Will my two sisters in Toronto turn me in?
Will the rabbi at the Beth Israel synagogue in Halifax report me?
Will someone who reads my Palestine-supportive newsletter finger me to the cops?
Maybe all three will. But wait—why?
Ever since late last week, the Canadian government has made “explicit recognition that antisemitism includes anti-Zionism.”
Are all Jews critical of Israel antisemites?
So are the majority of Canadians —including thousands of Canada’s Jews — who disagree with Israel, who have criticized Israel for the genocide in Gaza, who have protested Israel’s murders of more than 20,000 Palestinian children (among 75,000 dead Palestinians). Jews and non-Jews who have written articles, demonstrated, pumped out podcasts, and written books about the last three years of Israel’s war on Palestinians – are all of us now officially antisemites?
Not yet, but it could be just around the corner. Saturday’s article in The Globe and Mail by veteran staff columnist Marcus Gee takes it that one step further. He deliberately links antizionists’ “bitter, hateful rhetoric” to “fueling” antisemitism and violence.
That’s quite a leap. So much so that it forced Gee to hedge. He wrote, anti-Zionism
“… is not the same as antisemitism – you can be anti-Zionist without hating all Jews – but the two share the idea that their target [Israel] is the cause of great evil in the world.”
The fact is the establishment Jewish community in our country, and their willing accomplices, insist that all those opposing Israel are antisemites – and they deserve to be hounded or at least be silenced.
Now it’s not as though most of Israel’s critics are willing to stand up and say so. That is because those who criticize Israel are risking a lot. Canadians who tell the truth about Israel’s war on Gaza have lost their jobs like Amjad Ramadan, their careers — for example Dr Yipeng Ge and other doctors, Birju Dattani, Wanda Nanibush, or lost their seat in the legislature like former Ontario MPP Sarah Jama. At least two paramedics have been subject to “show trials” by their professional association because the members sided with the Palestinians . Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) law students have been warned by future employers against speaking ill of Israel. Some law practices say they will not extend articling positions to students if they speak up about Israel. Many critics have been threatened with the withdrawal of opportunities and work contracts.
“23 lawyers signed a letter addressed to the TMU president … and law school Dean … criticizing the students for a “hate-filled incitement to violence against Israel and the Jewish people.” The lawyers warned that if TMU did not take action, professional placements offered by the legal community to help students fulfil curriculum requirements would be at risk.”
from Toronto Star here
On the same token, critics of Israel’s genocide who work in Canada’s media know to keep silent. The Breach details what happened at the CBC when a producer of Jewish background saw the employer weeding out Palestinian guests in favour of pro-Israel interviewees, then accusing the producer of being antisemitic “for raising concerns about the coverage.”
Indeed, The Breach reported that since Oct 7, 2023, the CBC has “aired far fewer Palestinian voices than Israelis, and that senior managers of journalistic practices at CBC believe it is justified to use less emotive language to describe the killing of Palestinians compared to Israelis.”
The new pronouncement from Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree may be laying the groundwork for taking criticism of Israel further; perhaps the pro-Israel forces want anti-Israel protest criminalized. Can’t happen here? Think again. Anti-Israel protests are banned in major German cities such as Berlin and Frankfurt In Britain, more than 3,000 people — many senior citizens– have been arrested for holding signs that read “I support Palestine Action”.
Will the government be able to close down so-called “antisemitic” Canadian charities, nonprofits and political organizations that support a genuine ceasefire and an end to Israel’s genocide? Minister Anandasangaree’s report, National Commitment to Combat Antisemitism, promises to try to eliminate antisemitism. He notes,
“The Government of Canada recognizes that antisemitism can also be a matter of national security. . . . antisemitism is a core component of many violent extremist ideologies. It can contribute to radicalization and violence, and threatens social cohesion and democratic values.”
But what about when those words are used to also characterize anti-Zionism? In the recently passed Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, writer and Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV.org) member Larry Haiven writes in The Bullet,
“… it’s not the new law alone that presents the threat. More menacingly, it’s how interest groups can, and do, use them to initiate, enable, and amplify the attacks on free expression. The pro-Israel organizations have effectively self-deputized as adjuncts to the police, prosecutors, and the judiciary and ply that role with a vengeance.”
Will Canadians such as Dr Yipeng Ge, Naomi Klein and Canadian Senator Yuen Pau Woo be jailed for “antisemitism” because they spoke out against Israel? What about Avi Lewis, the new leader of the NDP who is Jewish and a harsh critic of Israel? I don’t think it’s out of line to consider the pro-Israel lobby, the mainstream Jewish community will continue to exert pressure anywhere they can – first to silence, then to ensure they can’t easily find a new job, and finally to demand we be arrested.
