikh shortly thereafter.
Lawyers are used to arguing. And Sheikh and Levitt are careful to keep their debates focused on points of law. But it’s very clear their sympathies on the Israel-Hamas conflict are diametrically opposed.
Yet when they greeted each other at a joint interview, it was with a hug.
“It’s been personally very challenging for me because, you know, Howard is somebody I have a lot of respect for and care for very much,” said Sheikh.
“I’ve learned in the past couple of weeks that where your political views are very different from someone that you work with, it creates a lot of toxicity in the workplace.”
How do they navigate their professional relationship when the conflict is top of mind?
By not bringing it up.
“We talk about it in the paper, but we don’t talk about it in the office,” Levitt said.
This preserves the mutual respect between them, which “was there before. So it’s a matter of it not being ruined.”
“Really, it’s the same advice I’m giving my clients, which is to prohibit political speech at the office,” he added.
In the nearly seven weeks since the Oct. 7 attacks, conflict in the Middle East has torn at communities in Canada, sewing strife on university campuses, on the street, and in places of worship. Homes have been covered in racist death threats, bullets have been fired at synagogues, feces smeared on a mosque. People are being suspended and fired for voicing their opinions online, others are taking down their door frame mezuzahs in fear.
In these two outspoken advocates, there’s a microcosm of all those tensions.
Levitt said Jewish employees are shocked by some of the official statements supporting Palestine that don’t condemn, or appear to condone, violence.
“I got to tell you, my community is frightened,” said Levitt, especially after bullets were fired at Jewish schools and a synagogue was firebombed. “Jews are actually physically imperilled in a way that Muslim Canadians are not physically imperilled over this conflict.”
“Combining antisemitism and Islamophobia in the same breath in this conflict is sort of cheapening the antisemitism that’s going on. It may be that Muslims are afraid to express their opinion in the workplace, but that’s different than hearing people shouting hateful, murderous things at you and about you,” he added.
Sheikh said Muslims, Arabs and others sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians are being maligned as terrorist sympathizers, and are facing repercussions as a result.
“I absolutely do not agree that Muslims are not exposed the same way in terms of fear to the physical body,” she said.
“People who are experiencing Islamophobia in the workplace are too petrified to express sadness and sympathy for the loss of innocent Palestinian lives,” she said. “The people who are dealing with antisemitism, it’s interesting to me that those people are willing to come forward with their story and the Muslims are not. And we have to ask ourselves: Why is that?”
Once they get going, Sheikh and Levitt slide from vigorous disagreement into finishing each other’s sentences. They may belong to different genders and generations, have different creeds and upbringings, but they definitely vibe.
“Howard and I may differ, but the beauty lies in our shared commonalities. In Canada, unity thrives when we appreciate the threads that bind us together. Howard and I have incredible similarities that have helped us build a strong bond spanning over 14 years,” Sheikh said.
Both lawyers come from humble beginnings. Levitt described learning to defend himself in “hundreds of fist fights” as a Jewish kid growing up in Hamilton. Sheikh said her mom would announce days ahead of time if they were going to have enough money for a chicken dinner.
Her family lived in public housing in St. Jamestown after immigrating from Pakistan and her father worked as a janitor at Sick Kids Hospital while taking university courses. As soon as he graduated and was set to get a better paying job, he died suddenly, she said.
“My story isn’t unique. It was a beautiful childhood in so many ways. I’ve got siblings that I love. I love my mom.”
Many of Sheikh’s friends have similar backgrounds and have worked to achieve professional success , but can never shake the fear of returning to poverty.
“There’s this financial vulnerability that we have in the Muslim community, because even for those of us who have ‘made it,’ we can’t even believe that we’re in these jobs.”
This translates into a reluctance to speak out, even when they’re being discriminated against or witness something out of line, she said.
Levitt pushes back against this, saying that people’s concept of “safety” has evolved dramatically in recent years to the point where “feeling safe” extends to not having to face opinions you disagree with.
“You develop because you’re unsafe. You develop because of conflict,” he said.
And this seems to be where they start to converge.
Sheikh jumps in: “Canada is one of the greatest liberal democracies in the world. The law ought to be a sanctuary for freedom of expression and freedom of thought, especially for unpopular political opinions. And as of late, that simply hasn’t been the case. I’m watching people being accused of being hateful when at best what they’re saying is controversial,” she said.
Canada’s reputation as a haven for multicultural tolerance is being put to the test. But remembering its central tenets is what will get us through, Sheikh said.
“In Canadian workplaces, we pride ourselves on human rights. And I think you can disagree with someone. But don’t forget what brings you together,” she said.