Don’t dilute antisemitism

While researching the topic of the antisemitism and multiculturalism I encountered an article in Alberta Jewish News, a publication in Canadian province of Alberta, written in 2015: ‘Don’t Dilute Anti-Semitism, Canadian Multiculturalism Minister Tim Uppal Tells Forum’.

Tim Uppal, at the time a minister of multiculturalism in the federal government of conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper, was in Israel representing Canada on the fifth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism in May of 2015. In his opinion equating antisemitism with other forms of racism and hate is diminishing its significance. He noted that “on anti-Semitism, the level of misinformation, the level of hatred -goes much deeper than just the average racism”. Furthermore, Mr. Uppal pointed to the enormous number of expressions of hate towards the Jews on the internet.  He stressed the anti-Semitism is a unique problem in need of unique means to address it.

Did the level of the antagonism towards Jewish people has changed in Canada?  Does Canadian multiculturalism acts as a hindrance or contributing factor to the antisemitism in the country?

The information provided by the statistics Canada of the police-reported hate crimes motivated by religion shows the number of the hate crimes toward the Jewish communities in the year 2020 was 331, a year later it showed an increase to 492 and in the year 2023 it dramatically rose to 900 cases. There is a significant increase in hate crimes toward the Jewish Canadians from the year 2020 to 2023.

For the Muslim communities the year 2020 brought 84 hate crimes, a year later it upped to 142 and in 2023 it reached 211 cases. The Catholics experienced reduction of the hate crimes in the year 2020, but had 155 cases in 2021 and there were 49 hate crimes in 2023.

The above statistics proves that the Jewish Canadians are subjected to hate attacks disproportionately more often than other ethnic groups. This confirms the legitimacy of the concern of the former minister of multiculturalism, Tim Uppal, that the level of hatred against the Jewish Canadians is much deeper than just the average racism.

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act presents the multiculturalism as a “fundamental characteristic of the Canadian heritage and identity”. The Immigration is an integral part of the concept.

The professor of University of Ottawa, Christian J.Y. Bergeron, a sociologist, in the article ‘The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is putting Canadian multiculturalism to the test’ observed that multiculturalism was endorsed by 92 per cent of participants of the 2020 General Social Survey. Three years later 67 percent of the participants of the Abacus poll believe that government’s immigration threshold is excessive.  The skepticism towards the multiculturalism and its encouragement of the immigration to Canada was evident in the results of the Abacus Data survey conducted in 2023. Professor Bergeron noted that since the horrific Hamas attack on October 7 the level of tensions linked to immigration has risen significantly in Canada.

The Leger-Postmedia poll conducted in November 2023 identified more than 78 per cent of Canadians are concern about the effect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has on the country. More than three-quarter polled want the government to expel non-residents who demonstrated in support for Hamas, a terrorist organization. The same survey reveal that more than half asked would like the government to ensure the newcomers to Canada know the country’s values and practice it in their lives.

One of the leading voices on the subject of antisemitism, Robert Solomon Wistrich (April 7, 1945-May 19, 2015), a professor of European and Jewish studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in his book ‘A Lethal Obsession. Antisemitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad’ validated the anxiety of Tim Uppal of diminution of the extent of the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish hatred and abuse. The professor analyzed the status of antisemitism in Canada during the second intifada, 2000-2005. He noted that at this time on the streets of Canadian cities there was an increase in the incidents of violence against Canadian Jews. On campuses, such as Concordia University in Montreal, the anti-Israeli propaganda was widely promoted by radical pro-Palestinian groups. The synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, private homes and individuals were subjected indiscriminately to the episodes of hatred and abuse. Compare to 2003, the cases of hate crimes against Canadian Jews has risen by 100 per cent in 2004.  “This reflects a troubling upward movement that seriously belies the polite façade of Canadian multiculturalism”.

The similarity between the virulent responses of the pro-Palestinian groups towards the Canadian Jews and Israel during the second intifada 2000-2005 and October 7, 2023 Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel shows that not too much has changed in the Canadian universities in the last twenty years. There are two contributing factors, among others, to the rise of the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish sentiments among the university students. The indoctrination of the students starts with academia: the official site of ‘Faculty for Palestine’ (F4P) of Canada states that more than 600 faculty of all ranks in 40 universities and 15 colleges across the country are acting as conduits for anti-Israeli propaganda. The visiting students from countries where the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish ideology of extreme Islam is the official government policy, is also a contributing factor to the ugliness we witness on the university campuses and on the Canadian streets.

The Canadian public and the government should look for the ways to find a balance between employment of the respect to the diversity of various ethnic groups and to ensure the immigrants to our country know the Canadian values. The Canadian government should encourage the development of the informational material regarding our values and beliefs for distribution to the newcomers.  It is worthwhile to note that one fundamental value of fully functioning democracy is for the citizens to adhere to the peaceful interactions during demonstrations and debates.

After the October 7, 2023 heinous Hamas’s attack on bordering Gaza Israeli farm communities there was and still is a concerted effort by Palestinian symporters in Canada and everywhere in the world to spread the antisemitic propaganda. One of the ways to counter the antisemitism is for Canadian Jews publicly demonstrate their support for Israel. We should not allow the forces of evil to undermine our voices and existence. This did happen in Calgary on July 28, 2024. Under the slogan ‘The walk with Israel” thousand Jewish Calgarians and the participants of the walk from other ethnic groups were announcing their support for Israel to city of Calgary and to the whole world.

Another avenue to fight the hate crimes aimed at Jewish Canadians is to emphatically encourage the legal authority to lay charges against the abusers of the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The publication by the B’nai Brith Canada states:” The time has come for Canada to finally get serious about addressing antisemitism and hatred against its Jewish community”.