If 2020 was good for anything, it highlighted people’s true character, as the call to fight for Black Lives Matter was left unanswered by too many people. As we all know, feminism is bullshit if it isn’t intersectional. People’s true character were highlighted as their performative activism shone through their self-serving #blackouttuesday squares and their manipulation of the protests as photo-ops. However, while many are fighting the good fight for Black communities, and calling action for justice on the cops who killed George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Jewish communities are left feeling vulnerable and unprotected as acts of anti-Semitism blaze throughout Canada and the USA. The ADL Tracker of Anti-Semitic Incidents is updated daily to track blatant acts of antisemitism in the USA. In Canada, the following Anti-Semitist acts have happened:
- Nationalist Party leader Travis Patron called for the removal of Jewish people in Canada, claiming that “If (Jewish people) had their way, our entire way of life would be eradicated. They don’t like us. In fact, they despise us because of what we are and the spirit we represent. They cannot coexist with it. And what we need to do, perhaps more than anything, is remove these people once and for all from our country.” (July 15 2020)
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A man verbally attacked a Jewish father and his son outside a synagogue in Thornhill, yelling “you’re a piece of shit, you’re Jewish, you run the f***ing world” before approaching the victim’s car and attempting to stick his hand inside. (September 18 2020)
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Two garage doors on private homes in Thornhill were spray-painted with graffiti reading “Jews Run The World” and “Jews Hate Blacks”. (September 20 2020)
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In Ottawa, a man spat at Jewish worshippers at an outdoor service and called them “dirty f***ing Jews”. (September 19 2020)
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Stickers blaming Jewish people for the spread of COVID-19 were found throughout Halifax, NS, reading “The Bug That Backfired COVID-19,” flanked by a Star of David and a symbol of the Freemasons. (October 9 2020)
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Adam Riga, 28, was charged with trying to commit arson and uttering threats after spray-painted swastikas were found on the doors of Shaar Hashomayim temple in Montreal. (January 14 2021).
“No one can change the pride I feel as a Jewish woman, and I will continue to try and voice my experiences in hopes of being heard. Anti-semitism is ingrained in society’s definition of acceptable, as holocaust jokes are often laughed at and comments about Jews having big noses are often not given a second thought. This is because many believe Jews are powerful and don’t need to be protected. Right wing extremists are Nazis who hope to exterminate us, while left wing extremists think Jews are corrupt elitists, or colonizers. Both find common ground in making the Jew the enemy, and so we sit with no party and are offered no protection. In the last few years, I have experienced this solitude. I have wept at synagogues vandalized, torah books burned and Jews mercilessly assaulted on the streets. I have tried to get non-Jews to pay attention to the terror Jews face daily for simply being Jewish. Although I often receive little support, I am not deterred. My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor who hid with a Christian family to survive. Despite being the only surviving member of her family, she used to encourage me to have pride in my Jewishness. I honour her every day by doing so, and will continue to do so until Jews are heard, protected, and supported.” – Jess Katzman, BAH ‘20
“For many students at Queen’s who do not come from Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver, I was the first Jew they had ever met. I am often asked questions, usually innocent, but peppered with stereotyping and misinformation surrounding what it means to be a Jew and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Usually it was remedied with a quick explanation of the facts, learned from prejudiced family members, media outlets, or general stereotyping perceived to be true.
On the other hand, a lot of the antisemitism I have seen is more direct. Upon learning of my identity, people have immediately assumed I have some sort of hatred for Muslims and come from old money. Someone told me last year that their good friend, a fellow Queen’s student, genuinely believes every university in North America (including Queen’s) has been infiltrated by Israeli spies in preparation for a Zionist world-takeover. I have been attacked by a professor for asking questions regarding certain speakers at Muslim-Jewish solidarity events. I have had friends spit on and yelled at for presenting outwardly as Jewish. I have been told about people being fought and yelled at for having Israeli flags on their Queen’s jackets.
The Christian hegemony of Queen’s, campus preacher, and student proselytizers certainly haven’t made things any easier, and I know I, and other Jewish students, often feel the need to hide our necklaces or other indicators of our identity in order to avoid awkward questioning or having Jesus shoved down our throats. The racist graffiti incidents of April 2019 were quite a shock, and cemented my fears. I discovered these graphics and phoned them in as I watched people pass by without a second glance. It goes to show how little people know about antisemitism, and how it has reshaped itself today. It is unknown if the graffiti was done by Queen’s students, however I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, considering Queen’s racist history and some of the people I’ve met here along the way.
Even with all these experiences, my time at Queen’s as a Jewish student has generally been a positive one. We have a growing, loving community here and we know we have allies.”
– Anonymous
