Violence at a Toronto speaking event has sparked calls for more scrutiny on Israeli soldiers entering Canada, with some saying they should be barred entry or investigated for potential participation in war crimes related to the Israel-Hamas war.
Police arrested and charged six protesters after an event organized by a Toronto Metropolitan University student group Students Supporting Israel (SSI) this month that featured Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers as speakers.
While SSI blamed protesters for a chaotic scene that included screaming and a broken glass door – protesters can be seen on video banging on the venue’s front doors as they are being held off by police — clips shared by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Toronto show one of the IDF soldiers grabbing and shoving protesters.
Jews are not “welcome in Canada” because Jews are not foreign to Canada. Canada is home to Jews who live their lives openly and safely as Jews to the full extent they wish to practice their identity. Our free liberal and multicultural Canada is a promise that Jews don’t need a “Jewish” apartheid genocidal state to live free and safely as Jews. No militaristic ethnostate shithole bunker of a country can be a better choice for Jews than our country and it’s a disgrace and offence to Canada to imply that there is a place safer for Jews than our modern Canada.
Any peace loving Israeli is also welcome to our free country, same as people of any other foreign nationality. The only thing democratic minded Canadians demand is that we don’t let in war criminals. Nothing more and nothing less than applying to Israelis the exact same standards we apply to others. Anyone advocating genocide and apartheid should expect Canadians to stand tall against them.
We’ve had to pass laws to prevent the “free Palestine” crowd from harassing Canadian Jews at synagogues. If that crowd had their way, Jews would not be welcome in Canada even if they were born here.
You want to pretend you’re not a part of an antisemitic movement so much that you turn a blind eye to the rampant antisemitism embedded within it. These calls for refusing Israelis entry into Canada is from that part of your movement.
You’re clutching at straws. If anything these laws would be further proof that Canada takes Jewish safety seriously.
You also don’t get to say what I “want to pretend”. That’s just bad faith, rude, toxic and inflammatory behaviour.