antisemitism

Teach critical thinking

We are failing in a battle we cannot afford to lose. Canadians and the world are trying, unsuccessfully, to control the spread of misinformation and disinformation at the source, policing online platforms, flagging content and regulating perpetrators.

This “supply-side” approach is fundamentally flawed. Information today moves too fast, too freely and too globally to ever be contained. Controlling what is produced is a losing battle. Our main hope is to vaccinate consumers of information against the pandemic of lies.

In recent issues, the Independent has reported on steps being taken by the provincial and federal governments to police boundaries (for example, provincial legislation that would create “bubble zones” around religious institutions) and strengthening hate crime laws (the federal government’s Bill C-9). These are deeply necessary and well-intentioned steps.

They are also like plugging a collapsing dike.

In the immediate term, we need to police speech that is hateful and potentially violent. In the longer term, we need to educate citizens to differentiate between truth and lies so they are less susceptible to bigoted ideas and misinformation.

B’nai Brith Canada has launched a national digital literacy campaign that is timely and necessary. (See story, page 12.) Even this initiative, though, should go further. Digital literacy alone is not enough. Canadians – and people everywhere – require a much broader foundation in critical thinking and media consumption. They need to know not just how to use digital tools, but how to question and critique all manner of information: how to evaluate sources, how to distinguish fact from fiction, commentary from reporting, propaganda from legitimate information.

If individuals are equipped to interrogate what they see – if they instinctively ask, “Who created this? Why? What evidence supports it? What motivations might the creator have beyond informing me?” – then misinformation loses some of its power. It stops spreading, not because it has been removed, but because it has been assessed and rejected by its targets.

Importantly, this is not just about young people, though teaching students these skills early is essential. Misinformation does not discriminate by age, and neither should our response. In many cases, older generations, who did not grow up in a digital environment, are even more susceptible.

The world is experiencing a tsunami of information. Everything – everything – depends on the ability of each of us to navigate these surging waters. If people cannot tell what is real, they cannot make informed decisions or vote responsibly. If they cannot distinguish truth from manipulation, democracy itself erodes.

This is especially relevant right now to Jewish Canadians, who are deeply concerned by surging antisemitism and antizionism. We are wringing our hands over how to successfully confront this crisis. If we can train people to identify misinformation, propaganda and assorted falsehoods and conspiracies, the Jew-hatred problem may not entirely resolve itself. Those steps would, however, almost certainly be the most effective and enduring contemporary response to an ancient and enduring bigotry.

A society that can think critically is a society that is less easily misled. And, in today’s world, that may be the most important skill of all.

Learning to bridge divides

A friend from my grad school, Jill, has a distinguished academic career. She’s now the chair of her university’s religious studies department. She’s co-authored a book on dialogue in education and works with an organization called Essential Partners, which “helps people build relationships across differences to address their communities’ most pressing challenges.” This work shows great promise in helping people listen and learn from one another.

This dialogue-oriented academic approach draws on the Socratic seminar, an ancient learning technique I was taught as a young teacher. It gets students to interact, do analysis and to listen carefully to one another.

I was thrilled that this technique was used in one of my twins’ public school English classes. His regular teacher was on leave and an experienced, retired teacher took over the classes as a long-term sub. As a former English teacher, I watched my Grade 9 student dig into the material. He did prep work to learn how to participate, including writing journal entries and eventually producing a literary analysis essay. The cherry on top was that this whole unit focused on Elie Wiesel’s book Night. The students finally accessed some Holocaust education (mandated by the province but not previously implemented) as part of this rigorous unit.

Then my kid reported that classmates said the sub was “trying to Jewify” them. Later, classmates said he only got high marks because he was Jewish and a teacher’s pet. In a polarized political climate, this teacher did everything right to facilitate safe dialogue and teach important texts. Even so, antisemitism popped up – showing how necessary dialogue like this is for our society at this moment.

Our household likes to discuss and debate. We don’t shy away from difficult topics. I think we succeed at this type of conversation at the dinner table, though we could all benefit from improvement in our listening habits.

When I became a parent, I stepped back from the academic work I used to love. I became a caretaker when we had twins, due to health challenges. I also mostly stopped teaching, due to all the moves necessary for my husband’s work.

To “get back” some of this work, I’ve explored different opportunities in the last year. I spoke on “finding hope,” as part of an ethics, politics and humanity panel at an interfaith conference. I committed to teaching two workshops at Limmud. In another foray, I took advantage of a podcast’s call for entries and applied. This local academic podcast focuses on “peopling the past.” They requested submissions to examine the relevance of the ancient world in understanding contemporary issues.

I wanted to explore how the Babylonian Talmud, in tractates Zevachim and Menachot, examines boundaries, definitions and understandings of “appropriate sacrifice.” I saw fascinating parallels between this ancient discussion and how textbook definitions of words like “apartheid,” “genocide” and “colonization” are being manipulated today. I thought it could make a great case study of how the Talmud recorded hundreds of years of comparison and dialogue between rabbis (scholars) and how that model might be applied to analytic discussion today.

The rabbis disagreed about definitions and details. It was a high stakes conversation for them. Ritual sacrifice in the Temple was a thing of the past, but they felt it essential to understand and record the right way to do this, so the Jewish people would know how to manage if the Temple were rebuilt. Further, if the Temple is never rebuilt, what could we learn from the “right” and holy way to do sacrifice?

Months passed. The deadline for hearing back from the podcast organizers passed. I inquired politely but heard nothing. Then, I did something I should have done in the first place. I researched more about the nearby academic organizing this. I learned this academic was heavily invested in Palestinian activism. Once I read this, I figured I would never even hear back about my proposal. Yet, to my surprise, I got a polite form letter, which (of course) turned down my submission.

My pitch might not have been competitive. I’ve got two master’s degrees but no PhD or university affiliation. The topic maybe was too controversial. Perhaps my write-up was too plainspoken. After sleeping on it, I realized none of that mattered. In fact, I was relieved. After all, considering my family’s challenges in listening more and talking less at the Shabbat table, I wondered if I could have pulled off a podcast conversation with a person so firmly entrenched in an opposing and confrontational viewpoint.

Studying Daf Yomi (a page of Talmud a day) since January 2020 helps me shed light on these career-building experiences. Every day, I read rabbis’ debates, over centuries, that model dialogue and analytic questioning. There are aspects of the Socratic seminar in these texts and the ways in which scholars build relationships and bridge differences to solve their communities’ challenges. Repeatedly, I see this difficult, but meaningful, process play out between rabbis who lived almost 2,000 years ago, in a text compiled a little over 1,500 years ago.

A reflective teacher evaluates what was or wasn’t successful in an assignment or lesson plan. This recent rejection allowed me that reflection. I’d take off points if I assessed myself. First, I failed to do enough research to realize that this podcast, while geographically convenient, wasn’t a good fit for ideological reasons. Second, it helped me examine ways I can grow as a listener and work to create meaningful spaces for respectful, safe dialogue across deep divides. Studying Talmud for a few minutes a day, across six years, gives me even more respect for the role of civilized, rigorous discussion and safe spaces to disagree. Some people aren’t ready to grow this way. They cannot leave space for that intellectual growth. When challenged, they respond with rejection or name calling, as my kid experienced.

Finally, I realized why sometimes academics spend a lot of grant money and time on choosing the “right” professor to travel to their institution. It’s sometimes too uncomfortable to sit in the room with someone who is not an easy match. Still, we might learn more from the dialogue with those more challenging discussion partners. Learning to bridge divides and live together is sometimes the most meaningful work, after all.

Joanne Seiff has written regularly for the Winnipeg Free Press and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com.

Women share experiences

Left to right, at CHW Vancouver Centre’s SHE DAY event March 8: Ruthi Akselrod, Laura Lewko (kneeling a bit), Pam Wolfman, Toby Rubin, Jocelyn Brown, Ruth M’Rav Jankelowitz, Tamara Shenkier and Laura Mossey. (photo by Shula Klinger)

On March 8, CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO) launched its first SHE DAY event. Hosted at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, the celebration of International Women’s Day included a panel discussion, a shuk (market) of women-led businesses and kosher refreshments.

CHW Vancouver Centre president Toby Rubin, who introduced the panel, also shared that, starting in October, the Vancouver CHW team would be under the joint leadership of Pamela Wolfman and Jocelyn Brown, who moderated the discussion between Dr. Tamara Shenkier, Ruth M’Rav Jankelowitz and Laura Mossey.

Shenkier, who is an oncologist, educator and advocate, recently retired. Her 30-year career included numerous leadership roles in medical education and governance, and she spent the last decade-plus focusing on breast cancer. She is a founding member of the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia.

Jankelowitz has spent three decades in commercial and hospitality design, and her portfolio includes many household names, including DKNY, Timberland and Nike. Her company, Janks Design Group, has created the spaces of such eateries as OEB, Nando’s and Tap and Barrel.

Mossey brought her voice as a non-Jewish Zionist and educator to the panel, sharing some of the influences that have helped frame her identity and worldview.

The conversation was dominated by the topic of antisemitism and its marked increase since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel.

“Things were bubbling in the cauldron but, since then, I have felt as though I am ‘the Jew,’” said Shenkier, who spoke of feeling more exposed and more vulnerable in recent months than ever before. She talked about changes to medical curricula that followed consultation with “thought leaders,” rather than medical experts, and how students were being encouraged to contemplate their practice through the lens of race – though, she noted, “Jews were never mentioned as a marginalized, persecuted community.”

Mossey, too, has seen efforts to erase Jewish identity. For example, the Coquitlam school district now asks parents to share their identity in questionnaires, she said, and “Jewish wasn’t included.”

Brown asked panelists about the biggest challenges they have faced – as Jews and/or Zionists – in their personal and professional lives.

“The hardest thing for me was the silence – from colleagues, friends, employees,” said Jankelowitz. “I gave them countless chances to learn and nobody asked. It was pretty astounding. So, I made my voice louder.”

Mossey addressed the dangers of misinformation and disinformation, highlighting the need for strong leadership.

“We are all vulnerable,” she said, describing a history lesson she gave to Grade 10 students. She taught them about the origins of Black Friday: when, on Nov. 18, 1910, suffragists protesting at Parliament in London, England, for the right to vote were physically and sexually abused. Given that today’s students can graduate without being taught about democracy, she said, “it’s imperative that they hear about the challenges that have been faced by women, somehow, from anyone who’ll show leadership.”

Mossey pointed to the hypocrisy of “safe classrooms” after the provincial teachers’ federation donated $50,000 to UNWRA, many of whose teachers and doctors have been shown to be Hamas operatives.

Asked to speak about resilience, all three women talked about the importance of setting boundaries. Jankelowitz said she had let go a client of 10 years. “I designed all of their stores. They had unionized and the team made a statement about genocide and apartheid, citing Amnesty International and Francesca Albanese [of the United Nations]. I don’t want to create spaces that will alienate my own community,” she said.

Jankelowitz also shared a positive experience: meeting a woman at a Business Network International event who asked to be educated about Zionism. “In one week,” said Jankelowitz, “I put together a historical dossier, links, books … to this day, she’ll come and ask me to verify what she’s heard, she tells me, ‘So I can fight it.’”

Mossey also has not been shy about living according to her values. She has worn emblems in support of Israel and shows her solidarity with Jewish students in various ways. When a principal asked her to hide her social media feed from public view, her response was unequivocal: “No.”

She recalled a conversation with a Jewish student, where she explained her purpose: creating a safe learning environment for all kids.

Asked to offer their advice to other women, Shenkier talked about her own life, cautioning against falling into unhelpful extremes: “being in denial, moving ahead as if nothing has happened,” and, on the other side, “absolute paralysis, anxiety, rumination, catastrophizing.” Find a middle ground where healing can really be possible, she said. “You need to acknowledge and sit with your pain. The community will sit with you, without trying to fix it.”

Shenkier advised people to “separate who you are as a human being from your thoughts, feelings and projections.” She added, “expunge the word, ‘should,’ from your vocabulary. Focus on your strengths. Say ‘no.’ Stop comparing yourself to others, do what brings you joy.”

Earlier in the discussion, Shenkier had spoken of the mythical person who can “have it all,” and the damage caused by such a mindset, which she described as “oppressive.” She stressed the importance of “self-awareness gained through introspection.”

Mossey recommended: “carry your burden, share it, talk and let friends help you. Be physical to get through the stress.”

“Focus on what you can control,” said Jankelowitz. “You don’t need permission to use your voice. The room doesn’t decide if you belong to it.”

Mossey asks one question when she is challenged on her position on Israel: “Do you believe in the Jews’ right to self-determination?” She said the response helps her decide, in an instant, whether the conversation is worth pursuing.

“Don’t waste your time talking to people who aren’t interested in learning,” said Mossey, who has read dozens of books about Judaism and Israel, yet said she would not call herself an expert on the topics.

The panelists explored the theme of resilience at some length.

“What does resilience look like in the current climate?” Brown asked.

“Showing up for the community, for my team at work, being consistent in my beliefs,” Jankelowitz shared. “Equip yourself with the facts.”

Mossey responded with stories about her mother – a 17-year survivor of a high-risk cancer surgery – who taught her the word’s meaning: “Lean into your faith, keep your family close, and do something every day” to stand up for your cause.

Commitment to personal values and professional ethics are also vital, added Mossey. “I’m not going to make myself smaller to avoid offending a kid who knows nothing about history,” she said.

Brown asked panelists to share an example of when their identity had felt like a strength as opposed to something they “needed to explain, manage and protect.”

Shenkier’s happy childhood in Montreal was a “grounding, not a cloak I can put on and take off,” she said. She considers herself lucky to have been a physician, a career where “the constant questions, the examination of one’s ethics and the practice of empathy were all congruent with my faith.”

Mossey recalled a meeting where she was asked to “identify herself.” She felt that traditional labels, such as “white,” “heterosexual” and “cisgendered woman,” were unhelpful. On that day, she said, “What differentiates me is my character. So, now I identify as a Zionist.”

Jankelowitz, who was once a logistics officer in the Israel Defence Forces, agreed: “owning the identity is more powerful than hiding it,” she said.

As the questions came to an end, the audience rose in a standing ovation.

Toby Rubin reminded attendees that, if anyone faces antisemitism, they can find support through CHW.

Event sponsors included Sylvia Cristall, Laura Lewko, Ruth Freeman, Brown (Acubalance Wellness Centre), Rubin and Wolfman; the national corporate partner was real estate development company Israel Canada. The afternoon was catered in part by Ricci Leigh-Smith’s team at Perfect-Bite, and organized by Amanda Aron Chimanovitch, community engagement and event officer for CHW, Western Canada.

Proceeds from SHE DAY events – which took place in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Delray Beach, Fla. – went to the Eden Association Trauma Therapy Centre. Founded in 1997, the centre provides trauma care to young women and girls in southern Israel, where the need has increased greatly since Oct. 7.

The next CHW Vancouver Centre event is Games Day on May 6 at Richmond Country Club. Proceeds from it will go to supporting post-traumatic stress disorder therapy at Shamir Medical Centre and psychological rehabilitation at Hadassah Hospital in Israel. To register, go to chw.ca/region/western-region.

Shula Klinger is an author and journalist living in North Vancouver.

Raising funds for Survivors

Artists Claire Kujundzic and Bill Horne have created a Bondi Beach memorial shirt. Monies raised are being donated to Bema Productions’ high school Holocaust education tours of Wendy Kout’s Survivors. (photo from Amazing Studios)

After the terror attack at Bondi Beach, Australia, on Dec. 14, in which two gunmen killed 15 people and wounded some 40 others who had gathered to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, Victoria artist Bill Horne hosted a print-your-own glow-in-the-dark menorah shirt event at his and partner Claire Kujundzic’s Amazing Space Studio.

“Claire and I were very distressed by the antisemitic murders at Bondi Beach, and wanted to do something,” Horne told the Independent. “I’ve screen-printed with glow-in-the-dark ink before, e.g. images of aurora borealis, and the image of a glowing menorah popped into my mind. I thought it could symbolize the spirits of those killed at Bondi Beach, as well as literally ‘light up’ a menorah on a shirt this way.”

On Facebook, Horne invited anyone who wanted to print their own glow-in-the-dark menorah to bring a shirt to the Saanich studio before one of the Hanukkah light-up events in Victoria.

image - The front of the shirt features a menorah that glows in the dark — The front of the shirt features a menorah that glows in the dark. *(photo from Amazing Studios)*

“I had a few spare, unprinted black shirts in the cupboard, so I printed them,” he said. “When our visitors saw them, they asked if they were for sale. I hadn’t conceived of this as a commercial project, and that would have felt completely wrong, so I thought it could be a fundraiser. With Zelda Dean’s permission, I announced through word-of-mouth and our studio’s newsletter that we would be printing the shirts to raise funds for the high school tours of Bema theatre’s production of Survivors, as part of BC’s Holocaust education.”

Horne and Kujundzic, neither of whom is Jewish, have seen the play.

“It was an excellent production,” said Horne.

“The first production we attended at Bema was Si Kahn’s Stranger in a Strange Land,” he said. “I had heard Si sing at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival many years ago, and didn’t know he wrote plays. We saw a poster for this play of his at the [Victoria] Jewish Community Centre one day when we went for lunch. The musical was great, and Si was in attendance, which was a bonus.”

That was when the couple first met Dean, the founder and managing artistic director of Bema Productions, which is based in Congregation Emanu-El.

“We think she’s one of the best things about Victoria!” said Horne.

He and Kujundzic have since seen various plays and readings at Bema.

image - The back of the glow-in-the-dark menorah shirt lists the names of those murdered at Bondi Beach, Australia, on Dec. 14, while celebrating the first night of Hanukkah — The back of the glow-in-the-dark menorah shirt lists the names of those murdered at Bondi Beach, Australia, on Dec. 14, while celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. *(photo from Amazing Studios)*

The fundraising initiative is just starting, with $100 donated from that first, unplanned small batch of shirts.

“Once we receive enough orders to print and sell at least a few dozen more shirts, we’ll be able to make a larger contribution,” said Horne. “In terms of raising spirits, most people who see the shirt (especially with the lights out) have been moved or glad to see something positive in response to the Bondi Beach massacre. I also think it’s important for gentiles to wear a shirt like this in solidarity.”

“I am so grateful to my dear friends Claire and Bill for their tremendous generosity and their ongoing efforts to make the world a better place,” Dean told the Independent, noting that fundraising “becomes more difficult every year and we welcome donations toward this very important Grade 8 to 10 educational play, which is approved by the provincial government.”

Bema will be doing its fifth annual tour to BC schools with Survivors, which was written by Wendy Kout, based on recorded testimonies of 10 survivors talking about their experience as teens during the Holocaust, said Dean. “We have so far presented at 45 schools on Vancouver Island and in Greater Vancouver and hope to reach the Interior as well this year.”

Horne and Kujundzic operated Amazing Space Studio and Gallery in Wells, BC, for more than 25 years, before moving to Saanich in 2021. While not a retail gallery anymore, people can arrange a visit to the studio.

The Bondi Beach memorial shirt is completely in character for the couple, who have been involved in many causes and projects since they met in 1981.

“Tools for Peace published two fundraising calendars of Claire’s Nicaragua-themed art in the late 1980s,” said Horne. “We’ve produced art and design for fundraising or promotion projects for groups such as BC Black History Awareness Society, the Wells Historical Society, Friends of Barkerville, families of Nicaraguan political prisoners, Ukrainian refugee families, RAVEN Trust and Treaty 8 First Nations (resisting the Site C dam), the United to End Racism delegation at the World Peace Forum (Vancouver, 2006) and the successful Wells Save Our School Campaign of 2002-2003.

“Claire has designed logos, graphics and posters for Pacific Post Partum Society, BC Organization to Fight Racism, Potters Without Borders, Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council, Kettle Friendship Society, International Women’s Day, many unions, including Union Women, and the International Metalworkers’ Federation.”

As a printmaker, Horne can silkscreen shirts, as well as editions of prints for exhibitions, he said. He has also designed books of poetry and photography.

“Claire learned the printing trade in her 20s, worked as a designer doing layout and logos, and produced paintings, prints and sculptures as well,” he noted.

A reprint of the menorah shirts will take place this spring, with probably another run in the fall. Horne needs to first create a secure online order system.

If anyone wants a shirt, contact the studio for details of the next printing, shirt size/style options and prices: amazingspacestudio.com. To donate to Bema Productions’ high school tours of Survivors directly, go to holocausttheatre.com.

Call for digital literacy

The federal government must develop a comprehensive national digital literacy program aimed at protecting young people from a wide range of online harms, because current efforts are fragmented and insufficient, according to B’nai Brith Canada.

The national advocacy group is proposing a major national project on this front, something that emerged after B’nai Brith’s appearance before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage last December. The committee was studying the impact of social media on young people.

In its submission, B’nai Brith focused on the risks of online extremism and radicalization. However, testimony before the committee revealed a much broader problem.

“We heard compelling testimony … from those confronting the impact of exploitation, sex exploitation, financial exploitation, misinformation, disinformation, really the gamut of online harms,” said Richard Robertson, the organization’s director of research and advocacy.

In response, B’nai Brith launched a campaign in late 2025 calling on Ottawa to fund and implement a national youth digital literacy program. The goal is to consolidate existing resources and ensure they reach young people across the country.

Robertson stressed that the issue extends beyond education policy and requires a coordinated national response.

“We don’t believe this is a curriculum issue. We don’t believe that this is an education issue. This is a national issue,” he said, adding that the problem “transcends provincial borders.”

The proposed program would bring together existing tools and expertise developed by various organizations and make them more accessible and impactful. Rather than building entirely new materials, the focus would be on refining and distributing what already exists.

Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada. (photo from BBC)

“There’s a lot of great resources out there … what we need to do is ensure that those resources are getting to our youth,” Robertson said.

The campaign is also calling for federal funding – potentially through the next federal budget – to support both the development and promotion of the program. B’nai Brith envisions using the same channels that already reach young people, including social media and other digital platforms.

Campaigns targeting specific demographics “are not novel to our society,” Robertson noted, and similar strategies could be used to deliver digital literacy content effectively.

The organization has begun developing a framework for the proposed program and is seeking to collaborate with experts in Canada and internationally. Early endorsements have come from groups including the Canadian School Libraries Association and the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University.

While some jurisdictions, including Australia, have restricted young people’s access to social media, B’nai Brith argues that education remains essential regardless of regulatory approaches.

“You can try to restrict their access … but they will find their ways to interact with it,” Robertson said. He added that online harms extend beyond social media to video games, forums and other platforms that are difficult to regulate.

The organization’s position is that education should complement – not replace – regulatory efforts. B’nai Brith has been engaging with government on digital regulation and plans to participate in an upcoming parliamentary study on artificial intelligence.

Robertson said his group has received a positive initial response from policymakers and is hopeful that funding could be included in the next federal budget, either through new allocations or existing programs.

Beyond federal action, B’nai Brith is also encouraging provincial governments to take steps, particularly within school systems.

“We do an excellent job of … making sure [youth are] literate with technology,” Robertson said. “We need to make sure that their use of technology is a positive experience by also devoting attention to the dangers.”

B’nai Brith is seeking support from civil society organizations and individual Canadians as well, as it builds momentum for the initiative.

The campaign comes as concerns continue to grow about the impact of digital spaces on young people. For B’nai Brith Canada, the urgency is clear: online risks are evolving quickly, and a coordinated national response is needed to help youth navigate them safely.

The hidden hand of hate

Warren Kinsella has spent much of his career studying the darker corners of political life. A lawyer by training, author of about a dozen books and a longtime political strategist, he has written about Holocaust denial, far-right extremism and organized hate movements.

In his just-released book, The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda, he follows these threads down the unseemly rabbit hole that has perplexed many observers since Oct. 7, 2023: the sudden and superficially spontaneous eruption of anti-Israel activism across Western campuses and cities in the aftermath of the horrendous atrocities of that day.

Kinsella’s thesis is straightforward and, to most readers of these pages, probably neither controversial nor surprising. The worldwide surge in anti-Israel protests, he argues, is not organic. Rather, it reflects a long-developed propaganda infrastructure – the “hidden hand” – involving the Iranian regime, Hamas, Hezbollah and a constellation of worldwide activist organizations that have spent years building networks capable of shaping Western public opinion.

Hamas, Kinsella argues, fights two wars simultaneously. One is the familiar military campaign conducted with rockets, bullets and suicide attacks. The other is an information war, waged through imagery, messaging and propaganda. Israel may well win the first war, he suggests, but the second – the battle for global public opinion – is far less certain.

The book opens with the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7. While Israelis were still grappling with the scale of the massacre, demonstrations against Israel began sweeping Western campuses and cities. In the United States, a “national student walkout” took place within days of Oct. 7. Activists insisted these events were spontaneous expressions of outrage over the war in Gaza – but many of them took place before there was even a war in Gaza.

Many of the protests, Kinsella writes, appeared to have been organized rapidly with shared messaging, identical slogans and coordinated materials. Student groups that claimed to be independent grassroots organizations were often connected to larger activist networks. Manuals, posters and protest toolkits circulated almost immediately.

This pattern is central to the book’s argument. What looks like decentralized activism, Kinsella contends, often reveals indisputable signs of coordination.

One of the more striking anecdotes in the book involves Gary Wexler, a California professor who worked with the Ford Foundation on programs in Israel and Palestine during the Oslo peace process. Wexler recalls being warned by a leading Palestinian civil society coordinator that pro-Palestinian networks would one day rival – and surpass – the vaunted Jewish advocacy organizations in their ability to mobilize globally. Funding, the activist reportedly told him, would come from European institutions, Arab governments and wealthy donors.

Years later, Wexler began to see the prediction materialize in movements such as the push for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), Israel Apartheid Week and international flotillas challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Kinsella stops short of claiming a single command centre orchestrating these movements. Instead, he suggests a looser ecosystem in which state actors, activist organizations and sympathetic nongovernmental organizations amplify one another’s messaging.

If there is a common theme running through the book, it is the power of narrative.

According to Kinsella, Hamas and its allies have been remarkably successful at shaping the language through which the conflict is discussed in the West. Terms such as “colonialism,” “apartheid” and “genocide” now dominate activist discourse, particularly among younger audiences. These ideas circulate widely on social media platforms, where emotionally charged content spreads faster than verified information.

The book devotes considerable attention to misinformation and the speed at which it travels. One example Kinsella cites is the widely circulated claim that Israel had bombed the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians. The allegation ricocheted around the world within hours, sparking protests and diplomatic condemnations from the highest levels. Later evidence indicated the explosion was caused by a misfired rocket from Palestinian Islamic Jihad – and that the casualty figures had been exaggerated exponentially. The correction, of course, traveled neither as far nor as fast as the original claim.

Social media algorithms amplify this dynamic, Kinsella argues, pushing users toward increasingly extreme content. The phenomenon is not unique to Middle East politics. The same mechanisms drive conspiracy theories about vaccines, elections and countless other subjects. But, in the case of Israel, he suggests, the misinformation taps into something older and deeper: an antisemitic proclivity to believe the worst and most fantastical allegations about Jews.

In the contemporary context, antisemitic narratives often blend with modern ideological frameworks. In activist discourse, Jews are sometimes recast as embodiments of colonialism or “whiteness,” placing them on the oppressor side of social justice frameworks. The result, Kinsella suggests, is a rhetorical environment in which hostility toward Israel can slide easily into hostility toward Jews.

Polling data cited in the book underscores the generational divide in attitudes toward the conflict. Surveys in North America and Europe have found large numbers of younger respondents expressing sympathy for Hamas or believing that the 10/7 attacks were justified. Other polls show significant numbers of young people convinced that Israel is committing genocide. Such findings shocked even the pollsters who conducted them.

Kinsella argues that universities have played a significant role in shaping these attitudes. For decades, he writes, academic discourse has increasingly framed Israel through the lens of “settler-colonialism.” At the same time, foreign governments – particularly that of Qatar – have donated billions of dollars to Western universities.

The media also come under scrutiny. Western news organizations, he argues, routinely rely on casualty figures supplied by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, numbers that critical analysis suggests are inflated, particularly in terms of non-combatant casualties. Journalists reporting on what’s happening in Gaza frequently depend on local stringers who operate either directly under Hamas authority or in a context where anything but pro-Hamas reporting is existentially dangerous. This situation effectively grants terrorist propaganda the imprimatur of legitimate media platforms.

Because Kinsella is Canadian, The Hidden Hand is rife with Canadian content. This will be interesting to Canadian readers – and a meaningful contribution to the sad litany of incidents in this country – but it is additionally relevant because Canada has been among the worst places for these sorts of offences. Last year, an Israeli government report analyzing the problem worldwide called Canada the “champion of antisemitism.” So, while Canada may not be a major player in many of the world’s foremost competitions or concerns, when it comes to anti-Jewish discrimination, we regrettably find ourselves owning the podium. That makes what happens here – and how (or whether) we confront it – especially relevant.

The thesis of Kinsella’s book, of course, is that these problems know no boundaries (figuratively or literally).

Much of the evidence he presents is circumstantial rather than definitive. He has found no single document or intercepted communication that proves the existence of a centralized propaganda command. The accumulation of connections, coincidences and patterns is what gives the book its force, but Kinsella does not provide the proverbial smoking gun. This is partly understandable because, if there were incontrovertible proof linking ostensibly legal, legitimate activist groups in Canada and around the world with known terrorist entities, surely Western governments would have acted by now.

Ah, but there’s the rub. The very fact that someone like Kinsella, without, say, top-level security clearance, could amass such a damning catalogue of evidence begs the question of just how much effort governments and security services are devoting to this problem. That so many deeply problematic and potentially illegal cases in Canada, including here in British Columbia, have not resulted in charges or even, seemingly, any serious investigation, makes Kinsella’s book especially valuable. If there is this much smoke, where are the governmental and security agencies that are supposed to be the firefighters?

Whether one accepts all of Kinsella’s conclusions or not, The Hidden Hand forces readers to confront the possibility that the global conversation about Israel is shaped by forces far more organized and odious than many seem willing to believe.

If Hamas fights both with bombs and with words, as Kinsella argues, then the information battlefield may prove just as consequential as the physical one. And, on that battlefield, the outcome is still very much in doubt.

On war and antisemitism

Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, spoke with Canadian media on March 9. (photo from Consulate General of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada)

A terror attack against Canadian Jews on par with the Bondi Beach attack in Australia last December is inevitable if leaders in this country do not address the growing antisemitism crisis, according to Israel’s deputy foreign minister.

In an interview with the Independent Monday, Sharren Haskel reacted to recent shootings at Toronto synagogues and a larger trend of antisemitic acts.

“This will end in blood if the government is not taking serious actions. This is going to end exactly like the Bondi massacre,” she said.

Haskel is attuned to the Canadian situation because she was born in this country – one of only three Canadian-born individuals in Israeli history to sit in the Knesset. Her father lives in Canada and she has other family members here, who she visits frequently.

“I was always so proud of Canada being such a safe haven for Jews,” she said, calling Canada a place where acceptance of minorities, tolerance and coexistence have been strong, defining values.

“And to know where Canada was and where it is today is absolutely devastating,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking for me, and I think that not enough people truly understand the danger the Jewish community is [facing].”

Shootings at Jewish institutions and other acts of vandalism and violence have made Canada, according to an Israeli government report last year, the “champion on antisemitism.”

“It’s insane,” said Haskel.

When a racialized or other minority community in Canada expresses discomfort with a situation, she said, significant steps are taken to alleviate the problem.

Jews do not enjoy a parallel level of empathy, she said. “[Jews] say I am violently being attacked. I’m not allowed to enter my classes. I’ve been beaten. My business was shot at,” she said. “And nothing. Nothing.”

Elected officials have allowed the situation to go too far, said Haskel.

“The government is not setting a very clear red line,” she said. “We are far beyond words. Words don’t matter anymore. This is about actions now.”

The deputy foreign minister added that Canadians, too often, demonstrate inappropriate responses to international events. Critics of Israeli military approaches to Hamas and to the Iranian regime are coming from a place of privilege.

“In Canada, you are very lucky,” she said. “This is one of the most peaceful countries, you enjoy its freedom, and many people in the younger generation have received that freedom on a silver platter. This is not the case in the Middle East. Israel has faced a six-fronted war for the last two years against six different armies – all of them sponsored, trained, armed by this vile, fanatical regime in Iran.”

The Iranian regime has also undermined Israel’s neighbours, she noted, destroying Lebanon’s politics, social fabric and culture. In Syria, Iran backed the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which was overthrown in 2024 after a civil war in which the government explicitly targeted and murdered its own citizens, particularly minorities, killing at least 300,000 people and possibly as many as 650,000.

“It’s very easy to speak from a very comfortable, liberated place,” said Haskel. “But our reality in the Middle East is a very difficult and harsh one, where we are still fighting for our survival, for our freedom, for our rights as minorities here in this region against very extreme, radical, fanatical terrorist organizations and terrorist regimes.”

Haskel hedged on whether Israel’s war aim in the current conflict with Iran is regime change.

“The goal is to take out the long-term existential threat over Israel,” she said. “This is how we define it, and this is the goal of the war.”

That involves taking out Iran’s nuclear program, she said, as well as its ballistic missile program, and neutralizing the experts who are developing, manufacturing and advancing tools for mass destruction. This war is aimed at conclusively ending that threat, she said.

Past Israeli military and covert actions against the Iranian nuclear program resulted in continued Iranian determination to rebuild, according to Haskel.

“They didn’t get the message of our capability, of how determined we are that they will not be able to reach that master plan of annihilation of the state of Israel,” she said. “They’ve been working tirelessly on renovating, on re-creating, on reconstructing, all of that over again. And we are at the point where we say, look, you know, we cannot go every year into an operation like that to eliminate an immediate threat like a nuclear weapon, mass destruction, disruptive weapons.”

Haskel stops short of declaring whether that requires regime change, echoing US President Donald Trump, who has urged Iranians themselves to overthrow their government.

She is hopeful that the US-Israel actions will open a path “for the Iranian people to liberate themselves and to change these fanatical tyrants who have been abusing and torturing them for so many years.”

Should the regime be replaced by a Western-oriented government, the impacts would be broader than the Middle East. For example, Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, is engaged in drug trafficking and money laundering in Latin America to help fund their operations, she noted.

Haskel believes that the world should be grateful to the United States and Israel.

“President Trump and Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu are leading right now an effort to protect humanity,” she said. “Every leader and every sensible person around the world needs to ask themselves who they want as their friends and who would come to their help when they really needed it the most.

“During our time in history, when freedom, real freedom, is in danger,” she said, “we are very fortunate to have two leaders like Trump and Netanyahu that stood up and took actions to defend humanity, to defend Western democracies.”

Haskel said that representing Israel carries a profound responsibility not only to the country itself but also to Jewish communities around the world. For her, that responsibility is deeply personal, particularly when it comes to Canada, where she has such close ties. Hearing directly from relatives and friends about rising fear and insecurity has reinforced her sense of duty.

Haskel, who has served as deputy foreign minister since 2024, was first elected to the Knesset in 2015. She was born in Toronto to an Israeli father and a Moroccan mother who met in Paris. The family lived in Canada before moving to Israel when Sharren was a year old. She was raised in Kfar Saba and studied in the United States and Australia. First elected on the Likud slate, she joined Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party in 2021.

Shooting response

Jewish leaders and public officials across the Greater Toronto Area are warning that a series of shootings targeting synagogues has pushed antisemitism into a far more dangerous phase, prompting urgent calls for action from police, governments and civil society. Community organizations said the attacks were not isolated acts of vandalism but part of a broader climate of escalating hatred that has left many Jewish families feeling exposed, shaken and abandoned.

Groups including CIJA and UJA Federation said symbolic condemnations are no longer enough, arguing that officials must respond with stronger enforcement, more visible protection and a clearer strategy for confronting extremist incitement before more serious violence occurs. Their message was that when shots are fired at houses of worship, the issue is no longer only about one community’s fears, but about whether public institutions are willing to defend basic safety and democratic order.

Prime Minister Mark Carney described the attacks as “criminal antisemitic assaults” and said federal agencies would support investigators in identifying and prosecuting those responsible. Other civic leaders publicly denounced the shootings as an attack on the right of Jewish Canadians to gather in safety. Together, the reactions reflected a growing consensus that these recent events are not just alarming, but a national test of whether repeated anti-Jewish violence will finally trigger a more serious response.

האנטישמיות גואה ביוון

חזרתי מחופשה בת שבוע מיוון ונוכחתי לדעת שגם במדינה ים תיכונית זו האנטישמיות גואה ומורגשת היטב. כיום ישראל ויוון נחשבות למדינות ידידותיות למדי אך מבחינת לפחות חלק מאזרחי יוון, ישראלים ויהודים נחשבים לאויבים לאור ההרג הרב של פלסטינים ברצועת עזה, כתוצאה מאירועי הטבח של השבעה באוקטובר

יחסי יוון וישראל התחממו מאוד מאז השבעה באוקטובר לאור קרע הגדול בין ישראל לטורקיה – שהמאשימה את ישראל בביצוע רצח עם ברצועת עזה. ביוון שלא שוכחים לטורקיה את כיבוש חלק מהאי קפריסין ולכן ברגע שנוצר נתק ביחסי ישראל וטורקיה, היוונים קפצו על המציאה והגבירו את יחסי החברות עם ישראל. לאחר השבעה באוקטובר ראש ממשלת יוון הגיע לביקור סולדירות בישראל, והצהיר אז שהוא מגיע לישראל לא רק כבעל ברית אלה גם כידיד אמת. שיתוף הפעולה ההדוק בין ישראל, יוון וקפריסין כולל הגנה אווירית ואימוני צבא משותפים, וכן גם פרויקטים של אנרגיה. יוון רכשה לאחרונה מערכות הגנה אווירית מהתעשיה האווירית של ישראל תמורת כשלושה מיליארד יורו

למרות קשרי הידידות בין ישראל ליוון האנטישמיות ביוון נגד ישראל מורגשת מאוד וישראלים לא מרגישים בטוח במדינה הים תיכונית. התקריות האנטישמיות הרבות ביוון גרמו לחלק מהישראלים שעברו לגור בה לקום ולעזוב למדינות אחרות. ישראלים הותקפו כאשר הגיעו באוניות ליוון, או ברחובות או באזורי הבילוי השונים. במקביל הפגנות מחאה רבות מצד פלסטינים ותומכיהם התרחשו בחלקי המדינה השונים. המפגינים מתנגדים למדיניות ממשלת יוון של שיתוף פעולה עם ישראל בתחומים שונים

אני ביקרתי ביוון במהלך חודש פברואר שנחשב לעונה שקטה יחסית, כדי להימנע מהחום הכבד והעומס הכבד של תיירים. הסתובבתי באופן חופשי בשתי הערים אתונה והרקליון (שנמצאת באי כרתים). במסגרת סיורי וביחד עם קבוצות מודרכות ראיתי לא מעט כתובות גרפיטי בגנות ישראל, הישראלים והצבא הישראלי – לאור אירועי השבעה באוקטובר. בהרקליון ראיתי באחד הרחובות כתובת בעברית מסביב גדר המקיפה עץ כדלקמן: “אתם הרוצחים לא רצויים כאן”. המדריכה היוונית ביקשה ממני לתרגם זאת עבורה ופניה הראו שהיא הרגישה מאוד לא בנוח כשהבינה במה מדובר

לאור האנטישמיות הקשה ביוון שרת התיירות של המדינה אולגה קפלויאני, אמרה כי יוון היא יעד בטוח, שיוויוני ומכיל עבור כל המבקרים – כולל תיירים מישראל. לדברי השרה יוון לא סובלת אפלייה ולא תקבל התנהגות שפוגעת או מבזה כל אדם. היא הדגישה כי המדינה שלנו הייתה ותישאר יעד בטוח, פתוח ומסביר עבור אזרחי ישראל. לדברי קופלויאני התיירות מהווה גשר של ידידות, שלום והבנה הדתית. הוא ציינה עוד כי משרד התיירות שבראשו היא עומדת פועל כל העת בשיתוף עם משרדים ממשלתיים נוספים במטרה להבטיח שכל מבקר ביוון – ללא קשר למגדר, מוצא או אמונה דתית – ייהנה מביטחון וכבוד. שרת התיירות של יוון אמרה עוד כי האנטישמיות בכל צורה שהיא, נחשבת לדבר דוחה, היא מקוממת ואין לה מקום ביוון, לא בתיירות, ולא בדמוקרטיה של המדינה שלנו. כבוד ואירוח הם ערכים שאינם נתונים למשא ומתן

וכיצד מגיבים ברשת הישראלים על האנטישמיות ביוון: וויתרתי על יוון עד שלא ישתלטו על הזבלים האלה, תחרימו את יוון, אל תסעו לשם ואל תקנו נכסים במדינה ותבזבזו כסף במקום עויין, היוונים לא אוהבים אותנו ורק רוצים את הכסף שלנו, לא להתקרב ליוון בגלל האנטישמיות, תשכחו ממני עד כאשר תשתלטו על המטורפים האלימים אלה, המציאות מגלה כי האנטישמיות ביוון עולה

Hateful messages intensify

The Douglas Park area is being covered with hateful chalk and stickers. (photo by Joshua)

A residential pocket near Vancouver’s Oak Street corridor has become the site of an increasingly bitter battle over political messaging, public space and antisemitism. At the centre of it is one Jewish resident who says his neighbourhood – and his sense of safety – has been upended by a neighbour’s anti-Israel graffiti campaign.

Joshua, who asked that his surname be omitted, said one particular individual began tearing down hostage posters shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. The same individual was filmed tearing posters down in front of a group of community members outside Schara Tzedeck before a commemorative event a year after 10/7.

The Vancouver Police Department’s diversity unit initially advised Joshua to stop putting up pro-Israel or hostage posters and allow the city to “neutralize” the space to de-escalate tensions. He complied for several months, he said, but anti-Israel messages only intensified. He has been in discussions with police since last June; he worries that the situation will escalate as the weather improves.

photo - Over the past six to seven months, chalked and adhesive messages have appeared across sidewalks, utility boxes, crosswalk placards and construction signage. — Over the past six to seven months, chalked and adhesive messages have appeared across sidewalks, utility boxes, crosswalk placards and construction signage. *(photo by Joshua)*

The same individual has become a near-constant presence in the area, waving a Palestinian flag at busy intersections such as Oak and 12th, usually at rush hour and sometimes for hours at a time. According to Joshua, who admits he has done his share of flag-waving as a regular participant at City Hall rallies for Israeli hostages, the anti-Israel activism has gone far beyond flag-waving.

Over the past six to seven months, chalked and adhesive messages have appeared across sidewalks, utility boxes, crosswalk placards and construction signage. While some read “Gaza” or “Free Gaza,” the messaging has grown more aggressive, including “Zionism is terrorism” and “Death to the IDF,” sometimes accompanied by an inverted triangle associated with Hamas imagery and implying terrorist targets.

The most recent messaging, Joshua said, is “Stop Israel Sadistic Cult” and equating the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with Israel – “ICErael.”

Joshua said he has documented the activity extensively, as well as the antisemitic rhetoric on the individual’s social media, and filed numerous 311 complaints with the City of Vancouver. If graffiti appears on city property, the city contracts a third-party removal company. But response times range from 48 hours to more than a week – sometimes longer, Joshua said. In one park, spray-painted slogans remained for more than three weeks before being removed.

Because chalk is temporary and easily reapplied, the individual can rewrite messages almost as soon as they are washed away.

Frustrated by what he sees as municipal inaction on targeted harassment and hate speech, Joshua has purchased an 11-litre backpack sprayer and walks the neighbourhood with water and scrub brushes to remove the chalk.

According to Joshua, the individual leaving the messages has “doxed” at least six area residents, sharing their personal information online, including their images and their licence plates. He posted Joshua’s first and last names and the cross street where he lives, with the comment, “Be sure to say hi and other things if you see him.”

Someone wrote Joshua’s full name on a public sign along with the words “IOF soldier” – IOF meaning “Israeli Occupying Forces” – and he has been accused online and in person of serving in the IDF, which he has not. In one incident, a woman confronted and filmed him at 7 a.m., shouting accusations and telling him, “We know where you live” and calling him an “IOF baby-killer.”

Joshua reported that encounter, as well as the doxing incidents, to police. Officers took a statement but indicated their options were limited, citing freedom of expression, Joshua told the Independent.

Meanwhile, the impact on the neighbourhood is tangible. A local rabbi told him that one Jewish family moved away because their children felt unsafe seeing hostile messages near their home and synagogue.

Joshua has removed his name from his building directory out of concern for his family’s safety. Confrontations and cleanup efforts are framed online as attempts by “Zionists” to silence dissent.

Within the Jewish community, there is debate about how to respond. Some have suggested stopping cleanup efforts in hopes that broader community frustration will grow. Joshua believes a coordinated, multi-block volunteer cleanup effort – involving Jews and non-Jews – is the only way to demonstrate that the issue is about shared civic space, not a private feud. He has set up an online group at facebook.com/groups/cleaningupdouglaspark.

photo - Because chalk is temporary and easily reapplied, the individual can rewrite messages almost as soon as they are washed away — Because chalk is temporary and easily reapplied, the individual can rewrite messages almost as soon as they are washed away. *(photo by Joshua)*

Residents should not have to navigate obscenities and hostile rhetoric on sidewalks and parks, said Joshua, and he questions whether the city would respond differently if racist or homophobic messages appeared in neighbourhoods with significant populations of the targeted communities.

This sort of conflict, in different permutations, is taking place in cities across Canada and worldwide. In Toronto, anti-Israel protesters have routinely set up demonstrations in areas with concentrations of Jewish residents and even marched through residential areas. Many Jews and their allies have repeatedly asked why there do not seem to be consequences for perpetrators of such deliberate harassment and intimidation.

That question was the subject of a Feb. 10 webinar with legal and policing experts, organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, titled Why Can’t There Be More Consequences?, which was moderated by Richard Marceau, CIJA’s senior vice-president and general counsel.

Mark Sandler, the chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, and Rochelle Direnfeld, that organization’s senior criminal counsel, have been delivering educational modules to police, making them aware of tools they have to enforce existing laws. Training for prosecutors is also necessary, Sandler noted.

Law enforcement and justice officials need to be able to recognize antisemitism and how it manifests, said Sandler.

Direnfeld provided examples, noting that average police officers cannot, for example, be expected to understand a sign that appeared at one rally: it read “Israel’s only friend is the Gharqad tree.” This is a reference to a Muslim religious verse about the only tree that would protect Jews from Muslims at the end-times.

Even the nuances of more seemingly straightforward messages – “From the river to the sea,” “Globalize the intifada” and “By any means necessary” – may not be immediately evident to those who are not engaged with the narrative, panelists said.

Sandler said police have been asking for sharper tools and the federal government is responding with Bill C-9. (See jewishindependent.ca/new-bill-targets-hate-crimes.) Panelists noted that existing laws against mischief, intimidation and unlawful assembly should suffice in cases where protesters are blocking roads or crowding into shopping malls.

Hank Idsinga, a retired inspector with the Toronto Police Service, said insufficient staffing can be used as an excuse for inaction, but this is not an appropriate response. “Police need to be prepared for various scenarios,” he said.

On the other hand, said Joseph Neuberger, chair of the Canadian Jewish Law Association, Jewish community members need to know what is and is not acceptable within the bounds of the law. Chanting allegations of genocide is protected speech, he said, whether or not the allegations are false.

Neuberger is enthusiastic about components of C-9 that would criminalize intimidation around and obstruction of cultural and religious spaces. The bill is in committee stage.

The full webinar is available at youtube.com/watch?v=kAj_D0gREIM.