Throwing around barbs falsely accusing Israel of committing genocide during its two-year war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip is an exercise in insensitivity and ignorance. Politicians, in particular, should be careful to reject this vile slander, which has been largely disseminated by Israel’s enemies.
If they act recklessly, it may cost them votes in future elections, though Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s recent municipal election suggests that this may not necessarily be the case.
The mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow, fell into this trap when she tacitly accused Israel of committing “genocide.”
Speaking at a recent event sponsored by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, she compared Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to Japan’s brutal occupation of China during World War II and linked it to her family history.
“My mother was a child in a war zone, she suffered famine caused by Japan when they invaded China during the Second World War,” she said. “At just 13 years old, alone after my grandmother died of dysentery, she was responsible for keeping her two brothers alive.”
Describing Toronto as a global city that “feels the pain” of what happens around the world, she then referenced Gaza. As she put it, “The genocide in Gaza impacts us all.”
“And I will speak out when children anywhere are feeling the pain and violence and hunger,” she added.
Chow’s comparison of Japan’s aggression in China to Israel’s war of self-defence in Gaza is insulting. And her insinuation that Israel is guilty of genocide cannot go unchallenged.
The Genocide Convention, adopted by the United Nations after the Holocaust, defines genocide as a calculated and deliberate act of genocidal violence against a particular ethnic or religious group. It was passed in reaction to Nazi Germany’s murderous onslaught against Jews in Europe starting in 1933 and escalating in 1939. After the 1942 Wannsee conference in Berlin, there was never any doubt that the Nazi regime was intent on killing every last European Jew, period.
Israel, in conducting its operations in Gaza, focused on eliminating Hamas terrorists and destroying Hamas military sites. Palestinian civilians per se were not specifically targeted, although far too many were killed in the crossfire because Hamas cynically and callously used them as human shields in civilian infrastructure.
It is no secret that Hamas operatives embedded themselves in schools, mosques, hospitals and apartment buildings, leaving innocent Palestinians at risk.
This was a deliberate tactic on the part of Hamas’ leadership. Their leaders and commanders were keenly aware that the international community would condemn Israel for the deaths of men, women and children. Hamas was prepared to make that sacrifice so as to tarnish Israel’s image.
And this is exactly what happened.
Israel was branded as a terrorist state that resorted to genocide to achieve its war objectives. Most of its accusers were Palestinians, Arabs, radical leftists, fellow travellers, liberals and anti-Zionist Jews who hated or disliked Israel.
Some were dyed-in-the-wool antisemites who used Gaza as a flimsy pretext to defame Israel.
Still others went along with the flow, appropriating the untrue accusation that had been hurled at Israel.
Chow, the first Chinese person to be Toronto’s mayor, is neither a Muslim nor an antisemite. But as a member of the left-wing New Democratic Party, she is ideologically predisposed to be critical of Israel and is susceptible to swallowing facile lies about it. Her political orientation explains why she accused Israel of genocide, a calumny that the Israeli government unequivocally denies.
This toxic accusation gained currency after Hamas’ murderous attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, there has been an upsurge of global antisemitism and Palestinian rallies denouncing Israel.
Canada has not been immune from this phenomenon, and Canadian Jews have felt the weight of its harmful impact.
Last year, Chow condemned an incident during which a protester climbed to a lower level window ledge at Mount Sinai Hospital and waved a Palestinian flag. She called it “totally unacceptable behavior.” Chow, too, showed up at a Jewish girls’ school in a show of sympathy after it was vandalized yet again.
In commenting on these unsettling incidents, she said that hate has “no place in the city.”
However, Chow faced criticism for skipping a Jewish community vigil to mark the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre. It drew a crowd of 20,000 and 40 invited dignitaries, including the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, and several municipal councillors.
Explaining her absence, Chow said she had to attend a meeting on bike lanes. She also said she did not know when the vigil was due to start. In a lame attempt to exonerate herself, she said, “You know, at the end of the day, I wore black. Mourning the loss of life was top of my mind.”
Chow’s office initially claimed it did not receive an invitation to the vigil, but organizers sent three emails to the mayor’s office. One of them went directly to her executive assistant.
James Pasternak, a city councillor, told reporters he had asked Chow whether she planned to attend.
Clearly, Chow was acting disingenuously. It would appear that she never had the slightest attention of attending the vigil. Not surprisingly, Jewish and Israeli groups were disappointed.
The mayor of a city is supposed to represent all its residents and comfort them when tragedy strikes. Chow was missing in action after October 7, and her unfounded allegation that Israel committed genocide was a low blow as well.
That she has failed the Jewish community is obvious. If justice prevails, she should pay the price in the next election.