Why don’t nationalists push back on certain foreign smears against Canada? Why doesn’t the “Canada First” crowd complain when private schools have kids sing a foreign anthem? Why don’t pushers of military readiness denounce Canadians who join a foreign army? Why does our government give tax deductions for “charities” that break Canadian law and/or our foreign policy? Why isn’t a lobby group named “Centre for Israel” seen as “importing” a foreign conflict?
“A Pogrom Is Brewing in Canada”, explained The Free Press, a US publication whose About page declares its “Belief in the American Project”. While written by a Canadian, the commentary’s outrageous headline is based on an interview with a former Israeli Knesset member, Einat Wilf. Instead of any pushback on the smear, those claiming to be “Canada First” supporters (Lorrie Goldstein) and worried about “foreign interference” (Robert Fife) promoted the anti-Canadian hit piece.
The Free Press article aligns with a broader Israeli smear against Canada. Last week that country’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry crowned Canada the “champion of antisemitism” in a report accusing world leaders of inciting anti-Jewishness by criticizing Israel’s holocaust in Gaza. The ministry’s release launching a 150-page report noted, “In 2024, Canada earned the dubious distinction as ‘champion of antisemitism.”
Led by former Israeli military intelligence officers and officials of the government-backed Voices of Israel, CyberWell released a similar smear regarding the recent federal election. Their “2025 Canadian Election Rhetoric Tainted by Antisemitism” offers a hodgepodge of legitimately anti-Jewish (though largely unidentified) and obviously absurd claims. One of the examples they cite is my response to a Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs post noting “Harassment isn’t activism, it is a crime. At a time when Canadians from across the country are deeply engaged in the election, we must condemn efforts by some individuals, including Yves Engler who is already facing harassment charges, to undermine our democracy.” Included in CyberWell’s “evidence” of antisemitism during the election was my response stating, “The genocidal Jewish supremacists at CIJA want me to stop challenging politicians for supporting Israel’s holocaust in Gaza. I guess I’ll stop.”
During the election campaign Benjamin Netanyahu openly threw his weight behind Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Subsequently, Israel’s prime minister appeared disappointed the “Canada first” leader lost. According to Zionist fanatic Vivian Bercovici, “As I write this, three days after his victory, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has yet to issue even a perfunctory congratulation [to Mark Carney]. That is extraordinary.” When I searched a few days later I found nothing on Netanyahu’s X account or online.
Those who claim to be concerned with defending Canada from foreign interference are little troubled by Israeli interference. Few mention that the official advocacy agent of Canada’s Jewish Federations, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, doesn’t even include the word “Canada” in its name. Nor do any mainstream voices accuse CIJA of promoting “transnational repression” by calling to arrest students, block demonstrations and ban grassroots Canadian organizations in a bid to enable a faraway state to commit genocide.
Conversely, they admonish Arabs, Muslims and humanist Canadians for “importing” conflict by opposing genocide. In one of many similar admonishments, last month Poilievre declared “Bring your culture, bring your traditions, bring your family, but do not bring foreign conflicts onto our streets.”
Marches organized by the Jewish Federations, which are formally tied to the Israeli government through the Jewish Agency for Israel, in support of Israel aren’t considered “bringing foreign conflicts onto our streets.” Nor are the federations funding private schools flying Israeli flags and singing that country’s anthem. Jewish schools send students to Israel day, not Canada Day, events. In a recent article about pro-Israel “brainwashing” at Jewish schools Davide Mastracci quotes former students discussing how differently the Israeli and Canadian national anthems were treated. Chelsey Lichtman told Mastracci, “We knew the Israeli anthem was more important and more directly connected to us than the Canadian one.” Shoshana Schwebel added, “Nobody cared about the Canadian anthem, but the Israeli anthem you had to stand, you had to sing it.”
The article also quoted Davita Guslits saying he didn’t know anyone who joined the Canadian military, though many classmates considered the Israeli military. “I don’t know anyone from my Jewish community who ever joined or thought of joining the Canadian Army.”
A recent Jewish News Syndicate article about a Torontonian who recently joined “our” military highlights this. “Proudto represent our nation, says lone soldier from Canada” quoted a 20-year-old serving in the genocidal force. The unnamed soldier stated, “I come from a Zionist home —love for Israel was everything.”
Canada even gives tax deductions for “charities” that fund the Israeli military and illegal settlements.
Colonial Jewish supremacy has long been part of elite Canadian nationalism, as I detail in Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid. When London began seeking to conquer Palestine, especially after the British empire’s 1917 Balfour declaration, Jewish Zionists’ cause became part of “British Canadian nationalism”. In Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey Gerald Tulchinsky points out that in Canada, much more than in the US, it was beneficial to one’s standing among the elite to support Zionism. He notes, “loyalty to Britain’s cause provided Zionists with opportunities to identify their purposes with Britain’s imperial mission.” There was no hint of dual loyalty for Canadians who worked to create a Jewish state as it could be part of “British Canadian nationalism.”
Our current moment of nationalist upsurge, is a good time to ask whether killing and dispossessing Palestinians should be central to Canadian nationalism?
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