The appalling new normal

We have recently passed the third anniversary of the horror of Oct. 7, and the news is not good. As we have seen in far too many developed and less developed countries around the world, the anti-Israel forces continue to conduct their hate-fests in our streets and commit acts of violence against businesses, synagogues and other Jewish institutions. Even here in supposedly moderate Canada, we had an attack in Belleville, Ontario on a synagogue that was fortunately thwarted by a courageous police officer, Jeff Smith, who was seriously injured while doing the right thing for the Canadians in the synagogue and Canada in general. If only more of our politicians had his courage. 

The immense growth of Jew hatred following the October 7, 2023, massacre has been appalling to any right-thinking person. It was very obvious that the Hamas terrorists and those that supported them were totally prepared to capitalize on the events of October 7 in their barbaric way, as immediately afterward the October 7 massacre, crowds appeared in the streets of Western countries, including Canada, with printed materials, placards and other promotional pieces criticizing Israel and lionizing the terrorists. This was hardly a last-minute exercise. 

Other recent events have also emphasized the prevalence of Jew hatred throughout our society. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ridiculous recognition of “Palestine” last year, made unilaterally by him when Parliament was not sitting, was made to look even more ridiculous by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent postponement of the elections that were supposed to take place in November 2026. They are now supposedly scheduled for September 2027. As there have not been elections in this region since 2006, it’s quite likely they will be postponed indefinitely. Having an election without Hamas involvement was a condition imposed by Carney, the United Kingdom and France for the recognition of Palestine to take place. 

The fact that elections have been put off once again demonstrates either the naivete of Carney, along with UK and French leadership, in believing there would actually be elections at all. Or it could also be that the conditions were just phoney baloney that they mentioned for political reasons but never intended to actually impose. Whatever the case, it is highly unlikely at this point that these countries will withdraw their recognition of Palestine as a state. The three countries put out a very milquetoast statement that they “deeply regret” the postponement. Boy, that’ll make an impact! Once again, the end result is the terrorists and their sympathizes have reneged on a commitment and there will be no consequences for doing so. What a great message to send to one of the powder kegs of the world by the cowardly leaders of Western countries. 

Another discouraging event was the absurd awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and someone well known for waging a campaign against Israel and leading efforts to label the war in Gaza as a genocide. It’s pretty hard to fathom how her actions could have anything to do with promoting peace. She has been shown to be pro-censorship and against free speech, cornerstones of a democratic society. After the horrors of October 7, Pillay noted that she believed Hamas’ crimes “did not pose an existential threat to the 

State of Israel.” The Nobel Committee’s reputation has been deteriorating steadily in recent years as its choices for prize winners become more and more ridiculous, but this one takes the cake. 

In Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress – the oversight body for Canada’s trade unions – chose to sever its ties and relations with Histadrut, Israel’s national labour federation. The resolution to do this was put forward by pro-Palestinian labour groups. Although this move is largely symbolic, it still represents yet another move to isolate and demonize the only democracy in the Middle East.  Unions have been one of the worst offenders in promoting extreme antisemitism. The fact that the strongest unions in Canada right now are the public sector unions means that our tax dollars are going to these foolish causes without taxpayers’ permission. Mandatory union dues are supposed to be used only for collective bargaining, not the pursuit of radical ideological causes. Supposedly, unions are supportive of things such as LGBTQ rights, equality for women and democracy. As Israel is the only country in the Middle East that protects those rights, it is the height of hypocrisy for the union movement to discriminate so heavily against Israel. 

There were also some positive actions on the third anniversary of the October 7 carnage. Anyone paying attention to social media would have seen many declarations by non-Jews that they were Zionists and very supportive of Israel. A number of very high-profile artists, actors, politicians and others joined in to express their support. It’s encouraging to see that movement growing, and it hopefully will continue. 

Following the Holocaust in Germany during the Second World War, many people questioned how that could possibly have happened, and how any human being could be that cruel to other human beings. There was much use of the phrase “Never Again.” Yet looking at the world today, we see very well how the Holocaust could have been permitted to take place, as irrational and groundless Jew hatred once again takes hold. Edmund Burke is credited with saying “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” It’s time all good people took a vocal and principled stand, opposed the plague of antisemitism and took their place on the right side of history.