Prime Minister Mark Carney finally delivered a long overdue public statement on the unsettling spike of antisemitic incidents in Canada. On June 1, in a candid speech at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, he condemned these assaults, acknowledged that the Jewish community faces “a surge of antisemitism to levels not seen in the postwar period,” […]
It was surely a distressing sign of the times in Canada. Josh Matlow, the councillor who represents the Toronto district of St. Paul’s in city hall, sounded an alarm in his latest newsletter. His informative monthly bulletin usually deals with local community topics ranging from design in public spaces to ravine protection. But in this […]
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer got it right. “There’s no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off,” he said shortly after two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in London’s heavily Jewish Golders Green district on April 28. “There has been a series of attacks on our Jewish community, particularly […]
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 […]