Canada Day 2025

Canadian Jews under stress

It was a partly cloudy day in Canada’s capital yesterday, and the risk of showers did not stop us from taking a drive in the countryside outside of Ottawa. Our destination was Merrickville, a historic village south of Ottawa on the Rideau river. A pleasant drive was followed by a stroll along the picturesque main street. A band played rock and roll in the park and the people listening wore red and white to mark the day. Several people greeted us as we walked around the village. “Happy Canada Day!”

As we made our way to the car for a return journey we were approached by four enthusiastic young women passing out booklets with inspiring Christian messages. “We want to help you with whatever is troubling you”, one of them said. “Read the book and learn the truth.” We wished them happy Canada day and offered blessings of our own in return for theirs.

We are certainly feeling troubled these days, as one incident after another brings home the fact that the situation of Jews in Canada has changed dramatically in recent months, and there is no sign that the trend is improving. On Friday we learned that there has been an arrest in a recent hate crime committed here in Ottawa. On June 9, someone had sprayed red point on the national holocaust monument, along with the words “Feed Me”.

Image: National Holocaust Monument Defaced

The shock and disgust felt by many in the community at the time was reignited by the news that the accused perpetrator, Iain Aspenlieder, was an employee of the City of Ottawa, and that he is a highly paid lawyer. Others identified him as a volunteer for the failed federal campaign of Joel Harden, former MPP for Ottawa Centre. Mark Sutcliffe, the Mayor of Ottawa who has stood by the Jewish community in the past, was quick to denounce the act of vandalism as “not reflecting the city’s values”. By Sunday it was reported that the accused is no longer employed by the city of Ottawa.

Jew Hatred Promoted by Canada’s Elites

One of the striking features of the current wave of hatred affecting Canadian Jews is that it is often promoted by people in positions of power and responsibility. The perpetrators are surrounded by likeminded individuals, and commentators are often quick to defend their actions and deny that they are antisemitic.

While antisemitism was never entirely eradicated in Canada during the years that we were growing up, it was never endorsed by people in positions of power. Rather it would bubble up from below. The perpetrators tended to be young or marginalized people and their actions would be denounced by people in positions of authority.

In the current moment, the incitement comes from lawyers, university professors and politicians. Over the past two years we have written in this space about movies, art exhibitions, Parliamentary resolutions, and reports broadcast on Canada’s main broadcast media outlets. We have followed pronouncements from spokespeople for once respected NGOs. We have pointed out the implications of these statements and warned that the security and status of Canadian Jews is endangered by them.

We have documented the dissemination of antizionism in Canadian schools and the dire impact it has had on Jewish and Israeli students attending those schools. We have described the targeting of Jewish institutions, including schools, hospitals, retirement homes and community centres. We have written about the intimidation experienced by Jewish students on campuses taken over by “pro-Palestinian” activists, frequently abetted by academics employed by those institutions.

Nothing that Canadian Jews have said or done, none of the reassurances issued by political leaders that “there is no place in Canada for antisemitism,” have prevented the continued deterioration of the situation.

Two years of horrible images from Gaza, coupled with inflammatory rhetoric characterizing Israelis as genocidal baby killers, have had the effect that one would expect on the reputation of Canadian Jews and others who support Israel. We have written frequently here about the biased coverage of the war and the not so subliminal message being conveyed to Canadians, that Israelis are as bad as Nazis.

It has become routine to be shamed on social media as a genocide promoter whenever we defend Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany have become routine. It’s clear that norms and social expectations that would have protected us from antisemitism in the past are no longer in force.

Events Around the World

A concert in Glastonberry, England n Saturday turned into a festival of anti-Israel hatred when a band performing there led the crowd in chants of “Death to the IDF”. The BBC was criticized for broadcasting the performance. The performers were promptly banned from entering the US, but are still due to appear in Canada.

In New York on June 29, the annual Dyke march, which attracts 30,000 participants, banned Zionists. While the march theme was “opposing fascism”, Palestinian flags were prominent. A Facebook friend reports watching the parade and then hearing chants of “death to Zionists”. When marchers saw his kippa, they looked at him and added, “like him”. Earlier, a Jewish organizer was expelled from the committee organizing the march for wanting to include Zionists.

In Boulder Colorado, an 82 year old woman who was attacked with a firebomb at a march for the freedom of Israeli hostages a month ago, died from the severe burns inflicted on her by the attacker, an Egyptian who was staying the United States illegally.

In Toronto this weekend the Pride parade was blocked by a group of protesters called the Coalition against Pinkwashing. The remainder of the parade was cancelled as a result. The group said they had demanded that the parade organizers divest from corporations they said had ties to Israel.

The election of Zohram Mamdani as the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York caused consternation, as Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Israel, and defended the use of the slogan “Globalize the intifada.” He said he would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to New York, although the ICC warrant issued for Netanyahu has no force in the United States.

There is Hope

In spite of the litany of gloomy developments cited in this article, there is hope and Jews have allies. Israelis returned to work this week as the truce with Iran appeared to be holding. Rockets from Yemen and Gaza caused some disruption on July 1. Western leaders supported the Israeli and American strikes against the Iranian nuclear program.

In the past few days, the Trump administration appears to have turned its attention to Gaza, promising a 60 day ceasefire and warning Hamas to accept it. Another report said that the Saudis were demanding an end to the war and to Hamas rule in Gaza as a prelude to normalizing relations with Israel.

We are pleased to welcome a surge of new subscribers and followers who have joined us in the past week. We are especially excited to announce that we have just surpassed 1000 subscribers. Welcome to all of you and we look forward to sharing our thoughts with you in the weeks to come.

Canadian Zionist Forum will be marking two years of publication at the end of this month. We are grateful to subscribers who have been with us for most of that time as well as to everyone who has joined us along the way. All of our articles are free for everyone to read. If you appreciate what we do, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support our work and gain the right to comment on the articles.

Writing about the experiences of Canadian Jews in our present moment helps us keep going through these difficult times. We hope that reading about them is equally helpful.

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