EDITORIAL: Antisemitism the new normal in Canada

Article content

Antisemitism in Canada has become so normalized that’s it’s barely being discussed in the federal election, an indication of how bad things have become.

In a country once known as a beacon of tolerance, Jew hatred through online and face-to-face harassment, vandalism and violence increased by 125% to 6,219 incidents last year compared to 2,769 in 2022, according to B’nai Brith’s annual audit on antisemitism released Monday.

That’s consistent with reporting by Statistics Canada that while Jews make up 1% of Canada’s population, 70% of all religiously motivated hate crimes today are aimed at Jews.

Since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish day schools in Canada have been shot at, university students threatened, Jewish businesses, homes, places of worship and community centres vandalized.

Hate-filled demonstrators have deliberately and repeatedly targeted Jewish neighbourhoods for antisemitic protests — home to Holocaust survivors and their families.

Jews entering and leaving synagogues and community events have had to run gauntlets of hate-spewing antisemitic thugs, in some cases with police acting as handmaidens for the thugs.

Politicians at all levels of government are responsible for failing to stand up for Canada’s Jewish community.

But it is the federal Liberal government that bears the most responsibility for turning a blind eye to the worst outbreak of antisemitism in Canada since the 1930s, save for periodic motherhood and useless statements that while political protest is a democratic right, hatred is wrong.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

This is meaningless when the protests themselves are based on hatred, as if Jews in Canada are responsible for the actions of the Israeli government and military in Gaza, a twisted logic that, were it reversed, would blame Muslims in Canada for terrorism by Hamas.

Under the Liberals, Canada has not only abandoned its beleaguered Jewish citizens but drifted further and further away from supporting Israel — the world’s only Jewish state — at the United Nations, staining the legacy of the Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper governments that were staunch supporters of Israel, as Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives are today.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says, justifiably, that the U.S. is no longer a reliable ally of Canada.

Now he should look inside his own house, which is no longer a reliable ally of Israel or Canada’s Jewish citizens.