Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism

Well, there's a surprise. A rise in the incidence of anti-Semitism has been noted. And a committee in Parliament has done some tracking, heard witnesses, and reached the conclusion that this particularly odious form of racial discrimination which has such a long and complex heritage is once again surfacing as a miserable social blemish in this country.

The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism has released its report verifying the rise of anti-Semitic incidents, particularly within the country's institutes of higher learning. That in and of itself is so absurd: think about it; the more exposed people are to knowledge and ideas in helping them to form their creative intelligence, the less given they should be to racism. Right?

Evidently not. For in the marketplace of ideas and conceptions and misconceptions sometimes an agenda deliberately stimulating people to adopt a group's manipulative slander appeals to their sense of justice, simplistically identifying one group as oppressors, the other group as oppressed. All the bright lights of adopted humanitarian instincts swivel in agreement.

Anything that's good enough for the world body of the United Nations is good enough for academics, after all. So the celebrated annual event of "Israeli Apartheid Week", for example, increasingly demonizes Israel, and by extension Jews, for they are in truth, one and the same; the land for the people and the people for the land. All of the land for some of the people.

Lifting the committee to the conclusion that the rising tide of renascent anti-Semitism was brought into the country with the introduction through immigration of ideas well entrenched in countries who have traditionally challenged the State of Israel's right to exist. So that, the Government of Canada should look at the source countries for tides of immigrants importing noxious social biases.

The committee represented a coalition of Parliamentarians, over 20 MPs and Senators, Jewish and non-Jewish. All political parties were represented, until those of the Bloc Quebecois absented themselves once they identified lack of neutrality within the group. The coalition came to the conclusion that government action is required, to sponsor conferences at universities to counter IAW's boycott and sanction arguments and intimidation of students.

The Canadian Islamic Congress and its helpmeet group Jewish Voices, felt they were deliberately snubbed. Of the 74 witnesses who testified at ten hearings, not one represented an Arab or Muslim group, for example. Not surprisingly, given that this was a focus on anti-Semitism, but someone will always feel left out and overlooked and aggrieved in any situation of deep scrutiny.

The national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Wahida Valiante, felt the exclusivity of the process was dreadfully unfair. For other groups facing incidents of racism should also have been considered for inclusion. According to her reasoning anti-Semitic attacks have nothing whatever to do with Muslims and in point of fact Muslims are in need of protection against a back-lash from society reflected through "Islamophobia".

A far more vicious form of racism, condemning Muslims for threatening murder and mayhem on the international community. A condition of ignorance as it happens, since Muslims worship a religion that exemplifies peace and the brotherhood of humankind. The coincidental interpretation of Muslims linked inextricably with violent jihad a critical misunderstanding.

The MPs and senators would have been well advised to have initiated an investigation into the metastasizing Islamophobia that has made life so intolerable for the egalitarian, open-minded, vulnerable-to-misunderstandings Muslim population within Canada.