swastikas

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

A dozen posters with swastikas seen in Outremont saying the federal Conservatives and Liberals, and provincial CAQ, and Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, are aligned with Nazis because of their support of Israel, have been roundly condemned.

The posters related to Housefather, taped up at several corners in Outremont and the Mile End, says the MP declared “we helped build this country” and features an Israeli flag with a swastika instead of the Star of David. The poster also features a Nazi flag attributing the building of the Autobahn and “much more” to the Third Reich. Housefather is then equated to a neo-Nazi, and encourages him to “get out of Canada.”

The MP posted a response last week, saying on X “my family has been here since the 19th century and we have indeed helped build this country. I am not going anywhere. Sorry antisemites. You may not like what I have to say but I will keep saying it and I will keep being a proud Jew and a Zionist.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted, “Anthony, I’m angry that this happened to you. It’s antisemitic, and it’s disgusting. Jewish Canadians indeed helped build this country and will always have a home here. We stand with you, and the entire community, against this hate.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs stated on social media, “thank you Anthony Housefather for always wearing your Jewish and Canadian identities proudly. Antisemitism and hate directed towards public officials (or anyone) has no place in Canada.”

Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy For Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, wrote, “this sign is not only targeting Anthony Housefather, “but all Jewish Canadians, 90 percent of whom could be defined as Zionists. Our country has gained so much from the contributions of our Jewish community; it is past time for the rest of us to come together and say ‘no more.’ It is our duty to stand in front of them to protect them, behind them to support them, and beside them in true friendship.”

Late last week, Trudeau named Housefather his Special Advisor on Jewish Community Relations and Antisemitism. Housefather’s role will be to “advise the Prime Minister and ministers on the development and co-ordination of the Government of Canada’s work to combat antisemitism.”

On Canada Day, the stones on top of several gravestones at the Kehal Israel cemetery in DDO were rearranged in the shape of a swastika.

Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi commented that, “it is absolutely abhorrent and revolting to defile the dead with swastikas. This desecration at the Kehal Israel cemetery in Montreal is beyond contempt. Justin Trudeau, step aside and get out of the way so we can reclaim our country.”

Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre retweeted Levi’s post and wrote, “we cannot close our eyes to the disgusting acts of antisemitism that are happening in our country every day. The Prime Minister must finally act to stop these displays of antisemitism. If he won’t, a common sense Conservative government will.”

CIJA posted, “should we therefore ask ourselves whether the vision of Valérie Plante is that of a metropolis where antisemitism can flourish freely, to the detriment of the tranquility and success of its citizens and its entrepreneurs? Is it that of a city where one can calmly and without consequence come and defile a Jewish grave with a filthy swastika?”

B’nai Brith Canada stated that, sadly “this is not an isolated incident, but part of a disturbing pattern of unchecked and unmitigated antisemitism plaguing the city. Such acts of hatred cannot be tolerated. The Jewish community in Montreal deserves safety and respect. Not enough is being done! Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante must do more than offer words of condemnation. We demand immediate and concrete action to combat antisemitism in the City of Montreal. The time for passive responses is over.”

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre also reacted, posting “this incident is another reminder of what Canadian Jews are up against. What will it take for Plante and all leaders to take concrete action to confront this hatred that’s invading our communities?” n