Attacks on Palestinians in Canada have gone under-reported

Amidst the most violent escalation between Israel and Gaza in years, both protests in support of Palestinian rights and reports of antisemitic incidents increased in Canada. B’nai B’rith said there were more violent antisemitic incidents in May than all of last year. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs called on “our federal government to convene an emergency summit to address growing antisemitism.” But comparatively little attention was devoted to anti-Palestinian incidents, which also experienced an uptick.

Palestinian Canadians faced discrimination and violence, and supporters of Palestinians have also been targeted. Let’s look at the record over the past few weeks starting with a log of harassment or possible hate crimes against Palestinians:

• On May 13 a group of Israeli flag-waving individuals in Thornhill are on video trying to fight and threatening to “run over” a small group of Palestinian activists. At one point, police pull their guns.
• On May 15 a Jewish Defence League (JDL) supporter interviewed prior to the pro-Palestinian rally said he was looking to brawl. He then told a passerby, “I used to rape guys like you in prison, bro.” Another individual was caught on camera swinging a stick wildly at someone. At another point, an older supporter in the same video can be seen with a knife and bat.
• On May 16 a pro-Israel supporter was photographed with a hammer in his hand at a protest in Montréal. At the same rally an individual ripped a Palestinian flag from a man’s hand and the crowd cheers.
• On May 24 a Palestinian family in Hamilton who had put up a sign on their lawn with a Palestinian flag found the flag stolen and a note was left in its place that read: “KEEP YOUR POLITICS AND ANTI-SEMITIC RACISM OUT OF MY COUNTRY AND MY NEIGHBOUR-HOOD. IF YOU DON’T LIKE MY COUNTRY, GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!” The theft was not caught on camera but there is a photo of the note and stolen sign. The family had originally posted this message with their flag: “We support human rights. #FreePalestine #OngoingNakba”.
• On May 25 a recent immigrant from Gaza who lives in Calgary was cut off and stopped by a pickup truck. He filmed the incident, depicting the motorist slamming on his window, demanding to fight. The attacker yelled, “terrorist fuck,” “terrorist ass,” and “I have a picture of Mohammed in my car Allah.” He is seen laughing in the footage while ripping off the Palestinian Canadian’s windshield wiper. The Palestinian man had a Palestinian flag in his rear window. 

Outside of these instances other individuals experienced instutionalized discrimination— such as a social justice teacher in Toronto who was put on home assignment, McGill students who were blacklisted, a doctor in Toronto who was smeared and threatened with termination — for standing up for Palestinian rights. Over the past few months in Halifax, Windsor, Calgary, Hamilton, police ticketed dozens of individuals for attending Palestine solidarity protests on charges of violating public health orders that limit gatherings during the pandemic. 

One of the events was a car protest and attendees did not get out of their vehicles. In Windsor, police ticketed many with noise complaints after a car protest where drivers honked, chanted, and played Arabic music. In Hamilton police issued 12 tickets to pro-Palestinian protesters with fines over $800 each. Eight of the 12 citations were written to Muslim women wearing headscarves, suggesting they were targeted by their religious identity. 

The above are incidents I complied. Palestinians in Canada do not have a central reporting organization that logs harassment or abuse against them. This is not the case for antisemitic incidents. B’nai B’rith, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, CIJA and the Jewish Federations operate hotlines to tabulate incidents targeting Jews and have significant capacity to communicate these records externally. At times, the organizations have sent individuals to video and photograph pro-Palestinian protests, which have been used to document harassment. This raises the question of what these groups consider an antisemitic event. In some incidents, there is a clear display of antisemitism, like protests with derogatory chants against Jews or Judaism, yet in other incidents, the events are simply critical of Israel or Israeli policy. This muddied criteria is a dangerous conflation that undermines Palestinians’ ability to advocate for their rights. 

As Israeli oppression of Palestinians has become ever more difficult to defend, the lobby’s emphasis on driving the discussion towards antisemitism has grown. For its part, the pro-Palestinian movement is more focused on discussing the violence meted out against those in Palestine.

With that in mind, let’s look at the most high-profile incidents of antisemitism cited by supporters of Israel:

• After massive Palestine solidarity demonstrations on May 15, CIJA published a release titled “CIJA Concerned by wave of violence and antisemitism connected to conflict in the Middle East”). It showed numerous images of supporters of Palestinians holding placards equating Israeli policy to the Nazis and an Israeli flag with swastikas on it. The individual whose photo was initially on the cover — subsequently removed — of the release was a knife and bat wielding individual aligned with the JDL who was beaten up after (apparently) picking a fight.
• On May 16 in Edmonton, Adam Zepp told Global News he was walking out of his parents’ driveway at 9 p.m. when a car drove by with young men yelling “Free Palestine.” Forced to loop back due to the neighborhood layout, Zepp says the men subsequently said, “are there any Jews here? Any Jews live here? Where do the Jews live?” 
• On May 16, a day after thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took over downtown Montréal, a small pro-Israel rally was held downtown. Pro-Palestinian counter-protesters reportedly threw objects (rocks according to some) at the pro-Israel group. I could not find a video of objects being thrown but there is a video of scuffles between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian individuals. There is also a great deal of video of the Montréal riot squad trying to disburse Palestine solidarity protesters, which suggests they were treated as the aggressors.
• On May 17 in the Montréal neighborhood of Côte-Saint-Luc, which is heavily Jewish, two men were arrested for driving through the municipality and allegedly yelling anti-Jewish slurs 
• On May 18 an Israeli flag flying on a street median in Côte-Saint-Luc was removed. This followed messages on social media that “any Israeli flag gets replaced with a Palestinian flag.”
• On May 26 Global did a two-minute video report and accompanying article on a 
• A TikTok video circulated of two young Arab women identified as students at Laurier University, where the pair are dancing and one holds a knife and makes a stabbing motion. They pretend to burn a paper with the Israeli flag drawn on it, and one pretends to vomit on it. While the video shows both the Israeli and Palestinian flags and directs intent towards the Israeli flag, it was shared by Honest Reporting Canada, as “Glorifying Stabbing Jews.”

While all forms of racism and hate crimes should be condemned, readers can see that many of these incidents aren’t directed towards Jews and Judaism and are towards Israel or Israeli policies.