Glaring Omission in Canada's Hate Crimes Report

"It is out of control and must stop."

"We implore police forces to monitor Jewish institutions closely and vigilantly during this troubling time for Jewish Canadians."

Judy Foldes, Chief Operating Officer, B'nai Brith Canada

"Recent global events have escalated hate-motivated incidents in person and online."

"Hate crimes target people based on parts of their identity and communicate a wider message of hate to others with similar identities."

"[Hate crimes against Indigenous, Black and Asian communities; 2SLGBTQIA+, gender-based hate; ageism and disability-based hate and class discrimination and] hate against people who are unhoused."

Canadian Ombudsman report

 

"We obviously care deeply about how people are affected by antisemitism and Islamophobia and other forms of hate."

"And there's a lot that's happening geopolitically and we didn't want the report to particularly focus on those issues."

"We've tried to cover a wide range of issues. It wasn't intentional to avoid any topics, but we did want to look at some of the really important cases that were coming forward and also raise the profile of hate crimes against people who are homeless and anti-Asian hate and hate against people who are older and femicide."

"So there's a broad range of issues covered in the report."

Ombudsman Benjamin Roebuck

Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian supporters descended upon Queens Park in Toronto to protest the war between Israel and Hamas, on Oct. 20, 2023. Photo by Jack Boland /Toronto Sun

Strengthening Access to Justice for Victims of Hate Crime in Canada has been released. Victims of hate crimes will no doubt be pleased and relieved that their status as victims is being recognized, that a government entity is aware and determined to alert other government agencies to attend to the effect of such alarming experiences on their victims. And, presumably, in raising the alarm, ensure that action will be taken to remediate the situation; hold the agitators to account, relieve the pressure on the victims.

 

Jews in Canada, unfortunately will go on waiting for their travails under the frightening burden of violent antisemitism and the disheartening effects of being targeted by an identifiable group of Jew-haters in continual marches that disparage them as Canadians, that threaten them as Jews, and that make their lives a misery of uncertainty and fear. For they are treated differently than all other groups in society suffering from discrimination that impacts on their lives.

 

This despite the fact that in the face of steadily rising numbers of hate crimes and that the vast majority of these hate crimes are aimed specifically at the Jewish population within Canada, their plight appears unworthy of mention as a distinct group under duress. The federal government ombudsman considered to be the `voice of the victim` fails to even whisper the plight of victimized Jews; studiously going on to make mention of all other marginalized and victimized groups, hop-skipping away from the topic of virulent antisemitism displays and criminal acts.

 

A police vehicle sits outside Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal, a Jewish school that was hit by gunshots for the second time in three days, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. Christinne Muschi The Canadian Press

According to the statistics gathered by the Office of the federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime,  a 32 percent increase in the number of hate crimes for 2023 reported to police is troubling, but evidently that attacks on Jews increased by a  staggering 72 percent the same year is undeserving of comment, much less censure. Evidently the constant calls for Jewish genocide are simply not worth the notice; the attacks on Jewish schools, community centers, synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses; vandalism, shootings, firebombings are beneath notice.

 

It is the purpose of the report, Strengthening Access to Justice for Victims of Hate Crime in Canada, which is concerned firstly how victims are treated in the judicial system, in legislation and with support programs, and secondly how they could be improved. Jews, long accustomed to looking after themselves since no one else cares to, are simply to get along with it, using their past experiences and expecting little from Canadians or Canadian authorities, since that is precisely what they get. 

 

Graffiti reading 'Free Palestine' was left on the rear doors of a Jewish grocer in North York after an early morning fire there on Wednesday. Toronto police says its hate crime unit is investigating the incident. (CBC)