Letters to the Editor: Selective outrage is divisive and fuels antisemitism
Re: “Weekly protest along Kingston Road calls for end to “genocide” in Gaza’, Beach Metro Community News website July 16.
The July 16 online post on the Beach Metro Community News website presented the political views of a small group regarding the Israel-Gaza war. Our local community paper, publicly-funded and with a mandate to present non-partisan community content, has deviated its focus by including one-sided political commentary.
The situation in Gaza is undeniably tragic. It is however not “genocide”. Israel is defending itself after repeated attacks by Hamas, a terrorist organization whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction and whose leaders have vowed to repeat the October 7 massacre.
Israel, like any nation, has a legal and moral duty to protect its citizens. In doing so, it warns Gazan civilians before strikes, opens safe corridors, pauses military operations for evacuations, and provides humanitarian aid, fuel, and millions of vaccines — actions unprecedented by any military toward an enemy population during wartime. Civilian deaths, which are heartbreaking, are exploited by Hamas, who use its own citizens as human shields and manipulate casualty figures to fuel outrage abroad.
The protest group is led by Ted Schmidt. His anti-Israel activism predates the Gaza war as documented by his speech at the Toronto Al Quds parade 2019. Al Quds Day was initiated in 1979 by Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini to call for the destruction of Israel.
Other extreme atrocities draw little attention from Mr. Schmidt and his followers. Millions face possible genocide in Darfur which includes a million children starving. Uyghurs suffer mass persecution in China. The Rohingya in Myanmar, Druze civilians in Syria, and over half a million victims of the Assad regime’s civil war receive no comparable demonstrations. After the October 7 massacre, kidnappings, and documented systematic rape and torture by Hamas, there were no protests from this group, only silence. The murdered body of the Canadian school teacher, Judy Weinstein, was held by Hamas for 1.5 years with no outspoken words. The silence suggests the group’s outrage is not rooted in universal human rights or “conscience” but is directed specifically at Israel — the world’s only Jewish state.
Selective outrage is divisive and risks fueling antisemitism when that is already the highest hate crime in Canada. The Jewish people in Canada are being targeted and harassed with vandalism, hate-speech, threats, firebombing at schools and blocked from some synagogues and university classes. These are Canadians being targeted. When you isolate, it fuels hate, which is dangerous and unconscionable.
One-sided blame doesn’t build momentum to peace. Peace can only happen with moral clarity, terrorists held accountable, and support for those defending democracy. At any time in the last 21 months, the hostages could have been released and the war would have ended. Why did this protest group not stress that urgency? Protests that target only Israel, while ignoring hostages and other atrocities, do little to advance justice or reconciliation.
As a local resident, these demonstrations do make me feel uncomfortable. As members of the community, the Jewish people are proud Beachers and proud Canadians and we will continue our fellowship in the community. These discussions and protests can isolate and trigger painful memories.
Beach Metro Community News should reflect its community mission by avoiding partisan narratives that inflame tensions. Let’s focus on the local issues and values that bring our wonderful neighbourhood together.
Rabbi Sholom Lezell,
Chabad-Lubavitch Synagogue
of Danforth Beaches
