Safeguarding Canadian Jews
"There have been repeated incidents in Canada involving shootings, fire-bombings, bomb threats, and disrupted plots targeting Jewish schools, synagogues, and community events.""[Large anti-Israel demonstrations across Canada became] platforms for hate speech and explicit calls for violence, not just against Israel, but against Jews globally.""The Jewish community raised concerns early and warned that allowing open incitement and intimidation to go unchecked would lead to further radicalization and, eventually, physical violence.""Unfortunately, in most cases, the police limited their response to crowd control rather than law enforcement, even when criminal thresholds were clearly met.""[Protecting citizens is a government responsibility], in practice, the Canadian government policies and funding models show a fundamental misunderstanding of the specific risks faced by the Jewish community."Joseph Reichmann, Jewish community advocate, Toronto
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The pressure on Canada's broad Jewish community has been unrelenting in the past two years, as time and again the public sphere has been witness to large processions of anti-Israel protests in response to the war in Gaza that resulted from 6,000 Palestinian terrorist operatives and ordinary Palestinian citizens flooding over the border into southern Israel to commit unspeakably sadistic atrocities against border farming communities, leading to the death of 1,200 Israeli children, women and men and the abduction of 250 Jewish Israelis, Israeli Arabs and foreign farm workers.
The very day following the October 7, 2023 mass atrocity with news of the scale and scope of the carnage, from mass rape and torching of families in their homes, mutilation of women, torture and murder of parents in front of their children, the wild celebrations in Palestinian communities in Gaza and the West Bank at the agony and trauma suffered by Israelis, the first of the processions of pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas demonstrations took place on the streets of Canada, and carried on almost daily afterward. Canadian authorities at the municipal, provincial and federal levels failed to respond.
Now, over two years later, Jewish events have been forced to feel the need to shut down or cancel Jewish community events, as a result of concerns over security. No other community in Canada faces such a dilemma. No other community in Canada sees political and police indifference to their plight. The signal responsibility of any government, to protect and secure the safety of all its citizens with equal measure has seen gross failure in Canada, and Jews are left to feel that they're completely on their own. Fellow citizens among whom Jews live amicably appear to turn the other way, rather than 'get involved'; i.e., the Jews can look after themselves.
"My wife and I worry about their safety [three school-age children] every single day we drop them off. More broadly, I feel a responsibility to speak on behalf of Jewish families and community members who attend schools, synagogues and other communal spaces.""Since October 7, and with the sharp rise in antisemitism, concerns about security have become constant among the Jewish community and deeply personal for every Jewish person I know.""[Security concerns focus on gaps in protection for Jews] That signals a failure to adequately protect the community. Proper protection is critical now because the threat environment has changed and many in the Jewish community fear that a violent incident like Bondi Beach could happen here. Sadly, that fear is widely shared."Eli Yufest, Toronto resident
Several weeks ago anti-Israel -- actually they should be identified for what they really are -- raving antisemites -- turned up at a Jewish community centre where an Israeli comedian was about to perform. He was able to get through the crowd to make his stage appearance, following which he once more was confronted with crowds of protesters and in the melee was physically injured. Just one of many events featuring guest speakers with links to Israel being harassed, humiliated, threatened and sometimes assaulted.
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"We have outlined a range of measures in place to support and protect Toronto's Jewish community, including dedicated hate crime investigators, increased patrols, ongoing engagement with community leaders and rapid response to incidents.""Decisions by individual institutions to hire private or supplementary security are their own. Many organizations choose to take additional steps based on their specific needs, and we respect and support those efforts to help their communities feel safe."Toronto Police statement
Noah Schwartz, assistant professor of political science at University of the Fraser Valley has a special interest in Canadian gun culture. "I think there's the general feeling that more needs to be done to protect Jewish spaces in Canada. I've heard people talk about armed security guards for a little while. It's obviously complicated in the Canadian context. To apply for a license to carry a firearm, you have to go through the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program. They're generally incredibly stringent with who they will give authorization to."
That speaks to the conundrum that in Canada security guards are only legally able to carry guns to protect money or jewellery, with explicit authorization from the RCMP. Mr. Reichmann emphasizes that he believes the most reliable form of protection is community-based security "operating within the law and in coordination with police." With the goal of "professionally trained guards held to the same standards as any other armed private security", but who are members of the Jewish community, defending their own. The irony is that Canadian Jews are placed in a situation by authority-inaction, to be left to their own self-defense devices.
Mr. Reichmann sees no 'rational reason' that those who wish to protect places of worship, schools and communities cannot undergo extensive screening and training, the same way guards are trained to protect cash or other valuable assets. For his part, federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree's spokesman cited Bill C-9, Combatting Hate Act "which would create a specific hate-motivated offence, criminalize intimidation or obstruction of access to places of worship, schools and community centres, and make it an offence to wilfully promote hatred by displaying certain terrorism or hate symbols in public." The bill, however, remains aspirational; it has not been passed into law.
"He [Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree] recognizes the deep concern within the Jewish community about threats to synagogues, schools and community centres.""[He is] deeply concerned by the documented increase in antisemitic incidents across the country and believes it clearly warrants stronger security measures and more robust legislative tools."Simon Lafortune, office of Public Safety Minister
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Labels: Anti-Israel Protests, Antisemitism, Canada, Government Inaction, Palestinian Psychopathy, Unleashing Violent Hatred
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, February 11, 2026
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