Jew-Hate Target ... Jewish Children's School/Toronto

"We are here to educate children, and that's what we're here for, and that's what we will continue to do, and we  hope that this is the final time, and this will come to an end soon."

"As Hanukkah is coming up, light will always prevail, and the message to the world out there is increasing goodness and kindness."

Rabbi Yaacov Vidal, Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School principal

 

"I can assure you, we will leave no stone unturned trying to find the perpetrators."

"Everyone, from the chief right on down, is putting all the resources that we can into this. We have stepped up our patrols."

"We have a couple of guns and gangs teams working on these shootings. We are making progress."

"There is a frustration, because what we've seen in our city in the past year with the antisemitic incidents, it's horrifying."

"It is quite simply horrifying."

Toronto Police Superintendent Paul MacIntyre

Toronto police are investigating another incident of gunshots fired outside a Jewish girls elementary school in North York. Bais Chaya Mushka Girls Elementary School was the target of two previous overnight shootings in October and May. CBC still from video

 

"And we're doing what we can, standing with the Jewish community, and we are throwing everything at these shootings."

"[The shootings are the direct result of the] incitement of mobs that have taken over our streets."

"What you're seeing is an entire societal failure, all the way from Ottawa down to the local government, to grapple with the lawlessness that is going on in our streets and in our cities."

"What has become of the city? What has become of this country?"

"The Jewish community will not be intimidated. We helped build this city. We helped build this country. "We're going to go about our daily lives as Jews, living as Jews, and going around without intimidation and harassment."

Toronto Councillor James Pasternak

Yet again a Jewish girls' school in Toronto was targeted. The Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School located in North York, for the third time was riddled with bullets. The day following the shooting the school opened as usual, but some parents decided to keep their children at home in fear for their safety. The shooting had taken place in the early morning hours on Friday. When police responded to the call they discovered "evidence of firearm discharge". 

 

According to police reconstruction, a vehicle with multiple individuals drove up to the school. One person emerged and fired six shots at the school, then the vehicle and its occupants left the scene.

According to school officials the fencing and school building sustained damage. Security guards hired by the school are not present overnight. Their concern is that during the day when children are in attendance at the school, they remain safe from harm. Police henceforth, according to Toronto Police Superintendent Paul MacIntyre, will have a command centre installed at the school property seven days a week, 24 hours a day to operate for the foreseeable future.

Police are open to assistance from the wider public; whether anyone saw or heard anything suspicious, or should anyone be in possession of dashcam footage. Toronto has the largest group of Jews in the country resident in the city. Resulting in the city seeing major protests over the war in Gaza. It seems evident that the large number of Jewish Canadians living in Toronto may be matched by a large number of Jewish-hating residents from backgrounds other than Canada, bringing with them historical antipathies finding expression following the atrocities of October 7, 2023 when terrorists from Gaza committed mass murder in southern Israel.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed confidence in a thorough investigation by Toronto police. "I'm outraged and disgusted to hear that, once again, shots have been fired at a Jewish girls' school in Toronto. These antisemitic hateful attacks have no place in Ontario", he messaged on social media. Just coincidentally the Congregation Beth Tikvah synagogue in Montreal was hit a day earlier with a crude firebomb. 

 

"Enough is enough. Antisemitism and antisemitic attacks have no place in Toronto", Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow responded, while taking care not to commit to putting an end to the disruptive and hate-filled, threatening weekend pro-Hamas protests in the city targeting the Jewish community.

"Canada has become a more dangerous place for the Jewish people under the divisiveness of the weak and now [politically rejected] wounded Justin Trudeau."

"Another day brings another cowardly act of antisemitic hate, and it's well overdue that the [federal] government do something, or anything, to protect Canadians."

Melissa Lantsman, Conservative MP representing GTA's Thornhill

Toronto police in an October 2024 update, pointed to 358 confirmed hate crimes in Toronto for the year. Close to 75 percent of the hate crimes were specifically directed at Jews. Over 160 people had been arrested, with 403 charges laid, according to Toronto Police Force statistics.

 

Bais Chaya Mushka Girls Elementary School was previously targeted on Yom Kippur. That shooting broke a window, in addition to other damage to the building. (CBC)

"I reiterated to him my great concern over the intolerable wave of antisemitic attacks against the Canadian Jewish community."

"I stressed that words would not suffice, and that firm and decisive action must be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice, to stamp out antisemitism, and to educate and legislate in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the Jewish community."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog

Debating Free Expression in France

"I am moved, and I am relieved. Hearing the word 'guilty' — that's what I needed."

"I spent this week listening to a lot of rewriting of what happened, and it was hard to hear, but now the judge has stated what really happened, and it feels good."

"I think my brother died for nothing, [teachers were still being targeted by violence and threats]."

Gaëlle Paty, Samuel Paty's sister

 

"It's something that really shocks the family."  

"You get the feeling that those in the box are absolutely unwilling to admit any responsibility whatsoever."

"Apologies are pointless, they won't bring Samuel back, but explanations are precious to us. We haven't had many explanations of the facts."

Paty family lawyer Virginie Le Roy

The fallout from Paty’s killing reinforced the French state’s commitment to freedom of expression and its firm attachment to secularism in public life. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

French teacher Samuel Paty was murdered on October 16, 2020 outside the school where he taught, in a horrific killing that shocked France. At that time, there were protests in many Muslim countries along with online incitement for violence to target France and Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French newspaper which had republished the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad several weeks before Paty's death, to mark the trial opening of the deadly 2015 attacks on the newspaper's newsroom by Islamic jihadists.

Mr. Paty had thought he would discuss the issue with his students in the classroom, using a cartoon of the Prophet as an illustration and to focus on how a well-balanced society has a respect for freedom of speech, however insulting it may appear to some. That in a free society people have the right to speak as they see fit, and to say what they believe as long as that speech is not used to promote hatred and violence. What his lesson for the day did, however, was to inflame already-heightened social unrest.

One of his students went home to tell her father how her teacher had insulted her and assaulted her belief in Islam's Prophet Mohammad by mocking the religion and its Prophet. Her father began an online agitation promoting vengeance against the teacher, inciting young Muslim men to conspire to take revenge against an unforgivable blasphemy. The trial of eight co-conspirators to the murder concluded on Friday at France's anti-terrorism court when those convicted of involvement in Samuel Paty's beheading were sentenced.

The actual assailant, an 18-year-old Chechen Russian had been shot to death by police at the time of the murder. The eight who were convicted on terrorism charges stood accused of providing assistance to the perpetrator of the grisly killing; among them others charged and convicted of organizing a hate campaign that led to the murder of Samuel Paty. Central Paris's 540-seat special terrorism court was packed for the verdict, the atmosphere charged.

 

It was clear from some of the comments of those present, the families of the convicted, that remorse over the event for many was completely absent. Women whose sons were sentenced to prison were distraught and disbelieving over the sentences; their sons had done nothing wrong. From among them gasps were emitted as the lead justice delivered the sentences. Cries, shouts and mocking clapping erupted, leading the judge to pause repeatedly and call for order.

 

Francis Szpiner, a French lawyer representing Samuel Paty' son, speaks to the press on Dec. 20, 2024, at the Paris Special Assize Court after the verdict in the case against eight people charged in connection with the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in 2020.  STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images

Some of the more obstreperous were led away by police. Over 50 police officers kept order throughout the tense session. Sentences ranging from 18 months of suspended imprisonment to 16 years in prison as had been requested by prosecutors. The defendants included friends of the assailant -- Abdoullakh Anzorov -- who had aided in procuring weapons for the attack. The father of the schoolgirl whose lies had begun the fatal spiral of events included. 

When the national anti-terrorism prosecutor asked the court to downgrade offences of four of the eight defendants, the Paty family expressed their ire: "It's more than a disappointment. In a moment like this, it feels like one is fighting for nothing", said Paty's sister Mickaelle. The charge of complicity in favour of a lower charge of association with a terrorist enterprise was dropped against the two  young men accused of providing logistical support to the killer.

The father of the student whose false account of Paty's use of the caricatures triggered a wave of social media posts targeting the middle-school teacher was among those sentenced. Brahim Chnina was given 13 years in prison for criminal terrorist association. Chnina had published videos falsely accusing the teacher of disciplining his daughter for complaining about the class, naming Paty and identifying his school. Essentially making him a target for murder.

Founder of a hardline Islamist organization, Abdelhakim Sefrioui received a 15-year sentence. Both Sefrioui and Chnina were found guilty of inciting hatred against Paty.Two associates of Paty's killer were also convicted. Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov were sentenced to 16 years in prison for complicity in a terrorist killing. Both had denied wrongdoing.

French high-school teacher Samuel Paty (pictured in centre) was murdered by a radicalised Islamist teenager in 2020   AFP

 

Russian Missiles On Civilian Sites in Kyiv

"Early this morning Russia launched a ballistic missile attack against the capital [Kyiv], killing a civilian and resulting in debris and fires around the city."

"[The United States and its partners were] surging security assistance and energy support [to the country] in response to these brutal attacks."

U.S. Ambassador Bridget A. Brink  

"[Several embassies housed in the same building were damaged in the 'barbaric' attack]."

"These are the embassies of Albania, Argentina, Palestine, North Macedonia, Portugal and Montenegro."

"Windows and doors were smashed in the premises."

Heorhii Tykhvi, Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman

 

"In response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by Western curators, this morning a group strike with long-range precision weapons was launched against the SBU command post, the Kyiv Luch design bureau, which designs and manufactures Neptune missile systems, Olkha ground-based cruise missiles, and the positions of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system."

"The strike targets were achieved. All objects were hit."

Russia’s Ministry of Defense 

"More sanctions against Russia are needed."

"I would also like to thank all of our partners who are responding to this and other Russian attacks by being ready to provide more air defense systems."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

A rescue worker walks by as firefighters work to extinguish a fire near the site of a building destroyed during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2024.  Thomas Peter/Reuters

Moscow claims its ballistic missile attack on Kyiv early Friday was a response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil with the use of American-made weapons. Shortly before sunrise three loud blasts were heard in Ukraine's capital city. According to the Ukraine air force, five Iskander short-range ballistic missiles fired at the city were intercepted. Heating to 630 residential buildings, 16 medical facilities, 30 schools and kindergartens and the city administration had their heating knocked out by the attack.

Falling missile debris was the cause of additional damage, while sparking fires in three districts. "We ask citizens to immediately respond to reports of ballistic attack threats, because there is very little time to find shelter", the air force stated. Russia regularly bombards civilian areas of Ukraine with the clear intention of unnerving Ukrainians while trying to destroy the power grid in Ukraine.

Ukraine, on the other hand, in its struggle to restrain Russia's larger military on the front line, has made an effort to strike Russian infrastructure that supports Moscow's war against Ukraine. Falling debris smashed into the city centre in Kyiv, damaging several dozen highrise office towers, as well as the city landmark of the Catholic Church of St. Nicholas along with the Kyiv National Linguistic University. So much for Russia claiming to aim for Ukrainian military installations.

 

Ukrainian officials said Moscow had launched a fresh attack on Kyiv. Reuters

 

Blast waves from an intercepted low-flying missile blew out windows at six embassies, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, among other damage caused. Air raid sirens rang out again about five hours on. Those sheltering at home in the early morning attack, felt the walls of their apartments shaking in the blasts, while outside fire engines and ambulances raced through city streets. One resident explained: "With the naked eye you could see that many buildings ... were damaged, with glass shards on the ground, far from the explosion epicentre", said Valeriia Dubova while sheltering in a packed subway station.

The strike, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, was  a response to Russia's Rostov border region being attacked by Ukraine making use of six American-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, and four Storm Shadow air-launched missiles courtesy of the United Kingdom. In that attack of two days earlier, Ukraine's aim was to target a Rostov oil refinery, part of its campaign to strike Russian infrastructure supplying Moscow's war plans.

 

A view shows buildings damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2024.  State Emergency Service Of Ukraine via Reuters

 

The Vile Wave of violence, Hatred and Intimidation of Jews in Canada

"[The] fire-bombing of the synagogue is not a one-off event."

"[It is] part of a pattern of an exponential rise in hate crimes and incendiary hate speech incentivized by a culture of impunity as in the absence of accountability of the crime of willful promotion of hatred."

"What is so necessary now is strategic policy direction at the governmental and municipal level around the four Ps:

• Prevention of the crime to begin with;
• Protection of the target;
• Prosecution of the perpetrators; and
• Partnerships among federal, provincial and municipal authorities. 

Irwin Cotler, human rights lawyer, founder, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights

"There is no question that Canada has become a more dangerous place for the Jewish people under the divisiveness of Justin Trudeau that has stoked it."

"Another day brings another brazen act of antisemitic hate, and it's well overdue that the government do something or anything to protect Canadians."

"These lawless mobs of lowlifes must be brought to justice."

Conservative Party deputy leader Melissa Lantsman

"These hate activities are overwhelmingly directed against the Jewish community, students and faculty, and ordinary citizens on our streets."

"They are also being directed against people living in quiet residential neighbourhoods in Westmount and merchants around them."

"As a result, most within the Jewish community and many other residents of the Montreal Island are feeling unsafe."

"We are asking you, as the Mayor and chief of staff to ensure, through policy direction, that there is zero tolerance for antisemitic crime activity in our city, and that as a matter of policy and strategic guidance, the police robustly use the criminal law tools and municipal bylaws available to them to protect the public."

Cote Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, Westmount Mayor Christina Smith, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather

A damaged window is seen at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Montreal after its second arson attack in a little more than a year, Wednesday December 18, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney/Postmedia

For the second time since the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas terrorists, a Montreal synagogue was firebombed. A fire had been reported at Congregation Beth Tikvah at 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. When police arrived they found remnants of a firebomb that had been thrown through a window of the building. In Toronto, several days later, a Jewish parochial school was shot at again, at the front doors. These events occur early in the pre-dawn hours, wreaking double damage; to the buildings themselves and to the security of mind and person of the targeted community.

 

On news of the fire-bombing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau let loose with his usual verbal reaction, that Service de Police de la ville de Montreal is investigating the "hateful act. This vile antisemitic attack against Montreal's Jewish community is cowardly and criminal", he responded. He speaks the language of responsible government, but has never yet -- in a year-and-a-half of street mobs shouting threats at Jewish Canadians, of stalking them in their communities to hurl invective at them, of calling for the destruction of Israel -- undertaken any direct action to put a stop to the unlawful events.

Anthony Housefather, Mount Royal Liberal MP, called on authorities to "make every effort to quick[ly] arrest anyone responsible" for the firebombing. He, along with others in municipal authorities co-wrote and addressed an open letter to Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante for stricter law enforcement to provide due protection to the city's Jewish community. She, like other municipal authorities, like their provincial counterparts, like the federal government itself, have verbally deplored these unlawful, hateful events, but have done nothing within the law to put a stop to them, nor instructed police to follow the law.

The errant, unforgivable failure to pursue hate speech criminal law, along with an "over-reliance on non-enforcement as a form of de-escalation", pointed out the letter co-signers "has emboldened protesters and demonstrators to engage in intimidating, violent acts and unequivocal hate speech, and thus, ultimately, has not successfully addressed the unsafe and toxic situation in our city". Toronto's mayor too, has done nothing to address the lack of safety and security for the public in that city; a permissive aura for tolerating intolerable Jew-hating marches and volatile speeches have marked her as a failure.

"Over the last 14 months, this is the seventh instance where a Jewish institution has been targeted in Montreal and the second time these specific institutions were targeted, chilling reminders of what happens when politicians fail to call out antisemitism and prevent the escalation of violence on our streets", wrote the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, along with Federation CJA, a Montreal-based Jewish organization.

After local Montreal police responded to the synagogue call, to find a flammable projectile had broken a window and ignited within the building, scorching nearby walls before first responders arrived, law enforcement later that morning discovered two windows destroyed at a nearby Federation CJA Jewish community building.

Both properties had been attacked in similar manner with a Molotov cocktail thrown at the synagogue and a fire started at the back exit of the Federal CJA building in November of 2023, a month following the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7.

"The attack on the synagogue is] appalling, yet another example of the vile wave of violence, hatred and intimidation to which Jews in Canada -- and all over the world -- have been subjected in recent weeks and months."

"The world must wake up, words are not enough: synagogues burned, Jews attacked -- NEVER AGAIN IS NOW."

"Following this terrible attack especially, I call on the Canadian government to act decisively, and show that such hatred will not be tolerated."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog

 

"Anything Can Happen"

"Israel now has a clear route to Iran and will likely continue to have one for the foreseeable future [rebuilding or replacing destroyed equipment could take years]."

"Iran was exposed already, and the October strikes proved that."

Gregory Brew, Iran analyst, Eurasia Group

"Hezbollah has lost the supply route coming through Syria at the current stage, but this is a small detail and may change with time."

"[Hezbollah is exploring other ways to rearm, possibly seeking an agreement under Syria's] new regime."

Naim Qassem, new Hezbollah leader

"[The public debate in Iran reflected] a perception that Iran needs to rectify a strategic imbalance with its adversaries."

"[The country's position] risks emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus."                                                                                      U.S. Intelligence Report

"The fingers of the Islamic Republic are being cut off and are getting weaker."

"The fall of Bashar al-Assad didn't only raise the hopes of the opposition but also raised the spirits of the Iranian nation."

Iranian opposition activist, eastern Iran

Israeli patrol vehicles cross the security fence in the Golan Heights near Majdal Shams, Dec. 12, 2024. Israel says its move into the military buffer zone is defensive and temporary.  Matias Delacroix/AP

 

The government of the Islamic Republic has become all too desperate about its rising vulnerability, alarm generated that stirs concerns its escalating conflict with Israel may enter a more dangerous phase shortly, with hard-line regime supporters speaking publicly and more frequently of adopting nuclear deterrence to thwart a potential Israeli attack. Among Iran's opposition, however, new hope has arisen that the descent of Iranian power may lead to a reduction at home of authoritarian rule.

Since the surprise lightning events of Syria's mass murdering Alawite regime's deposing by Islamist rebel groups taking advantage of a power vacuum courtesy of Israel's conflict with Hezbollah that has destroyed 80 percent of the Iranian proxy terror group's arms, and by extension weakening the Islamic Republic itself, seeing the abrupt departure of Iranian advisers from Syria and withdrawal of allied regional forces, Israel was given another opportunity to destroy huge stockpiles of Syrian military infrastructure.

 

A drone view shows sunken boats at the Mediterranean port of Latakia in northwest Syria, Dec. 11, 2024, after Israel said it struck and destroyed Syrian military equipment and facilities once rebels seized power.  Salaah Jeaar/Reuters

 

Warplanes, helicopters, weapons caches and the major portion of Syria's navy were destroyed by hundreds of Israeli airstrikes which Israel claims were launched to prevent the military equipment from being claimed by bands of  terrorists. Analysts, however feel the attacks were aimed at further weakening Iran, serving a critical double purpose. Tehran had installed military officials in Syria under Assad to prop up his regime and protect land routes used to advance weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Iran is always part of the picture. It was like a root canal", observed Yoram Schweitzer, former Israeli intelligence officer, referring to the bombing campaign. Schweitzer observed that Syria's former radar systems could provide Iran with early warning of Israeli attacks; its advanced Russian air defences were a "constraining factor" for Maneuverability by Israel in the area, Iran analyst Gregory Brew of the Eurasia Group added.

Israel had been engaged in a year's-long covert operation against Iranian assets in Syria, with over 100 airstrikes on Syrian territory since October 2023, carried out without public acknowledgement. At least 24 IRGC officers had been killed over the past 14 months in Syria, in strikes aimed at "gutting the middle of IRGC leadership, designed to get the structure to collapse in on itself", according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.

In October, Iran launched its second direct attack on Israel following  devastating hits on its Hezbollah ally. The Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was devastating both for Hezbollah and for the Islamic Republic. Three weeks into a ceasefire agreement with Israel, Hezbollah acknowledged that it had seen itself cut off from Iran. As a result of its losses Iranian authorities are now more openly discussing the possibility of developing nuclear weapons as a deterrent against attacks.

 

Iran increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium since last year, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Researchers concluded that Iran would need one month to further refine that stockpile to weapons-grade fuel, in a report prepared by the Institute for Science and International Security. Ahmad Naderi, a hard-line member of Iran's parliament called for Iran to test "an atomic bomb".

The Biden White House had warned Israel against bombing nuclear or oil facilities in its October attack; even so Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is focused on capitalizing on gains against Hamas and Hezbollah, including facing off against Tehran more aggressively once the new American administration is in place. Mr. Netanyahu, addressing Iran and Hezbollah warned that Israel "will continue to act against you whenever necessary, in any arena and at any time". When asked in an interview of the prospect of war with Iran, incoming President Trump replied "anything can happen".

Israeli military vehicles patrol the security fence near the Alpha Line separating Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria near the town of Majdal Shams, December 12, 2024. Matias Delacroix, AP

Perspectives In Faith

"In our ongoing efforts to foster positive interfaith relations, uphold Canadian values, and combat hatred in all its forms, we wish to bring to your attention the scheduled participation of two speakers."

"We have come across troubling information regarding antisemitic messages shared by both individuals [Imam Yasir Qadhi and Imam Omar Suleiman]."

"Hatred has no place in our society, and it must be addressed unequivocally. We strongly urge you to reconsider and revoke the invitations extended to these speakers due to their public expressions of antisemitism."

"Their presence at the convention could further divide Canadian society and undermine the goodwill we strive to build among our communities."

Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation and Tafsik Organization

"Speakers included in the program are recognized for their scholarship, their adherence to law, and promotion of moral values. RIS organizers and speakers are clear in our stance against hate in all forms, including but not limited to islamophobia, antisemitism, racism and xenophobia."

"[Invited speakers agree to adhere to a conference instruction package that includes:] We will not allow for any speech that can be deemed as hate speech to b e expressed from our platform and request your support in making sure that all remarks are carefully expressed. Also, any support to organizations that are listed by the Canadian Government as 'Terrorist' or are 'Banned' in Canada, will not be permitted."

"While we understand that speakers invited may have made statements in the past that may be concerning or controversial, our team has verified that those do not reflect current views and have since been clarified and/or recanted."

Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS) organizers

Imam Yasir Qadhi and Imam Omar Suleiman. Photo by LM Otero/AP; Geoff Robins/CP, File

 

"My track record for the last two-and-a-half decades speaks for itself, and I have worked with many groups, Christian, Jewish and nonreligious, in many aspects of civic society and interfaith dialogue."

"Additionally, and directly as a result of my own mistake, I have been a very vocal critic of antisemitism, and have continuously educated the Muslim community about the dangers of stereotyping and spreading hatred of an entire peoples."

"While I am a critic of specific policies of the country of Israel, even as I criticize, I continuously remind Muslims to differentiate between the policies of a nation-state, and the people who belong to a historic and ancient faith."

Imam Yasir Qadhi, Texas resident, dean, Islamic Seminary of America post-secondary religious school

A large annual convention, titled Reviving the Islamic Spirit has, over its two decades of hosting guest speakers for a large audience, is now acknowledged to be one of North America's largest Muslim meetings. Over the three days of its presentations, 32 speakers are scheduled to present, to an audience expected to be comprised of over 40,000 delegates, to take place from December 20 to December 23 in Toronto. Several of the speakers on the scheduled roster are known to have opinions on women's and gay rights, and to advocate for Sharia law.

Their inclusion on the speakers' platform by invitation has drawn the concern of two Jewish organizations; the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, a charitable organization, and Tafsik Organization, a Jewish civil rights group. The two sent a joint letter of concern to the organizers of the annual convention, objecting to the participation of two American speakers in particular: Imam Yasir Qadhi and Imam Omar Suleiman. In their response to the letter, the RIS conference organizers assured the letter-writers that their concerns have been taken seriously, but that they are confident the speakers' list will pose no problems.

Imam Qadhi, while agreeing that 23 years earlier he denied the Holocaust, but he has since learned about it, recanted his former position and apologized. His Islamic seminary education took place in Saudi Arabia (influenced by the Wahhabi ulama), according to  his professional CV, and he gained a doctorate in the United States at Yale University. His ranting anti-Holocaust comments took place in 2001 in London, England and drew outrage at that time. He had remarked that "Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews", while recommending a book on the Holocaust "hoax".

He had, years later, accompanied other imams and rabbis on a trip to the remains of two Nazi concentration camps -- Auschwitz and Dachau -- and felt himself moved by the experience. He responded that he had no intention of cancelling attendance at the conference, one he attends most years, and plans to use the platform "to once again preach tolerance and acceptance of a diverse civil society". As for Imam Suleiman, an American Islamic scholar, and founder of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, based in Texas, CNN named him one of "25 influential American Muslims", in 2018. 

His online presence is notable for 3.1 million followers on Instagram, and 2.8 million followers on Facebook. He will not attend the conference in person, but plans to appear virtually. "He went on to imply that the decay of food is a blessing resulting from their existence, and later suggested that the Quran uses stories of the Bani Israel to instruct Muslims on moral conduct", the letter pointed out, in response to 2013 comments in discussion of an Islamic hadith about the "Bani Isr'il (Children of Israel)". Imam Suleiman summarized the hadith in a video: "If it was not for Bani Israel, meat would not decay ... food would never become stale".

One of the conference's sponsors in 2012 was a Palestinian aid charity that had its charitable status revoked for funding organizations with links to Hamas, designated a terrorist organization in Canada. That was the year that Justin Trudeau gave a keynote speech at the RIS conference, when he was a Liberal leadership candidate. All of Canada's political parties at one time or another are on record as having addressed the annual conference.

The Metro Toronto Convention Center. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

"CAEF's concern is that speakers with a history of posting or speaking against the Jewish faith or Jews in general, may promote more antipathy toward Jews, here in Canada."

"Antisemitism is on the rise, so it is a serious concern."

Andria Spindel, executive director, Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation

“This is the precise definition of shirk [polytheism] to make a partner along with Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He [GEBH]. And we realize that obviously shirk [polytheism] that is the opposite of tawhid [monotheism] must by necessity and by definition be the most evil of all evils as Jews and Christians are mushrikoon [polytheists] in our perspective of tawhid [monotheism] as we have studied can understand how, and only the Muslims are upon tawhid [monotheism]. And it is also the same reason, or the same principle of tawhid [monotheism] which is the first obligation upon every single human being, that he bears witness and he testifies that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah GEBH. And it is because of this same principle of tawhid [monotheism] that the Prophet, peace be upon him, has been commanded to do jihad. Jihad is a means and not a goal of itself. It is a means to establish tawhid [monotheism] on the land. أمرت أن أقاتل الناس حتى يشهدوا أن لا إله إلا الله I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify لا إله إلا الله there is no God but Allah. So the whole reason why Allah GEBH has created us sent the prophets and revealed the books and differentiated us based upon this principle and allowed for jihad, is the basis and is the principle of tawhid [monotheism]. The life and property of a mushrik [polytheist, also identified as Christian] holds no value in the state of jihad. Make no respect. Notice that I said in the state of jihad, not at all times and places. The life and property of a mushrik becomes ‘halal’ [permissible] while in a state of jihad. The prophet, peace be upon him, said, and I quote the hadith before, ‘I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: ‘There is no god but Allah’ [Islamic creed declaring belief in the tawhid [monotheism], and when they say ‘There is no god but Allah’ [meaning accepting Islam], he went on, when they say ‘There is no god but Allah’ [meaning accepting Islam], their life and property become protected for me. Which means if they don’t say ‘There is no god but Allah’ [meaning accepting Islam] their life and property are halal [permissible] for the Muslims. So the Christians do commit shirk [polytheism], they are ‘kuffar’ [disbelievers] and they are mushrikoon [polytheists]. The mushrikoon [polytheists] are najis [impure, filth], they are filthy. Najasa [impurity, filth]. They are filthy, a spiritual filthiness which can only be purified by the purity of monotheism [tawhid]. Allah calls the mushrikoon [polytheists] najis [filthy] which is a very evil thing. When Allah Himself says the mushrikoon [polytheists] are najis [impure, filth], Allah is calling them najis [impure, filth], they are najasa [impurity], a filthy, impure, dirty substance.” 

Imam Yasir Qadhi

 

Punishing Mass Murderers

"Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,"

"Investigative actions and operational search activities are being carried out aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime."

"[The explosive device - which killed Kirillov and his aide in Ryazansky Avenue - had an explosive force equivalent to 300g (0.7lb) of TNT]."

Russia's Investigative Committee (SK)

 

"[The killing of Igor Kirillov was a] shocking [development]"

"It's one thing reading about it in the news, it feels far, but when it happens next door, that's completely different and frightening."

"Until now, [the war] felt as if it was happening a long way off – now someone is dead, here, you can feel the consequences."

"Unfortunately, I don't think things will calm down any time soon."

Liza, Moscow neighbour to Kirillov

Lt.Gen.Igor Kirillov, chief, Russian nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces Photo: BBC

There are ways and means. And Ukraine has been extremely adept at exploiting those ways and means. On Tuesday a senior Russian general met his death while carrying out his normal activities for the day. It appears that General Kirillov was known to use an electric scooter to get about, unlike most who prefer motorized vehicles to ensconce themselves within, with personal military chauffeurs. Could be he was a secret environmentalist, aside from being a public mass murderer. That little factoid was all that was needed to arm a plan for his execution.

The scooter, parked outside  his Moscow apartment building, had carried a hidden bomb in a mission of assassination which was remotely detonated. A man responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians in Syria and Ukraine met his own death by the Grim Reaper with a little help from those who felt his activities and decisions in Ukraine called out for a solution to his living presence as an ongoing threat, one whose time had come. 

 

A day earlier, Ukraine's security service had registered criminal charges against the man. Death was his just due.

He had left his home as usual on his way to his office, as chief of the Russian military's nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces. The attack took another with it, his assistant. Under sanctions from several countries, the U.K. and Canada among them, the 54-year-old's activities in the conflict that the Kremlin forced upon Ukraine saw Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) open a criminal investigation accusing him of orchestrating use of banned chemical weapons.

A SBU official confirmed that his agency had directed the attack, speaking on condition of anonymity, describing Kirillov as a "war criminal and an entirely legitimate target". Over 4,800 occasions when chemical weapons were utilized on the battlefield since Moscow's full-scale invasion commenced in February of 2022 on Ukraine, had been identified by the SBU. 

The use of chloropicrin, a poison gas deployed during the First World War against Ukrainian troops had been recorded in May by the U.S. State Department, even as Russia denied the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. In turn the Kremlin took to accusing Kyiv of using toxic agents in combat. General Kirillov was one of the most high-profile figures to level those accusations since his 2017 assignment to his position in the conflict with Ukraine.

Numerous briefings had been called by General Kirillov, accusing the Ukrainian military of using toxic agents and planning attacks with radioactive substances. Tuesday's attack bomb had been triggered remotely, according to news reports out of Russia. Shattered windows and scorched brickwork appear in images from the scene on Russian news reports.

 

Pictures from the scene in south-eastern Moscow showed the badly damaged entrance to a building with scorch marks on the walls and a number of windows blown out.  Reuters

The SBU reported that Russian forces had made use of drones to drop chemical weapons on Ukrainian soldiers. Over 2,000 Ukrainian service members were treated in hospital for chemical poisoning over the war's course, with three people having died as a result of the poisoning, according to Ukrainian Col. Artem Vlasiuk -- which the Kremlin  characterizes as "baseless" accusations.

Investigators from Russia's top state investigative agency are looking into the details of Kirillov's death as a case of terrorism, leading Moscow officials to vow that Ukraine will face punishment for the deadly plan. Deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Putin -- Dmitry Medvedev -- spoke of the attack as an attempt by Kyiv to distract public attention from its military failures, vowing that "senior military-political leadership will face inevitable retribution". 

That is to say, unless Ukraine, with its endless string of brilliant diversions doesn't out-manoeuvre the Kremlin there, too. Since the invasion, a number of prominent Russian figures have been dispatched to Hell in targeted attacks believed to have been carried out by Ukraine.

 

The explosive was reportedly hidden inside of an electric scooter  EPA/Shutterstock

 

"Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, since he gave orders to use prohibited chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military."

"Such an inglorious end awaits everyone who kills Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable."

Anonymous SBU source

 

"[Kirillov had] significantly increased his media engagement [to issue repeated, baseless claims that the U.S. government had been involved in creating both the mpox virus and COVID-19, and that the U.S.] is developing biological weapons able to selectively target ethnic groups."

"The U.S. Government is concerned that this false narrative may be a prelude for a false-flag operation, where Russia itself uses biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and then attempts to blame it on Ukraine and/or the United States."

U.S. State Department, March 2023

 

Georgia, Appealing to Canada for Help

"We are straightforwardly moving towards Russia."

"They're arresting doctors, beating journalists, and threatening to close down the opposition media."

"I do remember the time when the Soviet Union was collapsing and they were dispersing demonstrators, but they never did anything like this. This is brutal."

"[And, because few countries recognize Georgian Dream's re-election as legitimate], there are no institutions that will follow their orders except the police and special forces."

"But they are using special forces against people. We have this generational trauma already. And this just adds to our trauma even more."

Maya Purtskhvanidze, activist, Georgian Women's Initiative Group 

"The criminal acts of inhuman and degrading treatment and targeted persecution of peaceful protesters, as depicted in the video footage distributed by the media are disturbing."

"The video footage and information released clearly reveal numerous episodes of unjustified use of special equipment against protesters, including politicians as well as journalists and detainees, cases of alleged unjustified detention, direct intent to commit violence, and targeted persecution during the dispersal of the peaceful protest."

Public Defender of Georgia statement

 

"By suspending Georgia's EU accession process, Georgian Dream has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin."

"It's a textbook Russian way of destabilizing civil society and establishing dictatorship and the regime of the country."

"First, they attack international organizations, watchdog organizations, political parties, and human rights defenders."

"All the boxes are checked right now."

U.S. State Department

Pro-European Union demonstrators hold Georgian and EU flags during a protest against the government's postponement of European Union accession talks until 2028, outside the Parliament in central Tbilisi, Georgia, Dec. 11, 2024. Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto/Getty

Violent protests of Georgian citizens against vote-rigging in their recent election, allied with the decision by the leading governing party, Georgian Dream, to abandon the country's talks of joining the European Union, seem like a reprise of a similar situation a decade earlier in Ukraine. The reversal is that Ukraine wanted to join the EU, and to create a separation between itself and Russia, and in Georgia the ruling party is moving closer to Russia, abandoning the country's aspiration to join the European Union.

Weeks of protests in the country of 3.7 million people has seen Tbilisi punished by an increasingly authoritarian government re-installed by the election on October 26 in parliamentary elections ostensibly favouring Georgian Dream. Voter intimidation, vote-buying allegations and associated voting irregularities were reported by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

Georgian Dream, in its 12th year in government, announced a day following the election its intention to halt accession talks with the EU until some time in 2028. This, despite its constitution which promises to pursue full integration into the European and NATO. The European Parliament had issued a resolution critical of the election it characterized as unfair. The EU suspension announcement saw a wave of protests and a violent response in the past several days where tear gas, water cannons and police beatings broke up the protests.

In recent weeks, a constitutional institution independent from government, the Public Defender of Georgia, spoke with 327 detainees who were injured during the protests. Of that total, 225 protesters spoke of ill-treatment suffered from the police, with 157 of that number having visible injuries. "I don't know why the government thought they had to use force", said Moreta Bobokhidze, a Georgia activist.

 

Protests over delays in the country's European Union negotiations have stretched into their 14th consecutive day, as demonstrators demand swift action from the government to advance membership talks, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Dec. 11, 2024. Davit Kachkachishvili/Anadolu/Getty

 

A 28-year-old film and theatre actor, Andre Chichinadze, was arrested when 6 police officers appeared at his house. He was arrested on charges of organizing, leading, participating and publicly calling for violence. His mother explained: "He was just standing in the front line, right in front of the police or the mob, because there were girls he was trying to protect." The government's intention to suppress peaceful protest, intimidate the public and "target positive faces" is part of its plan to subdue protest.

"They could have arrested him during the demonstration, but no. They specifically organized this home arrest and created this propaganda around him as if they were investigating something."

"For so many years, people were patient, or trying to be patient, because they didn't want to fight on the street, they didn't want to demonstrate."

"They wanted peaceful development."

Maya Purtskhvanidze

The public is fearful that suspension of EU accession talks would result in an increasingly vulnerable Georgia, ripe for Russian interference. In desperation, activists in Georgia have called on the Canadian government to "publicly condemn backsliding in Georgia, support targeted sanctions on officials responsible for undermining Georgia's democratic integrity, advocate for peaceful protests and bolster Canadian support for Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration".

"Canada remains open to co-operation with Georgia, as long as the Georgian leadership respects democracy, human rights, rule of law and addresses the recent democratic backsliding."

"We call for calm by all parties and for the Georgian authorities to respect the rights and security of individuals in the context of peaceful protests."\

"[There is a need for] free, fair and independent elections [in democratic societies]."

Canadian government statement

Canada itself is undergoing a situation not entirely dissimilar to Georgia's. The current Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dysfunctional and has led the country into financial ruin, exacerbated relations between its disparate provinces, mismanaged immigrant intake so that housing, medical care, social services are well beyond breaking point. Rising crime, religious, ethnic turmoil has taken over the streets, while the governing body does nothing to put a stop to the chaos and violence. Hardly the country to turn to for help in Georgia's travails.

Georgia fears the smothering tentacles of  the Russian Federation with designs to once again incorporate Georgia into a greater union with Russia to fulfill Russian President Vladimir Putin's wish to emulate the Soviet Union's control of its eastern European neighbours. Canada, on the other hand, is concerned and restive over a change in the Presidency in Washington that will impact, they fear, deleteriously on Canada's trade and independence. 

 

Perhaps Canada should call on Georgia to condemn the Canadian Prime Minister's refusal to step down from high executive office in favour of alternative governance to return Canada to its center of gravity as a law-abiding, secure and equality-ensuring nation. The vast majority of the Canadian voting public has no trust in this government led by a man whose vision is that of a 'post-National' country whose values, laws, culture and history is to be erased.

Pro-Palestine supporters at a Hands Off Rafah rally in Edmonton, Alberta, on March 10, 2024. (Artur Widak via Getty Images)

 

Russia's Territorial Expansion in Ukraine

 

 

"[Russia is] terrorizing millions of people [with such assaults -- Friday's massive aerial attacks]."

"A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike -- a massive reaction."

"This is the only way to stop terror."

"[In some regions, Kalibr cruise missiles with cluster munitions smashed into civilian targets] an insidious escalation."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

"[The western Ivano-Frankivsk region suffered] the biggest attack since the beginning of the full-scale war], from cruise missiles and drones."

"As Ukrainians wake to the coldest day of the winter so far, the enemy tries to break our spirit with this cynical terrorist attack."

"Right now, multiple DTEK teams are urgently assessing damage to our power stations and deploying all possible resources to restoring power for the people of Ukraine."

Maxim Timchenko, CEO, private energy company DTEK

 

"[Trump's stance -- against allowing Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied Army7 Tactical Missile System on a Russian airbase] conforms to our position."

"In this case, we have a shared vision of causes of escalation and that is positive."

"Obviously, Trump realizes what escalates the conflict."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Firefighters putting out a fire in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine, following a mass Russian aerial attack on Dec. 13, 2024. (State Emergency Service/Telegram)

 Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and close to 200 drones in a massive aerial attack on Ukraine Friday. An attack that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky characterized as one of the heavies bombardments threatening Ukraine's energy sector since Russia launched its full-scale invasion close to three years ago. This then will be the third winter that Ukrainian citizens face with tenuous and haphazard heating and water availability as they freeze in the dark this winter, while Ukrainian energy companies frenetically work to restore power.

And while Ukraine's military has been successful to an amazing degree in its counteroffensive in defense of its  sovereignty and citizenry, hitting back wherever and whenever its strategic opportunities arise, including into Russia itself, Moscow likes to call Ukrainian defences 'escalation'. The Kremlin's push to advantage Greater Russia's territorial ambitions and Vladimir Putin's intentions of restoring a semblance of Soviet power by victimizing Ukraine remains the single greatest war crime in Europe since World War II.

Of the missiles, including 11 cruise missiles Ukrainian defences shot down 81, intercepting them with F-16 warplanes that Western allies provided to Ukraine earlier in 2024. How the ongoing war with its near-stalemate conditions might unfold in the coming year is bemusing war experts, with the prospect of the incoming new President Trump on January 20 withdrawing U.S. material support in favour of negotiating a 'they can't say no' ceasefire and war's end, at Ukraine's expense.

Moscow to be rewarded for its violent aggression that has caused the death of tens of thousands on both sides, the displacement of millions of civilians, Ukrainian refugees finding shelter abroad, and the wholesale destruction of significant parts of Ukrainian cities, towns and villages. Russia's war crimes in bombing shopping centres, schools, hospitals, apartment complexes, placing civilian enclaves in the bulls'-eye of the conflict rewarded by retaining the one-fifth of Ukrainian  territory Russia now claims. 

 

As though expansionist power-hungry Russia can be trusted not to return at some later date to once more invade Ukraine. As though it would be satisfied with the Crimean Peninsula, Donetsk,, Kherson, Luhansk, Mykolayiv, and Zaporizhzhya Oblasts. Once it completes its territorial control of whatever more it lusts after to complete its expansion of the Russian Federation, it could then turn its attention to the Baltic nations, despite NATO having preventively stationed troops in those regions.

 

Servicemen of the 24th Mechanised Brigade fire a 2s1 self-propelled 122mm howitzer towards Russian positions near Chasiv Yar town, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade via AP)

Withholding further munitions and war machinery so critical to Ukraine's capacity to respond to the Russian military on its soil, would leave Ukraine with little choice but to grudgingly agree to surrender the territories that Moscow has illegally wrenched away at great cost in lives and property. Essentially handing to Vladimir Putin the rewards he feels are owing him for his power-hungry ambitions to be temporarily satisfied before he turns his attention to others in his near-abroad.

 

Moscow's Defence Ministry claimed the use of long-range precision missiles and drones on "critically important fuel and energy facilities in Ukraine that ensure the functioning of the military industrial complex". As though Ukraine is the aggressor and the Kremlin is the stalwart upholder of world order in facing off against a threat to world peace exemplified by Kyiv's determination to defend itself, and by extension, all of Eastern Europe.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the attacks of Friday targeted transport networks and other key facilities as well as the energy sectors. DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy provider, admitted the attack "seriously damaged" its thermal power plants. In attempts to break the will of Ukrainian civilians coping in the dark without running water or winter heating, while disrupting Ukrainian defence manufacturing, this is Russia's calculated winter season strategy of attack.

 

A worker looks up as they repair equipment at a thermal power plant damaged in an earlier missile attack    Photograph: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images