I was one of approximately 3000 peaceful citizens attending the Canada for Israel Rally at Queen’s Park on July 27. It was an extraordinary experience. This rally was planned a mere five days earlier by 70 organizations, including Muslims Facing Tomorrow, Friends of Jesus Christ Church, StandWithUs Canada, ICEJ(International Christian Embassy Jerusalem Canada)Stop Sponsoring Hate and Canadians For Israel (ad hoc committee) but not CIJA, The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the organization that refers to itself as the voice of the Jewish community.
The crowd was delirious when John Carmichael, member for Parliament for Don Valley West, brought greetings from our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. It wasn’t just greetings. It was reiterating Canada’s stand for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and declaring that she has every right to defend herself. All around me-and I think I was one of the loudest-there were screams of Harper! Harper! Harper!
The speeches were filled with hope and the sentiment that the Jewish people won’t back down; we aren’t going anywhere, no more “Wandering Jews” forced to leave any country. But those who choose can go to Israel, the Jewish homeland for 3000 years, a home to which millions of Jews have returned. RE-turned.
Speakers also commented on the bias of the media, which in my opinion has been much worse since the need to implement Operation Protective Edge. It’s a bias that I believe has led to increased violence against the Jewish people because it incites hate for Israel. Around 3PM there was a skirmish and the media scurried over with all their cameras to record it.
It seems there was a response to a “citizen” waving a flag depicting the Israeli flag with a swastika instead of the Star of David. He felt entitled to wave this unconscionable flag that brings back memories of the vilest attempt to eliminate the Jewish people. A member from the JDL was there to “suggest” the flag not be flown. Later in the day, as reported by the Toronto Star, a paper not known for its particularly fair reporting on Israel, Yves Engler felt entitled to scream “Kill more Palestinian children” at the crowd. He was spat upon! The Toronto Star described him as an atheist from B.C. who said he had no ties to the conflict and called the event “a pro-war rally dressed up with lots of talk about peace.”
The Star didn’t do due its diligence. Yves Engler has a reputation for his anti-Jewish opinions and certainly has ties to the conflict. He wasn’t there by accident and he made sure the media was aware of his position. And they diligently reported it! Engler has written amongst other topics, “How the Tories Propagate Jewish Imperialism to which I rebutted in Huffington Post “Israel: Western Imperialism Favours Democracy,” and was reported in Honest Reporting.
On our way home we met a woman in the subway station who’d also attended the rally. I mentioned the scuffle to her and that the JDL had been there. She said she’d seen them and was glad. Their presence made her feel safe! Here in Toronto in the heart of the city a Jewish woman felt safe not because of the police presence but the JDL-the Jewish Defense League.
I’ve spoken on the phone to Meir Weinstein, who founded the Canadian JDL in 1979, and made a point of finding him at the rally. He’s a man who takes up space.
There was a time when I wondered about the JDL. I wasn’t a fan. Something about violence! For the longest time the JDL didn’t have a very good reputation in the Jewish community. These are Jews standing up with threat of fists. We aren’t like that. We don’t fight.
Well these Jews are prepared to defend us and have been defending us while many of us disdained them. These are Big Jews. I mean BIG. I met several of the members, all polite, and I saw their working dog at work. A beautiful German Shepherd, sporting a big jewelled collar and a muzzle, here to help protect the Jewish demonstrators from harm. There is an irony in all that. A German Shepherd to protect the Jews, the same type of dog that the Nazis used to attack us.
I think, we the Jewish people, are changing. Perhaps now that Israel is 66 years old, has withstood 3 wars attempting to annihilate the state, and has the best and most moral army on the world, we are beginning to shed that skin of fear that pushed us into silence or running. But that new courage hasn’t taken away our love of Torah, of study. We bumped into a young man from Chabad, long black coat, black hat, soft demeanor, asking my partner if he cared to put on tefillin. I loved it. That he quietly approached and asked about putting on symbols that remind us of our ethic-of care for one’s brother and care for the other, at this rally. He represented the part of us that is forever connected to Torah, upon which the members of the IDF take their oath at the Western Wall, while holding a gun. “Right and Might.”
To me the young man from Chabad represents “Right” and the JDL the “Might.” The part of us that now says “enough.” The JDL has come into their time. We will not be bullied anymore. We will not run, we will not apologize for or justify our existence as Jews and our right to live in our homeland.
From Buchar Boys to Men with fists, we will carry with us the “right” and the “might” to live freely and peacefully as Jews.
WE ARE ONE!
