B’nai Brith is urging the federal government to establish a Royal Commission on Antisemitism amid a dramatic surge in incidents across Canada.
In a new petition, B’nai Brith is calling for a Federal Royal Commission on Antisemitism. The call comes amid ongoing antisemitic incidents in Canada, including three recent incidents of Synagogues in the Greater Toronto Area being struck by gunfire.
You can read the full text of the petition below:
We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Canada to establish a Federal Royal Commission on Antisemitism in Canada.
Antisemitism in Canada has reached crisis levels, with incidents rising 124% over the past two years and an average of more than 17 antisemitic incidents occurring daily.
Jewish people across the country are facing harassment, intimidation, vandalism, threats, and violence in schools, campuses, workplaces, synagogues, and neighbourhoods.
Online hate, extremist threats, and the normalization of antisemitic rhetoric are placing Jewish communities at increasing risk.
To date, the Government of Canada has failed to adequately address the scale, urgency, and escalating severity of this alarming national crisis.
We urgently call on the Government of Canada to immediately establish a Federal Royal Commission on Antisemitism to investigate the scope, sources, and systemic nature of antisemitism in Canada and to deliver concrete, actionable recommendations to protect Jewish Canadians and uphold Canadian values.
Jewish communities worldwide have already been targeted during their holiest moments. In Manchester, a synagogue was attacked on Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish year. In Bondi Beach, two gunmen opened fire during Chanukah, a holiday defined by light and celebration, while in Toronto, a synagogue was attacked with gunfire shortly after Purim ended, yet another moment of joy and communal gathering disrupted by violence. In recent days, Jewish owned businesses, including restaurants, in Toronto and Montreal have been targeted with gunfire and vandalized.
These were not random acts; they reflect a deliberate strategy by extremists to strike when and where Jewish communities gather, pray, and are most visible.
Following the Bondi Beach attack a threat assessment from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) raised an alarming warning: the same conditions that enabled the Bondi attack are present in Canada. The assessment warned that a violent extremist attack targeting Canada’s Jewish community is a “realistic possibility.” This is not a theoretical risk. Lives are at stake, Canada faces the same vulnerabilities that have already led to tragedy abroad.
Canada cannot wait for an attack on its own soil before acting. Protecting Jewish communities requires swift, decisive, and proactive measures before lives are lost—not after.
The time to act for the safety, dignity, and security of Jewish Canadians, and for the moral integrity of Canada itself, is now.
B’nai Brith has also outlined eight steps for the Government to take to address the crisis of antisemitism:
This is a deeply important issue. Canada’s Jewish community has contributed immeasurably to this country’s intellectual, cultural, and civic life, and a Canada that cannot protect one of its communities from targeted hatred and violence is a Canada that has failed its own foundational promise. If we are serious about building a nation worthy of leading in this century, we must be equally serious about defending every community that makes this country what it is. Allowing antisemitism to take root unchallenged does not only threaten Jewish Canadians, it corrodes the institutional trust, pluralism, and social cohesion that are Canada’s greatest long-term strengths.
You can sign the petition here. I have signed, and encourage you to do so as well if you so choose.
Spencer Fernando
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I was born just before 2nd world war.During second world war and we owned a grocery store at North Italy,When the German troops were passing through our village they would stop to buy provisions.I t could have been 1942 or 1943 I guess the year because of my age at that time.So my memory must have worked at that time.A German soldier a cook came to our store bought the provisions and as he walked out of our store asked me if I know any jewish people.At that time i was to young to know which people were jewish or not.So I said no.I do not know why I remember that incident.I must have been traumitised to remember to the incident all my life.For that reason I stand with jewish people and they must be protected.
Agreed, Bruno. And thank you for sharing your story.