State of Tel Aviv, Israel Podcast S3 E1. Antisemitism in Justin Trudeau's Canada - Part I
This two-part podcast is long and intense. It has been in-the-making now since early November. Initially, I wasn’t sure about how to approach it. Because the reality is overwhelming. But the “how” happened organically, as events unfolded. When Ezra Levant—a well-known Canadian journalist/lawyer/provocateur—was arrested by Toronto police on Sunday, November 24, 2024, for allegedly “breaching the peace,” I understood that this was a nodal point. That the police would even consider doing what they did that day—and for the “reasons” they provided—was a ginormous red flag. There had been more than a year of constant antisemitic agitation (how’s that for a catch-all euphemism?) on the streets of Toronto, and the violence and frequency were only intensifying. The conduct of the police has been deeply concerning throughout, as is the rather nonchalant attitude of all levels of leadership: federal, provincial, and municipal. And, in Canada, of all places. How did this happen? Well, in plain sight. To suggest that this underbelly of Canadian society was not present before October 7 ignores reality. It has always been there. But much has changed in the last decade, during which time Justin Trudeau has been Prime Minister. He sets the tone, and this deliberate deconstruction of Canadian society and norms is his legacy. In Part I of this podcast, we explore the breakdown of the social and public norms that prevailed in Canada until recent years and how and why this has transpired. In Part II, we get into the institutional issues and “culture” that are encouraging the surge of open, public, and violent antisemitism. We look at the approach of Toronto Police, in particular, the sensibility in key institutions—like the senior federal bureaucracy in Ottawa and more. There are reasons for this toxic surge in Canada. It did not just “happen.” Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel, the U.S., and France. The majority of its 375,000-member community are concentrated in the Toronto and Montreal areas. And according to recent news reports, a significant number of Canadian Jews have been thinking seriously about leaving the country of their birth. A recent survey of Ontario-based Jewish physicians revealed that 30% were thinking of jumping ship. You can read about that here in The National Post (where I write a regular column). The Jews. Are alway the canaries in the mineshaft. All of Canada should be on heightened alert.
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Podcast Notes
1. Post on State of Tel Aviv website, November 24, 2024, “Canada is Done,” with two articles about escalating antisemitic violence as well as video clips from the night of violence in Montreal on Friday, November 22.
2. Video of the Montreal riot, Friday, November 22, 2024—showing snippets of street violence, the burning of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in effigy, and Justin Trudeau getting down at the Taylor Swift concert in Toronto that night. Video from Dahlia Kurtz on X.
3. PM Justin Trudeau on “X” commenting on the Montreal riots:
4. Leader of the Opposition in Canada and likely the next PM (but don’t want to jinx it), Pierre Poilievre’s reply to Justin Trudeau on “X”:
5. Photo showing Toronto Police Sergeant (Canadian/British spelling—indulge me this once) Jeffrey MacDuff joking around with one of the main organizers of regular pro-Hamas, antisemitic events in Toronto. This photograph was taken at Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. on the morning of Sunday, November 24, shortly before Ezra Levant was arrested.
* A pro-Hamas man dressed and acting as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in his final moments before he was killed in a gunfight with the IDF in the Gaza Strip. Masked and wounded, the Sinwar wannabe threw wooden sticks at a drone sent into a building. He was seated in a chair stained with blood before dying. Not until the body was retrieved and the mask covering his face removed did the IDF soldiers realize who the stick-throwing man was. In real life - the identity of the actor is well-known. He owns a shwarma join in a strip plaza in Mississauga, a Toronto suburb with a very large Muslim population
* An “X” post showing Ezra Levant being handcuffed by Toronto Police on Sunday, November 24, at Bathurst and Sheppard.
* Ezra Levant doing the “perp walk” at Bathurst and Sheppard Sunday November 24, 2024. He is escorted by Toronto Police officers on either side, wearing black toques.
* Pro-Hamas and “progressive” allies “occupy” Union Station in downtown Toronto, a large transportation hub for the city and surrounding area. This has been a regular occurrence in Toronto during the past 15 months.
* November 6, 2024. Business district in downtown Toronto. Pro-Hamas Islamists block major downtown streets and pray. This “pop up” mosque phenomenon has become a regular occurrence in Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere in Canada. In Toronto, police have routinely protected those blocking public transit and roads and sidewalks. There has been no attempt to enforce bylaws or any other relevant laws and standards that exist to maintain public order.
* Article by Vivian Bercovici published in Sapir Journal in the Winter 2024 edition, entitled: “Foreign Ministries: what to do when diplomats subvert elected officials.”
* Article by Vivian Bercovici published in State of Tel Aviv on May 20, 2022, entitled: “On Being a Jewish Diplomat in Israel.”
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