A Jewish congregation based in Canada is calling for more to be done to stop people from engaging in acts of "antisemitism," including through speech.
B'nai Brith Canada (BB) says its "Seven-Point Plan to Combat Antisemitism" should be spread far and wide, including to politicians and police officers, so the state can learn how to crack down on public displays of "antisemitism."
Davide Mastracci from The Maple warns that the new proposal from B'nai Brith "should disturb anyone who cares about stopping Israel's genocide in Gaza."
"If that sounds like you, then there's a good chance BB and the broader Israel lobby wants you suspended from your school, fired from your place of employment, cut off from any funding you enjoy or even imprisoned," Mastracci writes.
"This sounds dramatic, but a close review of the plan reveals that it's true, and worse, that much of what the group wants to happen is already in motion."
(Related: Have you checked out our report about the ugly, horrifying history of Israel's military, often called the "most moral army in the world?")
Enforcing new "antisemitism" speech laws
While BB is not necessarily or even primarily responsible for the pro-Israel actions that government leaders in Canada, the United States and elsewhere are taking, it and other groups behind the push, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) are usually the first, at least in Canada, to make these kinds of demands.
What usually happens is that the political lobby follows the lead of these groups rather than the other way around. This is due to the Israel lobby's vast resources, which are used to wine and dine members of parliament (MPs) into supporting Israel.
"With this in mind, BB's plan shouldn't be written off or ignored," Mastracci writes.
"To make things worse, the next party likely to be in charge federally, with a strong majority – the Pierre Poilievre-led Conservatives, boasting Canada's most unhinged Zionist MP as its deputy leader – is promising to do even more for Israel."
BB's seven-step plan includes implementing the following:
1) An "all of government approach to the implementation and application of the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Definition of Antisemitism" that calls on all levels of government, including public institutions, to comply.
2) A "national monitoring system" to ensure the IHRA definition for "antisemitism," as well as all violations of it, are being policed and enforced throughout society.
3) "Ban Al-Quds day rallies and rallies that support terror entities and sanctioned regimes," meaning no more pro-Palestine protests.
4) Create a "comprehensive listing of terror organizations" that included Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Samidoun, an international prisoner solidarity network.
5) "Combat the importation and exportation of hate and terror" by calling for "stricter immigration controls [...] with respect to extremism and radicalization," "enhanced monitoring of foreign influence," "deportation of extremists," and stricter laws and penalties to simplify the "deportation or long-term imprisonment" of violators.
6) "Proactively confront antisemitism on campuses" by making governments force colleges and universities to create new strategies for silencing pro-Palestine speech, which includes "proactively confront[ing] antisemitism within the education sector" at large.
7) "Amend[ing] the criminal code to better assist in the combating of hate," meaning the Israel lobby wants all those arrests of and charges against campus protesters to lead to actual convictions.
"And so, the seventh step on BB's plan is a clear indicator that they aren't content with merely encouraging legal harassment," Mastracci says. "Instead, they want to ensure those targeted are actually locked up. To do so, they want to alter the Criminal Code and other laws directly."
Bans on "antisemitic" speech are still censorship. Learn more at Censorship.news.
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