Moving from hate to hope must be an integral part of our social norms.
by Alan Simons
In a clear-cut article published yesterday, B’nai Brith Canada reported last Saturday, June 4, in a suburb of Metro Toronto, “about 100 protesters gathered at Celebration Square in downtown Mississauga, ostensibly to condemn Israel’s potential extension of sovereignty to communities east of the Green Line.”
They added, “A video of the Mississauga rally, first exposed by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, shows attendees chanting in Arabic: “Palestine is our country, and the Jews are our dogs!” Later in the same video, protesters promise to “sacrifice our soul and blood for Palestine” and proclaim that “martyrs by the millions march to Jerusalem.”
According to B’nai Brith, they have “independently verified the translation. In Islamic culture, dogs are traditionally despised and regarded as impure.”
The article states:
“Through its own investigation, B’nai Brith has discovered that the co-organizers of the rally – and many of its attendees – were mere high school students. B’nai Brith has identified one of the co-organizers but has chosen not to name her at this time due to her status as a minor.
“The display of antisemitism in Canada’s public squares is totally unacceptable,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “Opposition to Israeli policy can never be used as an excuse to demean Jews as ‘dogs’ or to threaten violence against them.
“We have reached out to the high school attended by one of the rally’s organizers, and hope to visit at an appropriate time in order to educate students about the dark places to which rhetoric of this sort can lead.”
This is not the first time that Mississauga’s Celebration Square has played host to antisemitic hate speech. In 2017, Palestinian protesters there chanted, “Remember Khaybar, oh you Jews, the Army of Muhammad will return!,” in reference to an ancient battle in which a Muslim army slaughtered Jews in the Arabian Peninsula. No charges were laid following that incident.
Amin El-Maoued, leader of Palestine House-Toronto, led the antisemitic chants in 2017 and was once again present at Saturday’s protest.
According to an April 29 report by Peel Regional Police, Jews were the most targeted religious group for hate crimes in the region in both 2018 and 2019, despite constituting just 0.22% of the total population as of 2013.”
One might presume the content of this article is the norm of people’s behaviour in Canada’s largest metropolitan city. It is not.
Moving from Hate to Hope: Remembering and Learning Together
On Sunday, July 12, 2020, at 7:30 pm, EDT., Canadian Muslims and Jews will gather to remember and honour the victims and survivors of the Srebrenica genocide.
Twenty-five years ago, on July 11, 1995, more than 8,000 predominantly Muslim men and boys were systematically selected for death because of their identity. They were murdered and buried in mass graves in Srebrenica over the next three days. It is considered to be the greatest atrocity committed on European soil since the Holocaust, 75 years ago this year.
Toronto sponsor organisations of the event include Holy Blossom Temple; Imdadul Islamic Center; Bosnian Islamic Association Gazi Husrev-Beg; Intercultural Dialogue Institute; Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims; Canadian Anti-Hate Network; JSpaceCanada; the newly formed Enhancing Social Justice Education (EJSE) and Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom. The invocation will be led by both an Imam and a Rabbi.
To quote Elie Wiesel: “Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.”
This Sunday’s event will help to bring one’s attention that from hate to hope is an integral and positive move for all Muslims and Jews to adhere to, together. It must continue, while the likes of El-Maoued suffer internal punishment for their antisemitic acts of intolerance and hate.
Enough already!
Credits: Hate to Hope poster: Andy Lulka. Portions of this article are credited to B’nai Brith Canada.
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