Standing With Israel

With Unions

For many years, the BDS movement has inspired national, regional and local labour organizations in Canada to adopt increasingly hostile positions relating to Israel. This has included endorsing calls calling for a boycott of the Jewish state by Canadian companies, government agencies and other bodies.

To counter the misinformation spread by anti-Israel activists within the union movement, FSWC engages with both union leaders and members to counteract the harmful lies and antisemitism being spread about Jews and the Jewish state.

With Politicians

In supporting the long-established friendship and bilateral relationship between Canada and Israel, FSWC works to help ensure that Israel is treated fairly and presented accurately in the country’s political arena. We engage with political figures from all Canadian parties on all three levels of government – federal, provincial and municipal – on relevant bi-partisan matters.

Our engagement with politicians takes many forms, from in-person meetings to communication through letters and emails to Zoom discussions. The goal is to educate decision-makers about Israel, its importance to Jews in Canada and around the world, and the important cultural, research, academic, scientific and economic ties and shared values between Ottawa and Jerusalem.

In Our Universities

Many of Canada’s universities and colleges witness intense anti-Israel activism, championed by both faculty members and students. This has created a hostile environment for Jewish students, most of whom consider Israel intrinsically linked to their identity.

Too often, we see anti-Israel positions that cross over into outright antisemitism endorsed by faculty associations, student unions, social media posts, on-campus protests and pro-BDS advocacy in university newspapers. In parallel, there is a lack of resolve by administrators to seriously address the problem. There have also been numerous reports of professors expressing anti-Israel views in their classes and discriminating against Jewish students who defend Israel.

In response, FSWC has called on university presidents to take urgent action, as their campuses have become increasingly uncomfortable for Jewish students who report being subjected to in-person and online antisemitic harassment and intimidation.

Advocacy