Antisemitism on Campus

Thane you couldn't have done a better job explaining the issue! This short video should be mandatory for every college student (Jewish or not) and their parents!

In My Own Backyard

We often travel long distances looking for things that we could have found in our own backyards.

If you don't know by now, I am a strong, proud, Jewish activist! I have posted about various topics over the years but the main reason I blog, send emails, attend rallies, go to lectures, etc., is to counter the vicious antisemitism that sadly has attacked all corners of the world. So today I'm going back to my roots. 

Right here in my beautiful, internationally acclaimed city, the largest and most diverse city in Canada, Toronto, antisemitism has flourished! The oldest form of bigotry in the world, the hatred of Jews has been allowed to grow much like that little corner of your shower that might have a bit of mold a year ago or longer but has been ignored until finally today it has spread all over the shower walls. To the point that one can't shower any more until the mold is eradicated. 

In the past couple of weeks I have been forced to write numerous emails about antisemitic behaviour that is occurring right under my nose. Where exactly? In our schools. Arguably the worst place to let it grow. Because schools are where children learn. The education we give them determines their morals, ethics and views on so many things. If we teach them the wrong things, they will behave accordingly. If we teach them to hate blacks, odds are they will hate blacks. If we teach them to hate Jews, they mostly likely will. This isn't rocket science. 

So who's to blame? All of us. Of course the main culprits are the antisemites themselves. And boy, they are many! But regular citizens like you and me have failed. For the most part, we have buried our heads in the sand and are oblivious of the rampant antisemitism that has spread across our schools right here at home. Sure some of us might realize the obvious antisemitism that Israeli Jews face every day. They are in a constant existential fight with so many Muslims and others who not only hate them, but want them dead.  Sadly Israelis have been killed in large and small numbers since her modern day recreation in 1948. 

But many of us, whether we are Jewish or not, are not aware about the ongoings with our school system. The TDSB (Toronto District School Board) has been simmering for years with antisemitism. Meanwhile I would bet that this is not common knowledge. Like the mold in the shower analogy, we can't shower anymore. I mean, we can't send our kids to school anymore. Of course we can, but should we? One of my favourite mentors, Dennis Prager, had warned parents about sending their kids to university. He cited so many cases where parents paid tons of money to send their kids to college with high hopes that their kids would return as mature young adults loaded with the required education and skills to make a living in the careers of their choosing. But instead their kids came home loaded with Leftist ideology and antisemitism. Even Jewish students are brainwashed to hate Israel and to attribute  to Israel some of the most outrageous lies ever promulgated. Their educators, an oxymoron if I ever heard one, were themselves brainwashed and were on a mission to get the next generation of haters on their side. Jews are an easy people to hate. Because we are more or less peaceful. Whereas other minorities like Blacks have lately become associated with some nasty violent organizations like BLM. So many people, organizations and governments have bought their propaganda and refuse to even look at their astounding violent behaviour and threats. If even the smallest hint of anti-Black racism was discovered at the TDSB, there would be an immediate outcry and believe me, heads would role. 

Likewise if anti-Muslim racism was discovered at TDSB, all hell would break loose. And perhaps heads would role, literally. I will never forget how just this past summer, downtown Toronto was taken over by tens of thousands of radical Muslims and their supporters looking for trouble. A peaceful protest, it wasn't. And hardly anyone noticed it or wanted to. 

Us Jews are a very small minority in Toronto. There are pockets in the greater area that have a high percentage of Jews but overall, certainly compared to most other minorities, we are tiny. We can't expect others to speak up for our us. We are responsible for our own well being. Last I heard, we still live in a free, democratic, society. But if we do nothing, we'll lose that. Now is the time to speak out. As I've written ad nauseam, a simple email is so easy to do. And if we write enough of them and send them to the media, our politicians, the schools, organizations, companies and the individuals who need them, we can affect change. I wrote this email to our TDSB trustees the other day:

Subject: Please reject the unjust censure of Trustee Alexandra Lulka

Dear Toronto District School Board Trustees,

It has become obviously apparent to me that your board has a problem with Jews. There have been far too many issues recently that have highlighted this serious racist behaviour.
The latest  attempt by your board  to attack your fellow Jewish trustee, Alexandra Lulka and attempt to censure her for discriminating against Muslims and Palestinians is more proof of your very own antisemitism. 
Alexandra’s complaint was with TDSB Equity advisor Javier Davila for distributing antisemitic material (a claim that the commissioner agreed with). Because she did her job and identified a serious problem with a TDSB employee, she has been attacked by the board unfairly. BTW, he is neither Muslim or Palestinian (not that that should matter).

I urge you all to please look at the facts alone and see what’s going on there. There exists a dark circle of people and ideas who wish to silence anyone who speaks out against antisemitism. And if one defies silence, then they are punished for opening their mouth. What kind of example do you want to set for our students and future generations right here in Toronto, one of the most diverse cities in the world?

I sent that email to all of the trustees as follows:

harpreet.gill@tdsb.on.ca, dan.maclean@tdsb.on.ca, patrick.nunziata@tdsb.on.ca, christopher.mammoliti@tdsb.on.ca, alexandra.lulka@tdsb.on.ca, chris.tonks@tdsb.on.ca, robin.pilkey@tdsb.on.ca, shelley.laskin@tdsb.on.ca, stephanie.donaldson@tdsb.on.ca, chris.moise@tdsb.on.ca, rachel.chernoslin@tdsb.on.ca, alexander.brown@tdsb.on.ca, james.li@tdsb.on.ca, trixie.doyle@tdsb.on.ca, jennifer.story@tdsb.on.ca, michelle.aarts@tdsb.on.ca, david.smith4@tdsb.on.ca, parthi.kandavel@tdsb.on.ca, zakir.patel@tdsb.on.ca, manna.wong@tdsb.on.ca, yalini.rajakulasingam@tdsb.on.ca, anu.sriskandarajah@tdsb.on.ca, chair@tdsb.on.ca 

BTW, the director of the TDSB is Colleen Russell-Rawlins.  She also deserves an email or two over this and so many other antisemitic incidents at TDSB. She was ok with a high school allowing a pro-Palestinian demonstration with chants 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. 

I challenge everyone who reads this blog to write an email to all of the trustees I listed. Start there. Hopefully this will lead you on to a strong path of defiance of antisemitism. Let's clean up our own backyard first and move on to other organizations and locations. 

Many Thanks !