Anti-Judaism, Close to Home

 

                                                                  Vandalized Synagogue Montreal 

Today the Canadian government is convening what they term a summit to address antisemitism. What the feds are referring to is anti-Judaism, acts of hate directed toward Jews whether as individuals or through vandalism of places of worship or online. Systemic anti-Judaism has existed in Canada for a long time through discrimination in employment and social ostracization. In recent years social media has ramped up the attacks and during the pandemic this has worsened. But physical assaults and vandalism have been on the rise as well. 

Often hate campaigns are orchestrated by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, some of whom claim a quasi-Christian affiliation. It is so bizarre given that Jesus and most of his disciples were Jews, as was the apostle Paul. 

This came close to home early yesterday morning as we were putting our kayaks in the water at a boat launch on the Bay of Quinte.  For the ten minutes it took to untie our boats and set up our gear a man standing nearby loudly bent the ear of another guy with every possible hate and conspiracy theory. He included the "Jews and Zionists", a major right-wing theme.  Actually, he was probably 15 metres away but he was so loud we could here every vile word he spewed. He was so intense that the other person didn't say a word, and eventually left.

What was remarkable, other than the sheer volume of hatred in such a short time, was that this man was standing next to a work vehicle for a major cross-Canada company. Ruth did not want me to confront him and I restrained myself. But after our paddle we passed his vehicle at a job site on our route home. We stopped and took a photo of the license plate and the driver, which must have puzzled him. I managed to track down someone in the company's human resources division who assured me that this diatribe in no way reflected their company values. That was by email yesterday but this morning I will have a phone conversation with this company rep, and it will be interesting to discover how this incident will be addressed. Please say a prayer for this interaction!

Obviously this summit is necessary, as is the one tomorrow addressing the rise of anti-Muslim activity. It's hard not to be discouraged, but those of us who follow the Jewish Jesus of love and acceptance need to be vigilant.