With the Canadian government’s recent announcement of a national summit to combat anti-Semitism, B’nai Brith Canada is working to get the Jewish community’s input to make sure the meeting has the greatest possible impact.
“B’nai Brith Canada has long-called for a national action plan to combat anti-Semitism. The summit will play a key role in helping achieve that,” B’nai Brith said.
Earlier in the year, B’nai Brith released an “Eight-point plan to tackle anti-Semitism.”
They called for an investment in hate crime-specific law enforcement units to “produce more substantive results in the field, including the laying of more charges, and further enhance the credibility of police services among the broader community.”
A standard understanding of “what constitutes a hate crime is critical,” they said, as well as proper communication between civili society organizations and police services.
They urged that the attorney general’s decision-making process on hate crime propaganda be made public to stem accusations of political bias.
They noted that government funding has in the past “found its way to organizations that have promoted anti-Semitism.” They urged a zero tolerance approach to government funding of anti-Semitism.
Universities and colleges need to be held accountable for campus anti-Semitism, B’nai Brith stated, saying that these institutions “recently surfaced as significant breeding grounds for anti-Semitism in Canada, including through an increase in far left activism against Israel.”
“This has a caustic effect on Jewish students, who are increasingly reporting incidents of vandalism and threats. Post-secondary institutions must to more to combat anti-Semitism.”
They also urged the country to adopt a “national action plan for anti-Semitism” and to develop an action plan to counter online hate, using a “fresh federal strategy” that would “deal with the gap in Canada’s hate laws.”