Starting to be unsafe to be a Canadian Jew

Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, premiers, mayors, university presidents and all Canadians of good conscience,

I write this letter today on behalf of Canada’s oldest grassroots Jewish community organization, B’nai Brith Canada, to our political and civil society leaders. In a broader sense, this letter is addressed to all Canadians.

We have just witnessed a wake-up call for Canadian Jewry. There is a palpable fear from within our community that Jewish life here is becoming unsafe. I have never had so many individuals contact me to question their personal safety after witnessing the shocking anti-semitic incidents of recent days.

In community forums, people are indicating their fear for the future of their children and grandchildren in this country. That some would even seriously consider emigrating to Israel at this time — while the image of Israel being bombarded by thousands of Hamas rockets are fresh in our minds — indicates just how pessimistic many Canadian Jews are suddenly becoming about their families’ long-term prospects.

On May 15, thousands of people gathered for an anti-israel rally in downtown Toronto, in blatant violation of Ontario’s COVID-19 health orders. As the event ended, police trying to evacuate pro-israel counter-protesters were overwhelmed, leading to several assaults. Meanwhile, some “pro-palestinian” demonstrators displayed a swastika and cheered on Hamas — a group that calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.

The next day, in Montreal, attendees at a pro-israel rally — which is permitted under Quebec’s public health orders — were violently attacked by young men bearing Palestinian flags, who used tear gas, threw stones and physically assaulted local Jews, all while shouting anti-semitic taunts. Again, police were overwhelmed, forcing the premature cancellation of the pro-israel event.

These shocking incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. Across the country, Jews have been bombarded with online hate, and Orthodox Jews observing the recent Shavuot holiday were followed and harassed by vehicles with Palestinian flags while walking around their own neighbourhoods, where they are supposed to feel safe. In Edmonton, it went a step further when, after speeding down a residential street yelling “Free Palestine,” a group of young men approached a homeowner’s door asking threateningly, “Do any Jews live here?”

If things continue this way, it is only a matter of time before a Canadian Jew is seriously injured, or worse, by an anti-israel attacker.

There is a growing crisis of confidence in some of our institutions among many Canadian Jews. At times, it seems there is a failure by many to acknowledge a basic truth: that the anti-israel movement in Canada has become one of the largest, if not the largest, engine of Jew-hatred in this country.

The sentiments on display recently are not new, and are deeply rooted in some sectors of society. Numerous journalists, including some from mainstream outlets, have just signed an open letter arguing that the Israeli-palestinian conflict is “not complicated” and must be considered “ethnic cleansing.” Tellingly, their letter lists the Palestinian victims of the recent round of conflict, but pretends Israeli victims don’t exist at all.

At Mcgill University, while the administration essentially pre-emptively countered it, a petition is still circulating (which has been signed by over 1,100 Mcgill “constituents”), urging the university not only to sever ties with Israeli universities, but also to define Zionism — the belief in the Jewish right to self-determination — as a form of racism punishable under the school’s policies. The petition’s organizers are feverishly pursuing their campaign against the administration and pro-israel Jewish students, which, if successful, would have the effect of shutting down Jewish life on campus.

We have seen this play out before, across the Atlantic. Over the past two decades, tens of thousands of Jews have fled France due to out-of-control anti-zionism and society’s reluctance to address it. Some of those French Jews thought they had found refuge in Canada, particularly in Quebec — but what are they to think given what they are now seeing? The anti-semitic murders of French Jews such as Ilan Halimi and Sarah Halimi (no relation), the terror attacks on Jewish schools and stores in France — none of this emerged from a vacuum, but was rather the inevitable result of a culture of hate and impunity that was allowed to fester.

Anti-israel groups in Canada seem to believe that they are above the law. In Toronto, illegal anti-israel rallies have taken place downtown for years, despite repeated warnings by B’nai Brith that this would eventually lead to violence. And in Montreal, anti-zionist forces are no doubt emboldened by the city’s repeated refusal to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-semitism, which correctly explains that extreme anti-israel sentiment can sometimes cross the line into anti-semitism.

At this time of crisis, Canadian Jews are looking for solidarity and action. In order to stem the tide of hate, and provide assurance that they are indeed safe and welcome here, we urge all levels of government, universities and civil society to take the following three steps:

1. Rather than simply condemning violence and anti-semitism, publicly identify and acknowledge the current source: anti-israel extremism;

2. Adopt the IHRA working definition of anti-semitism without delay, especially within universities where the problem is most acute; and

3. Utilize all means and legal tools at your disposal to prevent attacks on Canadian Jews, while recognizing the right to peaceful protest under safe conditions.

The Jewish community has contributed immensely to the soul of our nation. We now require decisive action to push back against this mounting anti-semitism.