Demonization of Israel on the Streets and Antisemitic School Boards

Focus on Toronto: A city with 250,000 Jews and among the most virulently antisemitic in the world today

In the last week I had two opinion columns published in the National Post (Canada), to which I contribute regularly. I had spent the previous two months in Toronto, cottage country (just north of the city) and various spots in the U.S. The city to which I returned this summer for an extended period - which I do every year - is unrecognizable. In addition to the open, violent and widespread antisemitism, Toronto has become a cesspool of crime. It is dirty, unkempt and - “Toronto the Good” - as it was nicknamed for decades, has devolved into Toronto the Dump. Various levels of government - encouraged by the tone from the top (as embodied by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) - champion all manner of surreal policies.

Canadian governments at all levels are obsessed with DEI. Inclusiveness is extreme for all but Jewish Canadians. The frequency and severity of antisemitism - official and less so - is only intensifying. As a Jewish Canadian-Israeli, I take a close look at the surge of antisemitism in Canada and why it is surging, suddenly. But, foremost in this piece, I write about what October 7 has done and meant to those of us living in Israel.

On Friday, October 4, I wrote some personal reflections and thoughts as we approach the dark date of October 7. You can read the piece below or go directly to the National Post link here.

On Oct. 7, terrorists invaded Israel — and their sympathizers took over Canadian streets

These monsters are everywhere. And make no mistake: they are here in Canada, too

Kibbutz Be'eri, October 11, 2023 - Photo: Ziv Koren

Every time I drive on Road 232, a main artery through southern Israel, I see phantoms.

Since moving to a kibbutz in southern Israel in July, Road 232 has become my lifeline, as it is for all residents of a region that is dotted with small towns and villages. This beautiful, pastoral area is where much of Israel’s fresh produce is grown.

Today, however, many orchards and fields are overgrown. The residents who maintained them have either been murdered, displaced from their homes or taken hostage by Hamas. Worn posters of hostages from the area remind residents of this fact at every turn, intersection and roadside bomb shelter.

October 7 changed everything. Forever.

For all Israelis, the abandonment of so many civilians in such a large area of the south was, and remains, incomprehensible. We all rely upon the Israel Defence Forces. We know the IDF. It is referred to as the “people’s army.” Virtually all citizens over the age of 18 serve.

Socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and religious differences that may matter in civilian life dissipate in the army, where merit and skill are paramount. When showing up for annual reserve duty, a high-tech CEO may well find himself under the command of an Ethiopian Jew from a poor town. Or a Druze Arab. The army has always functioned as an equalizer across Israeli society, a deeply formative experience that all citizens share.

And we rely upon it. We thought it would always be there for us. Until it wasn’t.

I have watched and read thousands of testimonies of October 7. Every single one, every single person, asks: “Where was the IDF?”

Those who survived cowered in safe rooms and bomb shelters, listening to the madness of terrorists constantly yelling “Allahu akhbar,” shooting Kalashnikovs and throwing grenades into bomb shelters stuffed with civilians. Every single one of those terrified people kept telling themselves that “the army will be here any minute.”

But the army did not come. Not for hours in many cases.

Television anchors were taking live calls in the early morning hours from desperate and panicked Israelis. The anchors struggled to maintain composure. They knew what was going on. Everyone knew. But where was the IDF?

None of our political leaders addressed the nation throughout the day. It was the gravest breach of trust and dereliction of duty.

Politicians disappointing the population with hubris, corruption and incompetence isn’t shocking. But for the intelligence, security and military services to all fail to fulfill their most basic duties and promise to the nation — well, that is simply too much to take.

In the early days of the war, the shock of this failure permeated everything. It still does. One year on, we still wait for answers. The shattering of trust is the main impact of October 7 for myself and many others.

Each day seems to deliver fresh horror. New information is rarely uplifting. We watch the agony of the hostage families, the bereaved and the tens of thousands of civilians who witnessed indescribable atrocities.

We were told that we must be unified. For a brief period, that was a strong tonic. But the unity was forced from desperation. So, after a few months, the deeply entrenched tribal animosities in Israeli society prevailed. We are a nation more divided than ever.

For me, a defining moment came on April 13. I was at the weekly rally in support of the hostages and their families when I received a message from Home Front Command on my phone. As did every other person in Israel. We were urged to seek shelter and safety immediately, as an Iranian attack was imminent.

At the time, I lived in central Tel Aviv, which until that moment was considered to be among the safest places in the country. My home was less than one kilometre from IDF headquarters and not far from the largest intelligence base in the country. The general assumption was that they were all well-protected.

I watched on television, shortly after midnight, what looked like a video game being played out in the skies. A multilateral force that included the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia scrambled to intercept the missiles and drones shot from Iranian territory towards Israel. Everything about that night was extraordinary and terrifying.

I took two pills and went to sleep at 1:30 a.m., not knowing if I would wake up. I could not take the pointless, nerve-racking wait. I preferred sleep to high anxiety.

The next morning, I awoke at 10 a.m. We had been spared. But what was left of our sense of collective security was in tatters.

A short while later, I moved to a kibbutz in the south of Israel, not far from the area that had been invaded by Hamas. There was nothing heroic or stupid about this decision. On the contrary, I felt that I was safer in the middle of nowhere than in the midst of the most densely populated area of Israel, right next to key institutions.

I vividly recall the horror of October 7. I was in Toronto, at the end of a long summer vacation. I remember so many Hamas supporters celebrating in the streets of Canadian cities. They were jubilantly cheering on mass murder, people being tortured, burned alive, taken hostage. I cannot think of a historical parallel in the West that comes close to being so blood-curdling since the rise of the Nazi regime in the 1930s.

As they celebrated, the slaughter continued in Israel. It took days for the IDF to restore order and secure the border.

Today, in Canada, the pro-Hamas thugs are untouchable, it seems. They roam and terrorize freely. Just last week, they set up an impromptu street blockade in a Jewish neighbourhood in Ottawa, deciding who may enter and who may leave. Police stood aside, as they have done since October 7.

Canadian Jews are on edge. We are also astonished at how quickly society has turned on us.

In Israel, people are resolute but somewhat despairing. We see the world, including Canada, scramble to appease extremists who are clear about their agenda: to destroy Israel, murder Jews and establish a global caliphate. They are serious.

In Israel, we have not asked one another “how are you” in casual conversation for a year. Every single person is directly impacted by this ongoing horror. The global community seems to have no understanding of the unprecedented challenge of a conventionally trained army that’s forced to fight a hardcore terrorist militia that celebrates martyrdom. There is little appreciation in the West for the role that Iran plays in fomenting violence and spreading terrorism around the globe.

I was meant to return to Israel a week ago, but my flight was cancelled. I wanted to be among those who mourn as do I on October 7. It seems that instead, I may find myself in Toronto, watching a wild mob call for the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people.

They are everywhere, these monsters. They laughed as they hunted young party-goers. They exulted as they shouted “Allahu akhbar!” and set fire to homes with parents, children, seniors and infants huddled inside. They high fived as whole families screamed before being incinerated. They raped. They live-streamed torture. They threw grenades into roadside bomb shelters stuffed with dozens of terrified festival-goers.

They are everywhere. And make no mistake: they are here in Canada, too.

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Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, October 2, I wrote about the way in which the Toronto District School Board – the fourth largest in North America – has politicized the education of children and teens, unconscionably. Even though Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world (after Israel, the U.S. and France), we comprise only 375,000 of a population of approximately 42 million. Governments at all levels have tended to embolden the pro-Hamas population, referring to them as “peaceful protesters” exercising their right to freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada’s version of the Bill of Rights and amendments). But these statements and positions are false and reflect a dangerous level of ignorance, or malevolence. And the current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has set the national tone by adhering to these bubble-headed mantras. The impact of the tone at the top on the nation has been obvious and deeply concerning, as is clear in this telling of just one incident among many that has occurred since October 7 in Toronto. The same scenario is prevalent in many cities and towns across Canada, many in the U.S., U.K, Australia, continental Europe and other countries. I have focused on Toronto because I know it best and I was there when it went down.

My article is set out below or you can access it at the National Post site directly here.

Children are being taught that Israel represents all that is evil. It can't continue

On the streets of Toronto and university campuses, a simplistic distortion of historical fact is deployed to demonize Israel and Jews

On Sept. 18, several Toronto District School Board teachers thought it appropriate to take their students to participate in an outdoor protest rally at a downtown Toronto park.

The protest focused on Indigenous rights: in particular, long-standing issues regarding the Grassy Narrows First Nation. Also present were groups supporting other causes. Among them were supporters of the “pro-Palestine” movement.

Students from elementary through secondary school were taken to this event. Parents were advised in advance that this was an educational field trip focusing on long-held grievances of Grassy Narrows. Children attending Alpha Alternative School (in Grades 3-6), as well as students from other schools, were asked in advance to wear blue shirts. There are different explanations for this request. Some have said that the blue was meant to signify clean water. The Grassy Narrows First Nation has been dealing for decades with health and other impacts of industrial pollution of its water supply. Others have indicated that the blue shirts were intended to mark the students as “settlers.” A badge of shame.

The TDSB has been silent on this point, refusing to clarify.

Anne-Marie Longpre, a TDSB teacher who took students to the event, posted on her now-closed X account that: “This was a march for Indigenous land rights. Do you really believe it’s harmful to kids to hear the chant, ‘From Turtle Island to Palestine, Occupation is a crime?’”

Well, yes, Ms. Longpre. I do. Harmful and wildly inappropriate. It is also a profound breach of duty of care.

These words reflect Hamas’s ideology (a recognized terrorist entity in Canada) that Israel is an illegal and criminal occupier of what they consider to be the land of Palestine. On the streets of Toronto and university campuses, this simplistic distortion of historical fact is deployed to demonize Israel, Jews and any individual who believes that the Jewish state is “legitimate” and has a “right to exist.”

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, it did so with the declared intention of taking Jerusalem and killing any Jew they could (they referred to their victims as “yahud,” which means Jew in Arabic). Hence, the name of the killing spree: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Al-Aqsa is the mosque situated in the Jerusalem religious compound they hoped to liberate. (Known as Haram-al-Sharif, the Muslim compound is built atop the ruins of the holiest site in Judaism, the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans. Jewish people refer to this site as the Temple Mount.)

The well-documented murder, torture, rape and incomprehensible savagery was celebrated on the streets of Gaza — and Toronto. The chilling pledge of Hamas leadership is to repeat this slaughter until Israel is destroyed and every last Jew is dead. This is a standard chant. These protests normalize extreme Jew-hatred, violence and a very distorted rendering of history.

“From Turtle Island to Palestine, Occupation is a Crime” is not the benign nursery rhyme that Longpre, and others defending the protest, seems to think it is. It is a call for the annihilation of Israel. Whether her views stem from ignorance or malevolence, they are neither new nor anomalous in the TDSB. The rot is deeply entrenched.

Among the more spectacular consequences of the October 7 massacre is the degree to which the very robust pro-Islamist population in Canada has been emboldened. As the slaughter and torture of civilians by Hamas continued on that day one year ago, the savagery was celebrated openly on the streets of many cities in Canada. There was an immediate and bizarre alliance between supporters of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, ISIS, the Taliban and of course, the murderous regime in Iran that trains and manages them all — and so-called “progressives.”

To Islamists, Israel is a blight on the Middle East that must be destroyed. This has been the predominant and abiding ideology in the region since 1948. Ironically, former U.S. president Barack Obama’s appeasement of Iran and its state-sponsored terror operations supporting Islamist proxies in the region alienated long-standing American allies: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. They despised Iran’s destructive, fundamentalist regime and this became the foundation of what has emerged as a strong alliance binding these countries. Including Israel.

Excluded from this group — which includes several other Muslim countries under the Abraham Accords umbrella — are the nations that support or have been overtaken by terror groups: Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Qatar plays both sides, financing and supporting Islamist terrorists in innumerable ways, while holding itself out as being allied with American and western interests. It is an absurdity that has a life of its own.

What is puzzling is the convergence of interests between Islamists and leftish “progressives,” many of whom are gay. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that they are loathed by Islamists; unaware that gay individuals in these societies are burned alive, stoned to death, thrown from buildings (blindfolded and bound, headfirst) and hung from cranes in the public square.

What binds these antithetical demographics — Islamists and progressives — is their shared hatred of Jews and Israel. To Islamists, homosexuality is unnatural and forbidden by Allah. Women are also objectified and subject to restrictions and abuse that do not align with liberal western norms.

Their progressive bedfellows have come to their epiphany about the evil of Israel and Jews through various forms of indoctrination and learning.

A recently published, slim volume by author Adam Kirsch, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice, offers the most succinct distillation of the key “thinkers” in this socio-political movement. Israel and the United States, Kirsch explains, are “settler-colonial” societies, meaning that they are “permanently illegitimate, because they were created against the will of the people previously living there.” This theory explains and defines every aspect of the despised society. And this convoluted reasoning is how and why they proudly celebrate October 7.

“By killing old people and children inside the borders of Israel, (Hamas) acted on the principle that every citizen of a settler colonial state is a fair target, because none of them has a right to be there,” Kirsch writes.

“Young people today who celebrate the massacre of Israelis and harass their Jewish peers on college campuses are not ashamed of themselves for the same reason that earlier generations were not ashamed to persecute and kill Jews — because they have been taught that it is an expression of virtue.”

They have been taught, since they were small children, that Israel represents all that is evil. This is reinforced in high school. And deeply entrenched by the time they get to university.

And then they become educators, public officeholders and public servants. Not to mention the masked thugs controlling our streets and university campuses.