Oberman testifies at Commons Committee on antisemitism
By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
Lawyer Neil Oberman, the senior partner at Spiegel Sohmer who has succeeded in obtaining six injunctions to move anti-Israel protests 50 metres from Jewish community institutions, testified last week in Ottawa at the House of Commons Justice Committee regarding the antisemitism that is rampant in Canada, particularly on many university campuses.
Oberman has also served legal warnings on McGill and Concordia demanding action be taken by them to deal with antisemitism on campus. “As a lawyer and a supporter of my community, I think the need for this committee in 2024 goes to show how some of our Canadian values have deteriorated,” Oberman told the committee. “I want to express my concern with the rise in antisemitism that has been documented by various organizations and agencies. Antisemitism is not a thing of the past, but a present and growing threat to our society [and is] not only a problem for Jewish people, but for everyone who values human rights, democracy, and pluralism.”
Oberman also told the committee that “many members of our community have experienced intimidation, hate, bullying and aggression because they are Jewish. When people yell out ‘From the river to the sea’ and ‘intifada,’ all it does is create an atmosphere of aggression towards an identifiable community, which knows exactly what it is supposed to mean.”
The lawyer said numerous examples of antisemitism have been brought to his attention, including a “student being beaten in elementary school by classmates for not supporting Palestine, and when the teacher witnesses it, she encourages the beating; antisemitic student newspapers on campus promoting hatred by propagating tropes; antisemitic graffiti on campuses; a Concordia University group attacking students for being Jewish”, the protests and blockades leading to a need for an injunction to protect local Jewish community institutions “a Jewish teacher being targeted for having a friend who used to be in the IDF and then being subject to a protest outside of her school while she was teaching and a change.org petition for her employer to fire her,” and “Jewish students being harassed by teachers on CEGEP campuses to donate money to organizations that promote hatred.”
Oberman said intimidation on university campuses, CEGEPs and other academic institutions “is in my view the most serious matter facing our community today. “The young people of our community are part of the future and are currently being targeted because they are Jewish. When you discourage, intimidate, bully, and instill fear in a student, you in effect break their morale and impact their ability to want to stay in the community and grow with the community for the future. There is still hope, there is still a bright future, but we must collaborate as one to ensure that hatred does not overcome our Canadian values.” n
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