March 28, 2024
Mr. Paul Alexander
Assistant Crown Attorney, Toronto Region
Ministry of the Attorney General
LuCliff Place, 700 Bay Street
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z6
Dear Mr. Alexander:
The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation is writing to register its deep opposition to the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association's call for the withdrawal of charges against the so-called "Indigo 11."
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not license the commission of mischief, conspiracy to commit mischief, or criminal harassment. The guarantee of freedom of expression in the Charter does not grant anyone the right to damage the windows of a bookstore.
The fact that the Chief Executive Officer of the corporation that owns the bookstore personally supports a charity that the defendants don't like doesn't excuse the defendants, either legally or morally.
Based on our knowledge of the case and the charges, the hate-crime enhancement to the charges is eminently justified. It is clear to us that the purpose of these acts is to intimidate Jews from publicly supporting Israel or donating to charities that operate in Israel. They are a form of extortion.
Canadian Jews are under siege. Synagogues are fire-bombed and picketed by mobs shrieking slogans such as "All Zionists are terrorists". In Toronto, a Jewish-owned delicatessen was also fire-bombed. Mobs regularly block the streets of Toronto demanding an "intifada revolution" and displaying banners that show automatic rifles bearing the design of the Palestinian flag.
Social media is awash with hatred against Jews. The education profession is struggling to cope with an epidemic of antisemitic teachers: Ontario College of Teachers v. DiMarco, Ontario College of Teachers v. Berenjian, Ontario College of Teachers v. Kaprusiak.
The BCCLA's position is ludicrous. It is imperative that the Crown send a clear message to the community that it is not open season on the Jews and that these times are not a repeat of the waning days of the German Weimar Republic.
Lawlessness and contemptable disregard of the rights of Jews to safety must not be tolerated in order to appease a mob.
We urge that you continue the prosecution of the Indigo 11 with all due vigour and resoluteness. The defendants deserve a fair and public trial. The public demands that justice prevail.
Sincerely,
Andria Spindel
Executive Director
Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation
CC Hon, Doug Downey, Attorney General of Ontario
Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Hon. Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General of Ontario
Rich Robertson, B'nai Brith Canada
Richard Marceau, CIJA
Michael Levitt, FSWC
Deborah Lyons, Special Envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism