Israel's ambassador to Canada has welcomed a Senate report on Canada's antisemitism crisis, but some groups say the report does not go deep enough. The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights released its report, titled Heightened Antisemitism in Canada and How to Confront It, on Tuesday.
Israel's Response
Ambassador Iddo Moed said Israel praised the report, stating it presents effective solutions to Canada's ongoing problem with anti-Jewish hatred. “Jewish communities in Canada have been repeatedly subject to fear and intimidation on the basis of their Jewish identity and connection to Israel,” Moed said. “As this blatant hatred has turned violent, with shootings and vandalism at Jewish schools and places of worship, Israel has acknowledged the urgent need for proactive and actionable responses to this issue and will continue to advocate to relevant authorities.”
Context of Rising Antisemitism
The report comes amidst a troubling few years for Canada's Jewish community, which has faced intimidation, shootings, and vandalism of Jewish community centres, schools, and places of worship. Anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activists used the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks as an excuse to commence campaigns in Canada against the Jewish community, resulting in hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrations, encampments on university campuses, and marches through Jewish neighbourhoods.
Criticism from Jewish Groups
Jesse Primerano, executive director of StandWithUs Canada, told the Toronto Sun that while the report was a step in the right direction, more work needs to be done. “There needs to be real accountability measures, measures that are laid out if institutions fail to act — what that looks like in terms of enforcement on campuses, consequences for these institutions if they don’t follow what they need to be doing,” he said.
Primerano noted a large misunderstanding by officials of what exactly antisemitism is. “It is often mischaracterized as legitimate criticism of Israel, which of course exists in its own right, but can’t be used as a shield to pretend antisemitism doesn’t exist,” he said. “It’s critical that there is someone who is aware of, and can properly articulate the nature of modern antisemitism responsible for addressing the impact it is having on Jewish-Canadians.”
Ignoring Anti-Zionism
Amir Epstein, CEO of Jewish advocacy group Tafsik, said that while the report properly acknowledges the rise in antisemitism, it shows a dangerous disconnect by ignoring the key factors driving Canada's surge of anti-Jewish hatred. “By ignoring the rise of antisemitism and anti-Zionism alongside the rise in immigration from countries that breed religious and cultural hate towards Jews, the government is refusing to acknowledge a problem obvious to anyone with a scintilla of intellectual honesty,” he said.
Epstein also said the report does not address the problem of anti-Zionism — an issue pointed out by other Jewish groups like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), who questioned why Independent Jewish Voices, a self-professed anti-Zionist organization considered to be a fringe group, were referenced several times in the report. “Antizionism is the ‘new era’ of Jew hatred and the primary vehicle through which Jews are now demonized and excluded from Canadian society,” Epstein said. “When combined with the weaponization of fabricated narratives like anti-Palestinian racism … it is clear that if the government continues to reject these primary sources of anti-Jewish hate, it is simply wasting time and should expect the hate to continue to rise.”
