Pro-Israel organizations in Canada are trying to chalk up another victim of a campaign of “civil terror” meant to silence critics of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Some Jewish organizations have called Fred Hahn, the president of CUPE Ontario, antisemitic because he re-posted a cartoon critical of Israel, CUPE’s National Executive Board has called on the recently-re-elected Hahn to resign as General Vice-President of CUPE .
Hahn’s alleged crime? During the recent Paris Olympics, Hahn re-posted a satiric video showing an Israeli diver (clearly representing the State of Israel) turning, mid-plunge, into a bomb and destroying a street scene and killing children in Gaza. Rather than seeing the social media post as the criticism of Israel that it is, groups like CIJA, B’nai Brith Canada and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center opportunistically insist that it is directed against Jews. Following a well-worn pattern, these organizations are running the antisemitism charge up the flagpole to see who salutes it.
Says Larry Haiven of IJV Canada: “The social media post by Fred Hahn was not antisemitic; it unambiguously chose Israel as the target of its criticism, not the Jewish people. Recent surveys show that Canadians still hold their Jewish neighbours in high esteem while at the same time condemning Israeli atrocities. Ordinary Canadians clearly know the difference between Jewish people on the one hand and the State of Israel on the other.
The 10-month Israeli-led carnage, which has killed at least 40,000 Gazans, including 14,000 children (with many thousands of others missing under the rubble) has horrified the world and led the International Court of Justice to condemn the genocide. But these pro-Israel mouthpiece organizations persist in deflecting attention through promiscuous accusations of antisemitism.
IJV Canada has called this campaign of vilification “civil terror,” meant to shut down a growing tsunami of legitimate criticism of Israel. Among other things, this pro-Israel campaign has attempted to, and in some cases succeeded in:
- Firing, suspending, slandering, doxxing, and intimidating medical doctors, health care workers, law students and other professionals, merely for condemning the slaughter
- Getting any public or public-facing official who criticizes Israel removed from their position
- Disciplining student unions, faculty unions, trade unions and other civil society organizations for as little as signing a petition or adding their name to appeals
- Tarring campus occupations against the Gaza butchery as “unsafe” for Jewish students and beseeching university administrations to evict them
- Calling for the banning of rallies and demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights
“The specious accusation of antisemitism is wearing pretty thin by now. We trust that Fred Hahn and CUPE members will steadfastly continue to condemn the genocide and stand up to the malignant slander,” says Rima Berns-McGown of IJV. “IJV represents thousands of Canadian Jews, young and old, who say what Israel does is ‘Not In Our Name.’”