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Vancouver Sun
28-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: Paying the price of hate: Government security funding should be made permanent
One year ago, Vancouver's Jewish community awoke to shocking news: An individual had poured an accelerant on the front doors of Congregation Schara Tzedeck, the oldest synagogue in the city, and set them ablaze. Thankfully, no one was harmed. And we were grateful that the Vancouver Police Department and elected leaders condemned the attacks and stepped up to support our community. But here we are, a year later. No suspect has been identified and the threats to our community institutions persist. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Incidents like this have become far too common. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, Jewish-owned businesses, homes, schools, and synagogues across Canada have been vandalized, defaced with antisemitic graffiti and, in the most shocking cases, targeted with gunfire. To the public, these may just be dramatic headlines, but for the Jewish community, each incident is a terrifying reminder that the places where our children gather and where our most vulnerable community members access services could be next. This has taken an emotional toll. According to a Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver survey, 93 per cent of respondents feel 'less secure' now than they did before Oct. 7 and, alarmingly, 61 per cent reported struggling with their mental health. There are also significant financial costs to this new reality. Over the past 19 months, the total security costs for Jewish institutions across Metro Vancouver have risen to more than $100,000 a month — an increase of more than 1,300 per cent. That means vital funding no longer goes toward feeding our community's most food-insecure, providing services to seniors, or giving children from families living in poverty a chance to participate in extracurricular activities like sports or summer camps. In Canada, communities should not have to pay to gather safely, yet those targeted by hate are often forced to shoulder these costs. In 2023, the provincial Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General announced a one-time anti-hate community support fund, offering $10,000 grants to organizations representing groups at risk of being targeted by hateful acts. The funding supported 'security equipment, graffiti removal and repairs to damaged property as part of community efforts to respond to hate-motivated crimes.' A further $200,000 in funding to address the rise in security costs for the Jewish community was provided in 2024. These programs have now ended, but the security needs of the community remain. As we saw with the explosion of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic — and now with Oct. 7 and our community — it is inevitable that global events lead to the targeting of local diasporas. Programs like the anti-hate community support fund provide crucial resources that allow vulnerable communities to secure and rebuild their institutions. Notably, this program is funded through civil forfeiture, meaning it does not come at a cost to taxpayers — an important consideration in today's challenging fiscal climate. As the shock of last year's arson fades with time, the threats to our community remain unchanged. That's why the provincial government must make the anti-hate community support fund permanent. Nico Slobinsky is the vice-president, Pacific region, of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
Toronto Star
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Some protests in Toronto are crossing lines. We shouldn't let city staff decide where those lines are
Many Torontonians are sick of anti-Israel protests that have gone too far. Some have been peaceful, but others have blockaded major intersections or blared hateful chants. Some have targeted Jews. Recently, a protester appeared to direct a smoke bomb towards diners at Jewish-owned Café Landwer. Toronto police took the unusual step of charging the suspect with mischief. The incident was a reminder that police already have the laws they need to end the disorder when protests cross a line. There is simply no need for the new 'bubble zone' bylaw that the City of Toronto council passed on Thursday in a 16-9 vote. The bylaw, which has been debated at council for more than a year, is a response to protests in Toronto outside places of worship, religious schools and daycare centres after rallies targeted the Jewish and also Hindu communities in the Greater Toronto Area. The bylaw will ban disfavoured political speech within 50 metres of eligible centres that request to be placed inside a protest-free zone. That may sound appealing to those fed up with the chaos, but bubble zones are unacceptable limits on the Charter right to freedom of expression. A better option: just enforce the laws we already have, like mischief and intimidation, when protesters go too far. The main problem with the bubble zones bylaw is they are content -based restrictions. They silence people on the basis of their message. The bylaw will allow city staff, upon request, to create an 'access zone' outside of a school, child care centre or places of worship (so-called Social Infrastructure), inside of which no person would be allowed to '(1) perform or attempt to perform an act of disapproval concerning a person's attendance (at the school, place of worship or daycare) … (2) persistently request that a person refrain from accessing … (3) obstruct, hinder or interfere or attempt to obstruct, hinder or interfere with another person's access … or '(4) express an objection or disapproval towards any person based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion/creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability or the receipt of public assistance by any means, including graphic, verbal, or written means.' While the law states that its purpose is to protect 'access,' only subsection (3) addresses access, and it's redundant: obstructing, hindering and interfering is mischief under the Criminal Code. Just ask the Ottawa Freedom Convoy protesters recently convicted for their street blockades. Subsections (1), (2), and (3) are content-based restrictions because they would give city staff the power to ban speakers based on their message within 50 metres of more than 3,000 locations across the city. Think about how broad that power is. The bylaw could be used to block someone from protesting sales of land in the West Bank that take place inside a synagogue. It could be used to block protests outside high schools against transgender women competing in women's sports — and counterprotests in favour of trans rights. It could be used, as Coun. Alejandra Bravo pointed out, to ban protests outside Catholic churches by residential school survivors. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Content-based restrictions are hard to justify because they undermine the very purpose of free speech, which is to allow individuals, rather than the state, to decide what messages they wish to express. People need this freedom to express even the most unpopular ideas because often the received wisdom turns out to be wrong. You can't do that when the state can act as a censor. The good news is that laws that aim at the physical consequences of speech, rather than content, tend to be constitutionally sound. In addition to laying mischief or intimidation charges for protesters who block sidewalks and streets, police can enforce noise bylaws and the Highway Traffic Act when people disturb the peace with loudspeakers in pickup trucks. Council should reconsider this bylaw. Rather than infringing rights, we should just use the laws we already have.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Police investigate reports of antisemitic graffiti
Reports of antisemitic attacks on Jewish-owned businesses and a synagogue in north Manchester are being investigated, police have said. Several buildings in the Kings Road and Bury Old Road area of Prestwich were daubed with "racially or religiously aggravated" graffiti on Sunday, said Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The force said it was following several lines of inquiry and added that additional officers had been deployed to the area to support residents. GMP said officers were keen to speak to anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage from the area. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. Greater Manchester Police
New York Post
11-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Megabucks ad campaign launched urging NYC, NJ Jews to cast primary ballots
Don't kvetch — vote! A group seeking to mobilize Jewish voters in the city's upcoming June 24 primary elections including for mayor is launching a $500,000 TV and social-media ad campaign to try to drive up turnout amid rising antisemitism. 3 A group seeking to mobilize Jewish voters is launching a $500,000 TV and social-media ad campaign to try to drive up turnout. Jewish Voters Unite Advertisement The narrator of a 30-second video spot titled 'Hate Crimes' that is part of the push says, 'This June, the safety and security of the Jewish community is on the ballot.' The ad, obtained exclusively by The Post, starts running Monday and is paid for by Jewish Voters Unite. It rattles off stats showing the increase in local Jewish hate crimes, including vandalism at the Jewish-owned Effy's Cafe on the Upper West Side, and displays video of a Jewish man being attacked in Brooklyn. Advertisement The ad will appear on commercial and cable news networks including Fox News Channel, CNN, NY1 and News 12. It will also be streamed on YouTube, Hulu, Roku, Spotify and Pandora and appear on Facebook, Instagram and X. The ad campaign is part of Jewish Voters Unite's larger 'Voting is How We Fight Back' get-out-the Jewish vote effort. The group, run by Jewish activist Maury Litwack, has 700 volunteers and more than a dozen paid staffers. 'This is a pivotal moment for the Jewish community. This Jewish community feels antisemitism,' Litwack said. Advertisement 'This primary election provides an opportunity to do something about it. Jewish voters are not sitting on the sidelines. We're expecting there will be a historic turnout and believe Jewish voters will be the story of this primary election.' 3 The ad campaign is part of Jewish Voters Unite's larger 'Voting is How We Fight Back' get-out-the Jewish vote effort. Jewish Voters Unite Jewish Voters Unite will soon open its fourth site in heavily Jewish central Queens, joining its existing offices in Brooklyn and on Manhattan's East and West sides. Canvassers are handing out 'Don't kvetch, vote' merchandise including hats, cups and wristbands. Advertisement While the group is nonpartisan and not backing any particular candidate, Litwack, a staunch critic of the Democratic Socialists of America, spearheaded a similar campaign last year that drove up Jewish turnout in Westchester County, helping moderate George Latimer defeat Israel-bashing ex-Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary. The DSA sponsored an anti-Israel rally in Times Square a day after Hamas attacked Israel and slaughtered 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023. 3 The ad will appear on commercial and cable news networks including Fox News Channel, CNN, NY1 and News 12. Jewish Voters Unite So a larger Jewish turnout at the polls could be kryptonite for Big Apple mayoral DSA candidate Zohran Mamdani, who supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and has joined in at anti-Israel rallies. But a big Jewish turnout could aid ex-Gov., Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic mayoral front-runner in recent polls, as well as former city Comptroller Scott Stringer and current Comptroller Brad Lander, both of whom are Jewish. The ad campaign will also reach voters in northern New Jersey, which has a considerable number of Jewish residents who are urged to vote in their state's upcoming competitive Democratic and Republican primary races for governor. 'We want to turn out every Jewish voter,' Litwack said. Advertisement A related but independent Litwack-led group — the Jewish Voters Action Network — helped register nearly 7,000 Jewish New York City residents as Democrats ahead of the June mayoral primary, The Post reported last month. More than 4,130 of the Jewish voters who signed on with the Democratic Party — and thus are allowed to vote in the primary — were previously registered as independent or belonged to the Republican or another party.
Axios
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Miami Beach strengthens Israeli ties but defers O Cinema vote
Miami Beach further strengthened its support for Israel in a series of votes Wednesday but didn't take up a proposal to influence programming at a local theater targeted for showing a documentary about the Gaza conflict. Why it matters: The City Commission's moves show how intent it is to demonstrate its loyalty to Israel after a scrapped proposal to evict O Cinema drew national attention. Driving the news: Commissioners directed the city to maximize investments in Israeli bonds and work on attracting Israeli and Jewish-owned businesses to Miami Beach. The commission deferred a resolution encouraging O Cinema to screen films that show a "fair and balanced" viewpoint of the war in Gaza. Friction point: During a tense meeting Wednesday, more than a dozen residents spoke up against the package of Israeli-related proposals. At one point, Mayor Steven Meiner directed police to escort an audience member out of the commission chambers. Later, he interrupted a speaker during the allotted two-minute comment period and refused to give the resident additional time. What they're saying: Miami Beach resident Alex Mayka said the city has "real problems" to deal with, like flooding and housing scarcity, and shouldn't spend time focusing on supporting an "apartheid nation." "These resolutions don't help people who actually live here." He criticized the city targeting O Cinema, the South Beach theater with a lease on city-owned property. "This city government has absolutely no place in telling artists what kind of stories they can or can't tell." The other side: Meiner, a strong ally of Israel, responded to almost every anti-Israel comment during time reserved for public speakers, labeling some remarks as "hate speech" and antisemitism. "I give the respect to the people who speak, but I'm gonna counter hate speech when it comes this way," Meiner said. Commissioner Joseph Magazine, who sponsored the resolution attracting Israeli businesses, said it was "sickening" that someone could oppose recruiting Jewish business owners. Magazine called Miami Beach a safe haven for the city's "Israeli and Jewish brothers and sisters." "Part of being a safe haven is speaking proudly about an initiative like this." Catch up quick: Meiner previously proposed evicting O Cinema and withdrawing its grant funding after it screened "No Other Land," the Oscar-winning documentary about the Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank prior to the war. Meiner called the film a "one-sided propaganda attack" on the Jewish people. O Cinema and the ACLU of Florida argued Meiner's effort amounted to government overreach and violated the theater's First Amendment rights. Meiner later withdrew his eviction proposal after opposition from the Commission and public. A second Meiner proposal, which wasn't heard Wednesday, criticizes "No Other Land" as an "incomplete portrayal" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and encourages O Cinema to "prioritize films that present the suffering and moral position of the Jewish people and the state of Israel." The intrigue: It's unclear why Meiner never brought the item for a vote.
