What an abhorrent violent crime. No child should have to witness their parent being victimized like this.
IF this turns out to be a hate crime, I hope from the bottom of my heart that they really throw the book at this guy: antisemitism is a vile cancer that should be mercilessly stamped out.
And IF this turns out to be some kind of demented “pro-palestine” kind of “action”, I really hope all progressive voices stand up and denounce it in the strongest of terms: antisemitism fuels the Zionist myth that Israel is necessary because it is the safest country for Jews. Every antisemitic crime in the diaspora is used by Zionists as justification for Jewish-supremacist crimes in Palestine and beyond. Smashing antisemitism in Canada should be part of our pro-Palestine solidarity praxis.
Yeah I agree, but Israel makes “smashing anti-semitism” impossible.
As long as Israel is committing genocide, there will be people who deeply hate Israel. Since Israel drafts every citizen into its military, it ends up making all Israelis complicit in the eyes of the outraged. And since Israel associates itself heavily with the Jewish religion, inevitably someone with a poor grip on reality or understanding of the world will end up being anti-Semitic more generally.
Ending anti-Semitism is still a goal worth pursuing, but it will not come remotely close to being achieved until Israel stops the slaughter of Palestinians for generations, long enough for the wounds to heal or those carrying them to die.
I disagree that it is impossible. It just takes moral clarity on our part to always question and dispute the conflation of Israel with Jews. Militantly, with tenacity and without compromise. This is line in the sand for me, a thing to take a stand against both antisemites and zionists.
In fact, I claim that without making “smashing antisemitism in Canada […] part of our pro-Palestine solidarity praxis” we cannot actually meaningfully politically pressure our governments to stop Israel.
That said, I agree that in practice Israeli war crimes generate antisemitism here. Even more reason to oppose them.
I disagree that it is impossible. It just takes moral clarity on our part to always question and dispute the conflation of Israel with Jews.
I think that expecting to get to a population with 100% moral clarity is impossible. I honestly don’t see how it possibly could be when mental health problems, people with extremely low intelligence, and people who have suffered extreme pain and abuse all exist. I certainly don’t think it’s possible to achieve within a generation or probably even within 2, even if Israel was to stop committing crimes against humanity now.
“smashing antisemitism in Canada […] part of our pro-Palestine solidarity praxis”
Fair enough, I do still agree that it is a goal worth pursuing. I don’t think it will make Israel or Israelis think any differently, but it will give at least give them fewer excuses to hide behind.
I don’t think I’m arguing for anything at 100% rates. Those just don’t exist.
Fair, then I agree, I just wouldn’t really describe a realistically achievable end result as “smashing”.
