Malicious Advice by Antisemitism-Embracing Progressives

"[Israel must] ensure accountability for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, reverse the record expansion of settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law, and work towards a two-state solution." 

"Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community."

"The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end."

"We call on parties to the conflict to agree to the [proposed Biden] deal. Any delay will only see more lives lost."

Joint statement from Canada, Australia, New Zealand

"The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land -- not in our eternal capital Jerusalem and not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria."

"No false decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth and likewise the legality of Israeli settlement in all the territories of our homeland cannot be contested."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Protesters holding a banner "From the river to the sea" at European March organized by a coalition of organizations including the ABP to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Brussels, Belgium, May 19, 2024. (Photo: Sophie HUGON / Hans Lucas)

The more often and more horrendously Israel is attacked by those whom the international community view as entitled, despite their inhumane, sadistic and savage atrocities, to 'share' geographic space with the very state those attacks target the more isolated Israel becomes. Needless to say, those in the forefront of encouraging Israel to restrain its response to barbaric onslaughts on its civilian population, have never themselves been forced by circumstances beyond their control to confront the reality of a savage neighbour for whom slaughter of innocents is viewed as a right by 'oppressed' people.

 

Oppressed simply as a result of the neighbour endlessly targeted for bloodshed, forced by those circumstances to maintain a military vigil to apprehend terrorist attacks in a never-ending effort to protect its population. A neighbour whose leaders have never missed an opportunity to spurn opportunities to have a state of their own which would call upon them to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state and an obligation to put a halt to assaulting it in efforts to pry the state loose from its geography.

 

For four thousand years evidence links Judaean life with the ancestral lands that have become a controversial international concern. The plan for Partition allotted both Jews and Arabs their own particular portions on what was traditionally Jewish geographic territory. Jewish leaders were willing to surrender their quest for the greater proportion of the land that represented their heritage, while the Arabs who took on the mantle of 'Palestinians' (nomenclature dating from the Roman Era to identify land dedicated to ancestral Jewish land) spurned the opportunity to accept their portion.

 

They have spurned it ever since. The West speaks of the solution inherent in the 'two-state' condition of Partition, as a fair division of land enabling two states to live side-by-side. Palestinians speaking to the West agree, while conspiring among themselves, adhere to a 'one-state' solution; envisioning Israel absent the land that would revert in its totality to their sponsorship as 'Palestine' engulfing both areas, with a Jewish state no longer a reality.

 

Yet the prime minister of Canada and his Australian and New Zealand counterparts feel justified in pressing Israel to agree to a 'compromise' reflecting their idea of a solution. In reality what they impress upon Israel is their agenda that the Jewish State set aside the horrors of October 7 in favour of supporting an official, internationally approved Palestinian State to be established as a neighbour, one which will inevitably return to its 'resistance' mode against the presence of Israel to fulfill its larger scheme of the one-state solution.

 

The International Court of Justice non-binding opinion representing condemnation of Israel's supervision of lands captured 57 years ago, handily neglects to consider that this was accomplished in defending the state from a series of  neighbourly military attacks to unseat it from the region, and all failed. In no other part of the world, by no other country, would it be seen as 'illegal' internationally when a country in defending itself from military aggression takes possession of disputed land; borders historically have seen alterations and have never been internationally challenged.

All three Western countries are adamant in their renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. So in that event, Hamas can reconstitute itself, rearm, recruit, and repeat -- as it promised was its intention -- the Satanic acts of unrestrained inhumanity that it demonstrated on October 7, 2023 it was so capable of, and revelling in, an extent of bloodletting that was never sufficiently repugnant to satiate the terrorists' appetite for torture, mutilation, excruciating pain and ghoulish acts of sexual depravity before murdering their victims.

These three lily-livered leaders of once-credible countries outperform themselves in the depths of their concern for humanity expressed toward a nation whose dedication to human rights far exceeds their own, whose system of justice is more than fully capable of punishing miscreants of its own in the event of their civilly-unapproved actions, and whose military has done more to protect civilian lives than any other nation's military in history. 

"Israel will continue to defend itself against hostile attacks on seven fronts, all directed by Iran through its proxies in the region."

"We call upon Canada, as a nation that values international law and institutions that uphold it, to do all it can to prevent those who try to disrupt global order from achieving their goals."

Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed

Charitable Status: Financial Support to State Military Versus Terror Groups

"Our position is that it is unjust for the Canada Revenue Agency [CRA] to revoke a charity because a charitable object[ive] that it accepted almost 60 years ago is now no longer considered to be a valid charitable object[ive]." 

"It is simply unjust to close a charity supported by over 100,000 Canadians based on reversing a decision the CRA made in 1967."

Nathan Disenhouse, national president, JNF Canada

 

"In keeping with our mission of improving the quality of lives of Israelis, we have in the past funded projects of a charitable nature that indirectly involved the IDF. These projects were built on land owned by the IDF primarily for the benefit of children and youth. When it came to our attention several years ago that supporting these types of projects may not be in keeping with CRA policies, we stopped funding them."

"The last project we funded was in June 2016 and it was directed to the Hatzerim Airforce Base for a playground/soccer field for the children living on the base."

"To be clear, we no longer fund projects located on IDF land and JNF Canada operates in accordance with CRA regulations governing its status as a charitable organization."

JNF CEO Lance Davis

Israeli air force cadets toss their caps into the air during a graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim air force base in southern Israel in 2014. A Canadian charity that funds projects in Israel has faced claims that some of its charitable donations have gone to support projects on Israeli military bases in violation of Canadian tax rules. (Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press)

 

The century-old Jewish National Fund has been advised by the Canada Revenue Agency that its charitable status in Canada is set to be revoked in view of the charity's financial support for Israel's military structure. In response, the Jewish National Fund has made it clear that its intention is to challenge that decision in a court of law. Its contention is that the rules of charitable donations have been altered by the CRA, and that after the organization's work had been approved for charitable status under those same rules 60 years earlier.

It  is more than slightly likely that this move by the CRA was developed in the wake of Jewish groups bringing to the attention of the Canada Revenue Agency, and to Canadian media, that there are Canadian Muslim charities in good charitable status with the CRA known to financially support terrorist groups abroad. There is an obvious difference between a state's military apparatus and that of a terrorist militia. The latter's purpose is objectively offensive, while the former's is, by necessity, defensive.

A state that has been forced by regional circumstances throughout its history, to build an army for the specific purpose of self-defense is certainly not to be conflated with scores of militias formed for the single purpose of destroying an internationally recognized, legitimate, sovereign state. Differentiating between the two; state military/non-state militias, legitimate fighting force and purposefully terrorist entities shouldn't be too difficult to determine even by third-state functionaries.

"The CRA assesses all concerns about registered charities against a clear regulatory  and risk framework designed to prevent bias in our decision-making process", responded the agency spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova. Which has led the Jewish National Fund to embark on a legal journey with the intention of proving that the tax agency erred in making its decision; that not only is there an evident bias in its decision-making, but it has upended its own prior agreement with the charitable status and purpose of the Jewish National Fund.

And nor is the JNF the only Jewish organization that has come afoul of the CRA's shift to de-registering charitable status for other Jewish groups focused on financial aid used for the building of military infrastructure for the Israel Defense Forces. Simply put, their case is that "Canadian charities are not allowed to fund foreign militaries", explained Mark Blumberg, a Canadian lawyer whose specialty is Canadian charity law. 

In any event, although the CRA decision means a loss of status as a registered charity for the Jewish National Fund, its supporters and donors comprised for the most part of members of the Canadian Jewish community, should be able to overlook the loss of charitable receipts used for income tax purposes, since as a taxable relief they don't amount to very much. The principle of supporting a dedicated military tasked to protect civilian life in Israel should represent sufficient philanthropic motivation.

On the other hand, since the Jewish National Fund has attested that since 2016 it no longer funded IDF infrastructure, something is definitely awry with Canada Revenue Agency's audit and the decision that arose out of it. Not revealed was whether Islamic groups in Canada appealed to the CRA to rescind the charitable status of the JNF on the basis of its having funded said IDF infrastructure, but it is not entirely unreasonable to assume that this kind of incitement did have a desired effect in retaliation for the spotlight on Muslim charitable groups sponsoring terrorism.

A JNF Israel webpage describes Canadian-sponsored projects on Bat Galim Naval Base and Palmachim Airbase in Israel. (KKL-JNF)

"Unfortunately, our overtures to have a dialogue in order to negotiate an agreement were rejected --- CRA officials refused to meet in person with JNF Canada officials throughout this ordeal -- and the CRA confirmed its intention to revoke on June 25th."

"[Our appeal intends to illustrate that the Canada Revenue Agency's findings are flawed; the federal agency's taxation arm's processes are unfair, that there] is a reasonable apprehension of bias in the audit."

Jewish National Fund letter: Nathan Disenhouse and JNF CEO Lance Davis

Canada -- Take Note -- Others Have

"On May 27, 2024, the Government of Canada announced its intent to increase the number of Gazans who will be allowed into their country under temporary special measures."

"We are deeply concerned and request heightened scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security should any of them attempt to enter the United States at ports of entry as well as between ports of entry."

"After arriving in Canada and being issued this travel document, Palestinians can then travel outside Canada since the Refugee Travel Document becomes a valid form of identification, which is recognized in 146 countries for the purposes of filling out paperwork and applying for visas."

"However, with little to no reliable records or background checks of these individuals from the Palestinian territories, these policies unlock opportunities for individuals with ties to terrorist groups to enter Canada, receive new forms of identification, and then try to enter the U.S. along the porous north border."

Letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt after being evacuated from the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio has focused on the alarm felt by authorities in full awareness of the prospective threats emanating from potential entrance to Canada of terrorist entities from the Gaza Strip, in the wake of the Liberal government of Canada's recent steps to welcome to Canada on special visas. Palestinians wishing to escape the Gaza conflict can be sponsored by family members already in Canada.  At a time when the overwhelming presence of Islamists in Canada have created chaos and civil unrest in the wake of the October 7 terrorist slaughter of Israelis by Hamas operatives what Canada does not need is more fuel for its current growing Muslim societal dysfunction.

 

In response to the alarm expressed by Senator Rubio, along with other Republican Senators -- Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Mike Braun, Joni Ernst and Josh Hawley -- a representative of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada -- Matthew Krupovich -- stated: "Only applicants who pass full biometric, security and admissibility screening will be allowed to travel onward to Canada." The Canadian government developed what they claim is a "multi-stage security screening" for Gaza Palestinians who apply to a temporary visa program. This government's record on identifying Islamist threats to Canada is anything but reassuring.

In the event that this screening blocks the entry of identifiable terrorists from entering Canada and by implication earning a visa that will gain them entry to the United States, the reality of Canadian society currently infused with Islamists with no known relations to terrorist groups has seen Canadian streets crawling with mobs wearing keffiyahs, shouting 'final solution', 'intifada', and 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'; the inherent message of Israel's destruction. Adding to the mob does nothing to restore civil relations and curtail a growing incident of viral antisemitism in Canada.

The risk to the United States adding to its already-prevalent Islamist terrorism-supporting contingent in its own population is real and it is high, that individuals with links to terrorist groups will find ready access to the United States, once they've been welcomed into Canada. And this, precisely, is what the U.S. Senators so strenuously object to. In Canada, a month ago, Immigration Minister Marc Miller made the announcement of a five-fold increase the Liberal government is prepared to welcome into Canada, increasing the number of Gazan refugees to 5,000 from the originally-stated 1,000.

Their numbers will augment those already in the country who find it fit and reasonable to slander Jews and Israel, to threaten and to commit criminal offences against Jewish institutions; synagogues, community centres, parochial schools by firing bullets and incendiary devices at them. The anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations at municipal offices, universities, shopping centres, and hospitals have roiled society and threatened the security of Canadian Jews who are mystified and alarmed that the federal government is unconcerned and adding to their plight.

Once in Canada, the Palestinian refugees can apply for work and study permits, free of charge. They can also and no doubt will, add to the hate groups now expressing their venom against Jews and Israel, throughout Canada in every venue they plot to target. That they also express threats against elected members of Parliament is an issue that seems not quite troubling to this administration, which continues to court the approval of what they deem a large voting bloc.

Nor do the protesting American Senators ignore the lack of security discipline they regard in their President, Joe Biden, accusing the Biden administration of a border policy that enables criminals and terrorists to pass into the United States through Canada. The focus for the moment by these groups is the expression of anti-Israel extremism in reflection of Israel's response in Gaza, post the terror attacks of October 7. 

 

But once that issue works through the system, those same threatening groups will return their attention to destabilizing and overwhelming the United States as a constitutional, democratic Republic.

Ossama Zaqqout and his family welcome his parents, the first of 36 extended family members he and his wife are hoping to help resettle in Canada.

"Unfortunately, so far in FY24, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Field Operations has encountered more than 233 suspected terrorists at our northern border, with many more likely going undetected."

"This is already higher than totals in previous years."

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio

Islamist-extremist, Totalitarian Ideology in Germany

"[The IZH -- Islamic Center Hamburg --] promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany."

"[It and its suborganizations] also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism."

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser

 

"As the direct representative of Iran's 'Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution', the IZH disseminates the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany." 

German Interior Ministry statement

A German police officer stands outside the Imam Ali mosque on July 24, AP

 Police in Germany were authorized to raid 53 properties around the country affiliated with the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) along with five suborganizations scattered about Germany. The move follows searches that took place in November. The organization is now banned, accused of representing an "outpost" of Iran's theocratic government. Its purpose is to promote the Republic's leadership ideology of extreme Shiite Islamism.

Evidence gathered in the investigation, according to Interior Minister Faeser, "confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today". The blue-tiled Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg -- the group's most prominent structure -- was one amidst the various Islamic Center Hamburg properties police raided early on Wednesday. Raids also took place in Berlin, along with six other German states.

It cannot be much of a mystery that the Islamic Republic of Iran has infiltrated Germany to such a degree. Turkey's Erdogan has also financed the building of many mosques as well in Germany, to serve the needs of the country's large Turkish-German population, originally brought to Germany as a labour force. That population is one that President Erdogan sees as one of his constituencies. 

 

Germany had a very large Muslim population even before it accepted a million migrants that had entered Europe in 2015. The result is a proliferation of mosques and a Muslim demographic that has its own ideas of religion and the law that applies, favouring Sharia over the German system of justice. The large presence of Muslims also gives countries like Iran and Turkey an influence on that demographic not necessarily to Germany's credit.

 

Germany bans Hamburg-based Islamic organization for supporting Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah  Anadolu Agency

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has long held the IZH under observation. In its annual report for 2023 it outright stated that it represents Iran's most important representative in Germany aside from the country's embassy. The group, founded in 1962, claims to have no reliable figures for the number of their members or supporters. Calls for the group to be banned in Germany surfaced years ago, but there was never any conclusive action.

 

Hans-Udo Muzel, Germany's ambassador to Tehran, was summoned by Iran's Foreign Ministry for a sound rebuke, in response to the mosque closure and the raids on other mosques affiliated with the Islamic Center Hamburg. 

German Police officers stage outside the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali mosque on 24 July, AP

Although Passive in Response, a Majority of Canadians Support Removal of Pro-Hamas Encampments at Canadian Universities

"For many, they had already made their point, and/or they were not going to achieve their objective, however it was understood -- which was also unclear to many Canadians."

"[The protesters' goals and objectives] are being seen as increasingly unclear."

"For many, the underlying issue was a matter of trust, and the 55-plus group trusts the university leaders to a much greater extent than they did the encampment organizers."

"[A] considerable [49 percent of students in the survey said they didn't know or preferred not to answer] potentially suggesting a high degree of stigma associated with taking a position on either side of this."

Jack Jedwab, president, Association for Canadian Studies

 

According to a new national poll conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, most Canadians support police having taken down illegal, disruptive pro-Palestinian encampments at Canadian universities. Some 70 percent of Canadians surveyed were in agreement that officials were correct in having police and private security dismantle an encampment at McGill University and at downtown Victoria Square in Montreal.

On the morning of July 5, police in riot gear began to dismantle the camp at Victoria Square, mere days following the province's public security minister accusing the city in public of being too passive with the presence of the protesters in the public arena. Once Victoria Square was cleared of the encampment, in another five days police and private security firm agents were at McGill using excavators and front-end loaders to disassemble about a hundred tents and tarps at the McGill encampment after over two months of legal battles, counter protests, accusations of antisemitism and concerns over security risks.

Twice, Quebec courts refused to issue an injunction against the encampments. Finally, flyers promoting a "revolutionary summer program", ostensibly to 'educate' those not sufficiently imbued with hatred for Jews and Israel, who needed an additional propaganda boost to venerate the terrorist group Hamas. The flyers featured photographs of keffiyeh-wrapped Palestinian fighters with raised rifles.

Members of the Divest for Palestine Collective had planned and organized the Victoria Square camp, in an effort to apply pressure on Quebec's pension fund manager to sever links with Israeli institutions that the group accused of being complicit in the conflict in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. Spurred by encampments set up at universities in the United States, the McGill University encampment was the first to appear in Canada. Quickly followed by over a dozen other Canadian universities, including University of British Columbia, University of Toronto and University of Alberta.

 

Workers dismantle the anti-Israel encampment at McGill University in Montreal on July 10. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

Demands were noisily issued that universities cut ties with Israel, end all collegial arrangements with Israeli universities and divest from any companies or corporate interests that supply arms to Israel, or which profit from the war with Hamas. Those protesters enjoyed the support of 19 percent of Canadians, according to earlier Leger polling. McGill and Victoria Place, according to Jack Jedwab of the Association for Canadian Studies were seen as valid proxies for public opinion on other encampments.

A majority of Canadians over -- 69 percent -- agreed with their removal. Twice as many students favoured removal of the encampment of those expressing an opinion, while 40 percent agreed that police were right to take down encampments, while 18 percent disagreed. 42 percent of students responded they preferred not to answer, or just did not know. The degree of opposition to the encampments with just 13 percent of Canadians of all ages polled disapproving of their removal suggested protesters increasingly perceived them as disruptive to student life and the broader community.

The encampment at McGill was described by its vice chancellor Deep Saini as a "heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence" organized largely by outsiders who used tactics designed to "threaten, coerce and scare people". Support for encampment removal was highest among Canadians aged 55 and older, with 62 percent reporting they "strongly agree" officials were correct for police and private security to take down the McGill tents.

Nearly half (48 percent) of 18- to 34-year-olds strongly or somewhat agreed with the removal of the McGill encampments, even as 24 percent  strongly disagreed. Of that age group, 27 percent said they did not know or preferred not to answer.

Aerial view of the pro-Palestinian camp on the McGill University campus in downtown Montreal on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Canada's Contribution to Global Terror and Attacks on Israel

"It's dangerous for Israel, and it may also be dangerous for Canada."

"It's a wake-up call for the international communities that something is happening here. Within the international context, it's dangerous."

"The most important and prevalent feeling you'll encounter among any Israeli is that we want to have our hostages back. Everybody is looking for this situation to end. Israel wants peace. Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbours."

Iddo Moed, Israeli ambassador to Canada

"While we are relieved that no innocent lives were lost in this attack, we are deeply shocked that a Canadian citizen would travel to Israel and retraumatize the Netiv Ha'asara community, already devastated by the twenty lives stolen in Hamas' murderous rampage on October 7."

"This incident highlights the potential consequences of pervasive misinformation surrounding Israel's conflict with Hamas -- where Israel is demonized and held solely responsible, and where Hamas has been absolved of responsibility for the impact on Palestinian civilians of the war they started."

"When demonstrations glorify terrorists as martyrs and call for global intifada without condemnation from our political leaders, it sets the stage for tragedies like today's attack in the Israeli town of Netiv Ha'asara."

David Cooper, vice-president of government relations, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

Security guards confront a charging attacker at the entrance to Netiv HaAsara, an Israeli community near Gaza. Photo by X.com

How could it be otherwise? A growing population of Muslims in Canada, encouraged by order of the government in preferential immigration and refugee intake, among whom there are invariably Islamists who percolate their version of Israel and Zionists as white colonial settlers with no business being in the Middle East, the cradle of Judaism, arguing that only the destruction of the Jewish state, and just coincidentally Jewish lives will do justice to the aspirations of Arab 'Palestinians' for a state of their own on traditional Judean geography.

Second generation Muslim-Canadians, long steeped in narratives of the evils that Jews bring to the world, in particular the Jewish scheme to exile Palestinians from what they claim is their sole territory, the map of Palestine dating back to the Roman era denoting the homeland of Jews, treated by Rome as an occupied provincial holding in their greater domination of the world during that era of Roman military and social might. Viral resentment at the United Nations' Partition Plan zeroed in on Israel as a threat to Palestinian Arabs whose leadership incited them to 'resist' the 'occupation'.

In Islamic centres, mosques, social gatherings, social media, an amplification of the traditional convention of Jew-blame and hatred has percolated to the top in the wake of the terrorist Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7 where mind-bogglingly gruesome sadistic savagery was  unloosed on unsuspecting Israelis and the military outposts on the border with Gaza. Outdoing even their grisly penchant for blood and slaughter, thousands of terrorists filmed themselves indulging in and celebrating a mass slaughter, rape, mutilations, abductions of innocent civilians.

Despite the horrors of inhumanity perpetrated by well-rehearsed operatives of Palestinian terrorist groups, dismayingly, the international community has been fairly receptive to Hamas supporters in their midst as citizens of Europe and North America claiming that their battle for sovereign status from under the repressive heel of a Jewish state engrossed in a mission of Palestinian genocide, championing and supporting terrorists as liberators. In Canada and elsewhere around the globe, Hamas sympathizers have roused the latent antisemitism in communities.

In Canada in particular where the reigning Liberal government of Justin Trudeau feels itself heavily dependent on the goodwill of Muslim voters as a bloc that responds to the Liberal message, the message is that there will be no repercussions for the verbal violence claiming the need for a 'final solution' to the Jewish question, for the liberation of Palestine, for a global intifada. Characterizing the Palestinian 'protests' roiling society as merely free speech in action, deliberately overlooking the calls to destroy Israel and kill Jews, the Trudeau government sees nothing amiss.

Predictably, the same organized Palestinian students who planned and carried out protests and university campus encampments with the aid of foreign funding and non-university Palestinian groups whose format of slander and abuse upset normalcy in the social order, seeing no action taken by any level of government, giving them free rein to do as they would in clearly unlawful and criminal acts of intimidation and violence, would feel free to escalate.

Leading someone like Canadian citizen Zachareah Adam Quraishi to up the ante by travelling to Israel for the express purpose of committing violent extreme acts of antisemitism in Israel. A tourist visa gained this man entry to the country where he undertook to rush guards outside a southern Israel town to knife them, shouting "free Palestine!" at Israeli security guards who met him on his own terms and shot him to death as he was attacking them.

The town was Netiv Ha'asara, a farming community, one of many devastated by the terrorist attack of October 7, where in Netiv Ha'asara, twenty of its residents were murdered. Despite Jewish Canadian groups appealing endlessly to the federal government to put an end to the violent rhetoric and escalating violence against Jews in Canada, there was no response from the federal government, itself content to allow the anti-Israel protests to continue and as they did, create predictable escalation.

"Canada has a history of having foreign fighters -- Canadian citizens go off to distant lands in the Middle East and commit egregious acts of violence."

"We were a country that garnered, and rightfully so, international attention during allied operations to counter ISIS, because of how many Canadians have gone off to join the caliphate."

"You have people calling for the erasure of the only Jewish state standing in front of crowds of thousands calling for the death of Zionists -- which is just a code word for Jews; you have decapitated mannequin heads of Bibi Netanyahu being kicked around like soccer balls in Toronto; you have synagogues being burned; you have Jewish day schools being shot at."

"When the overwhelming majority of this goes on without any repercussions, you allow these ideas to take root and become normalized."

Casey Babb, senior fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Profit Bonanza From Smuggled Cigarettes Into Gaza

"The looting has become quite profound [last Tuesday, three-quarters of the goods on board trucks entering from the crossing were stolen]."

"Meaningful decisions now have to be taken about what we will do for civil order in Gaza and who will take care of delivering that."

 Georgios Petropoulos, head, UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Gaza

 

"This is largely due to the fact that international organizations have not taken sufficient steps to improve their distribution capacity."

"[The UN – which is the main supplier of aid in Gaza – has insufficient numbers of trucks, and needs] to increase manpower, to extend working hours, to increase storage [and take other] logistical and organizational steps."

COGAT spokesman Shimon Freedman

 

"[Aid officials have] seen cartons of U.N.-branded assistance with cigarettes inside."

"They [the gangs] go directly into the pallet where the cigarettes are]."

Andrea De Domenico, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jerusalem

Palestinians loot a truck with humanitarian aid near the Rafah border crossing in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

Humanitarian aid convoys scheduled to deliver relief to Palestinians in Gaza are coming under more frequent attacks led by organized crowds of Palestinians looking for cigarette they know that have been smuggled into the humanitarian shipments. Cigarettes in Gaza have become scarce, those that are available on the market sell for between $25 and $30 for each cigarette. Attacks by groups intent on looting the humanitarian aid in pursuit of the cigarettes have posed a real obstacle to delivering aid to southern Gaza.

Everything that goes in and out of Gaza is closely scanned by Israeli authorities in their search for smuggled weapons that will reach Hamas' hands. Despite which, cigarettes slip through with the cargo into southern Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, in Israeli hands. Mostly Egyptian smugglers have taken to to placing cigarettes in sacks of flour donated by the U.N., in diapers and some were even found in a watermelon, aid agencies and an Israeli military official reported.

The economy in Gaza has been turned inside out since control of goods entering the enclave are closely monitored by Israel. Under intense international pressure, Israel has allowed aid agencies to send large amounts of flour, steeply dropping the price of flour on the Gaza marketplace. Most trucks carrying cigarettes seem to emanate from Egypt which had re-routed the trucks arriving from Egyptian territory through Kerem Shalom once Israel captured the Rafah border crossing.

Palestinian  trucking company owner Manhal Shaibar, carrying U.N. aid, attributed smuggling of cigarettes to Bedouin families in both Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai. Although southern Gaza's state of deprivation is intense, contents of over 1,000 aid trucks have been left for weeks at the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. Aid agencies hesitate to send trucks to collect and distribute goods, fearing attacks.

 

Commercial food trucks are seen near a checkpoint near Hebron, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 28, 2024. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma/File Photo

 

Israel has paved new roads to make it easier to ensure U.N. agencies can collect the goods, but those same aid officials claim Israel could be more helpful by allowing them to expand use of other roads and crossings. Private businesses are willing to pay hundreds or thousands in protection money to guards or to the organized gangs to protect their trucks. The convoys carrying U.N. aid are viewed as an easier target by the criminal gangs. They are linked to Hamas which takes a significant cut of the profits they realize from their plundering

According to both U.N. and Israeli officials, smugglers are closely coordinated with organized groups within the territory where aid trucks have been blocked and operatives with light arms, clubs and improvised roadblocks are imperilling the delivery of humanitarian goods. They've noted that the looters appear to know where exactly where the cigarettes are to be found hidden within the trucks.

A cigarette seller in Gaza City spoke anonymously fearing retribution, explaining that Hamas forces remained in the area, but not as police, just as "mafias". Prices, he said, could be as much as $40 for each cigarette for more popular brands. That, despite being impoverished after months of war, desperate smokers were willing to pay for cigarettes, despite their need for food for their families.

 

Palestinians climb onto trucks to grab aid that was delivered into Gaza through a U.S.-built pier, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, as seen from the central Gaza Strip.

 

Israel Baiters, Jew Haters -- They Are Legion

"Resisting Israeli occupation and apartheid is a right. Unconditional support for the Palestinian resistance movement until full liberation!" [Oct 8 2023] 

"Palestinian resistance mov't has demonstrated 2day that Israeli settler colonialism & occupation will not last. Unity of the resistance forces & solidarity is needed now more than ever as a new stage in the war of liberation has begun."

"[The] struggle in Palestine isn't a humanitarian one one, as liberals and some leftists like to think. It is a national liberation struggle with all that entails. This includes not questioning the tools used by the oppressed to achieve their liberation."

Hassan Husseini, national negotiator, Public Service Alliance of Canada

"I do not feel that he [Husseini] would be able to properly represent me, a Jew and a Zionist."

"I continue to feel  unrepresented by PSAC as they ostracized many Jewish members and created  space in which we do not all feel safe."

PSAC member Chelsea (surname withheld on request)

"Since October 7, the union has taken an antisemitic path, which has undermined the diversity of its members. They have already organized anti-Israeli webinars and meetings."

"They did nothing to stop the rising antisemitism; rather, they instigated it by taking sides in foreign political matters."

Valerya Shneider, PSAC member

@JoeTruzman

Demonstrators in Toronto, Canada, celebrate following the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel.

 

 

 

Academia in Canada, along with unions, have been expressing their opinions about the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza from the perspective of a viral propaganda campaign launched by Islamists and supporters of Palestinian 'resisters' of the Israeli 'occupation' of the West Bank and Gaza. That Israel is forced to maintain its overseer status is similar to the work of a zookeeper maintaining the enclosures of wild animals. 

 

Without that Israeli function of military supervision, Palestinian terrorists would enjoy free reign to attack Jews, whether those in authority, in the military, in security of law and order or civilians.

The administrators of the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas, and that of Hamas governing Gaza, incite their public to hatred and violence against Israel and Jews relentlessly. Both governments of the Palestinian Territories have never bothered to focus on establishing civilian governing infrastructure that would lead to the state status they so fervently speak of to the West. 

 

Israel's oversight is an existential requirement to ensure the safety and security of Israeli citizens, including the two million Palestinians who live in Israel as state-entitled citizens.

In Canada, the current government which prides itself on its progressive credentials which ensure quality of life and security for all Canadian citizens and residents, and cites equality of all, has experienced some value judgement equivocations in attempting to balance a fine line in reflection of its population of both Jews and Muslims, by giving as much credence to statements expressed by Hamas as it does those of official Israel. 

 

There has been no solid condemnation followed up by restraining actions by governments in Canada in response to vicious slanders, threats, violence, or criminal actions perpetrated by pro-Hamas groups in Canada against Canadian Jews and their institutions, much less Canadian public and private institutions.

On the very day of the barbaric invasion by Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas into southern Israel to carry out a pre-programmed slaughter of Jews, mass rapes, mutilations, and abductions of children, women and the elderly, the national negotiator for Canada's largest public service union responded to a social media post by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs denouncing Canadians celebrating the atrocities, when he responded: "It is called liberation of stolen land, stupid!!!"

The logic of labelling ancestral heritage geography as stolen land aside, this kind of bald-faced libelous slander would never see the light of day if Islamists knew they would be held responsible under Canada's criminal law code for promulgating and promoting hatred of an identifiable minority. Under this government of Justin Trudeau's Liberals, that has not happened, nor will it happen. 

 

This government's eye is fixated on numbers; the large number of Muslims who now populate Canada, as opposed to the much smaller number of Canadian Jews.

Even as the scale of the massacre by Islamist terrorists in Israel was being clarified as new information was released, the barrage of celebratory 'protests' in support of Palestinian terror was unprecedented as an expression of sheer, unadulterated hatred. Choruses of 'final solution', 'intifada' and 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!' rang out on the streets of Canadian cities in well-orchestrated campaigns of intimidation of Jews in Canada and the furtherance of support among antisemitic fundamentalists in Canada. To which politicians tut-tutted, but made no move to respond to.

The day prior to the Israel Defense Forces' ground operation in Gaza, Husseini wrote to his followers: "Good morning and f--k #Apartheid_Israel and anyone who defends it and attempts to whitewash its #WarCrimes and genocide". Husseini compared Israel to Nazi Germany while accusing Canadian media of spreading "Zionist propaganda" as he compared Hamas terrorists to Jews during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazi extermination machinery. 

 

Fred Hahn, a CUPE Ontario leader also praised the October 7 bloodbath.

 

"Unions should focus on their members' working conditions and benefits, not on divisive, amateurish, simplistic, one-sided, and toxic forays into foreign policy."

"It goes much further than simply Husseini. It is an organized campaign, led and inspired by people like Husseini and Fred Hahn and implemented by activists who are making Jewish union members unwelcome in organizations created to protect every one of their members."

"There are good reasons that some unions are being taken to human rights tribunals for anti-Jewish discrimination."

"This has to stop."

Richard Marceau, general counsel, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

For Every Violently Hostile Action : Swift Reaction

"The security system will settle the score with all who try to harm the state of Israel, or sends terrorism against it, in a decisive and surprising manner."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant -- Friday

"The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear."

"The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them, and we will do this in any place where it may be required."

Yoav Gallant -- Saturday

A man looks at a building in Tel Aviv damaged at the site of an explosion, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, on Friday. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

"'Hey, what's that over there? It looks cool'. I turn around, hear this large, deafening buzz, like an F-35 or an F-15, but it was only roughly 40 metres above sea level. It didn't make sense."

"Obviously, all of this stuff can be replaced. The most important thing is we left with our lives."

"It's important to note that this is a residential area. It's not a military target."

Jonathan Karten, Israeli Tel Aviv resident, Shalom Aleichem Street

The 'jet' that Tel Aviv resident Jonathan Karten heard was in reality a drone controlled by Houthis in Yemen to target Tel Aviv. During the October 7 massacre in southern Israel by Palestinian terrorists who flocked in their thousands across the border to mutilate, torture and slaughter 1,200 Israeli civilians in border farming kibbutzim and at the Nova Music Festival, hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv, and in days following. During that time of confusion and response, almost all of the rockets had been intercepted before they could strike their targets.

 

People look at building hit by a drone in a deadly June 18 attack, in Tel Aviv on July 19, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

On this more recent occasion, Friday at 3:00 a.m., the Iranian drone provided to the Houthis in Yemen had not been detected as a threat. It had been briefly tracked, then ignored. According to the Israeli military "human error was to blame for the interception failure". The Houthis identified a a new "Yafa" model able to bypass Israel's air defence systems. Dozens of drones have been fired by the Houthis at Israel following the October 7 attacks. Nearly all intercepted by Israeli fighter jets and air defence missiles.

 

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesman, explained that the drone was likely an Iranian-designed Samad-3, with an upgraded range extended to reach Tel Aviv. Admiral Hagari described Israel's air defences as not "hermetic", but the attack on Friday that killed one Israeli man and injured eight others when it slammed into an apartment block located on Shalom Aleichem Street has alerted the military to step up its air patrols. 

 

He warned that military leaders would decide "what the necessary operational responses are against those who threaten the state of Israel". Friday's surprise strike by the Houthis was one of a handful of Iran-backed armed groups that have sent drones and missiles to attack Israel during the Gaza war, and was the first to breach Israel's sophisticated air defences. 

 

It would not take long for Israel's governing party and the Israel Defense Forces, however, to respond to this latest assault.

 

Column of fire erupting following reported strikes by Israeli fighter jets in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeidah on Saturday.  Ansarullah Media Center/AFP via Getty Images

 

"[Israel’s attack on a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen on Saturday] makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of Israel will not reach."

"I have a message for Israel’s enemies – don’t be mistaken about us. We will protect ourselves in every way, on every front."

"Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for his aggression."

"The port we attacked is not an innocent port. It was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

 

Smoke and flames rise from a site in Hodeidah, Yemen, on Saturday in this image from video. The Israeli army says it struck several Houthi targets in western Yemen a day after a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv. (The Associated Press)

 

 

First They Come For the Jews ... Your Turn Next

"We have to take parliamentary security more seriously. We need as Canadians to open our eyes and recognize that political violence is not something that just occurs somewhere else, but that it is happening here in our own communities."

"[People have constitutional rights to express a point of view and disagree with fellow Canadians including parliamentarians], But it's also true that we're seeing more threats, more intimidation, more harassment, which can lead to harms both online and in the community."

(former) Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino

 

"My home has been outfitted with a greater degree of security than I feel is ordinary or that I'm personally even comfortable with."

"But when security officials tell you they need to make certain decisions in your best interest when it comes to personal safety and security, you listen to them."

Housing Minister Sean Fraser

Investigators collect evidence after the Montreal office of federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller was vandalized July 18, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

Overnight Thursday the Montreal office of Immigration Minister Marc Miller was vandalized, according to police. "Marc Miller Child Killer" was spray painted across the building's exterior, the office windows were smashed and pink paint sloshed on the front of the building. Calling the vandalizing a "criminal act" on social media, Miller said his office had been "daily" threatened for months. "This was no longer a peaceful demonstration."

 

It didn't take long for anti-Israel protesters to proudly take responsibility on Instagram and Twitter for the act. The action, said an Instagram post is "a reminder that the mobilizations will not end and that we will not give in to the genocidal state". 

 

Police are determining whether the office was equipped with an alarm system and if it was, why no alert had been received at 911 central. Police were informed of the incident when a passerby called 911 to report the damage. Police spokesperson Sabrina Gauthier confirmed that the interior damage was severe. Nearby surveillance cameras are to be examined for clues on the unfolding of the incident. 

 

Montreal police believe pro-Palestinian activists may be responsible for vandalizing Liberal MP Marc Miller's constituency office in Montreal. (Simon-Marc Charron/Radio-Canada)

 

Coincidentally Marco Mendicino, former public safety minister, has been calling for the creation of "protective zones" around political constituency offices to shield staff and members of Parliament from a rising tide of threatening incidents. Under the plan anyone who intimidates or harasses people would be subject to harsher criminal penalties, up to jail time.

Several Members of Parliament from various parties have had their constituency offices targeted in the last few years. Graffiti spray-painted on the exterior and rocks tossed through windows. Mr. Mendicino received "a barrage of death threats", his family also has been targeted. As he walked to his office one day, a man spat on him When booking appointments with members of the public, he and his constituency staff are more now prudent, sparing more effort to screening.

 

Police say all vandalism, including property damage in the office, was committed from outside. (Gabrielle Proulx/Radio-Canada)

 

It is these MPs' own government that has been the source of the problem, in failing to properly vet those they appoint to critical human rights positions. As long as the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas 'protesters' targeted Jews, Liberal Members of Parliament were disinterested in pursuing any avenues of responding to the threats they faced. Now that they are themselves becoming targets it suddenly becomes a matter of great importance to provide them with protection.

Jewish shop owners, Jewish children attending parochial school, Jews attending synagogue to worship or community centres were harassed and threatened by the presence of these 'protesters'. Encampments set up at university campuses sought to exclude Jewish students from their classes, Jewish faculty members from their lectures, all the while slandering Jews and Israel, calling for a global Intifada, for a 'final solution' to the 'Jewish problem'. And no level of government intervened.

That permissiveness emboldened the 'protesters' who claimed it their constitutional right to free speech when they blocked roads, entrances to hospitals, invaded municipal buildings, demanded that schools and local officials denounce Israel. By doing nothing to protect the Jewish public, officials who shrugged and turned away, lent practical support to the pro-Hamas gangs that disrupted social life and engaged in active antisemitism.