Ex-Israeli government official says antisemitism in Canada 'out of control'

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OTTAWA — As he attempted to speak with students at the University of Calgary last week, masked anti-Israel activists pounded on the doors shouting “Allahu akbar!”

That was the scene that greeted former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy on Halloween during a cross-country speaking tour that he said exposed him to the true nature of Canada’s pressure cooker of largely tolerated antisemitism and hatred against Jews.

“That crosses the line from any sort of political protest into a full-on Jihadi war cry,” Levy told the Toronto Sun of his experience in Calgary.

“Jewish students feel, I would say, a little bit betrayed because they feel that they are standing up not only for themselves and to make a safe environment for Jewish students, but for everyone else.”

Few forget the months of anti-Israel rallies on university campuses across Canada earlier this year as activists and university students established pro-Palestinian no-go zones — protest encampments largely tolerated by university administration that some said allegedly fomented harassment and discrimination against Jewish students, while barring entry to Jews and those who didn’t agree with the protesters’ views.

“Jewish students are feeling extremely intimidated and scared — I spoke with one father who said his son was considering whether he even wants to apply to the U of T this year or reconsider altogether,” Levy said.

“An atmosphere in which the entire campus yard is taken over by pro-Hamas protests is not a safe environment for Jewish students.”

Levy’s speaking tour is facilitated by StandWithUs Canada, a non-profit dedicated to fighting antisemitism and misinformation in schools and communities.

Last year’s Hamas terror attacks in Israel sparked an explosion of antisemitism in Canada with pro-Palestinian rallies taking over city streets and university campuses and even marches through some of Toronto’s Jewish neighbourhoods.

While by no means unique to this country, Levy said Canada’s antisemitism problem is especially severe.

“We’ve seen the same thing in the U.S., definitely in London and increasingly in Australia, but the situation in Canada feels out of control because there is a sense that either the government isn’t taking them seriously or through their actions encouraging them.”

Canada, Levy said, is emboldening these activists through their insistence on funding UNRWA, a contentious UN organization accused of having links to Hamas.

“Canadian taxpayers need to realize that most of the Oct. 7 terrorists went to Canadian taxpayer-funded schools,” Levy said.

“This is a shocking indictment of Canadian foreign policy. Funding for UNRWA exacerbates the conflict because it fuels the Palestinians’ forever war against Israel; instead of resettling refugees from 1948, it uniquely hands out that refugee status through generations.”

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Canada’s funding of UNRWA, he said, does little but facilitate the radical indoctrination of children, empowers Hamas to hijack aid shipments into Gaza and drags out the conflict.

Canada’s anti-Israel movement, Levy said, is an “increasingly deranged, hateful and violent protest movement” that runs on disinformation and intimidation.

“It’s being fuelled by lies about the defensive war that Israel is fighting on seven fronts and when the Canadian government does not give Israel its full-throated support in eliminating the terrorist organization that perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre, it would seem to entertain the protesters’ claims against Israel that legitimizes their grievances.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume