As I write, a 2,500-strong group of anti-Israel protesters is arriving from Amsterdam, apparently intending to join the planned disruption of a pro-Israel march in Toronto. Sadly, the pre-event advertising for this counter-march can only be interpreted as an invitation to violence. See the story below from Western Standard reporter, Jen Hodgson. .Hamas supporters arrive in Toronto from Amsterdam to terrorize annual Jewish event.Local anti-Israel organizers post on social media, ‘Our friends from Amsterdam are coming to the Walk Against Israel and looking for anyone who celebrates the intentional murder of babies.’“Looking for?”And when they find, then what?Weasel words.They want a riot.So here is the question. The Government of Canada has legal tools to keep out and/or remove people likely to disturb the peace of the realm.They use them all the time.Why are they not using them preventatively on this lot?.Let us be clear: Since October 2023, when Hamas terrorists raided Israel’s southern border and killed more than 1,100 Israelis while kidnapping hundreds of others — often with the most nauseating brutality — Jews have been harassed around the world.Canada was no exception yet now, when Canadian Jews wanting to march in solidarity with their friends and relatives in Israel are credibly threatened with violence, the Government of Canada takes no steps to bar these visitors from another country.Why?It won’t be because the right to protest is so sacred. That’s a right enjoyed by bona fide Canadians (sometimes, at the pleasure of the government) but shouldn’t extend to a foreigner coming to Canada for the express purpose of making a scene — and harassing Canadian citizens who happen to be Jewish. Do citizens have no right to the protection of the state? Of course they do. So why is the Government of Canada not taking reasonable steps to shield Toronto's Jewish population by keeping out people who have come here for no other reason than to intimidate them?.After all, Canada has, and uses, the coercive power of the state to control who’s here. In this case, they have just decided not to.‘Coercive power’ usually applies to border-crashers but they are absolutely used against people deemed politically unwelcome. Years ago, the British historian David Irving was arrested at a Chinese restaurant in Victoria ‘on immigration charges’ and immediately deported. His problem? Canadian Jewish organizations had complained to the (Progressive Conservative) Mulroney government that he was anti-Jewish and had claimed Hitler never ordered or even knew about the Holocaust.That was all it took.More recently, Tommy Robinson, likewise from Great Britain, but warning not about Jews but about Islamic radicals, was also arrested in Calgary ‘on immigration charges.’ He didn’t last long either.These cases are layered and complex, as the circumstances surrounding deportation orders often are. It is however sufficient to know that if the Government of Canada really doesn’t want somebody around, they can easily and quickly throw them out.Or, refuse to admit them, as they had tried to do with Irving.But note: Neither Irving nor Robinson came to Canada to advocate violence, nor did they do so..Not so, by the sound of it, the Amsterdam arrivals. One would suppose — one would hope, at least — that people coming here looking for a fight would be even more unwelcome.Think about it. Surely, the Government of Canada has no interest in people coming here to make trouble? Indeed, one would hope the outrages committed against Canadian Jews — in Canada — since October 2023 would be so top of mind that they would actively resist people coming here from anywhere, for the express purpose of disrupting Jewish Canadians engaged in a peaceful demonstration of their solidarity with Israel.But, I am starting to wonder..After all, the Government of Canada can’t say they don’t have the facts. The details are laid out in a December 2024 report from the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights:“Antisemitism in Canada has reached a crisis point. Jewish schools, community centers, and synagogues are being targeted by gunshots and Molotov cocktails. Swastikas are openly displayed, while mezuzahs are torn from the doorways of Jewish residences. Chants glorifying terrorist violence against Jews are heard on streets and campuses, without consequence. Jewish students are afraid to go to class. This crisis has emerged within a broader context of rising hate towards several minority groups, set against the backdrop of resurgent geopolitical tensions, the growing force of extremism online, and other polarizing forces. The common threads linking these bigotries cannot be ignored. And yet, antisemitism in Canada today is a distinct and especially pernicious form of hate — one that calls for its own, carefully tailored response.”All this is, of course, utterly outrageous. The targeted vilification of one group by another is not what Canada is about. Speaking more specifically about Canadian Jews, the difference between what the parliamentary committee records about events since October 2023 and what the history books tell us about Germany in the 1930s is one of degree, not of kind.And yet… thousands of people are flying into Canada to be part of a… a what? A pogrom? And Ottawa does nothing?Maybe it is because to its shame, the Liberal leadership has switched sides. A few days ago, the Government of Canada joined the governments of Great Britain and France, in condemning Israel’s war on the thugs who murdered so many of its citizens less than two years ago.Has the Muslim vote become so powerful? Or, is there another explanation? Sadly I can't think of one.We must recognize however, that what Canadian authorities allow to happen to Canada’s Jews this weekend will be telling. For, whatever they allow, there will be more of it to come.
