Despite being a Western democracy and bastion of liberal ideals, if Conservatives fail to take a majority in Canada’s government in the upcoming fall 2025 election, a considerable number of Canada’s 350,000 Jewish citizens will seriously consider seeking asylum in either Israel or the United States.
Barri Weiss
That’s according to Barri Weiss, former New York Times and Wall Street Journal columnist and co-founder and editor of The Free Press (formerly Common Sense), a slightly right-of-center reader-supported news organization launched in 2022 after Weiss’ resignation from the New York Times over an “illiberal environment” and alleged bullying for her centrist (or conservative, depending on who one asks) beliefs.
Weiss’ comments came on a recent segment on Fox News during an interview about a story published by The Free Press’ Terry Glavin, citing new data released in a report co-authored by Israel’s National Center for Combatting Antisemitism and the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism. That report indicates antisemitic incidents in Canada have increased by 670% in a single year.
Glavin’s provocative headline and characterization of that report have drawn both praise and ire. Glavin dubbed the data: “The Explosion of Jew-Hate in Trudeau’s Canada.”
The Chicago Jewish Alliance concurred, posting, “Antisemitism is no longer an undercurrent in Canadian society — it has become alarmingly pervasive.”
How is this alleged explosion of hate possible in a first-world country? Glavin and the Israeli government suggest two primary sources of vitriol toward Jews: an illiberal academy and unchecked immigration.
An illiberal academy
From the onset of the Israel-Gaza war, which began after an unprompted attack by Hamas terrorists on Israeli civilians Oct. 7, 2023, Western universities were fraught with conflict. Due to Israel’s harsh response to Hamas in Gaza, thousands of pro-Palestinian college protesters formed encampments in quads across the U.S. The same happened in Canada.
Amid the confusion over these events, conflict arose about whether Americans and Canadians protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assault on Gaza were antisemitic. Some protesters clearly expressed antisemitic tropes, while others more narrowly protested the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Israeli government offered this assessment in its report: “Pro-Palestinian protests have contributed significantly to the rise in antisemitism in Canada, particularly among campus activist groups and left-wing organizations, many of which have connected anti-Israel sentiments with broader pro-indigenous revolutionary ideas.”
One such organization cited is the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, where an October rally included chants of “Death to Canada, death to the United States, and death to Israel,” the burning of Canadian flags, and one rally leader telling the crowd, “We are Hezbollah, and we are Hamas!”
Most of Canada’s academicians continue to pay no heed to antisemitism in their ranks.
The Israeli government and The Free Press also pointed to alleged extremist activities at McGill University in Toronto, especially a pro-Palestinian “teach-in” and a so-called “revolutionary summer camp” featuring subjects such as “the axis of resistance” and “pan-Arabism.”
At another university in Toronto, York University, student unions issued a statement defending the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack as “justified and necessary” for “their ongoing fight against settler-colonialism, apartheid and genocide” by Israel and derided “so-called Israel” for its inherent illegitimacy as a state, according to The Free Press.
As a result, many Jews at York, including York University astronomy professor Sarah Rugheimer, say they fear for their safety.
Robert Krell, former director of postgraduate psychiatry education at the University of British Columbia, also feels threatened. On Oct. 8, 2023, the Canadian branch of the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery and shouted, “Show solidarity and celebrate the steps toward liberation” mere minutes away from the 84-year-old’s home.
Data from within Canada’s academy indicates most Canadian Jews “feel unsafe and victimized,” according to a scholarly survey by University of Toronto sociologist Robert Brym, which the Free Press also highlighted.
But most of Canada’s academicians continue to pay no heed to antisemitism in their ranks, the reports warn. Even while Jewish schools are shot up, synagogues are burned, and school buses in Jewish neighborhoods are gutted and defaced, a recent statement from the Palestinian-Canadian Artists and Academics Network and Faculty for Palestine dubbed Israel an illegitimate state.
These organizations continue to say their issue is not so much with Jews as it is with Israel. Supporters of Israel counter there is evidence anti-Zionist sentiment is tied to antisemitism — a view disputed by those who argue the political state of Israel is not the same thing as modern Judaism.
Whatever the cause, Jews comprise only 1.4% of Canada’s population yet are on the receiving end of 70% of religious hate crimes and 19% of all hate crimes.
Unchecked immigration
Another key identified source of Canada’s antisemitism is immigration policies critics say are indeed statistically correlated with rising antisemitism.
Yet this view has drawn sharp criticism and accusations of being “Islamophobic” from one pro-Palestinian Canadian nonprofit.
Canada is now home to nearly 2 million Muslims, a population doubling in 20 years. In the same study on the fear of personal safety by University of Toronto sociologist Robert Brym, 40% of Muslim survey respondents said suicide bombing Israeli citizens is justified, 33% said Jews are not entitled to their own state, 54% described Israel as an apartheid state and 60% declared Zionism synonymous with racism.
Brym also found 34% of Canadian Muslims said Jews have “too much power in our country today.”
In fact, of the 377 members of Canada’s House of Commons, only nine are Jewish. Its 96-member Senate includes only three Jews. Expressed as a percentage, Jews make up only 2.77% of Canada’s federal legislature.
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