This is a guest post from Michael Diamond, an investor and entrepreneur, former teacher and lawyer. He is heavily invested in philanthropic activities with a focus on Israel and the Jewish community of Toronto through his various involvements with UJA of Greater Toronto.
A year past
It has now been one year since October 7, the day that changed the world for Israelis and Jews worldwide. October 7, which set off a series of events which are ever evolving without any degree of clarity as to where they end.
In Israel, the country is both traumatized and united for the most part in understanding that it has no option but to defeat the Axis of Terror created and supported by Iran. Thousands have been killed, tens of thousands permanently injured. The economy is struggling, and people are waiting for an end - but that end is neither predictable nor necessarily acceptable.
There are too many “fronts” to count: Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, elements of Judea and Samaria, the internet. Thankfully, most Arab Israeli citizens have been either supportive or quiet, perhaps because they understand that as Arabs, they have the best lifestyle of those in that part of the world (ignoring the Saudi and Emirati royalty perhaps…).
How this will end, or be temporarily paused, is unclear. Nor do we know the timeline. Israel is not built for long wars. It has neither the population nor strategic depth. But a year later, the war if anything is accelerating. What is clear is that the Israelis know they have no option - ein brera - but to win this war, and they have shown that when they are paying attention, as in Lebanon, they can perform wonders, while when their hubris gets in the way of reason, they can fail their country in dramatic fashion, as on October 7.
Looking forward
Pessimistically, Israel seems to be as divided as ever, with a government which hangs together by placating a minority who are, in my view, not inclined to act in the interests of the broad population and are far too messianic. Yet, the attacks on Hezbollah have reminded all of us that Israelis are a remarkable group who can perform wonders when they have to. This AI generated cartoon suggests a more positive view….
Emotionally, Israelis are likely feeling a constant level of anxiety from multiple sources: Trauma as they relive the barbarity and depravity of a crazed enemy and the utter failure of the IDF on October 7; anxiety as they question whether they can ever trust the IDF and security services to protect them; and an overwhelming sadness at the losses in human life, long term injury and mental challenges, and destruction. Blended into that, in many cases, is a related sadness at the devastation Israel has had no choice but to inflict in Gaza, and increasingly in Lebanon, in order to defend itself. Israel has never sought to destroy, unless doing so is critical to protecting the homefront.
Diaspora internalization
We in the Diaspora feel all of this, albeit with lesser levels of impact. We are rational beings, but the emotional aspects of our being governs how we feel and in some cases guide our actions. Some of us are living with the Israelis daily and feeling a good deal of the anxiety. But all of us are impacted by what has and is taking place in Israel because that is our other homeland.
I would argue that in some ways, the Jews of the Diaspora have even more to worry about than the Israelis. We internalize some of what Israelis internalize, but we have our own additional layers of anxiety to deal with too. One layer of anxiety comes from our extreme surprise and disappointment, if not disgust, at the response of our fellow Canadians (or temporary residents in some cases) to October 7.
It has been bad enough that the level of empathy for us as Jews in responding to the most barbaric attack on any group of humanity in some time from the mainstream has been generally absent. That would have been bad on its own. But the Radical Evil (to use Bernard-Henri Levy’s term) evident in the upside down narrative produced by those who are unquestioningly our enemies, has brought light to an undercurrent of hostility towards Jews in Canada that most of us did not believe existed. While we were trying to digest the outcomes of one of the worst examples of human behaviour against Jews or anyone else in recent history, our enemies were on the street celebrating the massacre, advocating for the end of Israel and for a violent global intifada which implies attacks on us all. Indeed, as I write this article in early October 2024, we are told that this despicable group of humanity, comprised of Palestinian Arabs, other elements from the Muslim community who refuse to condemn terror and stand against it, together with too many academics and many young useful idiots, including some who call themselves Jewish for the purpose of being held out as “the good Jews” by our enemies, protested mightily on October 7, while we mourned the losses of so many good, innocent young people, older people, and babies. Indeed, we are mourning the loss of humanity that all of these experiences suggest is happening.
Our silent neighbours
At the same time, the great mass of Canadians are relatively or totally silent. We know from our own research that the majority of Canadians retain Western values, that they are disgusted by October 7 and what it represents, that they are against terrorism in any form, and support Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. We also know that most Canadians appreciate that Jewish Canadians are good folks for the most part, and have done much to build what is good about this country. And yet. And yet. Most of these people are silent.
I suspect the reasons for that are threefold:
First, many are simply too wrapped up in their own personal challenges to take on “the cause” of another.
Second, most may not fully understand just how traumatized their fellow Canadians are, as we Jews wrestle with events in the Middle East and at home. With reason, they don’t feel that shiver that we Jews feel down our spines when we see a few thousand people marching down our streets yelling “from the River to the Sea”, “Globalize the Intifada,” or worse. They don’t connect the dots as we do to the possibility that this time in Canada is similar to the 1930s in Germany (we know how that worked out for those Jews who stuck around or couldn’t get out).
Third, unfortunately, many of our fellow Canadians may see us as a privileged minority who have done relatively well in the Canadian milieu and don’t need their support. This of course is not entirely wrong - many of us have done well, not just in accumulating assets and wealth, but in building Canadian institutions for the benefit of others, and we are able to fend for ourselves when necessary. But we live in a country that has adopted a social contract, and we have stood up for others who refuse to stand up for us. This is why it feels like a betrayal. Also, it is wrong to generalize that the Jews are privileged simply for being Jews. This has almost never, in history, been the case.
While those reasons provide an explanation, they are not a reason to remain silent. The secular Canada that most of you who are silent enjoy and wish to continue to enjoy is under attack. Where societies attack their minorities, and certainly their Jews, bad things happen - not just to the Jews, but to the broader societies. Antisemitism is a societal illness and it ultimately affects everyone. The Jews are time and time again the proverbial canary in the coal mine: our circumstances provide an advance warning of societal deterioration which society (read: everyone) needs to focus on before what once was a strong, engaged, self-supportive, and positive society becomes ever more polarized, dysfunctional, and negative for all. Hatred is a disease that does not stop where it started: with the Jews.
Deterioration, and need for help
Recently, I heard a magnificent speech delivered by Michal Cotler Wunch, Israel’s Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism. She recently spoke brilliantly at the UN, as well as the UJA’s 10/7 Vigil in Toronto. What struck me most about what she shared is that her father Irwin Cotler, an international and Canadian human rights hero, also a former Liberal Justice Minister and Member of Parliament, is a prisoner in his own home in Montreal, unable to leave the house without police escorts. Actually. That such a great man, who has done more for international human rights than almost anyone in his generation, should be a prisoner of the pro-Hamas mob in what is, along with Toronto, one of the worst hotbeds of antisemitic hatred on the planet, is a remarkable achievement for the haters, and an incredible defeat for all that is Canadian, especially our federal leaders who, in their efforts to retain the limited support they have in the electorate, are whoring themselves to the forces of hatred and anti-Western sentiment which will soon destroy all that we value in Canada if we do not do something.
I began this piece by describing the multiple levels of anxiety felt by Israelis. I suggested that we Jews in the Diaspora are feeling the same effects, albeit at a lesser level. But we Jews are also feeling the anxiety produced by elements of a society here in Canada which is seriously deficient, under attack, and pervasively ill. We are afraid of what happens next, and are terribly disappointed at the lack of overt support offered by our fellow Canadians, and our elected officials, while disgusted at the overt hatred and lies put out there by the small minority who appear to currently be setting the national agenda and Canada’s response to events overseas.
In our anxiety however, we are acting. We are building a level of security for our Jewish institutions which integrates with one bright light in our local situation - our local police services who remain aware of the differences between right and wrong. And we are slowly working towards strategies to get the truth out there. In doing so, we call on our fellow Canadians to help us, the small minority of Canadian Jews, to carry the torch of Canadian and Western values which, if they govern, will solve this problem.
In the meantime, I call on all Jews to be proud of your heritage, and appreciative of the opportunity to be Jewish, however difficult it may be. I call out and condemn those Jews who have used their being Jewish to become the heroes of our enemies in some mistaken belief that it is somehow the right thing to do, as it gains them short term popularity among the pro Hamas fellows. And mostly I call on the majority of Canadians, who I know to be good people, to look carefully at what is taking place in our country, and to stand up and be counted in helping one small minority of Canadians to continue to live our lives in Canada along with other Canadians, without hatred, without attacks, without being described as being responsible for decisions, good or bad, right or wrong, of a country on the other side of the globe which, although part of our heritage, is not governed by us, but by a government elected by fellow Jews, Arabs, and others, and which has a series of challenges revolving around survival which most of us cannot fully comprehend because of where we live.
Just as Irwin Cotler does not deserve to be a prisoner in his own Canadian home given what he has given to humanity, I and my fellow Jews in Canada do not deserve to be put upon, attacked, despised or otherwise affected by a conflict which we did not start, and only wish to finish so that we can move on and create and make the world a better place, which is our tradition.
 |
|
Excellent article. I too wrote about Michal Cotler-Wunsh today. She is inspiring