GOLDSTEIN: We know what Jew hatred is and we know what’s coming

Look, we get it, we really do.

Our federal government constantly vilifying Israel makes it clear what it’s going to be like for Jews in Canada for the foreseeable future. That what stretches before us are years of antisemitic attacks, far beyond the norm, simply because we’re Jews, which security experts warn will inevitably escalate into a major terrorist attack, even if there’s no immediate threat today.

Australia was warned for years about its failures to address growing antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, before it exploded into the Bondi Beach massacre of Jews celebrating Hanukkah.

As the Times of Israel reported in December 2024, “Australian Jews experienced more than 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents over the past year, more than quadruple the number from the previous year, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said.

“A total of 2,062 incidents were recorded between October 2023 and September 2024, far more than the 495 incidents noted a year earlier. The total does not include antisemitic statements made on social media.”

Simmering issue in Australia before terror attack

In Australia, as the Times noted, “synagogues were firebombed. Jewish homes vandalized with swastikas. A kosher deli torched. A childcare centre adjacent to a Jewish school was targeted in an arson attack.”

Sound familiar, Canada?

Canada is where, as the Toronto Sun has reported, Jewish mezuzahs were ripped off the doorways of a city-owned seniors home, Jewish day schools shot were at, Jewish university students were threatened and Jewish synagogues, homes and businesses were vandalized.

Where online and face-to-face harassment, vandalism and violence against Jews increased by 125% to a record 6,219 incidents last year compared to 2,769 in 2022, before Hamas’ terrorist attack, according to B’nai Brith’s annual audit on antisemitism.

Where Hamas — designated a terrorist group by Canada in 2002 — praised Canada three times during the war in Gaza.

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Demographics influencing politicians’ views

The first in December 2023, when Canada voted in favour of a biased, anti-Israel resolution calling for a ceasefire at the United Nations, which passes more resolutions every year condemning Israel than all other nations on earth combined.

The second in May, when Canada, the U.K. and France threatened “concrete actions” against Israel if it didn’t cease its military operations.

The third in September when Prime Minister Mark Carney, again at the UN, recognized the state of Palestine, which Hamas described as the “fruits” of its Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.

We understand Canada’s Mideast policy has do with demographics.

As former foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly told former NDP leader Tom Mulcair, her views on the Mideast are influenced by the makeup in her Quebec riding.

Jews being targeted with impunity

That is, there are far more Muslims than Jews, also reflected across Canada, where according to the latest census there are 1.78 million Muslims compared to 335,000 Jews. Indeed, the most popular baby name for boys in Toronto last year was Muhammad.

But here’s the thing. Even as Carney pledges to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu if he sets foot in Canada because of the warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court, while paying lip service to the fact that what Israel does is not a reflection on Jews in Canada, the “pro-Palestinian” protesters with their never-ending demonstrations make that direct link every day.

They do it with impunity, even while marching into Jewish neighbourhoods having described the occupants as “vermin,” without consequences.

To be fair, that’s a municipal government and police failure, not a federal one.

That said, it means we all know what’s coming.