It seems that the crime is not being a terrorist, but a Jew.
by Gabriela Maizhe
I am writing to express my deep concern about what has happened in Canada since October 7, when a terrorist group murdered innocent civilians in Israel. My concerns feed or stand on three different columns that characterize my thoughts and emotions about Israel and the attacks it has always received. One of them is related to history, and I grant that it may be a debatable reason since history does not have to be taken as an absolute truth, although the more support it has in facts and proven events, the more reliable it is. For my second column or reason, which I will call the glorification of crime, I do not allow discussion, debate, or philosophy. And the third is the obvious anti-Semitism of too many people. As a Jew, as a woman and as a human being who lives in a community and currently resides in Canada, I consider it essential to discuss and reflect on the
excessive passivity and indifference to manifestations of hate in public and educational spaces and to pressure Canada to correct its criminal code and condemn this celebration of death.
About history, the area we now know as “Palestine” (the name given to that area by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 AD), was the home of the Jews for thousands and thousands of years. In that land, the Jewish people suffered multiple occupations and colorizations by the Romans, then the Persians and the Byzantines, and later the Ottomans. Calling the Jews colonizers in an area that was never an Arab country by any means is a contradiction of unsustainable ignorance or obvious bad faith. Since 1947 the UN wanted to divide that territory in two, but those who have always opposed it have been the Palestinians. It is inadmissible for anyone with a little bit of historical culture to repeat like a parrot that Israel occupies a territory that does not belong to it. But knowledge, and especially understanding, must also pass through the sieve of will and unfortunately, the basic human being prefers his prejudices to evidence.
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Regarding the glorification of crime, I must be much firmer. On October 7 of this year, a terrorist group, which at the same time has been the elected ruler of the Gaza Strip since 2005, perpetrated the most reprehensible acts of murder, rape, torture, and kidnapping. However, to the stupor of a few thousand, including myself, these atrocities were not enough, because in several cities in Canada, thousands of others took to the streets to celebrate these acts as if it were a party and a conquest. They applauded and shouted in favour of rapes, kidnappings and murders of children, elderly people, and other innocent civilians. This is something that far exceeds the emotional health of a significant sector of the population. Not only the celebration, but those worshipers of crime have gone unpunished.
I have learned that “although Canada blacklists groups it considers terrorists, including Hamas, allowing the federal government to seize any Canadian assets from the group and bring terrorism charges against its members. But in Canada, it is not a crime to glorify terrorist acts”. “It is not a crime to celebrate criminal acts in Canada,” I repeat to myself in disbelief. It is incredible in this country where they suggest you not wear perfume in public events so as not to bother your neighbours, and in general, has led the world in policies and postulates in favour of respect for differences, something is failing because anti-Semitism and violent anti- Semitism they give no respite to their victims. According to Police-reported Hate Crimes in Canada, 2020, “Hate crimes targeting the Black and Jewish populations remained the most common types of hate crimes reported by police, being 26% and 13% of all hate crimes, respectively. These were followed by hate crimes targeting the East or Southeast Asian population (11%) and those targeting a sexual orientation (10%)”.
And of course, this figure will be repeated and increase, since it would seem that an apparent right to freedom of expression is more important than the right of the victims not to publicly celebrate and congratulate the crimes committed against them.
Many countries around the world include in their penal codes a punishment for those who publicly praise or celebrate acts declared criminal. Then, I was shocked by the Canadian contradiction of considering Hamas a terrorist group and tolerating its terrorist acts to be received as a true party in its streets. None of those thousands of criminal-celebrators suffered any consequences. This is something that must end, the criminal law in Canada must be reformed to punish this human baseness. Is it necessary for a group of white supremacists to go out and make public demonstrations in favour of genocides against First Nations for sensitivity to be awakened in the face of such reprehensible acts?
I am clear about the origin of my recent pain. And yet I am left with more questions than answers: Are these types of praises about crimes that are committed or have been committed against other human groups allowed or undermined in Canada? Is there any record of Jews celebrating every time the Taliban kill Shiites in Afghanistan? Have you seen Jews celebrating when Hamas murdered or tortured the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip? Who takes to the streets of Toronto with their flags to cheer for the anniversary of the kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Chibok at the hands of Boko Haram, the Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group, in April 2014? And for some reason hidden in the underlying double standards, I am sure that if a group of degenerates took to the streets of Toronto to glorify the anniversary of the genocide in Darfur in 2003, they would be arrested – rightly so – in a few minutes.
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This brings me to my third and final column: anti-Semitism. Someone wants to exterminate the other, and it is not precisely the Jewish people. In Israel, Arabs have every opportunity and several hold high positions in government and administration, on the other hand, no Jew in any Arab state has even remotely similar opportunities. The German Jewish girl who was raped and murdered at the Supernova Festival and whose body was dragged spat on, and abused by ordinary residents in Gaza is a powerful example that it is not “only” Hamas terrorists who can hate the Jews that way. And so, as something that has been repeated on many occasions, thousands of rockets rain towards Israel, but the iron dome stops most of them, Israel defends itself and attacks effectively, the result, in this world where the aggressor ends up losing, crying and bleeding is automatically considered the victim, there is no room for objectivity or justice. The message seems to be that you must be devious, weak, a coward and a failure so that public opinion will instantly and automatically elevate you to martyr status when your victim reacts and defeats you. It is ridiculous.
There is a table to measure the Jews and another for the Palestinians. The false narrative that appeals to false goodness and biased ignorance seems to have won and we now live in a world where the terrorist is the hero and those who glorify them are “pacifists and idealists.” Too many people believe that it is okay to justify any heinous act in the name of a situation of victimization that is not supported by evidence or facts. Canada should not be complicit in demonstrations and violent attacks against citizens for the simple fact of being Jews; the law must be corrected not only to avoid contradictions but to protect its citizens. It is unprecedented that the Jewish community should hide the symbols that stand for them to protect themselves. The crime, it seems, is not being a terrorist, it is being Jewish.
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Anti-Defamation League (2009). Israel: A Guide for Journalists. Retrieved from https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/Israel-una-guia-para-el-periodista.pdf