You have probably heard about the recent series of interviews with Kanye West, the highly successful 45-year-old performer, producer, fashion designer, and entrepeneur. West, who now goes by the moniker Ye (can Thee be far off?) is also a bigot and anti-semite who has repeated atrocious tropes regarding Jewish people. Ye has self-described and well-documented mental health issues but this is never an excuse for bigotry and promulgating dangerous conspiracy theories. Business partners and sponsors have fled Kanye, apparently reducing his considerable wealth by an estimated 80%. This is encouraging, but plenty of his fans continue to support him.
The Jewish population in the United States is about 2.4% while in Canada it is roughly 1%. World-wide there are just over 15 million Jews with about 7 million of them in Israel. This is .2% of the population of the planet -- not 2% -- .2%.
Despite this statistically low population there are vast numbers of people who hate Jews and insist that they control the global banking system and the World Economic Forum and...you name it. George Soros, the philanthropist who has given away more than $30 billion to various causes was a member of a Jewish family which escaped the Nazis during World War II. Nonetheless, one of the conspiracy theories is that Soros is himself a Nazi and is scheming for world control -- it is a drearily unimaginative recurring theme. The sheer madness of it all is breathtakingly farcical, and very dangerous. You'll recall that former President Orange refused to denounce anti-semitic demonstrators and white supremacists, which emboldened them.
There is a long history of a disproportionate number of hate crimes directed toward Jews in Canada, compared to other targetted groups, and there were record levels of antisemitism recorded in Canada last year, with sharp increases in Quebec and British Columbia. The annual audit by Jewish advocacy group B,nai Brith found there were 2,799 anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2021, including beatings, vandalism of synagogues and swastikas in schools. There were a number of incidents in GTA schools where Jewish teachers were assaulted with Nazi salutes.
We are in the midst of Holocaust Education Week, an opportunity to reflect on the terrible atrocities of the Nazi regime which resulted in the deaths of six million European Jews. We know that there was a shameful indifference to the plight of Jews during the World War II, including by Christian churches and their leadership. In the 1930s Father Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest who was born in Canada developed a large following for his radio show in the United States which supported the fascists of Germany and offered anti-semitic commentary which became increasingly vile.
I wonder if school boards across the country make much of an effort to educate students regarding the Holocaust and anti-semitism, both anti-Jewish and anti- Muslim?
It is so important for Christians who claim allegiance to Jesus, the Jewish peasant, and the Prince of Peace, to avoid complacency. We must decry anti-Jewish and anti-semitic comments and actions wherever they rear their ugly heads. And, yes, that must happen in Canada.
Here is the link to the Bearing Faithful Witness document which explores Jewish Christian dialogue
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