Moral leadership doesn’t require Ottawa’s permission

It was already obvious, on October 9, 2023, that Canada was headed to a very dark place. One didn’t have to be Jewish to recognize the signs.

Literally.

As I listened to a live interview of a 30-something male on that day, the keffiyeh-wearing Palestinian supporter complained to CBC TV reporter Idil Mussa that, among other thing, “this has been going on for 70 years.” He proudly announced that “we are here to support it all,” before quickly catching himself, and assuring CBC viewers that he and his fellow Palestinian supporters weren’t milling around at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square to celebrate the death of 700 (at that time) Jews.

A few hundred feet away, over by the Old City Hall Cenotaph, someone was waving a green Hamas flag.

If one didn’t support “resistance” “by any means necessary,” which included “mass rapes, tortures, bonding and immolation of toddlers, beheadings, and live mutilation,” you wouldn’t fly that battle symbol on that particular day. But someone did, and our media corps missed it completely.

To have flown the Hamas flag in the shadow of a memorial to “Our Glorious Dead” defiled the memory of those who’ve fought against tyranny around the globe. (As I’ve written before, I wonder how our lost ones would feel if they discovered that they died so that Canada could be a nation where people are allowed — even encouraged — to twist our freedoms into countless pointless protests in front of a Jewish-owned coffee shop on Bloor Street, block a CN rail line, or call for the death of Jews around the world.)

Having described the situation as “mostly peaceful,” I wish Ms. Mussa had taken the opportunity to ask that Hamas ally if they, too, weren’t celebrating the Hamas rapes and mass murder.

Carnage that was still underway at that very moment.

All of this took place on Bay Street, Corporate Canada’s own front yard. Given its advocacy of so many other societal issues, it would have been both timely and appropriate for Corporate Canada (and I don’t mean Brent Belzberg, David Ossip, Heather Reisman, Dani Reiss and Gerry Schwartz) to have intervened in the days that followed (see prior post “Corporate Canada must do more to combat anti-Semitism” Oct 31-23).

Our business leaders got another chance to step into the fray when 400 “pro-Palestinian” protestors marched down Toronto’s Yonge Street shouting “Viva, Viva, Intifada” (see prior post “‘No Justice’ in Gaza means ‘No Peace’ in Toronto” Mar 29-24). There was also the time that “pro-Palestinian” protestors blocked access to Mount Sinai Hospital, as I wrote about in a Star column (see prior post “Premier Ford speaks for the Silent Majority” May 15-24.

Having now found its voice on antisemitism, albeit belatedly, Corporate Canada needs to publicly outline how we are going to re-establish Canadian values (see prior post “Is the silent, sane majority ready to re-establish the parameters of ‘Canadian values?’” Sept 9-25).

Before it’s too late.

If you want to see how this week’s Star column ends, buy a print copy, use your Apple News, or subscribe to The Star online via my special discount code: www.thestar.com/informed.

What’s our plan to deal with anti-Jewish hate? The current tactics, such as they are, have failed.

It took just six days for two Canadian bank CEOs to issue forceful statements about “racial inequities and excessive [U.S.] police force” following the May 2020 murder of American George Floyd.

TD’s Bharat Masrani observed that “as a society we must have zero-tolerance for racism of any kind,” according to Reuters, while CIBC’s Victor Dodig wrote that “Tragedies like these are far too common, where people in our communities — in particular those who are black or indigenous — senselessly lose their lives.”

Most Canadians are beneficial shareholders of these two companies, which means that proactive pronouncements like these are made not only for our consumption but in our collective name. Although Floyd’s death and the fiery civil unrest that followed occurred in a foreign country, many local corporate leaders took the opportunity to inspire our inner angels.

That’s to be applauded.

If you review the websites of these or similar firms, you’ll find a plethora of corporate press releases and charitable donations regarding a range of key societal concerns, including anti-Black racism, anti-Asian hate, climate change, “inclusive economic opportunity,” LGBTQ, mental health and Truth and Reconciliation.

All of this came to mind when I read the recent open letter signed by 66 “leading non-Jewish Canadians” condemning antisemitism. For those of us who’ve spent the last 30 months trying to raise awareness about the onslaught of Jewish hate in our streets, the initiative was welcome.

Late, but welcome.

I know many of the talented signatories personally and several have been actively supporting the Jewish community for decades, ever more so in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Given the speed at which so many business chiefs publicly reacted to Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, it’s a shame that this initiative only gained traction following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Canadian Covenant” speech at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple on June 1.

Moral leadership doesn’t require Ottawa’s permission.

I do wonder if the daily fare of antisemitic bile would be as rampant had these words been published 30 months ago. It was already obvious where we were headed.

The scene was Nathan Phillips Square on Oct. 9, 2023. In a CBC interview a 30-something male summed up his reaction to the Hamas attack this way: “It’s been going on for decades now, for the last 70 years, ever since the occupation of Israel, Palestinian land that is belonging to the Palestinian people. And we’re here to support it all …” (the man added “it’s not the case” that he and other Palestinian supporters had gathered to celebrate the murder of Israelis). A few hundred feet away, someone was flying a green Hamas terror flag beside the Old City Hall Cenotaph.

That would have been a good time for Bay Street to intervene.

Hit the link to read the rest of the piece.

MRM

(this post is an Opinion Piece)