CAEF Keeps On Truckin' | CAEF Bulletin – August 28, 2026
- CAEF
- 7 hours ago
- 17 min read
On Sunday August 30, 2026, there is scheduled to be a pixel truck traversing the Bathurst & Sheppard area. If you drop by, you might get to see these messages.
We at CAEF are not the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. We call the September 11, 2001 and October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, exactly what they are. We seek to make the expression of antisemitism:
expensive,
risky,
career-terminating, and
involving jail time.
We want everyone in the Bathurst/Sheppard neighbourhood to be aware of the release conditions of Daniela BONAMICO and Shahram NAYEB-YAZDI. If either of them are within 500m of the intersection, they are in breach of their conditions and are committing a crime. Take discreet photos and call the Toronto Police immediately.
We'll be dropping by TMU in the coming weeks to deliver a few more messages.
CAEF Calls for Removal of Accreditation from TMU Law School
CAEF has transmitted a motion to the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) calling for the LSO to revoke the accreditation of the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University, unless the school implements each of the recommendations of Justice Mary Lou Benotto in her external review of antisemitic incidents at the university. TMU President Lachemi chose, instead of immediately committing to implement these recommendations, to appoint yet another committee to review the review. This is unacceptable .
The motion is to be considered by the Law Society of Ontario at its annual meeting on September 15, 2026.
Please click here to access a copy of the motion.
Please click here to read a copy of the External Review by Justice Benotto
Please click here to read a copy of Mark Sandler's article discussing the external review.
Unleashing the Trolls: Ontario Court Opens the Door to Liability for Influencers Who Weaponize Their Audiences by Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, University of Ottawa
August 27, 2026
The legislative efforts to combat online harms in Canada have focused chiefly on platform responsibility, with Bill C-34 reintroducing a regulated duty to act responsibly. An Ontario court recently considered another avenue to address harms that instead targets influencers who weaponize their audiences. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued a decision that extends the tort of Internet harassment into networked harassment, in which influencers or those with large online audiences encourage their followers to target individuals. In Miller v. Ahn, the court granted an interim injunction against a social media creator with more than 100,000 followers who had mobilized her audience against a Toronto employment lawyer. The actions led to fake reviews of her firm, threatening phone calls and messages, and antisemitic abuse that was directed at the lawyer's perceived Jewish and Israeli identity.
The case began with an online war of words between Katerina Miller, lead lawyer of a small Toronto employment law firm, and Jieun Ahn, who posts on several social media sites under the name “Ginnysaidso”. After Miller responded to Ahn's posts about Israel-Palestine with insults, the court found that Ahn launched a disproportionate and orchestrated campaign against her, including a video posted to her accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X that displayed Miller's personal Facebook page, her firm's page with the note that opportunities to post reviews were “wide open,” and the profile of Miller's husband, which highlighted his Tel Aviv University education and a small Israeli flag accompanying pictures of their kids. The campaign worked as Ahn's followers posted fake reviews and messages the court described as antisemitic, utterly vile, and at times overtly threatening, including death wishes directed at Miller's family. After Miller sent a cease-and-desist letter, Ahn mocked it and later celebrated the fallout in a separate post declaring that Miller was learning the consequences of “FAFO.”
Courts in Canada have recognized the tort of harassment in Internet communications, notably in Caplan v. Atas in 2021. But the court in Caplan reserved the tort for the most extreme conduct, requiring communications so outrageous in character, duration, and degree as to exceed all bounds of decency. In this case, the court adapted the tort into a mechanism for holding influencers responsible when they target an individual. Mobilizing the audience, approving their conduct, and refusing calls to stop the attacks were all treated as part of the defendant's communications conduct. The ruling is just an interim determination based on a largely uncontested record, but the court concluded that the harassment claim was very likely to succeed at trial.
It therefore granted a mandatory interim injunction requiring the removal of two posts and prohibiting similar posts or expressions on any media, as well as any publication of identifying information about Miller or her family. The injunction targets conduct such as incitement of a mob against a named individual and the deliberate identification of that individual to a hostile audience based on her perceived Jewish and Israeli identity. This last element, which involved zooming in on an Israeli flag superimposed over a photograph of her young children, was viewed as particularly ominous. The order's connection to the alleged harassment makes it understandable, though the implications for freedom of expression are sure to prompt pushback at the next hearing.
While the case is focused on the influencer, the claim also names Google, YouTube, and Meta as defendants, meaning the platform accountability questions I raised in my recent Globe and Mail op-ed may be the subject of a future hearing. But for the moment, the case points to the development of a tort of networked harassment, effectively an influencer equivalent of the duty to act responsibly, restricting the ability to weaponize online audiences against individuals and holding influencers accountable where they act with knowledge of the potential harms that may follow.
Legal Update
1. Arrest of Keiosha ROSS for indecent exposure at the Ontario Court of Justice immediately before sentencing for uttering antisemitic threat at Crown Attorney.
On August 25, 2026, Keiosha ROSS faced a sentencing hearing for uttering a threat of bodily harm against an assistant Crown attorney in a courthouse elevator. Specifically, ROSS was found guilty of threatening that she would rip off the assistant Crown attorney's “big Jewish nose”. CAEF participated in reading into court a Community Impact Statement along with several other Jewish community organizations with which we regularly partner. Our court statement is presented below.
Ontario Court Justice Jason Little announced that he would issue the sentence later that afternoon, but immediately before the sentence was to be pronounced, the court was informed that the defendant ROSS had been arrested for exposing herself in the corridor immediately outside the courthouse. The sentencing has been delayed, and further announcements are forthcoming.
2. Ontario Human Rights Tribunal Dismisses Complaint of “Jewish Anti-Zionist” Parent against Toronto District School Board
According to the decision, On November 28, 2024, some families organized an event before school hours that her family participated in, which involved tying red, green and black ribbons to the school fence “as an expression of solidarity with Palestinian children killed in Gaza and the West Bank.” The applicant Catherine Kates claimed that that teachers and parents from an adjacent respondent school filmed the children without consent and “directed hostile comments toward them.” She also alleges that three administrators were present but did not intervene. Following the event, the applicant alleges that the ribbons were removed from the fence and that there was no investigation, apology or “restorative meeting.” The Tribunal dismissed the complaint on the grounds that with respect to the activity at the school fence, there was no service relationship between the TDSB and the applicant. The Human Rights Code only applies with respect to the social areas of employment; services, goods, and facilities; housing; contracts; and membership in a vocational association. Therefore, the Human Rights Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to hear the complaint.
Comment: This is one of the few cases where we at CAEF support the TDSB in its decision to invite an irate parent to go take a walk in the park.
3. Ontario Human Rights Tribunal Awards $7,000 to TMU Graduate Student and Teaching Assistant who called for “Cleansing of Jews from the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque”
Dr. Ayman Elkasrawy (the applicant) was employed as a graduate teaching assistant at Ryerson University (as it then was). In or about June 2016, he led Arabic language public prayers at a downtown Toronto Mosque (Masjid Toronto) in his capacity as associate Imam of the mosque. The recording of the prayers was posted to the mosque's website. The English translation of some of the prayers were disputed. According to one translation reported in the media, the applicant said: “O Allah! Destroy anyone who killed Muslims, O Allah! Destroy anyone who displaced the sons of Muslims, O Allah! Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them, Oh Allah! Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews!” According to the applicant, the translation was inaccurate and Islamophobic, with an accurate translation being: “Oh Allah; punish those who killed Muslims. Oh Allah; punish those who displaced the children of Muslims. Oh Allah; has full cognizance of them, slay them one by one, and don't let one escape your punishment. Oh Allah; cleanse the [occupied] Aqsa Mosque from the desecration by the Jew.”
The publication of these recordings generated significant controversy at the time and several complaints to the University administration. One of the complainants was B'nai Brith Canada (BBC). The University conducted an investigation and, notwithstanding the applicant's apology, dismissed him from his job as a teaching assistant and exam invigilator for cause. The University President also sent a letter to BBC informing of the dismissal. This letter was sent to BBC before the University issued a public press release and contained more detailed information than was released to the public at the time.
The HRTO ruled that the dismissal itself, and the University's press release, did not contravene the Human Rights Code and was not discriminatory with respect to employment. The HRTO adjudicator held that the University President's letter to BBC did constitute adverse treatment of the applicant on account of his creed. Specifically, the adjudicator stated at paragraphs 459 and 460:
“Having regard to the evidence as a whole, I am satisfied that there is circumstantial evidence to support an inference that Dr. Elkasrawy's creed was a small factor in President Lachemi's decision to send the email to B'nai Brith Canada to tell them that Dr. Elkasrawy's employment had been terminated. In reaching this conclusion, I have considered that the communication disclosed information concerning the employment consequences imposed on Dr. Elkasrawy to an external advocacy organization. President Lachemi did so despite evidence suggesting that the university generally did not comment publicly on human resources matters. The evidence establishes that B'nai Brith Canada had specifically raised concerns regarding Dr. Elkasrawy's off-campus conduct as a religious leader at Masjid Toronto. In the absence of any explanation from President Lachemi for departing from the institution's usual practice, I infer that Dr. Elkasrawy's creed, as reflected in his role as a Muslim religious leader at the centre of the controversy, was a factor in the decision to communicate directly with B'nai Brith Canada.
Based on the foregoing, I am satisfied that Dr. Elkasrawy has presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. While the evidentiary foundation is limited, the evidence is capable of supporting a finding that his creed was a small factor in President Lachemi's decision.”
In the end, the adjudicator awarded the applicant $7,000 in general damages for loss of employment, dignity, feelings, and self-respect.
Comment 1: No doubt the press release below was carefully vetted by lawyers in view of this case.
Comment 2: The incident took place in June 2016. Here we are, getting a decision 10 years later. Welcome to the Ontario administrative justice system.
Comment 3: The applicant makes a discriminatory “prayer” and receives $7,000 in compensation because his employer snitched on him to a Jewish advocacy group. Welcome to the Ontario administrative justice system.
BIAS at TIFF
The Creative Community for Peace recently published notice of the increasing bias against Israel that is playing out at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Read excerpts:
For years, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was an important platform for Israeli cinema and filmmakers. Since October 7, however, a troubling imbalance has emerged in the stories TIFF chooses to elevate about Israel and the Palestinians.
Our review of TIFF's documentary programming in 2024 and 2025 identified seven films that advanced Palestinian narratives or sharply critical portrayals of Israel, with only one documentary during that period presenting the events of October 7 through an Israeli lens without disparaging the country.
That film was The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, directed by Canadian filmmaker and former TIFF board member Barry Avrich, who used to sit on the board at TIFF.
Even that story nearly did not make it to the festival screen. In August 2025, TIFF withdrew the film from its lineup after it had been invited to screen, citing legal, safety, and programming concerns. The decision came amid intense pressure from anti-Israel activists surrounding the film.
Signatories of our letter included our friends Amy Schumer, Actress; Debra Messing, Actress; Mayim Bialik, Actress; Sherry Lansing, Former CEO of Paramount Pictures; Rebecca De Mornay, Actress; Jennifer Jason Leigh, Actress; Howie Mandel, TV Host; Jerry O'Connell, Actor; and many others.
Following public backlash, conversations with festival leadership, and the pressure generated by our open letter, The Road Between Us was reinstated. It ultimately went on to win TIFF's People's Choice Documentary Award, showcasing the film deserved to be at the festival and that moviegoers rejected the boycott of Israeli films.
Now, as TIFF prepares for its 2026 festival next month, the imbalance remains. The only Israeli themed selection that does not disparage Israel is Our Loves from acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher, a drama following Israelis whose lives intersect during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7.
Yet, the imbalance is hard to ignore. When there used to be multiple Israeli or Israeli themed films selected every year before October 7th, we now only see one or two, while many Palestinian films or films that disparage Israel are selected every year instead.
This year that includes, Conversation With the Sea, a Palestinian production set in Jerusalem. Thirteen in Gaza centers on a Palestinian father and daughter living in Gaza. Edward Said: Between Worlds explores the life and legacy of the influential Palestinian-American intellectual. The Black Box is Orange examines the former Palestinian village of al-Bassa. The Short Cuts program also includes A Tenderness, centered on a Palestinian family.
The imbalance is hard to ignore, and the anti-Israel bias is clear.
When Israeli stories become increasingly scarce while narratives about Israel are overwhelmingly presented through a Palestinian or adversarial lens, the effect begins to resemble the cultural boycott activists have spent years trying to impose, even without TIFF ever announcing such a policy.
This imbalance is especially alarming at a time when Jewish Canadians are facing an unprecedented level of antisemitism. In 2025, Jews were targeted by hate crimes at by far the highest per-capita rate of any group, while also suffering 788 reported incidents overall, nearly the highest raw total in the country.
At a moment when Jewish communities are under extraordinary pressure, cultural institutions have a responsibility to ensure that Israeli and Jewish voices are heard, represented, and protected.
Advocacy and Action
Read CAEF Letter to the Peel District School Board on Equity Support for Jewish Staff and Students Following Removal of Jewish Equity Coach Joshua Goldenthal.
Read Letter from Canadian Students & Alumni Combating Antisemitism to the Montreal General Hospital Foundation Asking That No Award Be Granted to David Juncker Over His Documented History of Antisemitism.
Read Letter from Richard Sherman to the Editor, Globe and Mail, re Former Canadian Diplomats Urging Ottawa to Sanction Israel.
US Lists Palestine Action as Terrorist Entity, Why is Canada Silent?
Read excerpts from Juno News, August 27, 2026.
“Palestine Action Canada has claimed responsibility for attacks on Canadian businesses, while Ottawa has yet to list the group as a terrorist entity despite calls from Canadian Jewish organizations to take action.”
“Canadian Jewish organizations renewed calls last week for Ottawa to add Palestine Action Canada to Canada's list of terrorist entities. As of the federal government's most recent update to the list on July 28, Palestine Action Canada was not included.”
The UK has also listed Palestine Action, an organization that claims responsibility for an attack on a Montreal logistics facility. Read here.
Canada Must Pull Out of Antisemitic UN Conference
The United Nations, at a General Assembly meeting in New York on Sept. 28, 2026, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of a notorious anti-Israel and antisemitic hate fest.
The so-called World Conference against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban I, was held at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, under UN auspices, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, 2001.
At the 2001 conference, as noted by UN Watch, a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter, “PLO chairman Yasser Arafat told conference delegates of the 'ugliness' of 'Israeli racist policies and practices against the Palestinian people.' Cuban dictator Fidel Castro spoke of 'the dreadful genocide perpetrated, at this very moment, against our Palestinian brothers.'”
The Fight with CMHR Continues
Several concerning stories emerge as the management at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights digs in her heels to continue to display the misleading, highly unethical portrayal of events that never happened and distort history, while ignoring the consequences for the everyday life of Canadian Jews.
The Globe and Mail story on August 26 reveals a skirmish over some months at the Board of Directors of CMHR which resulted in little or no compromise or correction by the CEO despite numerous issues abut the Nakba display having been raised, including the potential loss of financial support, the harm to the Jewish community and misrepresentation of the formation of Israel and falsely linking it to the Hamas-Israel war.
Yolanda Papini-Pollock, President of Winnipeg Friends of Israel shared this information about the public event held in Winnipeg, August 12, 2026, on this topic which also launched the book co-authored by Brian Schwartz, lawyer, professor and co-author with Rhonda Spivak, The Canadian Museum of Human Rights and Its Nakba Exhibit.
Unfortunately, Rhonda Spivak wasn't able to attend. Professor Schwartz was joined by Noah Greenfield, the book's editor, The conversation examined the exhibit's content, the process behind its development and the essential historical context that the authors believe was overlooked. Professor Schwartz also discussed the options available to our community moving forward.
Learn more about the exhibit, historical information and access additional resources.
Please share the video and website with your family, friends and community. The more people who understand what was excluded from the exhibit, the stronger our call for historical accuracy, fairness and accountability will be.
Read article by Dr. David Bercuson and Logan Jaspers for the Aristotle Foundation on the real story of the Nakba, August 13, 2026.
Recommended Reading
Read Article in Israel Truth Network on how World Humanitarian Day the UN mourned Hamas terrorists as fallen aid workers, August 23, 2026.
Read article in Elder of Ziyon Substack on The Muslim Question, August 20, 2026.
Read latest Blog by Annette Poizner in The Times of Israel on Jewish and Chinese commonalities, August 21, 2026. Note, Annette has studied Chinese traditional medicine and coordinated the Asian Jewish Heritage Month programming for CAEF (see resources on website). She writes to inform us on an important potential alliance.
Read edited excerpt:
At a time when antisemitism is rising and communities are too often isolated from one another, Jews must become more intentional about cultivating friendships with those who understand the importance of history, continuity and collective responsibility. Chinese and Jewish communities have much to learn from one another and good reason to stand beside one another.
Read article by Alex Carson In The Jerusalem Post on bias noted in analysis of faculty records at major US universities, August 19, 2026.
Read edited excerpt:
The study conducted by The Olam, an institutional intelligence platform for Israel and the global Jewish economy, and published in early August, analyzed 2,499 faculty members and institutional entries across 313 American universities, cross-referencing names and program listings against nine documented public petition campaigns and organizational records spanning from May 2021 through the spring of 2026, found over 50% of audited university faculty members and related program files in Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, Hebrew language, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies were associated with documented anti-Israel public positions.
Read article by Rhonda Spivak in the Winnipeg Jewish Review on the response by Mousa Alami, a Palestinian nationalist, who wrote on the reasons for the Nakba disaster ie failure of Arab armies to eradicate Israel in 1948, July 21, 2026.
Read article by AJ Rodriguez in CAMERA, on latest Israel-Christian relations, the appointment of first Special Envoy to the Christian World, July 13, 2026.
Read excerpt:
In April 2026, Israel appointed Ambassador George Deek as its first Special Envoy to the Christian World. Deek is a seasoned Israeli diplomat, a Christian Arab from Jaffa, and Israel's former ambassador to Azerbaijan. His appointment places a Christian Israeli diplomat in a role specifically created to strengthen Israel's relationship with Christians around the world.
“The Christian community in Israel is the only Christian community in the entire Middle East that is actually growing in number and is free to practice its faith with full protection under the law,”
“Christians in the rest of the Middle East have been ethnically cleansed and, where they still exist at all, have gone from being 20% of the general population to less than 2%. In contrast, Israel now has at least 300 active churches and the Christian population has increased from 34,000 in 1948 to more than 180,000 today.”
“Israel is the only nation in the world to appoint a special envoy to the Christian world,
Read Robert Goldman's Substack post about Pope Leo's condemnation of Israelis in Judea and Samaria while ignoring the murder of Christians and elimination of churches in Pakistan and Nigeria. Watch the video.
Read article in Breitbart about 1000 Hollywood celebrities who "slam Mark Ruffalo for his antisemitic tirades against Jewish executives, August 26, 2026.
Read article by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz in Israel365News on latest media lie, claiming that a Jew vandalized a Catholic Church in Jaffa, when it was an Arab Muslim that has been arrested and charged, August 24, 2026.
Read study of antisemitism in Health care education and practice, by Hedy S. Wald and Steven Roth, published in Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal. Opening statement is
"There has been an international resurgence in antisemitism in healthcare education and practice since October 7, 2023, prominently affecting the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada, and Australia."
Read article by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz in Israel365News about the global deception about starvation in Gaza; there never was starvation, August 25, 2026 .
Read excerpt:
"UNICEF's own release put the figure near one percent. Either number places Gaza among the lowest rates of acute child malnutrition in the entire region, far below neighboring Egypt and Jordan."
Read article by an "Israeli settler," on what it means to be a Jew in Israel, published in Facebook by Barry Shaw, August 21, 2026.
Recommended Viewing
The Church of England just voted 25-0 to hear a document accusing Israel of genocide. Not everyone stayed silent. Watch Ian Paul, a Synod member and Anglican priest, describe how Jewish school children are being harassed in Britain today — and warned the Synod's silence echoes the years before Jews were expelled from England in 1290.
Watch Marco Rubio speaking of the radical left's vacuous claims, its destructive tendencies and empty promises, its political terrorism.
Watch Chico Muya on Substack describe his views and how the left considers him a "house negro" for supporting Israel and America.
Watch Dr. Charles Small, President of ISGAP in an interview posted by Dumisani Washington on the influence of Qatar against the West.
Watch a Sharia law survivor explain the dangers of sharia and Islamization in the West.
Watch Kofi Anan, former UN Secretary General, speaking to the Security Council on December 17, 2006 explaining that the UN applies a double standard to Israel that he urge cease. It never has.
Watch video with Boy George's song supporting Israel, posted by Karen Hunt on her Substack, August 1, 2026.
Watch video from MEMRI posted by Karen Hunt showing a Palestinian Arab saying the following: "WE PALESTINIANS ARE NOT INDIGENOUS of this place. We are Arabs. Half of us are actually Egyptians, and the other half are Saudis. We are not from here!"
Watch Boy George speak about his support of Jews.
Community Events
In-person OR Live Stream: 20 leading voices on antisemitism today—and what its resurgence reveals about the health of our democracy.
The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Tuesday, September 15 • 8:30 AM - 5 PM
DocuNation is coming to Toronto this October — a storytelling series featuring award-winning filmmaker Yonatan Nir. Learn more and reserve your spot early.
Symposium on Antisemitism
Registration
Regular registration: CAD $195 until September 23.
Concession rate: CAD $125 for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows without institutional funding.
Registration after September 23: CAD $250.
Financial assistance
A limited number of registration waivers and modest travel or accommodation subsidies are available for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who do not have access to institutional funding. To apply, fill out the funding application by Sep 1st.
Meals
Meals are included with registration and will be kosher.
Please indicate any additional dietary restrictions or allergies when registering.
Travel and accommodations
Details regarding recommended accommodations, airports, train and bus options, and other travel logistics are available here: accommodation and travel information
Ride-sharing
Participants interested in coordinating transportation with others can submit their arrival and departure information here: Ride-sharing form link.
Hamilton: Temple Anshe Sholom is hosting a free half-day conference. CAEF is a proud sponsor.
Bringing together leading scholars from Canada and abroad, the conference will explore Jewish history, Israel, antisemitism, and the remarkable resilience of the Jewish people. Attend the entire day or choose only those presentations that are of particular interest to you — you are sure to leave with new knowledge, fresh perspectives, and a deeper appreciation of our shared heritage.
Learn more and get your tickets for CAEF's 2026 Advocate Award of Excellence, honouring Brian Lee Crowley, Tuesday October 27, 2026.
Comments