"You must be aware that new leads will not magically appear without active effort from the RCMP and other law enforcement authorities."

"The stance you have taken is illogical and unacceptable to the families. How can the minister for public safety allow the criminals behind the largest terrorist act in Canadian history to go unpunished and for the families to go without justice?"

"[The families want more information on] the nature of scrutiny and oversight your office has had over the investigation over the years."

Sudha Berry, Toronto

 

"Family members were provided with an update concerning an individual (widely referred to as Mr. X) who had come to the attention of investigators. Over time, while an individual was identified, no definitive link to the events under investigation could be established."

"Today, while there are no other persons of interest or suspects under consideration, the investigation remains open. If new or credible information comes forward, it will be investigated. The RCMP has always endeavoured to seek justice for the victims of Air India and that commitment stands." 

RCMP statement 

The Berry family is seen in this portrait taken on May 1, 1985. It's the last photo the family has of Sharad, third from left, who would be killed in the Air India Flight 182 bombing just one month later. (Submitted by Sujata Berry)

 

The RCMP sent a letter on September 12 to "The families of the Victims of Air India Flight 182, 1985"; an invitation to attend a meeting that was planned to "provide an update on the current status of the Air India Flight 182 investigation, including an outline of future steps, stating that "We recognize that this continues to be a deeply personal and difficult experience, and we are committed to keeping you informed and supported." During that meeting the families were informed that no further leads have appeared that might assist the federal force in its pursuit of answers to the deadly terrorist attack.

 

That admission and what it implied, that the investigation was as good as shut down, drove the families to request an urgent meeting with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree. The news that the investigation was now inactive failed to sit well with Canadian Hindus of Indian extraction who had lost relatives on that fateful flight when 329 people died on June 12, 1985 when a bomb exploded in flight, destroying Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland.

 

A memorial for the Air India bombing is seen in Vancouver in June 2025. The families of the victims say the RCMP has told them the investigation into the bombing is inactive. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

 

The families, given that unexpected turn of events that capped a long investigation by the federal policing agency which was rife with errors and misadventures, felt abandoned. That the RCMP had decided to surrender any further investigations into an attack that was the deadly work of Sikh Canadians connected to the Babbar Khalsa group that demanded an independent Khalistan be carved out of the Punjab region in India was shockingly unacceptable. The group has terrorist status in India and with good reason. 

 

That the Minister of Public Safety had issued a statement to the media that the investigation remained open, in contradiction to the RCMP's statement of closure, attracted the attention of Toronto resident Sudha Berry whose 15-year-old brother had been one of the Air India's victims. Travelling from Canada to India via London, Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland when a suitcase bomb exploded killing all on board. Another bomb, also produced in British Columbia by the Sikh Kalistani group, meant for another Air India flight, blew up at Narita Airport in Tokyo leading to the death of two baggage handlers.

 

Two men linked to the Babbar Khalsa in British Columbia were initially charged with the crime in 2000, but court proceedings in 2005 with insufficient evidence on hand saw them acquitted. Inderjit Singh Reyat, a third suspect, was subsequently convicted of manslaughter in connection with both bombings. He is no longer in prison. Other suspects were identified both during the trial and inquiry, but never charged. It was a generally felt impressionthat the RCMP had bungled the investigation. The worst terrorist plot executed in Canada has never resulted in those responsible facing justice for the atrocity they planned and carried out.

 

Two reporters look over the remains of Air India Flight 182 on June 16, 2004, that were reconstructed by investigators in January 2003. (Chuck Stoody/The Canadian Press)

 

Placatingly, Minister Anandasangaree's office responded to the families' concerns and a further media probe and enquiry, by stating that the investigation remains open, and "should new, credible information or evidence come forward, it will be assessed and investigated and may lead to further investigative steps".   

"Given your [Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree] connections to the community, your previous meetings with the families at the anniversaries and your personal expressions of sympathy, we had expected you to do much better than your predecessors."

"You now have an opportunity to show your leadership and change the trajectory of the investigation."

Sudha Berry for Families of Air India Victims

"On Yom Kippur I went to a synagogue service in Toronto and was met by protesters trying to taunt and intimidate me from entering the building."

"My late father was an Austrian Jew who survived the Holocaust in Romania. And came to Canada as a refugee."

"This year I got an Austrian passport, in case Canada becomes unsafe for me as a Jew. I fear that moment is approaching, here in Canada and elsewhere."

"Jewish Canadians are living in a parallel world. Where police stand guard with guns outside synagogues. And Jewish schools, religious sites and businesses are targeted with bullets."

"And most Canadians have no awareness or understanding." 

Neil Herland, CBC National Radio News reader

An image from Neil Herland's video shows protesters outside the Meridian Arts Centre in Toronto. Photo by @NEILNews/X

 

When attempting to enter a building in Toronto on Monday to attend Yom Kippur service, CBC National Radio News reader Neil Herland spoke of his traumatic experience, a day after a lone gunman attempted to enter the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario with a shotgun. An event that saw an on-duty police constable with the Belleville Police Service shot by the gunman, who despite his severe injury, shot back to deter the terrorist from his goal of killing Jewish worshippers. 

 

The ongoing situation of mobs of Israel-haters descending on Jewish neighbourhoods to harass and threaten the community, and to gather around synagogues to chant invective and threats was to have been addressed by the Toronto Police Service in their solemn promise to maintain vigilance of such situations and disallow them, under the letter of the law, from their death threats against Canadian Jews in Toronto. They appear to have lapsed from that mission.

 

Mr. Herland took videos of a group of people blowing horns and waving Palestinian flags in front of the building where the Song Shul holds annual events at the Meridian Arts Centre, for the purpose of marking the High Holy Days of Judaism, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The group's shouts from the video included "Palestine will be free". As the news reader walks through he crowd. one of the 'protesters' shouts, shoving a megaphone at his face "You're going to hell!"

 

As he turns to  glance behind him, two individuals hoist a placard upon which is printed "Where's Your Humanity"? One shouts "Zionist alert", through a megaphone. The cantor spoke at the service of his nephew having been murdered in Ukraine in a suspected hate crime on Rosh Hashanah. The guest speaker was an Australian-born university lecturer from Israel, Mark Regev, former Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom. A complaint had been submitted by a Canadian group called Just Peace Advocates to demand that Regev be barred from entering Canada.

 

Coincidentally, in Belleville, Ontario where the Sunday night attempt to enter the Sons of Jacob Synagogue took place, an active group calling themselves Belleville Justice and Peace assembles every Sunday afternoon with public demonstrations of its Palestinian advocacy. Local Belleville resident Shahid Mahmood one of its members, had been detained by Israeli authorities in May when he had been a participant in the Global Sumud Flotilla. Interesting how all these Jew-hating groups fulminating against the presence of Jews, tend to label their groups with that iconic word "Peace".

 

"Try this in Florida, and you go to prison for five years. Proud to have sponsored the bill to make that happen." U.S. Congressman Randy Fine.  Still from video, Neil Herland

 

Tellingly, it is Neil Herland's employer in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, paid for by public funding, that is one of the many media outlets in the country that hews to a puzzling but firm decision to describe terrorists as 'militants', or any other word that evades just exactly what they are. Moreover, the CBC uses propaganda straight from the terrorist group Hamas to describe the situation in Gaza, rarely resorting to the use of information from Israeli authorities. 

 

As a supposedly neutral source of objective news, the CBC displays an obvious preference for Palestinian 'victimhood' under cruel Israeli 'occupation', somehow managing to overlook inconsequential details such as Palestinian leadership's devotion to 'pay for slay' and encouragement of Palestinians of all ages to regard Jews in Israel as their mortal enemy toward whose presence they must commit to jihad and self-martyrdom in the cause of 'liberating' Judean ancestral land from the grip of modern Israel. 

"Jewish people must be able to worship safely. To live free, open, proud Jewish Lives."

"Canada's government will do everything in our power to support law enforcement in ensuring that the perpetrator is held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

"My thoughts are with the injured officer and his family, and the entire Jewish community."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney

 

"This vile antisemitic violence in Canada must end, and this Liberal government must act now to protect our people."

"Jewish Canadians must once again be able to live in their communities and pray in their places of worship without fear of being shot at or attacked."

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre 

Sons of Jacob Synagogue, Belleville, Ontario

 

Of the two political leaders' statements with respect to the latest violent attack on a synagogue in Ontario, that of the prime minister of Canada is one of studied sanctimony. This is a prime minister who cannot mouth 'antisemitism' without pairing it with 'Islamophobia'. One descriptive is a reality, the second is a mockery. It is not Jews who worldwide commit terrorist acts -- against Western symbols and non-Muslims but jihad-infested Muslims who are also creating mortal carnage among their own. Under this Liberal government the gates of Canada were flung wide open to welcome largely unvetted migrants, refugees and immigrants from cultures reflecting Islamic values incapable of ever accommodating themselves to Democratic and human rights laws.

 

On Sunday evening in Belleville, Ontario, at the cusp of the arrival of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement...Yom Kippur, congregants in the Sons of Jacob Synagogue became suddenly alert to the sounds of gunfire. Outside, on the street near the  synagogue, sat a Belleville police officer in an unmarked vehicle, on protective duty at the synagogue. Approached by a man with a shotgun, Constable Jeffrey Smith was shot and seriously injured. Nonetheless, he returned fire and with the assistance of another officer who soon arrived detained the attacker from his intent to enter the synagogue.

 

A barrage of shots rang out, many hitting the synagogue, before the attacker was subdued. His goal was obvious, to murder Jews at prayer during the most sacred day of the year for Jews. His injuries were critical. Both the assailant who was identified as a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces in Alberta, and Constable Smith were taken to Kingston General Hospital. Constable Smith will survive his ordeal, the would-be terrorist succumbed to his wounds and in this way 'justice was done'.

 

Politicians declare their horror at the violent event and thoughts of the possible outcome with scores of people dead. In Toronto, Mayor Olivia Chow expressed her insincere sympathy: "My thoughts are with the Jewish community and the injured officer in Belleville. The Jewish community will see an increased police presence as we take precautions to keep people safe." This is a mayor who refused to take part in a discussion on rampant antisemitism in Toronto. 

"Jewish Torontonians should not need police presence to observe Yom Kippur, or to simply live their day-to-day lives."

"As long as we contend with rising antisemitism and hate, we will spare no expense keeping the community safe."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow 

These hypocritical words of comforting empathy from a mayor of all the people who has somehow found herself unable to support the Jewish community, preferring the company of Muslim associations where she obligingly mouths condemnation of Israel for its 'genocidal' actions in Gaza, effectively smearing the Toronto Jewish community even further at a time of rancid, growing antisemitism expressed in threats and covert vandalization of Jewish businesses, houses of prayer, children's schools and old-age homes.

 

On the board of Allies for a Strong Canada, dedicated to mobilizing non-Jewish Canadians in an effort to fight antisemitism in Canada, Laryssa Waler expressed her goal to have decision-makers and policy leaders understand that "it's not the responsibility of the Jewish community to solve antisemitism". The plain fact is that Jews in Canada have been abandoned by their governments at all levels, who are all too aware of the weight of the voting bloc of Canada's new Muslim demographic, as opposed to the infinitely smaller Jewish presence of far longer presence.

Police vehicles on scene after a shooting near a Belleville synagogue on Sept. 20, 2026. CITYNEWS/Bert Dandy

 

"Jewish people can't make non-Jews not hate them. They can't be nicer. They can't be more giving. They can't be more polite. It's on us not to hate them and to defend them and to say loudly 'We live in Canada. You can't hate another group of people."

"In Canada, we would not tolerate any other community being shot at, being harassed. We would lose our collective minds if a Catholic girls' school was shot at three times."

"Are Canadians going to continue to be tolerant of other Canadians being shot at, harassed and made victims of violence for the crime of their religion?"

Laryssa Waler, board member, Allies for a Strong Canada 

"There is a real risk that drones or other types of missiles may fly into the territory of one or more NATO countries on the eastern flank, even cause destruction."

"[Russia's] official narrative will be that this is an accident and that there is no reason for anyone to think about any response from NATO."

"Sustained, very frequent and intense attacks are expected on six major Ukrainian cities, including the destruction of warehouses, all types of products essential for the country's defence, and, as we have witnessed very strongly in recent weeks, the railway infrastructure." 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk

 

"[The security situation has never been] so serious and so tense." 

"Can anyone imagine that we're told to prepare 5,000 soldiers, 10,000 soldiers? And they'll go to fight somewhere we don't even know with whom, why or for what?"

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico 

Lithuanian soldiers secure the area where Italian fighter jets shot down a drone during NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission near Pratkunai village, north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, September 15.  AP

 

Addressing parliament, Prime Minister Tusk spoke of the Kremlin's plans to destroy the economy and logistics of Ukraine, a conclusion supported by evidence intelligence services have gathered. Russia's plans extend to NATO's resolve, which it has focused on weakening by attacking the coalition's member states; in effect challenging them to respond. By launching 'hybrid style' drones and missile strikes against countries that are in support of Ukraine, NATO is being tested, even as the conflict launched by Vladimir Putin enters its debilitating fifth year.

 

As a key transit passage for Ukraine aid, Poland has undergone a number of suspicious incidents; multiple cyberattacks on public utilities. Critical domestic water, energy infrastructure and hospitals have been affected in Poland. The railway linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border sustained damage that had all the hallmarks of Russian sabotage. Late July  saw a Russian missile crash in eastern Poland. Other NATO nations close to Ukraine have experienced similar, albeit fewer such 'warnings' related to Mr. Putin's 'special military operation'.

 

At a time when Moscow has intensified its attacks against Ukraine, inclusive of targets adjacent the Polish border, NATO jets responded by shooting down a drone of Russian origin over Lithuania a week earlier. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made it clear that Slovakia, while taking its commitments to NATO seriously, he is prepared to do whatever he can to ensure that his country not be pulled into a conflict of uncertain value and outcome, in his opinion.

 

The fact is that Mr. Fico speaking for Slovakia does not regard Russia as posing a security threat. Advocating rapprochement with Moscow, he clearly diverges from other NATO members' concerns regarding the threat to their security posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin's territorial ambitions, pining for a return to the Soviet era with eastern Europe appendages of Greater Russia. The consequences of invoking NATO's Article 5, requiring all coalition members to act in defence of one another are unthinkable in Mr. Fico's considered opinion.

 

Military personnel from Poland, Lithuania, and France take part in training exercises during Operation Brave Boar 26 at the Orzysz Land Forces Training Center near the Suwalki Gap in Poland, on June 17.

Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg/Getty Images

 

"The path the world is on leads straight to the gates of hell. It is leading  us to World War Three", added Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, another critic of the European mainstream, at the IISS Prague Defence Summit. On the opposite side of the equation, the "rapidly worsening" situation concerning security and energy supplies in the face of conflicts afflicting Ukraine and the Middle East, motivates French President Emmanuel Macon to meet with government, party leaders and military and security officials to address the issues.

 

The oncoming, inevitable difficult winter ahead has Kyiv's full focus, along with that of its western allies. In meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr. Tusk spoke of the potential of co-operation through the "anti-ballistic coalition", and to fully address Ukraine's energy infrastructure, once again in Putin's crosshairs in the coming months. 

 

It is not only Eastern Europe that has become alarmed over gathering dark clouds of war. In the United Kingdom, its government has given notice that people should prepare to stockpile canned food and drinking water in preparation for the possibility of war as Britain faces the 'most dangerous' threat in decades. Hospitals in Germany are preparing for the possibility of an attack by Russia, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz warning of "decisive moments, defending the freedom and peace of our continent". Switzerland too issued calls for resilience and preparations to defend itself against an armed attack. 

  

Russian soldiers who participated in the military invasion of Ukraine march through the Victory Day parade in Moscow, May 9th. Getty Images

"[The Kremlin isn't ready for] any serious talks about a ceasefire, not to mention peace without -- de facto -- Ukraine's capitulation."

"They [the Russians] are convinced the winter will be tragically critical for Ukraine."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk 

"[The slide presentation has ten] anti-oppression agreements. [Among them], I will accept that the institution of Education is an instrumental tool for maintaining and furthering the ideology of white supremacy."

"[The following] agreement [includes a commitment to] dismantle the structures and systems of white supremacy."

York Region elementary school

 

"Dismantling Hate and Oppression [framework where schools are compromised by] colonial ideology [leaving staff unwitting supporters of white supremacy]."

"The ideology of white supremacy impacts attitudes and behaviours in all peoples, regardless of race, culture, gender, or religion and this over time, contributes to these behaviours and attitudes becoming normalized and taken-for-granted."

York Region District School Board framework

 

"'Crazy' [as in schools permitting 'Crazy Hair Day' to take place] is a term that is ableist. It is demeaning to those living with a mental illness and unfairly stigmatizes those whose hair does not conform with the norm on a daily basis as 'crazy'."

"For students and colleagues who, for example, wear hijabs, turbans, or have complex medical needs, are their voices being included in days such as this?"

Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario

School boards in Ontario have transcended the old, familiar, reliable method of educating and preparing children for their futures within the Province of Ontario, where literacy is valued along with numeracy and a knowledge of history, science, geography and other studies which helped produce a well-rounded public school student who at graduation was prepared to go on to secondary school and from there, to post-secondary school academia. That is passe. 

 

Fealty to a new social dynamic that incorporates Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and a good dollop of 'progressive' brings social politics into the equation, for which history, math, literature, and writing may be sacrificed. With the start of the 2026-27 school year, the opportunity to further indoctrinate school staff into the sacred realms of wokeism began by reinforcing the reality of a requirement to destroy white supremacy within the school system. 

"[The equitably competent staff member is one who] actively works to dismantle racist and oppressive school and system practices and structures [and] intentionally names, challenges and addresses white supremacy."

Waterloo Region District School Board 

 

"Equity audits [are practised to ensure schools are appropriately purging themselves of alleged white supremacy]."

"In what ways will you challenge white supremacy culture in your classroom practise?"

"[Educators are required to ask themselves if they avoid classroom practices that emulate "Eurocentric [or] colonial [practices]."

Peel District School Board 

All-staff meetings became the perfect vector to continue the years'-long process of subverting the old meritorious teaching focus from reading,writing and 'rithmetic -- the perennial, valued '3Rs' to the more valuable social context of highlighting for students the verities in unearned entitlements, shame, and condemnation of what was once held securely entrenched in mind preparation of the young for their bountiful, rewarding futures.

 

Official school board materials now instruct teachers in the province-wide system how degrading to social character it is to continue to reward social-cultural imperialism through the ongoing use of its methodology in indoctrination of vulnerable youth with the values of yesteryear, and the imperative of committing to ripping a hole the size of a canyon in the fabric of conventional society based on the social values that enlightenment and democracy held dear, to replace it with a determined, conscientious reversal identifying misplaced respect to be replaced by abject shame while furthering the prospects of people of colour and the 2SLGBTQQAI+community.

 

School boards throughout Ontario have dedicated themselves to converting the educational system from its tired old colonialist syllabus to one more resonant of the values of the current day. "Equity competencies" have become the achievement goal of all teaching staff, should they wish to continue in their chosen profession. "Anti-oppression agreements" are the order of the day. 

 

All 20,000 teachers of the Toronto District School Board were handed a 40-oage guidebook declaring the act of education in an institutional environment reflected "a colonial structure that centres whiteness". One wonders how many of those teachers were struck with the utter stupidity of it all. Thankfully, public backlash persuaded the Toronto District School Board to remove its 'Facilitating Critical Conversations', which the Ministry of Education of Ontario labelled needlessly divisive. There is yet hope. 

 

Toronto Sun.com

 

"Schooling in North America is inherently designed for the benefit of the dominant culture, white, middle-upper class, male, Christian, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied, neurotypical."

"Therefore, it must be actively decolonized."

"Race matters -- it is a visible and dominant identity factor in determining people's social political, economic, and cultural experiences."

Toronto District School Board guidebook, 'Facilitating Critical Conversations' 

"Electing Iran to the committee, just days after its non-compliance was referred to the United Nations Security Council, would be beyond shameful and an embarrassment to the credibility of this body."

"[The decision represents] an affront [to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its critical screening work]." 

U.S. Ambassador Preston Wells Griffith III 

 

"[This objection by Washington is a] childish type of behaviour."

"Nuclear science, technology, expertise and industry have taken deep roots in the country and cannot be eliminated through military actions or assassinations."

"Iran will not surrender."

Behrouz Kamalvandi, deputy head, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran 

Diplomats attend the Board of Governor’s Meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on September 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

 

As insane as it seems to anyone conscientiously following the news in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic of Iran which should rightfully be viewed as a pariah of a nation, dedicated to establishing itself as an  unparalleled power in the Middle East while posing a threat to the greater world order with its stealth infiltration in tandem with that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Western democratic nations with a goal to undermining the values inherent in free and civil society to attain a position of theistic control through jihad by both diplomatic and violent means, has been favoured with a seat on a board overseeing the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

 

This stunning turn of events staggers belief in the function of the United Nations, already under suspicion over its focus and support of the many facets of autocracy within its membership and its entanglement with coercive, exploitive states that persecute their own citizens. Iran is one of those most egregious of states, a theocracy that strangles internal dissent to its restrictive domination of peoples' lives. Its determination to develop nuclear weapons, allied with its technological advances in ballistic missile delivery systems and its formation of, training and financing of terrorist groups make it a dire threat to civilized society.

 

Yet, thanks to the cohesion of Muslim groups and the lobbying efforts of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, alongside the Arab League -- a country whose minority Shiite brand of Islam with its  goal of supremacy over the majority Sunni nations neighbouring it, many of which, in the Persian Gulf, were treated to barrages of missiles and military drones in Iran's conflict with the United States -- supported Iran's candidacy for the position, against the efforts of the United States to deny it that status.

 

Key issues such as nuclear safety and security, concerning the International Atomic Energy Agency, and its spurned efforts by Iran to continue making routine checks at Iranian nuclear sites, leaving it virtually deadlocked, provided the backdrop to its general conference. On Tuesday, Tehran, with support from the very Persian Gulf neighbours which had been the recipients of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards' firing of missiles and drones, helped Iran succeed in claiming a seat on the IAEA committee.

 

Intel Brief: Iran War Solution Nowhere in Sight as U.S. and Iran Remain Entrenched  AP Photo

 

In a secret ballot, 44 countries supported Iran's nomination, as opposed to 35 voting to deny Iran that seat, while 42 nations abstained from the vote. Iran is the only non-Arab (it is Aryan) Muslim state in the Middle East, surrounded by Arab nations and one tiny Jewish nation. What they have in common excluding Israel, is Islamic religious devotion, the sectarian divide aside. Yet despite the threat that Iran poses to its neighbours, having sent thousands of missiles and drones into their territory up to a month earlier, the religious ties that bind won the day for Iran.

 

Iran, in fact, boosted by its Islamic bedfellows, has been appointed to a number of UN-body groups, one dedicated to the protection of  women's rights among them in a wildly inappropriate match. Earlier Iran had been appointed by its fellow Middle Eastern neighbours to the organizing body of the conference itself. In the meanwhile, a country that refuses entry to the very body it now sits on a board for, making the entire exercise one of bemusing sanctimony, leaves the International Atomic Energy Agency unable to fulfill its mandate.

 

The work of the IAEA has been roadblocked in the single country in the world whose secretive, illegal, and dangerous nuclear work poses a direct threat to humanity. Iran wants to possess nuclear weaponry, as a theocracy that believes in the return of the Hidden Mahdi, whose reappearance will mean the end of humanity, when only the faithful in Islam will rise to Paradise, while all others descend to a place of eternal agony as punishment for denying Islam. Their logic is to create conditions of civilizational dysfunction so severe it will hasten the reappearance of a religious symbol of total world destruction. 

 

This shows Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran, on April, 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)

 

"Anti-Zionism is a hate movement. This would be akin to having different white supremacists of various persuasions with university degrees coming together to say, ‘Hey, we need to get our ducks in a row."

"It felt to me like it is an effort to legitimize and really crystallize the idea of anti-Zionism to make it a little more consistent and, of course, palatable to the masses."

"[The university is giving a platform to antisemites by allowing the working group to exist. The word genocide in the description is] one of the most destructive and deadly anti-Jewish libels in history."

"What’s happened in Gaza has been extremely destructive and the suffering there has been unimaginable, but there is a difference between counterterrorism and war and genocide."

"The situation in Gaza was not a war that Israel asked for."

Casey Babb, director, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Ottawa think tank

 

"It’s difficult to unpack exactly what he’s saying. I would have loved if the university had made a statement immediately. I would have loved even better if the university had never allowed [the working group page] to be put up."

"It’s important to know that people [Jewish students at the university] are not alone, and that this hasn’t gone without notice."

David Jacobs, member, University of Toronto’s governing council  

 

"We still haven’t seen the overall change that’s needed, and no single action is going to make that happen. Rather, we need to continue and develop our sustained holistic approach to the problem of antisemitism on campus."

"Actions directed at individual members of our community because they are Jewish or Israeli or identify as Zionist can be harassment, discrimination, and or violate law policy."

"Such actions directed at individuals do not cease to be problematic simply because the word Jewish or Israeli is replaced by the word Zionist."

University of Toronto president Melanie Woodin  

Webpage, The University of Toronto (UofT) Jackman Humanities Institute working group titled "Bridging Theories of Anti-Zionism.  (photo credit: screenshot)

 Leaders from within the Toronto Jewish community have called out the University of Toronto for its 'despicable' research group that has focused on theories surrounding anti-Zionism. The group, Bridging Theories of Anti-Zionism at U of T's Jackman Humanities Institute, is the work of grad students and university faculty having obviously much in common. The question, "What does it mean to critique Zionism as a political ideology, and how have the last three years of genocide in Palestine changed the scholarly engagement with this question?" 

 

That clearly antisemitic hate-charged question is answered with this explanation: "This working group seeks to map these varied streams of anti-Zionist thought and construct a critical genealogy that can inform contemporary scholarship across multiple fields". Scholarly language, in pretense of authenticity of scholarly research to resolve an issue entirely created to give a stamp of academic approval to the curse of antisemitism clothed in integuments of anti-Zionism. 

 

The Jackman Humanities Institute web page that caught the incredulous attention of Dr. David Jacobs, president of the Ontario Association of Radiologists, spurring him to post to social media that he felt dutybound not to overlook "...this latest working group", lest he be "remiss" in his duties, is no longer available; mysteriously removed from public view. Dr. Jacobs' position on the university's governing council makes it all the more imperative that he launch a demand for an enquiry.

 

Anti-Israel protesters outside a Winnipeg synagogue claimed guest speakers from the Israeli Defence Force are “war criminals”   photo credit: Supplied

As he put it, he had expectations that the university would not succumb to permitting any group within its hallowed confines to "indulge in this type of activity", in cognizance of the of the Canadian Heritage 2026 federal report's finding that 95.7 percent of Jewish post-secondary students in Canada revealed that they had experienced or witnessed rank antisemitism on campus throughout the year before. 

 

Director of the Jackman Institute, Professor Randy Boyagoda, issued a statement that it "affirms the academic freedom of the individual faculty members involved with all of its working groups and does not endorse particular perspectives associated with any of them". The Institute, in other words respects academic freedom of study, research and enquiry, leaving it to random faculty members to explore issues of importance to them, unshackled by any measure of moral consequences in reaching unproven rancid conclusions as verified facts. 

"The JHI receives proposals from faculty members seeking to convene working groups on various subjects. These proposals are assessed by fellow faculty members."

"As the new director, I have focused on the re-conceptualization and renewal of the JHI’s programming since taking up my appointment in July."

"This includes working groups, among other activities." 

Randy Boyagoda, director, Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI)  

A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag inside an anti-Israel encampment at the University of Toronto campus on May 2, 2024. Photo by COLE BURSTON /AFP via Getty Images

 

"[The security of the holy site is] a red line, [the kingdom]will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures [against the Yemeni group]."

"This hostile attempt will also remain a black mark in the record of violations by the extremist terrorist Houthi militia, as a deliberate act intended to provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims."

Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson, Saudi-led Coalition Forces 

 

"[Our targets were Saudi oil facilities and military bases] far removed from the holy places."

"The fabrications and lies propagated by the criminal Saudi regime regarding targeting Mecca cannot deceive anyone."

"There is no threat whatsoever from Yemen to the holy sites."

 Yahya Saree, Houthi military spokesman

 

"Any aggression against Islamic holy sites [would be considered] a condemned act [but] a mere claim of intercepting a drone en route to Mecca cannot constitute grounds for accusing a specific party."

"[The Houthis] explicitly denied [the attempted drone attack]."

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei

 

"[The conflict is on the] brink of further escalation and] dialogue and diplomacy remain the only sustainable path to peace." 

"There are no words sufficient to express the depth of pain and sorrow we feel toward this unforgivable and shameful deed."

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif  

Aerial view of the Grand Mosque in Mecca during hajj, May 2026, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Press Agency/Reuters

 

"For the Houthis, as a religiously dominant organization, this would be catastrophic for them—to target Mecca. It’s a lose-lose for them."

"The Houthis are using drones and homemade missiles, so there is a real possibility that the Houthi drone basically misfired."

"[Saudi Arabia] is trying to say that the Houthis are not just waging a political and geo-economic war against them, they are trying to target the most sacred religious site in Islam, and that resonates deeply." 

"Both sides are now engaged not only in military hostilities, but also for the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims." 

Fawaz Gerges, professor in international relations, London School of Economics  

Yemen's Houthis were accused by the Saudi-led coalition of targeting the holy city of Mecca. The Muslim world exploded in outrage. Riyadh's statement that it had shot down a drone heading toward Mecca, was rejected as a 'lie' by the Houthis. Renewed violence between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia has pulled both Saudi Arabia and the Houthis back into a conflict situation, with the Houthis once again blockading maritime shipment in the Red Sea, specifically targeting Saudi ships. 

 

The entire Red Sea coast of Yemen was seized a week earlier by the Houthis, along with the vital shipping artery for Saudi oil, the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait, which Saudi Arabia had turned to as an alternative to the IRGC-blocked Strait of Hormuz as its preferred shipping route. This is not the first time the Houthis were accused of launching attacks toward Mecca, in an earlier conflict. Vowing retaliation, the Saudi coalition warned then that the security of holy sites represented a 'red line', and it has now been reiterated.

 

A commercial vessel is anchored off Yemen's coast at Bab al-Mandab, where Houthi militants have seized new islands, further threatening the world’s oil supply. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

 

During this year's pilgrimage a video was released by the Saudi defence ministry of advanced air defence batteries positioned on Mecca's outskirts, now home to a large number of security forces responsible for crowd control and security. The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned the "heinous attacks ... against the city of Mecca and the Madinah region", after Saudi Arabia issued brief alerts of potential attacks in Mecca and across parts of the south.

 

A wave of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen, was the precursor of the alerts. The Houthis have controlled swaths of northern Yemen for years, and in July a large-scale offensive was launched against government forces. The Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has seen 82,000 Yemeni civilians flee their homes in the past month, according to the United Nations. The government, according to the UN Yemeni permanent representative, was fighting to restore "national institutions across every inch of their land", calling on the international community to take action against the Houthis.

 

Muslim pilgrims completing Hajj rituals at Islam's holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on May 30, 2026.  Ali Atmaca—Anadolu via Getty Images

 

At the same time, Saudi Arabia and Egypt call for the Red Sea navigation freedom to be restored. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have jointly called for a unified move "ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation" through Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

 

It was reported in the U.S. media that the Saudi Crown Prince had personally requested that U.S. President Donald Trump intervene with U.S. forces, a request that was rejected. According to the Houthis, no threat exists to navigation in Bab al-Mandab other than for Saudi vessels. Nonetheless the prospect of potential attacks in the waterway will suffice to ensure its transit appears unattractive to shippers.

 

Meanwhile, disruption in the strait, where the Red Sea represents a gateway to the Suez Canal, which Cairo depends upon for critical foreign revenue is critically threatened, while Saudi Arabia will see its oil revenues collapse with no way to ship its oil to markets abroad, resulting once again in the rise of oil prices globally.