Jewish communities across Canada can be forgiven for feeling as if it is Open Season as the hate ramps up and authorities either turn a blind eye or, in many cases, sanction antisemitic hostility. Just this week, we learned of an unacceptably lenient sentence given to pro-Palestinian protesters who violently attacked a peaceful pro-Israel supporter at a rally in Calgary in July. Despite the severity of the attack, the judge sentenced the men who committed the assault to fines, probation, and to 'write an essay' in lieu of more serious consequences.
In Hamilton, two synagogues were forced to enhance their security measures after reports of men taking photos of the Jewish institutions, while reports of antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas and hate slogans, continue to appear in pubic places across Montreal.
At many Universities across the country, professors continue to present a distorted and alarmingly antisemitic historical narrative about Israel to their students, even as pro-Israel events are cancelled and never rescheduled due to threatened violence, as happened earlier this year at Concordia University in Montreal. Jewish student are frustrated and fed up by the hostile and poisoned environment.
Disturbingly, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau compared the wearing of a niqab during the citizenship oath ceremony to Canada's turning back of Jewish refugees and their murder at Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
To be sure, there is the occasional editorial that calls out supporters of antisemitic hate and holds these individuals accountable. However, as Jewish students continue to bear the brunt of increasingly hostile Israel Apartheid Week tactics at university campuses across the country, and anti-Israel boycott supporters ramp up the rhetoric against the Jewish state, comparisons to the early 1930's in Europe become harder to ignore. The lines between antisemitism and anti-Zionism have become blurred; being Jewish is all that hate demands.
Canadian politicians have recognized the danger, and recently passed a unanimous motion condemning antisemitism in the House of Commons. But kind and compassionate words are no longer enough. Anti-Jewish hatred is becoming entrenched in our universities and in society. Jewish voices are banned from university newspapers by small but vocal anti-Israel groups who have the power to enforce their silence. The once unthinkable is becoming commonplace.
But what can we do?
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center is committed to holding our leaders accountable for the actions of their organizations. We continue to speak to university presidents and boards about the imperative to take a stronger role in defending their Jewish students and standing up for their human rights. In advance of yet another student boycott vote at McGill University this weekend, I have spoken to the most senior Member of the Board to discuss steps to address the increasing anti-Israel rhetoric on campus.
I have spoken to Church and union leaders, who are responsible for fomenting an atmosphere in which antisemitism is ignored, if not condoned outright. We have cultivated strong relationships with mayors and police chiefs, who must make it clear that hateful graffiti is a crime that will have serious consequences - and the consequences must be serious.
We are educating students and community leaders, campaigning and filing hate crime reports where warranted, assisting students, protesting injustice and speaking to politicians, lay leaders and officials, and collaborating with schools on a daily basis. Our media advocacy is particularly effective; FSWC's recent efforts to highlight the inherently antisemitic nature of Trent University's anti-Israel boycott led to calls by local media for the head of the group that spearheaded the campaign on campus - OPIRG, to resign.
I do believe the onus for combating hate rests, however, not only with community organizations like FSWC, but with individuals who are concerned about the dangerous direction our society is heading. The individuals cited above all have public roles and are answerable to their constituencies. Your support of our efforts is critical - and so is your voice.
And the time to make your voice heard is now.