The envoy of anti -Semitism of Canada descends in the middle of a record increase in hatred

Anti -Semitism in Canada jumped after October 7, 2023 in Hamas, massacre in Israel, culminating in a record of 920 hatred crimes targeting the Jews last year.

The peak of incidents prompted Deborah Lyons, the country’s special envoy on the preservation of the Holocaust memory and the fight against anti-Semitism, to resign earlier this month, quoting the exhaustion of “wake up every day to a fight”.

Lyon said Canadian New Jews Last week, “work was the one that torn you physically and emotionally. I mean, I faced a lot of hatred myself … Many unpleasant words and in some cases,” she said.

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A man repairs the lock of the Beth Tikvah Congregation Doors while police investigate an alleged criminal fire at the Synagogue in the suburbs of Dollard-des-Orleaux in Montreal on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. (Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press via AP)

“I would say that during this period, these last two years, I have been really very surprised and I often become quite discouraged and desperate because it was difficult to make people speak, to speak with clarity, to speak with conviction of what we saw here on Canadian soil,” she added.

Irwin Cotler, former Canadian Minister of Justice and predecessor of Lyons as a special interview on anti -Semitism, told Fox News Digital that “explosion” in Jewish hatred had been greeted by a large conviction, but with “silence, denial, acquiescence, support and justification”.

“The government cannot simply report or be performative – it must act,” said Cotler. “This is something that Deborah had to face. She is a very faithful functionalist, and I am sure that it was difficult for her – if we put on – to see the government not to move as quickly, effectively or decisively as the required mandate.”

Although Jews represent less than one percent of Canada’s population, 18.8% of all hatred crimes reported in 2024 were motivated by anti -Semitism.

Of the 1,342 hate crimes with religious motivation reported last year, 920 – or 68.5% – targeted the Jewish community.

Toronto, Canada-January 4: Anti-Israeli demonstrators meet outside the Union station during a rally in Toronto, Ontario, January 4, 2024. Protesters demanding a cease-fire gathered outside the Union station in downtown Toronto. (Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Since the Special Envoy Lyons took office, we have found a 124% increase in anti -Semitism,” Fox News Digital Richard Robertson, research and advocacy director at B’nai Brith Canada told Fox News.

“The situation has become more and more untenable for the community. And although certain positive measures have been taken by the federal government, it has not been made enough to stem the tide-going beyond someone as the special envoy in a very difficult position,” he continued. “It is therefore understandable that she feels tired and discouraged by the current state of hatred in Canada.”

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Cotler and Robertson recognized the main achievements of Lyon during his mandate, including the publication of a manual on the definition of work of the anti -Semitism, produced by the envoy. According to Cotler, the resource is now used internationally by governments to train the police, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and civil servants.

Lyon was also an important voice in the international coalition of special envoys to combat anti -Semitism, offering Canada for a world resonance, said Cotler. He also underlined his success in the construction of the office of the special envoy with solid staff and a dedicated budget – an institutional foundation which did not exist before.

Anti-Israeli agitators protest at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo of Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Lyon also helped organize the National Forum on the Fight against Anti -Semitism, held in March 2024 and co -chaired by the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General of Canada. The forum brought together leaders of all levels of government to deal with the growing threat of public security posed by Jewish hatred.

“We need a total government approach,” said Robertson. “This is why, immediately after the election of Mark Carney, we wrote to the Prime Minister and describe the key ministries who could be mandated to have an immediate impact on the crisis of anti -Semitism. This is not something that the special envoy can resolve alone – this requires coordinated efforts on the level of the government.”

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Deborah Lyons, on the left, the former special envoy on the preservation of the memory of the holocaust and the fight against anti -Semitism, speaks with David Moscovic, a survivor of the Holocaust and Auschwitz, before an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, in the Parseastary Pinionnar in Ottawa, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press via AP)

Noah Shack, CEO of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (Cija), told Fox News Digital that when the police or public institutions had directly confronted anti -Semitic demonstrations, harassment or intimidation, they quickly collapsed.

“I think it is instructive-that when our public institutions take action to push, it dissipates,” he said. “We really need the government, the application of laws and wider society to recognize that we all have the duty to support this hatred which targets the Jewish community at the moment, but also to target our fundamental values as Canadians. And if we do not get up, it will exceed our society and lead to a very dark future for all Canadians.”

Shack has described three urgent actions that he thinks that Canada can take to significantly resolve the issue. Firstly, he underlined the need to follow commitments to establish security areas around places of worship, community centers, daycare centers, schools and other sites where the Jewish community is gathers.

Secondly, he called for increased support for Jewish community security programs to protect these facilities from violent threats to which they are faced.

The anti-Israeli demonstrators meet outside Beth Avraham Yoseph de la Synagogue de Toronto organizing an “Israeli real estate event” in Thornhill, north of Toronto, Ontario on March 7, 2024. Thornhill is home to a large Jewish population. (Photo of Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We have fired schools, the synagogues have taken fire. This is a very worrying situation, and we must make sure that the government finances and integrates our community security programs at a level that exponentially improves security,” he said.

Third, Shack highlighted the need to solve the growing problem of radicalization observed in the streets and within public institutions.

“Canada’s anti-terrorist laws are expected to be aligned with countries like the United Kingdom, where terrorism glorification and membership of a terrorist organization are criminal offenses,” he said.

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Shack also warned of attempts to separate anti-Semitism anti-Zionism, declaring that the premise itself is imperfect and stressed that blaming Jews around the world for disagreements with Israeli government policies is just as hateful.

“I do not represent the government of Israel; I represent myself as a Jewish person living here in Canada. Just like my friends, my family and my colleagues who live in the United States are Jewish Americans, we deserve to be treated with the same respect and the same rights as any other Canadian or American citizen, period,” he said.