Yahoo Finance Howard Levitt: Eagerness to believe the worst about Israel shows antisemitism at play
What we are seeing in our streets has ceased to be about the war between Hamas and Israel. It has transformed into an attack on Jews wherever they may be.
Whether it is the refusal by certain media outlets, such as the CBC, to call Hamas terrorists “terrorists,” the readiness of many to believe that Israel bombed a Gaza hospital killing hundreds when it was a misfired Hamas missile, or the credulous acceptance of Hamas’ self-serving statistics of the number of women and children killed in the war, the last few months have been characterized by a near eagerness to believe the worst about “the Jews.”
It is furthered by the refusal to recognize that Israel has attempted to avoid civilian casualties — at the expense of killing terrorists and shortening the war — for example, by warning Gazans before bombing. Israel takes these precautions even though Hamas terrorists have embedded themselves among their citizenry, who they then warn to stay in place. That the protests have been against all Jews, not just Israel, has been displayed by attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses, the intimidation of Jewish students and the massive swell of antisemitic incidents in Canada, discussed in previous columns, since Oct. 7. Those include large pro-Hamas rallies celebrating its sick carnage before Israel even commenced its war to eliminate its enemy.
On college campuses, in the streets and in the media, there has been a readiness to demonize Israel for its response to a terrorist attack in which women were raped and children butchered. If ignoring the atrocities of Hamas, such as the fate of young Israeli-German woman who was raped and murdered, then paraded through Gaza on the back of a truck, isn’t a form of antisemitism, what is?
As the British commentator Douglas Murray, put it: “What Israel has been up against is not just a people of death, but a cult of death, a cult which wishes to annihilate an entire race, and which after dealing with that race has made very clear what it wants to do with Christians, everyone in Britain, everyone in America.”
I have called repeatedly for the Canadian Muslim community to stand up and decry the radicals preaching hatred in the name of their god. With few exceptions, they have not. And although it is admittedly dangerous for them to do so, it would not be if their community leaders and Imams called for that in unison.
The fact that that has not occurred is far more dangerous to that community. In Europe, political parties are being elected on the platform of reducing Muslim immigration based on the belief that they are supportive of the radicals speaking in their name.
It is important that all people of good faith stand up and demand that universities shut down these protest encampments, which are making Jewish students (and others) feel unwelcome on their own campuses. Authorities must also require the police to do their jobs and arrest anyone shouting hate speech.
Polls have shown a massive majority of Canadians support Israel in its fight against Hamas terrorists. But silent support is now insufficient as the radicals breaking the law in our midst have become increasingly emboldened.
It is time for Canadians to become involved by signing petitions, supporting the organizations taking action and, for people experiencing discrimination, to bring human rights applications and civil claims against those who are openly antisemitic.
The fig leaf of arguing that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism has been long extinguished by the conduct of these crowds.
Those protesting that silencing hate speech is improperly censorious are the same crowd who shouted down and “cancelled” speakers from the right on campuses and elsewhere over the last few years. How truly unserious the last seven months have proved the woke to be.
Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt Sheikh, employment and labour lawyers with offices in Toronto and Hamilton. He practices employment law in eight provinces. He is the author of six books including the Law of Dismissal in Canada.
