Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write: Earlier this week a Jewish grocery store in suburban Toronto was set on fire, had its windows smashed and was defaced with “Free Palestine” graffiti.
I hate to give any weight to a single incident – especially one perpetrated by a handful of losers. But the arson follows a series of antisemitic incidents in the city since October 7.
There’s disagreement over whether or not this first incident was in fact antisemitic: An Indigo bookstore in downtown Toronto was vandalized with red paint and posters pasted up accusing the chain’s founder, Heather Reisman, of “funding genocide.”
To some, the antisemitism was obvious. To others, Reisman is totally fair game because she doesn’t just happen to be Jewish; she also funds an international scholarship for former Israeli army volunteers.
Then came the vandalism of a Starbucks in a Jewish neighbourhood in midtown Toronto. It was covered with graffitied slogans ranging from “Free Palestine” to “Stop killing babies” and “Blood on your hands.”
Sorry, but when did we decide that going to Starbucks makes you a baby killer?
And then there was the incident at the Zara in Toronto’s Eaton Centre. More than 100 demonstrators blocked the entrance to the clothing store at the height of the holiday shopping season to protest an ad campaign that you’d need to be delusional or dishonest to describe as insensitive.
That one turned a lot of people off – especially the part where a protester threatened to kill someone in front of police in the middle of Canada’s busiest shopping mall – and then was allowed to hang around and continue to taunt people as if that’s a completely normal thing to do.
Sorry, but when did we decide that it’s no longer a crime to threaten to kill people?
Then came the daily protests in a Jewish neighbourhood in uptown Toronto. For the past week, demonstrators have taken to periodically blockading the Avenue Road bridge over Highway 401.
Sorry, but what the hell do Jewish Canadians have to do with the Israel Defense Forces?
It’s important to remember that there’s nothing unique about demonstrators blockading traffic. Lest we forget the Freedom Convoy of 2022, when hundreds of truck drivers shut down streets outside Parliament Hill for nearly three weeks.
But there’s a categorical difference between blockading traffic in front of a downtown government building, or a foreign consulate, and blockading traffic in a residential neighbourhood for no conceivable reason except that Jewish people are known to live there. One is illegal and annoying. The other is illegal and creepy.
Which brings me back to the arson: The Jewish grocery store, International Delicatessen Foods, happens to share an acronym with Israel’s army: IDF. But that’s where the similarities end! I’m sure the irony was lost on the arsonists. But their hateful message wasn’t lost on Canadians.
This might be one of those historical moments when Canada has to decide what kind of country it wants to be. Or maybe this has been the worst of it. Maybe cooler heads will prevail. Maybe Canadian winter will finally kick in. That’s my hope.
But if these incidents continue, and continue to escalate, Justin Trudeau will have to address what’s going on. Compared to the rest of the world, Canada is a tolerant place – but we can’t tolerate intolerance. Making that clear may make the prime minister unpopular. But he’s already unpopular, and people need to hear it.