MONTREAL — Since Hamas’ murderous Oct. 7, 2023, pogrom in Israel, attacks on Jews in Canada have grown. B’nai Brith Canada reports 6,219 incidents of Jew-hatred across the country in 2024, more than double the number in 2022.
The attacks are fueled by the campaign of the government and other imperialist powers to press Israel to halt its defensive war against Hamas. Ottawa demands an immediate Israeli ceasefire, leaving Hamas intact to rebuild and renew its Jew-hating assaults, and blames the Israeli government, not Hamas, for “the humanitarian disaster” in Gaza.
An ultra-Orthodox Jew was assaulted while he and his three young daughters walked in a park here Aug. 8. The attacker punched the man several times before ripping off his kippah and throwing it away. The man, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, suffered a broken nose.
A woman who witnessed the attack and the victim called the police, who took 30 minutes to arrive.
The unprovoked assault has received widespread condemnation, including from the Israeli government. Sergio Yanes Precaido has been charged with assault causing bodily harm.
Katy LeRougetel, Communist League candidate for mayor of Montreal, condemned the attack in an Aug. 12 message of solidarity to the victim. “Communist League members will raise with fellow union members and others we talk to, the need to speak out against this and all acts of Jew-hatred,” she said.
Alongside physical assaults, Jews in Canada face attempts to stigmatize them and exclude them from public life. Organizers of the Aug. 11 gay pride parade here barred Jewish groups Ga’ava and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs from the annual event. The exclusion was met with protests from Jewish organizations and five members of Parliament, leading to it being rescinded.
When the march took place, pro-Hamas supporters tried unsuccessfully to disrupt the parade, carrying Palestinian and antifa flags. One woman threw a balloon filled with liquid that smelled like urine, striking three people in the Jewish contingent.
A smaller group that objected to the presence of Jews on the march held its own parade the day before the main event.
Organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival announced Aug. 12 they were blocking the screening of a documentary film, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” from the Sept. 4-14 festival.
The film tells the story of retired Israel Defense Forces Gen. Noam Tibon, who raced from Tel Aviv to the Kibbutz Nahal Oz near Gaza during Hamas’ Oct. 7 pogrom, intent on saving his son Amir’s family. He helped other wounded survivors and fought Hamas combatants along the way. Thirteen residents of the kibbutz were killed.
Organizers of the film festival rationalized the ban with the astounding claim that filmmakers failed to get permission from Hamas for using scenes filmed by the Nazi-like group.
The ban evoked widespread condemnation. More than 1,000 entertainment figures issued a statement protesting the handling of the documentary by the organizers.
Ari Ingel, executive director of Creative Community for Peace, the group that released the statement, said, “This incident is not an anomaly — it is part of a disturbing pattern that has emerged since Oct. 7, in which Israeli and Jewish creations in film, television, music, sports, and literature are confronted with barriers no other community is made to face.
“The deliberate effort to marginalize and silence Jewish voices in the arts worldwide is intolerable, and it cannot be allowed to persist.”
After the outcry, festival organizers announced they would show the film.