Last month’s armed conflict between Israel and Hamas set the stage for antisemites in Canada to unleash unprecedented, social media-fueled attacks — in-person and online — including physical violence, incitement, and harassment.
At pro-Israel rallies in several cities Jews were physically assaulted, verbally abused, spat upon, and pelted with rocks. Elsewhere, their businesses and neighborhoods were targeted. At anti-Israeli protests, demonstrators donned swastikas, gave Nazi salutes, and burned Israeli flags.
By June 11, the ongoing attacks caused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to announce he would convene an emergency summit this summer to address the crisis. The conference will be led by former justice minister Irwin Cotler, who is serving as Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism.
The severity and frequency of incidents in the current wave are on a different level than in previous years. B’nai Brith reports the number of antisemitic assaults recorded in May of this year far surpassed the total for all of 2020.
Canada experienced a record 2,610 antisemitic incidents in 2020, according to a B’nai Brith Canada report — up 18.3 percent from the previous year. Statistics Canada found that Jews were on the receiving end of the highest number of police-reported religious-based hate crimes in the country in 2019.
Ya’ara Saks, a Canadian-Israeli Member of Parliament from Trudeau’s Liberal Party, helped ensure the Jewish community’s concerns were heard at the highest levels. She facilitated meetings between Jewish leaders and the Prime Minister’s Office to share their alarm.
“The disturbing spike in antisemitism over the past few weeks can’t be ignored or normalized,” says Saks, who lived in Israel from 1995 until 2006. “Antisemitism is now at awful levels but hyperbole isn’t useful. This isn’t at all like the 1930s but we have to be clear-eyed and vigilant. There can be zero tolerance for hate. We shouldn’t be in a situation where Jewish communities and institutions feel unsafe and in need of protection.”
No comments:
Post a Comment