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Antisemitic hate crimes reach a record level in Canada for the second year running

B’nai Brith Canada’s annual audit into antisemitic hate crime has shown that 2017 was the second year running which set a new record for crimes targeting Jews.

The audit showed at least 1,752 antisemitic in 2017, an increase of 1.4% on 2016. However, antisemitic hate crimes, particularly those against Charedim, routinely go unreported, so the real figure is likely even higher.

Instances of antisemitic graffiti and vandalism more than doubled, seeing a 107% increase. This has included graffiti saying “Hitler was right”, as well as including flyers sent to Synagogues saying that “Jewry must perish”.

73% of the incidents were in Toronto and Quebec, home to Canada’s most significant Jewish communities.

Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, said of the findings that “Antisemitism has grown as a serious concern for Canadian Jews, affecting them at school, in the workplace and even in their own places of worship. This problem will not solve itself – we need a concerted national effort to ensure that antisemitic outbreaks do not become a fact of life for Jews in this country, as in other developed countries such as France and Sweden”.

B’nai Brith have created an eight-point plan for tackling antisemitism in Canada, which can be read here. The plan, which includes measures to tackle online antisemitism and antisemitism on University campuses, has been produced in French and English, and provides a sensible, measured approach.

 

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Police investigate after vandal attacks Canadian Synagogue

Police in York, Canada, are investigating after an unidentified vandal attacked a Synagogue, in what they are describing as a “hate-motivated crime”.

The incident occurred in the vicinity of Bathurst St. and Worth Blvd. around 9:30 on Wednesday morning.

Rabbi Mendel Kaplan posted footage of the attack on Facebook. A man in a dark coat runs up to the walkway in front of the Synagogue, picks up a large rock and throws it with enough force that the rock shattered against the Synagogue’s glass door. The vandal appears to leave, before returning shortly after, picking up part of the rock again and hurling it at the door.

The second attempt caused substantial damage to the door, scattering glass inside the Synagogue.

“Clearly this is a wilful and premeditated attack on a synagogue” wrote Rabbi Kaplan.

 

Rabbi Kaplan’s post, including footage, can be viewed here.

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Canadian law firm receives threatening antisemitic letter calling for “genocide of Jews”

A Toronto law firm specialising in immigration law has received an antisemitic letter which called for genocide of Jews.

The letter, which was received on Wednesday, claimed that Jews were organising a “genocide of the white race”, a common libel made by contemporary antisemites, particularly those on the alt right.

The letter reads “Jewish genocide of the white race via immigration. Time for a genocide of Jews”.

The reverse side shows a mock-up of the film poster for Dawn of the Dead which reads “Dawn of the Dead Jew” with the tagline altered to read “when there’s no more room in HELL the JEW will walk the earth”.

Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO Avi Benlolo wrote that “the language and imagery used in this antisemitic letter are horrendous. This is not an isolated incident, and it’s very concerning that Canadian Jewish businesses and organizations continue to be targeted with such despicable hate mail. I urge police to take all reports seriously and thoroughly investigate who is behind these threatening letters”.

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Canadian alleged Holocaust denier, formerly senior Green Party figure, arrested in Germany

Monika Schaefer, a Canadian-German alleged Holocaust denier, has been arrested in Germany following complaints from B’nai Brith.

Schaefer was formerly a senior member of the Green Party in Canada, but was removed from the Party when her Holocaust denial was exposed, a story covered by Everyday Antisemitism in 2016. She has described the Holocaust as the “six million lie” and “the biggest and most pernicious and persistent lie in all of history”.

In a YouTube video she apologised to her mother, who was a German who lived through the Third Reich. Schaefer claimed that being told about the Holocaust amounted to her having been “indoctrinated”.

Schaefer was reportedly arrested in Munich during the recess of the trial of alleged Holocaust denial Sylvia Stolz. Holocaust denial is a criminal offence in Germany.

Both B’nai Brith and the Simon Wiesenthal Center have praised German police for taking action against Schaefer.

 

 

 

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Nine Canadian Synagogues receive Christmas cards stating that “Jewry must perish”

At least nine Synagogues across Canada have had hate mail addressed to them over Christmas, according to Canadian news sources.

The mail seems to have originated from a single perpetrator who addressed Christmas cards to the Synagogues.

The cards featured a Swastika inside a yellow Star of David, a reference to the badge which Jews were forced to wear under the Third Reich. The Star of David was depicted as “bleeding”.

He also wrote “Jews must perish”.

Police are apparently taking the issue very seriously, with a specialist hate crime unit investigating, news we welcome given that the unambiguously violent language and imagery used clearly suggests that the perpetrator could easily be willing to escalate to physical violence.

B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn commented “It’s unfortunate at this time of the year, with the Jewish community celebrating Hanukkah…that you have a message of targeted hate that’s going out to religious institutions across the country. Unfortunately some (people) feel emboldened…at this moment in history to express hate toward identifiable groups and Jews in particular”.

So far four Synagogues in Toronto, one each in Hamilton, Kingston and Ottawa respectively, and two in Montreal have been targeted, with separate reports confirming the incidents over the past week.

 

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Veteran heavy metal singer condemns antisemitism after man performing Nazi salute is ejected at Vancouver, BC show

Journeyman Productions, a Vancouver-based promotions company, has announced a zero tolerance policy towards racism and antisemitism at its shows, after one fan from ejected from the band Death Preacher’s show for performing a Nazi salute.

Nikki Gould, the company’s social media manager, was alerted by a friend that someone had performed the gesture at the show on December 8th and promptly had the man in question ejected from the venue.

Gould commented “I think I kind of let him off easy by kicking him out of the show and telling him to go. Had he stayed longer and got in a fight, that could have been really bad. Nazis and things like that don’t represent the metal scene. We want everyone to feel safe and included, and have fun. Nazis aren’t fun”.

The singer of Death Preacher reportedly said “no Nazis at my show” when he discovered what was happening.

Commenting on the incident, the legendary frontman of Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson, commented:

“Nazi salutes have no place whatsoever in any kind of music community I want to belong to”

“I think people need a little bit more of a lesson in history, rather than a lesson in ignorance, which seems to be dished out far too often”

“People in this country — across the USA, Canada, the U.K.— fathers and grandfathers, fought and died to build a world in which this kind of thing doesn’t go on”

Two years ago when Phil Anselmo, the former singer of Pantera performed a Nazi salute on stage, he faced derision from across the heavy metal community. Rob Flynn of the band Machine Head denounced him in an eleven minute video as a “big bully” and a racist, whereas Anthrax’s Scott Ian, who is Jewish, invited Anselmo to make a donation to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, calling his actions “vile”. Anselmo’s band Down were forced to cancel a tour as a result of the backlash from fans.

Last year we reported that an antisemitic band were forced to cancel a show after staff at the venue refused to provide a platform to racists, in another display of solidarity against racism and antisemitism from the heavy metal community.

We commend Journeyman Productions, Death Preacher and Bruce Dickinson for taking a stand against antisemitism in heavy metal.

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Canadian councillor appears to say “Johnny Jew from New York”, claims he really said “Choo”, in statement perceived as antisemitic

Ward Sutherland, a councillor in Ward 1 of Calgary, Canada, has drawn criticism from the Jewish community after he appeared to say “Johnny Jew from New York” in a debate.

Sutherland was talking about the funding of the Arts, and claimed that panels of artist would select artwork from “Johnny Jew from New York” without even looking at it.

His comments have been interpreted as antisemitic. New York has a famously large Jewish community, and there are indeed many Jews in the art world, which could be what the slur is attempting to reference.

However, Sutherland has claimed that he actually said “Choo”, despite it sounding far more like the word “Jew”, as local Rabbi Mark Glickman pointed out.

Rabbi Glickman remarked that the comments have “no place in civilised political discourse”.

He may have been referring to Jimmy Choo, who is a well known designer.

Sutherland apparently called Rabbi Glickman to speak of his disappointment at how the phrase had been interpreted and to restate his opposition to racism. However, he has since said that the accusations are “political and there’s an ulterior motive behind this”, due to the fact that elections are three days away. In doing so, he is painting may Jews who have complained as dissembling and attempting to manipulate Antisemitism for their own gain, something which is itself an antisemitic statement. Such statements have been frequently made against the Jewish community in the UK when Jews have voiced their legitimate concerns about Antisemitism in the Labour Party.

A video of the phrase, along with Sutherland’s statement denying the accusation, can be viewed here.

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Canadian Jews express dismay as Imam calling for Allah to slaughter Jews and “give victory” to Jihadis faces no criminal charges

B’nai Brith Canada has expressed it shock following reports from Montreal police that Imams who allegedly made antisemitic comments, including allegedly inciting violence against Jews, would face no criminal charges.

B’nai Brith tweeted that it is “outraged that Quebec prosecutors have chosen not”, whilst adding that claims that too much time has elapsed since the alleged incident are “blatantly false”.

The complaints were made in respect of two sermons given by Wael al-Ghitawi and Sayed al-Ghitawi  at the Al-Andalous Islamic Centre in the St-Laurent borough of Montreal in 2014.

A video showed Sayed al-Ghitawi allegedly calling on Allah “to destroy the accursed Jews” and to “give victory to our brothers who engage in jihad in Palestine”, as well as calling for Jihadis to “kill them one by one” and “make their children orphans and their women widows”.

In the Mosque’s “clarification”, they stated that his his comments were referring merely to killing members of the IDF which they claimed was responsible for an ongoing “massacre” in the region.

The second complaint was made in respect of the Mosque’s Imam, Wael al-Ghitawi, who allegedly claimed that the Jews had no lineage to Ancient Israel and no claim on Modern day Israel. He allegedly describes Jews as having been cursed by Allah for having supposedly killed prophets and rejected Jesus.

B’nai Brith Canada have said that they “won’t accept” the lack of action by the police and are expected to challenge the disgraceful decision on the part of the police to abdicate their responsibility to bring antisemites to justice.

 

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Toronto Imam allegedly calls for “systematic elimination” of Jews

Yesterday Everyday Antisemitism covered the long antisemitic history of a Montreal-based Imam. This seems not to be an isolated case. Elsewhere in Canada, the Toronto Sun reported one Maulana Syed Mohammad Zaki Baqri, a cleric of the Pickering-based Council of Islamic Guidance and the corresponding Al Mahdi Centre in Toronto, who allegedly told the June 24 Al Quds Day rally there in a combination of English and Arabic that Jews and Israelis need to be eliminated for what they claim they have done to the people of Gaza:

The systematic elimination of Jews … Israelis, Zionists should know … It is the law that whoever oppresses, he has to be eliminated. One day or another”

That statement is notable because it shows that any distinction in Islamists’ perception between Jews and Zionists is merely cosmetic, showing the “anti-Zionism” cloak to often be an increasingly threadbare cover for antisemitism. This is common in antisemitic discourse generally, but the purveyors of it invariably give themselves away, as have these two Canada-based imams, by their obsessive focus on the “crimes” of Israel (real or imagined) and their apparent inability to censor themselves from the carrying across of antisemitic tropes to their criticism of “Zionists.”

In this case, the cleric is under investigation as a result of a complaint to the Hate Crimes Unit of the Toronto police. The article also sets out the police’s apparent unwillingness to act to ban the gathering, in a manner reminiscent of the UK Metropolitan Police’s attitude towards banning the Al-Quds day march there, at which were paraded Hizballah flags.

Such antisemitism is, unfortunately, often internalised from childhood in such cases, particularly within radical Islamic communities, to the extent that some of those who resort to it may have no idea that what they are doing is highly offensive if not illegal in the West. Even where they do know, far too often their commitment to their extremist beliefs overrides any awareness, as seems to be the case here. This is not to excuse the behaviour, but internalised beliefs are very difficult to undermine, particularly when they are allowed to enter general discourse where repeated use makes them acceptable. The best recourse is for police forces to grasp the nettle firmly and deal with them ever more strongly to the full extent of the law whenever and wherever they occur.

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Canadian Imam who allegedly called Jews “human demons” finally sought by police after years of antisemitic comments

According to the Montreal Gazette, Montreal police have issued an arrest warrant for Sheikh Muhammad ibn Musa al Nasr, a Palestinian-Jordanian imam who, in a sermon in the Dar Al-Arqam Mosque in Montreal in late 2016, allegedly referred to Jews as “the worst among mankind” and “human demons” and said that he looked forward to the end of days when they would be destroyed. The imam also quoted a well-known hadith, the hadith of the Gharqad Tree, in which stones and trees encourage Muslims to come and kill Jews who are hiding behind them. That hadith is quoted in full in the Hamas Charter.

The B’nai Brith of Canada lodged the criminal complaint against al Nasr and were satisfied with the police response. In March last year, after al Nasr’s sermon, the Muslim Council of Montreal called on the mosque to apologise for having invited him. It is not known whether the mosque did so. The Dar al Arqam Mosque is one of the few mosques in Montreal not under the umbrella of the Muslim Council of Montreal, but it seems that the imam’s behaviour constitutes a pattern in Montreal:

In June 2017 a Youtube video was released of Sheikh Wael Al-Ghitawi whose sermon, in November 2014 at the Al Andalous Islamic Centre in Montreal, was against “the people who slayed the prophets, shed their blood, and cursed the Lord …” Also in early June, a video from August 2014 and released on YouTube showed a different imam at the same mosque allegedly calling for the destruction of “the accursed Jews” and that they be killed “one by one.”

In relation this latest incident, the CBC reported the Muslim Montreal Council’s statement which included the following: that “to use the themes of the Prophet to spread hatred is actually something that is disrespectful towards the Prophet himself.”

That may or may not be true, but the statement is is notable more for what it does not say than for what it does: One can speculate about what might be meant by “using the themes of the Prophet to spread hatred” but highly significant is the statement’s emphasis on al Nasr’s sermon showing disrespect towards the Muslim prophet, whilst at the same time it ignores the immense disrespect and hatred that the sermon showed towards Jews or the sense of threat it might have engendered. There is also the matter of the apology required from the mosque for having hosted al Nasr, but notably no such apology was given.

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Canadian school textbook names Israel among countries that kidnap children to use as child soldiers

The Toronto Sun reported on 10 July that Bnai Brith of Canada have asked the publishers Nelson to withdraw copies of Canada and the Global Community. This Grade 6 textbook, aimed at children aged eleven or twelve, lists Israel along with Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Libya and Yemen as one of the countries which sends children into armed conflict.

 

“They (the child soldiers) are used as fighters, messengers and spies,” claim authors Mary Cairo and Luciana Soncin. “Most child soldiers are kidnapped from their homes and forced to fight … some children volunteer to fight because they feel pressure from peers.”

The accusation that a group of Jews are responsible for kidnapping children will seem eerily reminiscent of medieval blood libel, when Christians often used Jews as a scapegoat for the disappearance or deaths of children, among other things. The inaccuracy is so glaring that it seems difficult to see how it could arise through an innocent error.

The textbook was shown to Michael Mostyn, the CEO of B’nai Brith Canada by the parent of a child whose class were using Canada and the Global Community as a text book.

The factual error was reported to publisher Nelson Canada by Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in March this year and the publisher swiftly notified the Education Ministry, issuing a replacement page for the book in sticker format.

Mr Mostyn praised Nelson’s response but found that, as of June 2017, most schools were continuing to teach with the original text, instead of using the corrected sticker pages. He feels that, as the book has been in use for three years, the schools should correct the record to make it plain that Israel is not using child soldiers and that every Ontario school should have the correct version in place by the new school term on 5 September.

The front cover of the textbook

A spokesman for the Education Ministry has assured B’nai Brith they are fully engaged with the situation and that all schools involved have been notified.

It is unlikely that the schools will have a chance to respond before the new term begins. B’nai Brith is asking parents to let them know whether or not the corrected version has been implented at their children’s schools.

Luciana Soncin was the principal of Toronto Catholic District School Board from 1998 to 2006. She has co-authored with Mary Cairo, an administrative coordinator in Vaughan, Ontario, a social studies Catholic resource called ‘Many Gifts,’ for elementary schools, also published by Nelson Canada, as well as a series of history books.

It is to be hoped that these are not marred by any other damaging inaccuracies.

 

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Canada: 12-year-old pupil at elite school victim of a “serious” antisemitic incident

Upper Canada College, a Canadian private school which has educated several prominent Canadian politicians and has been described as having an “illustrious history”, has had to reassure parents after a “serious” antisemitic incident took place, which has led to the police being involved.

Whilst the information available is quite sparse, a 12-year-old Jewish student apparently had antisemitic slurs and symbols. Whilst the school has emphasised that the incident was a “serious” one, it is not known if this represents one incident in a pattern of antisemitic bullying or is a one off, or whether there were other elements to the incident.

The school called a meeting with all the students in the lower years and communicated to them just how serious an antisemitic incident of any nature is.

The school issued a letter to parents saying:

“I write to inform you of a serious incident that occurred yesterday at the Prep…a student in Grade 7 returned to his locker at the end of the day to find it vandalized with antisemitic symbols and messaging. As soon as we became aware of the situation the College began an investigation.”

“We have attempted to progress the investigation swiftly, involving all the appropriate parties, including the police”

Whilst the police were involved, they have since said that despite the incident being serious, it should not be a criminal matter. Several Jewish groups have offered their support to the school in providing education relating to Jewish issues. The school’s response appears to have been an excellent one, in swiftly involving the police, communicating with parents, and having a frank, serious, but open discussion with pupils in an attempt to reassert their shared values.

 

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Graffiti equating Judaism with Satanism in Calgary, Canada

Police are investigating antisemitic graffiti in an off-leash dog park in Calgary, Alberta.

The graffiti has a Star of David followed by “=666”, frequently described as the “number of the beast”, which is popularly associated with Satanism. Equating Judaism with Satanism is a common antisemitic canard, which first found prominence in Christianity, but is now frequently cited by non-Christians.

There was also graffiti that said “f*ck Islam”.

The graffiti has apparently been up for “several days”.  Glen Tinckler, the resident who discovered and reported the graffiti, said “it’s a very friendly community and to see images like this is very disturbing”.

 

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VICE ex-founder in vile antisemitic rants says Israelis have a “whiny paranoid fear of Nazis”, calls Holocaust education “brainwashing”

Gavin McInnes, a former founder of the popular online media company VICE and current YouTube personality, has made a series of grossly antisemitic comments during and following a trip to Israel.

Following a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial and museum, McInnes said that he thinks that the Israeli Government and Jewish organisations funded his trip and they “assume we’re going to listen to all this shit we get fed”, having previously said he was “at the Holocaust museum, or the ‘Holocaust’ museum — no, I’m just kidding”. Read together, these statements clearly indicate that McInnes may believe in some form of Holocaust denial.  He then continues “I felt myself defending the super far-right Nazis just because I was sick of so much brainwashing and I felt like going, ‘Well, they never said it didn’t happen. What they’re saying is it was much less than six million and that they starved to death and weren’t gassed, that they didn’t have supplies'”.

Though he did clarify that “I’m not saying it wasn’t gassing. Please don’t take that clip out of context, but that’s what the far-right nuts are saying”, it is quite clear from his previous statement that he has sympathy for those who deny the Holocaust and is all-too-happy to malign those who teach others about the Holocaust as engaging in “brainwashing”, which as a standalone statement is often a favourite term of Holocaust deniers.

He then attempts to minimise the Holocaust by pointing out that “Mao killed 70 million… Stalin, with the Bolsheviks, killed 30 million. But the Russians don’t talk about that. They don’t even necessarily see it as a horrible thing”. Nobody is denying these events, but in bringing them up in this matter, McInnes is committing a false equivalence. Far worse, he then went on to lay the blame for the starvation of Ukrainians under Stalin on Jews, laughing as he says “I think it was ten million Ukrainians who were killed. That was by Jews. That was by Marxist, Stalinist, left-wing, commie, socialist Jews”.

He also asked “Wasn’t the Treaty of Versailles, wasn’t that disproportionately influenced by Jewish intellectuals?”, in a statement which seemingly blames Jews for the rise of the Nazis.

The idea that Jews somehow provoked Germany at Versailles is a common thread in the thinking of far right antisemites, as is the idea that the atrocities of the Soviet Union can be attributed to Jewish influence, but one need not be familiar with the common context in which these views are expressed to recognise that blaming Jews for some of the worst events in history is grossly antisemitic. According to the Definition of Antisemitism, “Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong””.

On Tuesday he uploaded a video called “10 things I hate about Jews”, which he later renamed to “10 things I hate about Israel”, in a blatant display of trying to dress up his antisemitism as criticism of Israel. In the video he seems to imply that Jews should be more grateful to America for its role in defeating the Nazis, describes Hebrew as a “spit language” and says that Jews have a  “whiny paranoid fear of Nazis that’s making them scared of Christians and Trumps who are their greatest allies”. The idea that being worried about Nazism makes Jews “whiny” or “paranoid” is both laughable and extremely belittling, particularly against the backdrop of rising antisemitism in Trump’s America that Trump does not seem committed to tackling in any meaningful way, having axed a special State Envoy dedicated to combating Antisemitism in America as a part of his budget cuts.

He later claimed that he made the comments in the hope that Jews would refute his statements, saying “I landed, and I’ve got tons of Nazi friends. David Duke and all the Nazis totally think I rock…no offense, Nazis, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I don’t like you. I like Jews”. The sincerity of such a statement is obviously quite dubious, particularly because it was followed with the comment that Israelis should “embrace Christianity”.

McInnes drew praise from antisemite and former head of the KKK David Duke, who shared a photograph of McInnes holding one of his books, called “Jewish Supremacism”, a vile antisemite work which essentially attempts to reassert the lies of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, passing itself off as academic research. However, we cannot be sure if the image is doctored or not. Nonetheless, even if it is, drawing praise from Duke should be a firm reminder that one has strayed down a very dangerous path.

McInnes left VICE in 2008 and has since been involved with Rebel Media, a right wing Canadian publication whose writers have been extremely supportive of Trump, one of whom described Hasidic Jews as “cult-like” people who they wouldn’t want in their neighbourhood, and also include Tommy Robinson, the founder of the Far Right “English Defence League” who is associated with the anti-Islam “Pegida” group whose founder had to resign after posing as Adolf Hitler and describing immigrants as filth”, “trash” and “brutes”. One of their former writers authored a book called “Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants, and Islam Screwed My Generation”.

 

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“Anti-Zionist” students call Israelis “rodents”, tell a Jewish student to “go back to Palestine”

Members of Students for Justice in Palestine attending a multicultural event at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology intentionally covered up the sole Israeli flag with an Algerian one.

When they went to their Facebook page to brag about the incident, they allegedly referred to Israeli Jews as “rodents”. Describing Jews as vermin was a mainstay of Nazi propaganda, which frequently depicted Jews as rodents. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis” is antisemitic.

A Jewish student was then told to “go back to Palestine”. Given that these people are actively campaigning against Israel, telling a Jew to “go back to Palestine” seems bizarre, but it is antisemitic nonetheless.

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Further bomb threats at JCCs over Purim, now totalling 140 in 2016

Five further Jewish Community Centers received bomb threats over the weekend, when Jewish communities were celebrating Purim, following a spate of hoax threats that have been used to terrorise Jewish institutions.

The new threats bring the tally of bomb threats to 140 this year.

The threats were called in on Sunday and targeted the Jewish Community Center of Rochester, the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center, the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston, the Samson JCC of Milwaukee, and the JCC of Greater Vancouver in Canada.

Following the arrest of Juan Thomas as a suspect in connection to the bomb threats, it was hoped that they would cease, but their continuation clearly demonstrates that this is part of a campaign across North America, by a group of organised individuals and not merely a lone wolf, to intimidate North American Jews. The fact that further suspects have thus far evaded capture by Federal Investigators suggests that they are organised and not merely a group of extremists with telephones.

 

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Further bomb threats at Jewish Institutions across the United States and Canada

Bomb threats have been reported at Jewish institutions, with more in the U.S. and now some coming to Canada.

Young children were evacuated from the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre in Toronto as a bomb threat was called in at around 10am yesterday. The Jewish Community Centre of London, Ontario received a threat at almost the same time.

Both were evacuated without incident.

Also on Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League’s headquarters in New York were also targeted with a bomb threat, for the second time in two months.  Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO, said in a statement that “this is not normal. We will not be deterred or intimidated”.

There were at least seven other bomb threats on Tuesday, this despite the fact that an individual was arrested last week on suspicion of having carried out some of the previous threats.

 

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“No Jews”, Swastika notes left on Ontario doors, Jewish residents have Mezuzot vandalized

Police in Ontario are investigating a series of notes left on the doors of Jewish residents.

Several Jewish residents also had mezuzot vandalized. A mezuzah is a box containing parchment from the Torah, which religious Jews nail to the doorposts of their houses. Damaging one constitutes an act of desecration and is an inherently hateful act.

Post-it notes with the words “no Jews”, Swastikas and antisemitic slurs were left on the doors.

They were all posted within the same building, causing them to believe that one of the neighbours is to blame.

 

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“Die Jew B*tch” painted rock left on Jewish family doorstep

Police in Winnipeg, Canada, are conducting a hate crime investigation after a rock painted with antisemitic abuse was was left on the doorstep of a Jewish family home.

The rock was painted with the words “DIE JEW BITCH. EINSATZGRUPPEN.”

It was placed inside a bag and wrapped in a red ribbon. The words “Jude Bitch get out of neighberhood” (s.i.c) were written on the bag.

The Einsatzgruppen were responsible for mass killings of Jews during the Holocaust.

The family wish to remain anonymous, but contacted both the police and B’nai Brith

This is very unusual for Winnipeg. I can count on one hand in the 24 years I’ve been in this position the number of incidents that were as egregious and as threatening as this. We are very concerned about this and taking it very seriously“, Constable Rob Carver of Winnipeg Police commented.

“It makes sense that the owner would reach out to B’nai Brith for some guidance”

“It’s also our job to conduct an investigation and we’re doing so. Detectives are looking at it and also our Hates Crimes Coordinator. We are treating this as a hate crime. We don’t get many incidents like this in Winnipeg. We occasionally get international events that will prompt antisemitic reactions but this one is so much more egregious that we’re spending more time on this.”

 

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Canada: Muslim students and SJP block Holocaust Education Week, intimidate Jewish student attempting to attend vote

Students from the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine have blocked a student motion which would allow for a week of Holocaust education on campus at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.

According to reports received by Campaign Against Antisemitism and Everyday Antisemitism, a motion which aimed to institute a Holocaust Education Week was blocked by the groups.

Not only did the groups oppose the motion, but they also attempted to prevent others attending, essentially preventing Jewish students from having their voices heard. According to a report from a Muslim student*, who condemned the MSA and SJP, members from the two groups blocked hallways and seemingly intimidated Jewish students attempting to attend the meeting, telling one that she wasn’t welcome.

In the Facebook post from the Muslim student, she decries the antisemitism in the Muslim community, saying “we’re literally a step away from Holocaust denial”. She put up a video shortly after, in which she says explicitly “they intimidated Jewish students”.

This is an incredibly worrying event. The attempt by Students for Justice in Palestine to block Holocaust education is sadly not surprising, but it is disgraceful and blatantly antisemitic nonetheless. For an organisation which claims to merely campaign against Israeli policy to then prevent students from learning about the Holocaust, an event which convinced many of the need for a Jewish state, and which predates the existence of Israel, is clearly antisemitic, and a cynical attempt to delegitimise the state of Israel by ‘going after’ the collective Jewish experience of persecution of the worst kind. The fact that Muslim students, who may themselves be worried about rising Islamophobia, have blocked such a motion is equally dismaying.

Not only is the intimidation of Jewish students on University campuses clearly on the rise, but there is also cause for concern in that a University campus, a space reserved for education and to develop those within it, now finds itself unable to undertake a educational program examining one of the defining events of human history. The Holocaust, the attempt to systematically eradicate the entire Jewish people, as well as homosexuals, the disabled, Socialists, Romani people, and others, based on the pseudo-scientific ideas of racial supremacy, and through the use of modern technology to turn genocide into an exercise in efficiency, was a uniquely evil event in history. The ability to confront events like the Holocaust and to attempt to understand how mankind could be driven to such a horrifying moral depth is at the heart of why education is valuable. These are issues which any educated person must be able to consider, and they are issues which do not simply vanish by virtue of discussion about them having been silenced. Students at this University are now being cheated out of a hugely important learning opportunity by antisemitic campus activism, and unfortunately Jewish students must now be feeling incredibly isolated and vulnerable.

We await to see what action the University will take. As of yet, it seems that no official statement has been released by the University.

 

*the student in question does not attend Ryerson, but we have since corroborated the facts of the story with students who were present.

 

 

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Canadian student’s dorm room vandalized with word “Jew” and a Swastika

According to an online report from a Canadian lawyer, somebody carved the word “Jew” and a swastika on the door of a Canadian Jewish student’s dorm room on the night of the American election.
The man said that a daughter’s friend had suffered the incident, and indicated that he would release more information at some point, but presumably cannot do so at the moment for safety concerns or due to a police investigation.
Whilst he believes the incident to have been related directly to the election, this is of course far from self-explanatory. Intimidation of Jewish students on campus is all-too-common and comes just as often from the far-left as it does from the far right
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Facebook allows “kill all Jews” post on wall of Canadian Professor

Facebook has ruled that an image calling explicitly for the genocide of all Jews is acceptable according to its community standard.

An image featuring a white man placing a Charedi Jew in a chokehold, accompanied by an antisemitic tract which incites genocide, was deemed acceptable when it was reported by B’nai Brith Canada.

B’nai Brith Canada reported the image, which was ruled acceptable within two hours, when it was alerted to it having been posted on the Facebook page of Canadian Academic Professor Anthony Hall, who is a Holocaust denier.

The text on the image reads:

“There never was a ‘Holocaust’, but there should have been and, rest assured, there WILL be, as you serpentine kikes richly deserve one. I will not rest until every single filthy, parasitic kike is rounded up and slaughtered like the vermin that they are. The white man has had more than enough of the international Jewry and we are more than prepared to smite the parasite for the millionth time. The greedy, hook-nosed kikes knows that their days are numbered and, unlike in the past, they have nowhere to run. This time there will be no kikes alive  to spread around the planet like cockroaches. We will get them ALL into the oven and their putrid memory will finally be erased from the planet once and for all. Like all parasite, the Jew will continue to reproduce until every single last one has been wiped out. This is why it is crucial that all kikes are ruthlessly and mercilessly butchered for the good of us all. KILL ALL JEWS NOW! EVERY LAST ONE!”

After B’nai Brith Canada’s coverage, the image appears to have been taken down, but it is unclear whether Facebook have changed their minds or whether the author of the post wanted to avoid a public backlash and removed it himself.

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Small business targeted with a year of antisemitic abuse

Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, British Colombia, has been repeatedly targeted with antisemitic abuse by a local resident.

The resident allegedly objects to the odour produced by the plant, despite having been promised that further investment would shortly remove any smell from the plant.

The man hurled frequent antisemitic abuse, including references to the Holocaust, at the owners of the plant. The abuse has been continuing since last summer and has continued to the point that the owners of the business and their employees now feel threatened by the behaviour.

When local figures condemned the man’s antisemitic actions, they were subsequently bombard with antisemitic abuse on Twitter themselves.

It is unknown whether the police are currently involved.

 

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Antisemitic conspiracy theory leaflets in Toronto

A man in Toronto has been distributing leaflets promoting the idea of a Jewish conspiracy controlling world affairs.

The man, estimated to be in his 60s, distributed a six-page booklet titled “Manufactured Terrorism. Stop US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar from Supporting ISIS terrorists”.

The leaflet made reference to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic hoa whcih purports to be the minutes of a meeting in which a group of Jews plotted to establish control over all world affairs and subjugation of gentiles. The text is universally acknowledged to be an antisemitic hoax in respectable circles.

Whilst the man’s leaflet is not direct in its implication that Jews are the group involved in this conspiracy, the references to the Protocols clearly demonstrate the identity of the group allegedly in control, as does the prominent place taken by the Israeli flag in the image.

The text of the leaflet is as follows:

HOW FALSE FLAGS INCREASINGLY BEING USED – BID TIME – ONCE MORE TO SCARE PUBLIC INTO UNQUESTIONING SUBMISSION:

MANUFACTURED TERRORISM is known as, “false flag operation(s).” Most obvious was Sept. 11, 2001.

Usually “false flag attacks” will happen on same day of “terror attack DRILL,” A) as 9/11/2001, (Nov.) Paris shooting, others. Or, a few days, even months prior like,” B) Brussels, Belgium 4 months prior “state of emergency”: DRILL. Soldiers in streets and malls. In Paris 3 months of MARTIAL law, breaking into homes and killing residents.

Usually false flag attacks will have, A) Crisis ACTORS, such as the one on front cover of this pamphlet; often many actors.

From 9/11 to Brussels false flags, co-op media make sure Arabic words, like, “Allah is great!” or some non-Rothschild bank in Arab country like Syria is yelled; and passport just “flew-out” of the terrorist pocket. What “terrorist on suicide mission brings his I.D.s??

Why would Western nations want to precipitate false flags, which would induce WW3? Is THAT the motive?

There is a greater muzzled motive. Not just N. Am. but global monetary system is ready to go over the cliff; designed NEVER to recuperate. So Western banksters need a scapegoat to put all the blame on to try to associate King Assad {Syria), or/and Putin with “Islamic state ‘atrocities’.”

Though co-op media purposely focus its cameras on ISIS/”Islamic state” as the wild Pit-Bull-dog, its viewers do not see the leach in the financier’s HAND.

Founder of Illuminati Dr. Adam Veishaupt (1,776) stated about their design PROTOCOLS plan bringing into being the New World Order: “It is indispensable to TROUBLE all countries the people’s relations with their governments so as to UTTERLY EXHAUST humanity with DISSENSION, HATRED, STRUGGLE, envy and even by the use of torture, by …the effects of an ECONOMIC [global] CRISIS, which will stop dealings on the [stock] exchanges and bring INDUSTRY to a STANDSTILL” (Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion (1,773), ([reprinted] Protocols of Zion, p.178, p.156)…

CONCLUSION: What is upon the whole world is the greatest evil blueprint, “Protocols” orchestrating collapse of global nations’ economy, and all social resistance to EXUSTION unto FORCE SU BM I SS I ON, nations begging for their enslavement to “new-world order.” Weisaupt said, “We will not give them peace until they openly acknowledge OUR INTERNATIONAL SUPER —GOVERNMENT, and with SUBMISSIVENESS,” (p.170)…”

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Canada: Government-funded event will promote antisemitic ideas

B’nai Brith has revealed that the World Social Forum (WSF), a state-backed event due to take place in Montreal, will be promoting antisemitic ideas.

The event takes up various causes, such as “workers against Neoliberalism”, “facing the Capitalist crisis” and “decolonization”. According to B’nai Brith, one talk is titled “Terrorizm, Wahabbism, Zionism” (sic.) and featured a picture of a Wahabbist terrorist emerging from from the mouth of “Uncle Sam”, with Uncle Sam emerging from the mouth of a caricature of a Charedi Jewish man. The use of such an image, which implies that Jews are responsible both for American policy and Wahabbism, is clearly antisemitic, but appears to have been removed since B’nai Brith drew attention to it. The title also seems to suggest a connection between “Zionism” and terrorism, a common trope in antisemitic conspiracy theories.

One of the speakers at the event Diana Ralph, is a conspiracy theorist who, among other things, accused Israel of being behind the 9/11 attacks.

The event also features Sabine Freisinger, former President of Concordia Student Union, who was apparently involved in a riot that forced Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a speech and in which a Rabbi and his wife were assaulted and a Holocaust survivor was kicked in the groin. Freisinger’s activities have since included targeting a local shoe shop for selling a small number of Israeli shoes.

B’nai Brith notes also that the conference features a dozen workshops devoted to a total boycott of Israel, a policy which the Canadian Parliament has committed to resisting.

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Antisemitic social media posts celebrate adoption of boycott motion in Quebec

Last week the Student Society of McGill University in Montreal Québec voted to boycott Israel. Within an hour of the vote, antisemitic posts and messages appeared on social media.

800 members of the university’s 30,000 students took part in the SSMU vote to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Simon Paranski, a student at the university stated, “Within an hour of the BDS vote passing, there were posts on social media about Zionist Jew-boys and insulting people of the Jewish faith,” said Paranski.

“People reached out to us that they were personally harassed, verbally harassed on the street after the votes. Some people were on the phone with their parents that they were upset, and people hurled insults at them. It was really scary because it happened so quickly, and it was such a huge escalation.”

Vice president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish affairs, Luciano Del Negro, said they have been in touch with some students, “It is not a resolution on campus which changes absolutely anything and what we feared has come to pass. How is it that Jewish students have been insulted, disparaged, have been made to feel unsafe on campus,” he said.

On Thursday McGill University issued a statement “It is important for a university community to be built on mutually respectful dialogue. Students can report abuse or violations of their student rights to their faculty’s disciplinary officer. All complaints are taken seriously and investigated. We have not received any complaints related to this matter so far.”

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Starbucks employee writes “Bulls***” instead of name on Jewish man’s cup in Montreal

An Orthodox Jewish woman has posted on Facebook of her disgust after her husband gave a Starbucks employee his name as “Moshe” but found that the employee had instead written “Bulls***” on his order.

The Facebook post says that the incident took place at the Starbucks in Rockland Shopping Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Gitty Halpert Perl wrote that she felt tormented and unsure how to respond after her daughter begged her to ignore her instincts and leave quietly.

Starbucks posted on Facebook that it is looking into the incident.

Source: Facebook

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Antisemitic stranger carrying a knife caught by chance outside Toronto synagogue

On Saturday at the synagogue at the Bernard Betel Centre in Toronto, a man wearing a swastika was found to be acting suspiciously and carrying a knife.

A woman on her way out of the centre saw a man carrying two large bags. She approached him and asked what his business was at the centre, at which point he hurled a book at her. The woman sounded the alarm and the man was surrounded by congregants.

One congregant noticed that the man, described as being in his sixties and of European origin, was wearing a swastika pin on his shirt. When challenged, he claimed that he was wearing it not to support Nazism but in support of socialism. He added that he came to the community centre to get money, and that the “rich Jews” want others to be poor.

Police arrived after thirty minutes at which point the man was searched and found to be in possession of a knife and a toy gun. The action taken by the police remains unclear, but it has been reported that the man will probably be taken for psychiatric evaluation.

Source: CFCA/CIJ News

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Viral media website using antisemitic conspiracy theory to generate clicks

FML Gone Viral, a website which circulates viral social media links, is using a vile antisemitic conspiracy theory to generate clicks. The website, which makes its money by displaying advertisements alongside its content, has been spreading a fictional dialogue between Adolf Hitler and a soldier which alleges that Hitler was trying to save “negroes” who are the “true Hebrews”. According to the story, “white jews knows that the negros are the real children of Israel. And to keep Americas secret, the jews will blackmail America.  The jews will extort America Their plan for world domination wont work if the negros knew who they were.”

The fictional story has been viewed by almost 100,000 people and comments appearing at the bottom of the page show that while some readers were incredulous, the story has garnered fierce support from internet users who believe that Jews are in fact masquerading as Jews to disenfranchise black people, and that Hitler was trying to save black people from the hegemony of the ‘false’ white Jews.

Those who did not believe the story were invariably told by believers to do some “research”. For example Felix Dickinson commented: “…lol come on now. Is that why he was adamant black people couldn’t be in his Olympics? Is that why the US was not even going to enter the war until pearl harbor? Honestly this is the dumbest thing I’ve read in a while”, but was answered by Christopher Shepherd who replied: “He didn’t want my people to take part in it because he knew it was wrong we were a holy people do you know what holy means it means separate meaning that if we were still separate then we wouldn’t of wanted no part of useless Olympics but since the synagogue of satan stole us and brought us to our brothers and sisters massive stolen land that is called America today then we learned the white mans ways and being a part of the Olympics is one of them”.

The FML Gone Viral website is registered to Sandi Chang of Ontario, Canada, whose telephone number is listed as +1 647 261 6448 and whose e-mail address is listed as [email protected].

The full antisemitic story is as follows:

Hitler said even in his death he will start World War 3. One of his soliders asked how? Hitler replied….

Hitler said even in his death he will start World War 3.

One of his soldiers asked how?

Hitler replied, “The day mankind finds out what I was trying to defend this nation, Germany, from then thats the day World War 3 will start. For on that day, mankind will learn that I was trying to save my Nation from The Free Masons, the Illuminati, the jews. For if the Americans wins the war, then they will conquer the world and forever be a slave to the jews and they will try to conquer God. Do you know who America has in its possession?

“NO,” the solider replied.

The Americans has the jewels of God. The Americans have stolen God’s precious jewels.
“What do you mean his precious jewels?” THE SOLIDER asked.

Hitler said, “America has stolen the jews. The Jews of God. His jewelry. The negros. They are the true hebrews. What a foolish move and a direct challenge to God. And they plan on moving these false white jews into a state of Israel.

America is desperate in its attempt to win this war using atom bombs on Japan. America will destroy the whole world in its attempt to conquer it.

When America and its jewish slave masters conquer the world and the world realize I was right, then all nations will begin a third world war to dethrone America of its rule. Every nation will soon possess atom bombs of their own. It will be the end of most of the world as we know it.

“Why will the jews control America?” the solider asked

Hitler said, “because the white jews knows that the negros are the real children of Israel. And to keep Americas secret, the jews will blackmail America. The jews will extort America Their plan for world domination wont work if the negros knew who they were. The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the childen of Israel. They will fear God will destroy them as he destroyed Egypt for doing the same thing. So the elite, the Illuminati keeps this a secret at all cost.

After I die, I will one day cause World War 3 just by this message which will be like planting a seed in people minds until it sprouts once they nurture that seed and seek more truth and learn Hitler was right. I did the world a favor by killing the false jews before they designated a false state of Israel.

But I fear I have failed. The world will fall into the hands of Satan.

The original website can be found here but viewing it contributes advertising revenue to the owner.

Below is a graphic shared by one of the people commenting in support of the theory:

Source: Reported to Everyday Antisemitism

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Antisemitic graffiti found at Canadian university

Antisemitic and anti-black graffiti has been found in two public toilets at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. The graffiti was quickly removed and university officials are investigating where it came from.

Source: CFCA/CTV News Kitchener

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Canadian Islamic website suggests Israel is behind Paris atrocity and ISIS

An article on Crescent International, a Canadian website run by the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought has suggested that Israel was behind the terrorist attacks in Paris. An article titled “Paris attacks: Who done it?” speculates that likely author of the attack is Israel, which the article also claims is behind ISIS: “Who could be behind it? Of all the intelligence agencies, the one that stands out is the Zionist agency, Mossad. It has deep roots in France and has many facilitators in the country. What could be their motive? Simple. The US-Zionist-Saudi-backed takfiri terrorists are being degraded through Russian bombings. It may be a desperate move by the Zionists to force Western regimes to send their troops against the government of President Asad [sic]. His army has recently made gains against the terrorists and has recaptured a number of areas from their control.”

Crescent International usually echoes a pro-Iranian line, according to CIJ News.

Source: CFCA/CIJ News

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Antisemitic website results in first online hate crime conviction in almost 10 years in Canadian province

The 68-year-old grandfather who authored RadicalPress.com has become the first person to be convicted of online hate crime for almost a decade in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Arthur Topham, whose website demonised Jews and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories will be sentenced early next year. One article on the website described “synagogues of Satan” whilst another “satirically” called for “the extermination of Israel and all Jews” according to the prosecution. Topham’s legal defence was funded by white supremacists. A bizarre detail of the story is that Topham’s wife is apparently Jewish.

Photo: CBC News

Source: Documenting Antisemitism/CBC News

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“Jews” spray painted on sign at entrance to Jewish neighbourhood in Toronto

A sign near the entrance to a Toronto neighbourhood with a large Jewish population has been spray-painted with the word “Jews”. Police are investigating.

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Graffiti at Canadian university attacks “anyone who supports the c***sucking Jews”

Antisemitic graffiti at Ryerson University is under investigation. The graffiti read: “F*** Israel and anyone who supports the c***sucking Jews. Israel burn in Hell. Stealing Palestinian land. Motherf***ers! Spit in Israelis face.” The scrawl is signed with a crossed out Star of David.

Photo: CIJ News

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Menorah vandalised in outside Montreal synagogue

A menorah has been smashed to the ground by vandals outside a synagogue in Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal.

Photo: Global News