Why Are Canadian Jews Under Attack for a War They Didn’t Start?

Why Are Canadian Jews Under Attack for a War They Didn’t Start? By Dale Jodoin A wave of threats, attacks, and hate crimes is sweeping across Canada. Synagogues are being hit with gunfire. Jewish schools are on lockdown. Community centres are being evacuated over bomb threats. In some cities, Jewish students are being harassed and doxxed. Let’s be crystal clear: these attacks are not against a foreign army. They are not acts of protest. They are acts of terrorism targeting innocent Canadian citizens, most of whom have no connection to Israel, its government, or its military. And Canada is not doing nearly enough to stop it. It’s a dark day when Canadian Jews your neighbours, doctors, teachers, classmates are being blamed for something happening half a world away. This isn’t political disagreement. This is hatred, and it’s being fed by a dangerous crowd of radicalized youth hiding behind protest signs and university lanyards. When a schoolgirl can’t walk safely in Toronto because she’s wearing a Star of David, that’s not free speech. That’s terrorism. And when it comes from a foreign student who’s only here on a study permit, the answer should be simple: they should be deported. If they act violently they should be charged. If their goal is to intimidate Canadian citizens based on religion, they are not protestors. They are foreign operatives, plain and simple. And what about the systems that allow this to happen? The colleges that don’t expel these students. The city councils that make excuses. The police that issue warnings but not charges. The school boards that downplay it. At what point do we stop pretending these institutions are neutral? If they let hate spread unchecked, if they choose silence when Jewish families are threatened, then they are no longer protectors. They are participants. And participation in terrorism whether direct or passive is still terrorism. No badge or bureaucratic title should shield them from that truth. Here’s the ugly double standard. If the same kind of violence were happening to Muslims, LGBTQ people, or any other group, the media would explode. There would be press conferences, candlelight vigils, and wall-to-wall outrage. But when it’s Jews? Suddenly, we get “context.” We hear “It’s complicated.” We get lectures on colonialism and maps. That’s not justice. That’s justification. And it’s shameful. Blaming an entire group for the actions of a state is how the worst chapters in history always begin. It’s scapegoating. And we know where that road leads. But instead of standing against it, some universities hand out flyers. Some unions pass motions calling Jewish businesses “Zionist collaborators.” And some teachers, the very people trusted to educate the next generation, are openly supporting the same groups who call for violence. That’s not activism. That’s organized hate. And if Canadian services public or private aid or excuse this in any form, then they are no better than the ones throwing the rocks. They are terrorists in suits. We’ve seen foreign students in Canada chanting “death to Israel” in the middle of downtown. We’ve seen threats called into Jewish old age homes. We’ve seen Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues and then watched as police issue vague statements about “ongoing investigations.” No results. No arrests. No charges. So let’s call this what it is: failure. And not by accident. When justice is this quiet, it’s because someone’s turned down the volume on purpose. If someone threw a firebomb at a mosque, or threatened to blow up a Pride parade, we’d rightly demand action. But when it’s a synagogue, the debate shifts. We’re told not to make it worse. We’re told to be careful not to offend. But silence is not peace. Silence is surrender. And the Jewish community is being forced to accept that silence from the very country they trusted to protect them. Canada must wake up. The government’s job is to protect its citizens. All of them. No matter who they vote for, what they wear, or which God they pray to. And when that duty is ignored, when Jewish children are made to feel unsafe walking to school, that is not a small oversight. That is state failure. If that failure continues knowingly it is state-sponsored terror. We would never say it about ourselves, but we must. Because it's the truth. And let’s be honest: if a Canadian citizen threatened a mosque or LGBTQ event, they’d be in jail by dinner. But foreign students, radical professors, and cowardly administrators get a free pass as long as the hate is pointed at Jews. Why? Because we’re used to it? Because the government is afraid of backlash? That is not leadership. That is complicity. And in the case of Canadian services that continue to protect or excuse this, yes, that is terrorism, too. Canada is not Gaza. Canada is not a war zone. We are a nation of law, of citizenship, of responsibility. If someone commits a hate crime here—Canadian or not they face consequences. If they are a foreigner, they are sent back. And if an institution enables that hate, they should be named, investigated, and stripped of public funding. This isn't a call for chaos. It's a call for equal justice. You do not get to target Jews and call it activism. You do not get to burn down a community and say it's a movement. You do not get to hide behind student visas and taxpayer-funded salaries while helping fuel the oldest hate on Earth. If this country cannot stand up for its Jewish citizens, then we have already failed. The test of a democracy is not how well it treats the majority. It's how fiercely it defends the minority. And right now, Canada is flunking that test. There is still time to turn it around. But only if we stop excusing hate and start calling it what it is. Terror.