Even in my small city of Halifax NS,  we have a goodly number of prominent Jewish male citizens who know all about Israel’s genocide against Palestinians [how could they not?].  

There are women too, but it is the men mainly who, through their business, academic, financial, professional, philanthropic exploits wield power and influence in a man’s world.

If asked about the genocide against the Palestinians, they change the topic; they sigh; they lament that we are all “caught” in the Middle East’s unfortunate circumstances.  They will sagely tell you “it’s so complicated,” they can’t really talk about it.  

‘And if they had their way, they wouldn’t let any of us speak out against it either.  Palestinians and their supporters are made invisible.’ 

They can’t talk about 73,000 Palestinians that the Jewish men’s beloved Israel murdered; they will not speak about the 20,000 children killed by what they believe is “the most moral army in the world”.  

The Jewish men – you know who you are– all at the top of their careers and their influence,  have nothing to say to about 10,000 dead Palestinian women and children trapped under the rubble of their homes destroyed by Israeli military forces.   

These men turn their heads away from the 4,000 child amputees created by Israel, and Israel alone.  Israel’s Occupation Forces (IOF) armed with missiles, drones and bunker buster bombs, blasted off children’s limbs – in what the United Nations calls the largest group of child amputees in modern history.

Not one Jewish man of influence in Halifax – be he philanthropist, or university professor, or surgeon, or prominent lawyer, or rabbi, or journalist, or retired politician, or property developer, not one will say a word in public about the genocide in Gaza. These Jewish men are highly visible — they speak at the synagogues, at conferences with friendly colleagues, at meetings, soon on the golf courses at the province’s private clubs – but they will never speak out against genocide.   

And if they had their way, they wouldn’t let any of us speak out against it either.  Palestinians and their supporters are made  invisible. 

We’ve seen several incidents in Halifax since October 2023 in which people of Palestinian background and others have been fired from their jobs – for doing just that; just for opposing the Gaza genocide.  For example, there  is Yara Jamal, age 27.  Jamal, a Canadian citizen, worked in a non public-facing job at CTV for more than 2 years until she was fired. She had told her producer she was Palestinian, born in Haifa.  The producer insisted Yara was Israeli since she was born in Israel; there was no Palestine. After she spoke out a rally, the producer fired Yara. 

Another example:  a technician whose family is from Gaza. On his personal social media accounts he had posted about his revulsion at Israel’s genocide.  His employers received a letter from a major pro-Israel lobby group that condemned him as an antisemite.  Worse, there was a veiled threat that if he wasn’t let go, the lobby group would contact some of the business’ clients.  That was enough to seal his fate.  Shortly after, he was fired. 

In another incident, two rabbis in Halifax accused those who opposed Israel’s genocide and organized opposition to Team Israel’s participation in a tennis tournament in September 2025, as little better than terrorists.  Coincidentally, someone spray painted “Jews did 9/11” and  a swastika symbol in the doorways of the two Halifax synagogues, and a community centrecentre.   The senior rabbis were quick to associate the two incidents insisting that the protesters had triggered the synagogue attacks. 

Beth Israel synagogue’s Rabbi Yakov Kerzner said, 

“There’s a conflation of whatever is happening in Israel; all of a sudden, it’s not just relegated to political discussion but becomes a general hatred.”

His colleague at Shaar Shalom synagogue, Rabbi Gary Karlin, doubled-down; he connected the defacing of the synagogues with demonstrations against Israel.  In his view, the protestors “egged on” the graffiti incidents. With no evidence at all, the Jewish men just decided to blame protesters for antisemitic graffiti.  

When police caught the graffiti culprit who turned out to be a mentally unstable man entirely unconnected  with the protests or the synagogues, the rabbis donned the Cloak of Invisibility.  Our brave men at the top of Halifax’s Jewish community said nothing publicly and asked no questions. 

These men are a generation away from the Holocaust, but won’t recognize the Gaza genocide

These men are little more than puppets of the pro-Israel lobby.  A few are the same men who likely overruled the YMCA’s CEO, and its Peace Award committee that nominated local humanitarian Rana Zaman for the 2025 YMCA Peace award.  Within a week of her nomination, the Y publicly rescinded Zaman’s award because she dared to criticize Israel, and the Gaza genocide.  The Y framed her as antisemitic but the fact remains: Zaman is racialized and Muslim. 

These men know who they are.  All these men, and I mean men, are invited to the myriad of events the city and province puts on in an effort to placate, or at least give a nod to Jews as an established, trouble-free and white ethnic group. Some of them paid $1775 to attend a fundraiser with Prime Minister Carney.

Each one of these older men is barely a generation away from the Holocaust, which they do like to talk about and commemorate, but fail to associate it with one of the worst genocides of the 21st century by a nation they love. Who are they?  

Not one will speak out.  They can, but they won’t.  Their invisibility is in keeping with the pro-Israel script. 

Cartoon at the top and below: Deaf too!!! by Ahmad Qaddura, May 2025. (credit: cartoonmovements.com)