Last month, following the eruption of the war in Iran, the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC)) released an ominous report, warning that Canada’s Jewish community faces a violent attack from a lone wolf extremist within the next six months. ITAC, an independent federal body composed of members from various Canadian intelligence organizations, said that Jewish […]
Canada’s normally peaceful and placid facade has been violently ripped away by a wave of arson, vandalism, shootings and firebombings directed at Jews and the Jewish community from coast to coast. Since Hamas’ attack in Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip three weeks later, antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed […]
The arson fire that recently damaged Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, the oldest synagogue in the southern state of Mississippi, caught my attention. Jackson is not a common destination for Canadian tourists, but almost 16 years ago, my youngest daughter and I explored Mississippi during an intriguing one-week trip and spent a couple of days in […]
Better late than never. This aphorism applies to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. As he now admits, just a few days after two Muslim terrorists killed 15 people at a Chanukah celebration at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, his government could have been far more proactive in ensuring the safety of Australia’s Jewish community. “It is […]
The Festival of Lights was tragically and momentarily dimmed in Sydney, Australia, on December 14 when two gunmen opened fire on a Chanukah festival on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in the bloodiest antisemitic incident in Australian history. One of the victims, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was a Chabad emissary who organized this festive event. Arsen […]
This was a terrorist attack that Jews in Britain dreaded. Jews, representing less than one percent of Britain’s population, feared that an antisemitic lunatic would launch a murderous rampage aimed at their 280,000-strong community. On October 2, on the morning of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, their worst fears materialized when […]
When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed seasoned diplomat Deborah Lyons to a two-year term in 2023 as Canada’s envoy to combat antisemitism and preserve Holocaust memory, he accentuated the positive. “Ms. Lyons will be a critical voice in fighting antisemitism and preserving the memory of the Holocaust so that younger generations know the truth […]
The late Herberts Cukurs, a Nazi collaborator in German-occupied Latvia, had blood on his hands. As a commander of the Arajs Kommando, a Latvian police unit under the authority of the German occupying force, he played a critical role in the mass murder of local Jews. Latvian historian Andrew Ezergailis, the author of The Holocaust […]
The International Conference on Combating Antisemitism took place in Jerusalem a few days ago, highlighting the growing alliance between Israel and far-right political parties in Europe and underscoring Israel’s increasingly strained relations with its traditional Western allies. Organized by Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party, it created […]
I have lived in Canada nearly all my life, but the Canada I know has been vanishing under the impact of a sharp resurgence of antisemitism. Although I have not personally felt its sting, its echoes are unmistakable, underscoring the unsettling fact that Jews are the primary victims of hate-motivated crimes in Canada. Newspaper stories […]