Community Intelligence Brief: May 29, 2024

May 29, 2024

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Latest News

Rally Held Outside Toronto Jewish School After Shooting

A rally was held on Monday outside Bais Chaya Mushka after shots were fired at the Jewish girls' elementary school over the weekend. Several politicians spoke at the rally, including Mayor Olivia Chow and Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, denouncing the attack.

Following the incident, FSWC was in communication with the Toronto Police Service and issued a statement calling the incident a "shocking escalation of violence directed at innocent Jewish children" that "must serve as a wake up call for political leaders in our city and across our country."

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FSWC Seeks to Intervene in U of T Injunction to Remove Unauthorized Anti-Israel Encampment

Lawyers representing FSWC appeared before a judge yesterday to request intervener status in the injunction proceedings filed by the Governing Council of the University of Toronto to remove the anti-Israel encampment that has occupied King's College Circle for nearly four weeks.

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University Presidents Say There's More Work to Do to Combat Antisemitism on Campuses

Four university presidents conceded to members of Parliament that antisemitism is a problem on their campuses. MPs questioned the presidents of the University of Toronto, McGill University, Concordia University and the University of British Columbia about their codes of conduct, responses to pro-Palestinian encampments and efforts to include Jewish students in equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.

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Removing Religion as Hate Speech Defence an Idea Worth Exploring: Antisemitism Envoy

Canada's Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, appeared before the parliamentary committee that is studying antisemitism on university campuses last week, saying she's "very interested" in exploring the idea of removing religion as a possible defence against hate speech charges.

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Man, 20, Arrested in Connection with Montreal Jewish School Shooting

Montreal police have arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with shots that were fired at a Jewish school in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough in Nov. 2023.

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Ontario Mom Pulls Jewish Daughter Out of High School After Antisemitic 'Culture' Event

An Ontario mother has pulled her Jewish daughter out of high school fearing she is no longer safe. They say it started with students making antisemitic comments to her, followed by student walkouts and a student event where Israel was relabeled as Palestine on a map - which was met with inaction from the school administration.

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Jewish Students, Parents at Ottawa's Biggest School Board Share Experiences of Antisemitism

Six parents and one student delegate spoke at Tuesday night's Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) meeting to discuss growing antisemitism in schools, which many parents say has become a "crisis." Parents at the meeting asked the OCDSB to establish mandatory antisemitism training for all staff members and for the board to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

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Hamas Hostages: Stories of the People Taken from Israel

A total of 121 hostages remain unaccounted for after being kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October last year - at least 37 of them are presumed dead. These are the stories of those hostages who are still being held.

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Emotional Seinfeld Says Wartime Trip to Israel ‘The Most Powerful Experience of My Life’

In a newly released interview with Bari Weiss, comedian Jerry Seinfeld said his visit to Israel last year in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel was "the most powerful experience of my life." Seinfeld and his wife had visited the devastated border community of Kibbutz Be’eri and met with freed hostages and survivors of the attack.

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Report Antisemitism and News of Concern to FSWC

If you would like to report antisemitism or news of concern to Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, please email advocacy@fswc.ca.

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