December 15, 2023
HOW TO STOP CANADA FROM FAILING ITS JEWISH CITIZENS
We watched with disbelief and horror at the massive rallies that erupted in every major city across Canada, following the savage invasion of Israel by Hamas. Under the guise of being “pro-alestinian”, these rallies are hotbeds of genocidal Antisemitism, advocating the annihilation of the Jewish State, cheering Hamas’s brutal murders, rapes, torture and kidnapping of Israelis as “resistance”, spilling over onto our streets with bolder and bolder acts of harassment and aggression toward Jewish institutions, business, and schools.
Hamas, a listed terrorist organization in Canada, is not a liberation movement, not about peace or Palestinian self-determination; not concerned about the well-being of its civilians. Its main purpose is the destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas is an openly anti-Jewish genocidal movement that aims to establish its version of Islam over the entire globe. This means murdering every single Jew on earth, starting with those in Israel. They also want to destroy the US and global Christianity, but Jews are the current priority.
Academics are complicit with their silence or active participation. According to the National Post, not a single academic department has denounced Hamas’s anti-female, anti-human bloodbath. University campuses have become hotbeds of Antisemitism, fueled by pro Hamas supporters. Jewish students feel unsafe; afraid to wear attire that identifies them as Jews.
Antisemitism has metastasized into our public school boards. Eight teachers, five Jewish, told the National Post that working at the Peel DistrictSchool Board was “distressing” even before the attack on Israel. Then, they feared for their livelihood, now they say they” fear for their lives”. Some principals are even been “stoking animosity toward Israel and Judaism in classrooms and social media”, they said.
Even before October 7, Jews were the most targeted group for hate crimes in Canada. Since then, there has been a “staggering” increase in Toronto, said Chief of Police Myron Demkiw. The situation has become so bad, that Canada’s newly appointed Antisemitism envoy, is tripling her staff to handle “the moment of crisis”.
In Dollard des Ormeau, a Montreal suburb. a synagogue and a building across the street housing a Jewish organization were firebombed.
A Jewish high school in Toronto was recently evacuated because of bombing threats. Death threats were made to CEO Indigo Bookstore’s owner, Heather Reisman, and the building defaced with red paint. Three of the participants were academics. The Giller book awards were interrupted by a handful of anti-Israel protesters shouting slogans when winner Sarah Bernstein was announced. A video shows a subway car hijacked by a group wearing keffiyehs, shouting hateful genocidal slogans, yelling “f..the Jews,” and waving Palestinian flags as the passengers sat cowering in their seats.
In Montreal an Imam led prayers for the violent eradication of the ”Zionist aggressors” at a Stop the Genocide in Gaza rally, one of many organized by the Palestine Youth Movement, ((PYM) a group that praises the Oct. 7 massacre and calls for continued violence against Israel.
The Palestinian Youth Movement, active in both Canada and the US, has been the most prolific organizer of pro-Hamas rallies. In just hours after the attack, they marshalled the first wave of celebratory “All Out for Gaza” marches that appeared in all of Canada’s major cities.
Their numerous rallies have included displays of the swastika, children leading open calls for “intifada”. Flags from ISIS and Afghanistan have been seen. PYM events are posted as ceasefire or peace rallies, but the group is blatantly open about their support for Palestinian terrorism and their ultimate goal to see Israel violently destroyed.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a Vancouver headquartered group, is also behind many of the “pro-Palestine “massive rallies. It was founded and is led by Khaled Barakat, a man identified by both Israeli and Palestinian sources, as being among the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), one of several terrorist entities in Gaza with a history of kidnapping and murdering Israelis.
Samidoun was listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, in 2021. Germany did the same this month amid a nationwide crackdown on “pro-Hamas” organizations. But in Canada, Samidoun has federal nonprofit status and raises funds which are likely being funneled to the PFLP, according to Israel sources.
Toronto4Palestine is a regular organizer in the Toronto area. On their Instagram page they called the October 7 terrorist attacks, an act of “heroic resistance”. The group has also engaged in Holocaust denial. Shortly after October 7 on their Instagram post, they said Jews were “lying” about the attacks. Adding “is it possible that if they are lying about these events and creating a false genocide, it is likely they may have lied about certain details of a previous big genocide, that may have occurred?”
As well as the shock, hurt and outrage, at the surge of Antisemitism and the crowds glorifying a terrorist Antisemitic entity, for the first time in the history of Canada, Jewish citizens are wary and frightened in a way they have never been before. They are afraid to go to Jewish places or send their children to Jewish day schools. They are conscious about having typically Jewish sounding names. They talk about removing from the doorposts of their homes the mezuzahs, so as not to be obvious targets of attack.
Germany’s response to the Hamas attacks and subsequent rise in Antisemitism has been to shut down all Palestinian rallies. High schools have banned the keffiyeh and the Palestinian flag.
In Canada there has been no serious attempt to stem the skyrocketing Antisemitism. Supporters of Hamas ideology and extremism are becoming bolder, more public and more violent by the day. Hate crimes against Jews are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
Our Prime Minister who invoked the Canada Emergencies Act and labeled the Freedom Convoy activists as Nazis and a threat to democracy, has done little while the hate fests prevail, advocating violence against the Jewish people.
Mere statements of condemnation are futile. Action is now critical. It is past high time to enforce our Criminal Code prohibitions on violence, intimidation and incitement of hatred against an identifiable group. Freedom of speech is not infinite. We do not have the freedom of speech to holler fire, when there is none. Freedom of speech does not give carte balance to lies, intimidation and harassment. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms permits reasonable limits on free speech. The Criminal Code of Canada provides us with the tools to combat the hatred.
We urge Canadian political leaders to enforce our laws to the fullest effect; to arrest and convict these criminals who have altered the very idea of what it means to be a Canadian.
As former Minister of Finance, Joe Oliver wrote, “Otherwise, Antisemitism will run rampant, threatening human rights and the rule of law – some of the core values of Western civilization.”
Doris Strub Epstein, Editor
Copyright ©2023, End Jew Hatred Canada
End Jew Hatred Canada is the Jewish civil rights movement, fighting for freedom from bigotry, and oppression that denigrates our people, our homeland, our culture. Jew hatred threatens our safety and Canada’s thriving democracy. It comes from all forms of extremism. There is no justice without truth.
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