Hate is hate. Terrorism is terrorism.
Antisemitism Today from a National Security Perspective w/ Phil Gurski, former CSIS Counter-Terrorism Analyst
A little over a month ago, I shared with you a civilian petition I instigated through the House of Commons, Petition e-4985. It is sponsored by Marc Dalton, Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC. The petition calls for our elected officials in Parliament to take urgent action to end the rise and normalization of antisemitic hate and violence in Canada. While drafting the petition, I reached out for input from a human rights lawyer (who will remain unnamed) and national security expert, Phil Gurski.
Mr. Phil Gurski is a retired Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) senior strategic analyst in counter-terrorism. Mr. Gurski has also worked for Communications Security Establishment (CSE) as a senior multilingual analyst specializing in the Middle East. An author of six books about terrorism, a frequent contributor to news outlets and an expert speaker on national security, Mr. Gurski continues to diligently inform the public about security threats in Canada and around the world. Phil Gurski is also the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting and hosts his own podcasts.
On a recent visit to Ottawa, I was privileged to meet with Mr. Gurski and discuss the topic of surging antisemitism in Canada at depth and capture his insights on video. He brings clarity to the role of terrorist entities in the Israel-Hamas War and the rise of antisemitism today. He also addresses the need for decisive action from the government to immediately end the spread of violence and hate.
You can watch the full length video on YouTube or alternatively, follow a shortened version of the transcript and audio below. I’m sure you will appreciate Mr. Gurski’s forthrightness and ability to get to the heart of the matter.
Please also take time to read, sign, and share Petition e-4985 with your family and friends, so, together, we can send a strong message to our Members of Parliament to enforce the Rule of Law and make sure Canada is a safe and peaceful place for Jewish Canadians and all who have come to call Canada, home.
Lest we forget.
Nelly Shin
Former Member of Canada’s Parliament
Antisemitism in Canada: A National Security Perspective with Phil Gurski
June 17, 2024, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Audio (Shortened Version)
Transcript (Shortened Version with Subheadings)
The Israel-Hamas War is caused solely, only, by the fact that Hamas decided to launch a terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The only reason Israel is in Gaza right now with its armed forces, engaged in battle against Hamas, and unfortunately resulting in the deaths of civilians, which happens in wartime, (it’s not a great thing but it’s in consequence of war), is because of what Hamas did on October 7th of last year. So let me remind you, Hamas is a listed terrorist entity here in Canada as well as in many countries around the world, launched a cowardly heinous attack in Southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1200 Israelis, the rape, sexual mutilation, and killing of women, particularly, which is bragged about by Hamas . . . and filmed on their cell phones as well as taking up hostages. As a consequence of this attack, which per capita was actually greater than the 9/11 attack was in the United States from an Israeli perspective. The Israeli government decided to go in knowing Hamas as a threat to Israeli national security. That’s why Israel is there.
But what worries me today is that what we're seeing here in Canada is pretty much a one-sided story. So first and foremost, these occupations of campuses seem to be doing a couple of things. One is that they see Israel as the only partner at fault. As I alluded to, this war was caused solely, only, by the fact that Hamas decided to launch a terrorist attack against Israel on October 7th, 2023.
Hamas is a listed terrorist entity under Canadian law.
Secondly, we have this movement in Canada that sees Hamas, a listed terrorist entity under Canadian law, as some kind of heroic fighter force or resistance movement or freedom fighters, and that is completely contrary to what the Canadian government has decided—to list them as a terrorist entity.
Thirdly and more important in this conversation is the movement of criticism of Israel and to a criticism of what we call Zionism and, then, more critically, a criticism of Jews in general. So, the people that support what’s the Palestinian people and their desire for a homeland and want the war to stop, are actually supporting, to a certain extent, a vile antisemitic campaign.
“From the river to the sea” means the elimination of however many millions of people who live in Israel.
If you listen to the slogans that are being raised by the protesters, the most common one is, “Palestine shall be free from the river to the sea.” What does that even mean? What this means is that the existence of a free Palestinian state (which I personally support, a Palestine as an independent state) would engender the elimination of Israel as a state. Because the river in question is the Jordan River and the sea in question is the Mediterranean Sea. So, the Palestine to be free from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea—that means the elimination of the State of Israel. That means the elimination of however many millions of people who live in Israel. The Israeli State’s been around since 1948.
Supporting Hamas, PIJ, or Hizballah is support for terrorism and is a criminal offence under the Canadian Criminal Code.
I think what worries me as a former practitioner in intelligence, and more narrowly, as a counter-terrorism specialist is we have a number of Canadians that seem to have no problem with supporting, again, a listed terrorist entity in Hamas, as well as, we’ve seen flags for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or the PIJ, also a listed terrorist entity in Canada and even some Hizballah flags. Hizballah is also a listed terrorist entity in Canada, that they see these people as somehow fighting the good fight against their “Israeli oppressors”, “colonialist settlers”, whatever term you want to use. Bottom line is that any support for Hamas, PIJ or Hizballah is support for terrorism and is a criminal offence under the Canadian criminal code.
People don’t see hate crime for what it is because a lot of emotion is involved around the war, but there are laws against hate crimes in Sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code.
I think more worryingly is the growth in antisemitism here in Canada. Antisemitism is something as a human species that we’ve been faced with for thousands of years. Unfortunately, some of these protesters are taking their fight not just to the State of Israel and to institutions getting them to divest in Israeli economy, not support Israeli military, honour demands for Canada to cease relations with Israel, they’re now attacking Jewish targets that have nothing to do with the State of Israel, such as synagogues, such as Jewish schools.
And, if I can draw an analogy here as somebody who worked on Islamist extremism for 15 years, and I’ve written six books on the topic, this is the equivalent of blaming all Muslims for 9/11, saying that if you’re Muslim, you are inherently responsible for the deaths of 3000 Americans and you should be punished for it. That’s exactly what these protesters are doing and these people that decide to deface synagogues, to firebomb schools etc. is they’re equating the actions of the Israeli Defence Forces with the entirety of the Jewish Canadian population. These crimes at a minimum are hate crimes. There are criminal code provisions against hate crimes. Sections 318 and 319 of the criminal code define what hate crime is and define punishments for it.
What worries me is that people don’t seem to see this. They don’t see these as hate crimes because of what’s happening in Gaza. There’s a lot of emotion involved. I get that. But if we’re going to be a nation that is governed by law, a nation that’s governed by rules, we have to ensure that those rules are enforced.
Now, I know it’s difficult for law enforcement to get into any situations because of the aforementioned emotional level involved, but a law is a law. And if there’s a contravention of that law, arrests have to be made, and charges have to be laid.
Hate crime is sometimes difficult to establish. We have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We have a right to freedom of speech. We have a right to protest. So, it’s often a grey zone between what constitutes a legitimate right to protest and engaging in hate speech. So, I’m not saying this is simple. But to me there are many instances that I’ve seen in open-source media, I don’t have access to intelligence anymore, that point to the fact that we are dealing with hate crimes.
The government isn’t recognizing the hate crimes for what they are.
Moving on, I think what is very disappointing is that the current government in power, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau, don’t seem to get this. They have played the middle road on this, tried to recognize both sides, very Canadian by the way, and they’re not recognizing the hate crimes for what they are.
In essence, what they’re allowing is a small number of people who have violence in mind, whether it’s violence in the case of fire bombings or torching of synagogues, we’ve seen arrests made in Canada of individuals planning attacks on synagogues and schools. Some of them in fact may be associated with the Islamic State or ISIS, which has made it quite clear in its propaganda since October 7th, that it is expecting people in the West to attack Jewish targets, not Israeli targets, but Jewish targets. And the government doesn’t seem to understand what is going on here. That’s really disappointing from a Canadian perspective.
Hate crime is hate crime. Terrorism is terrorism.
The laws have to be enacted in that way.
Wanting to see the war end does not entitle you to start targeting your neighbours, your communities, because they happen to be Jewish.
We are seeing a spike in antisemitism.
Antisemitism as I referred to earlier is this beast that never seems to go away. But ever since the events of last October, there seems to have been a growing, on the part of some people in Canadian society, a growing acceptance that antisemitism is okay—not just okay, but required to allow Palestinians to have their rights recognized, and for the war in Gaza to end. We all agree that wars are never a good thing. And I personally hope the war ends sooner rather than later. But that does not entitle you to extend your desire for an end to the war to start targeting your neighbours, your communities, because they happen to be Jewish, and you’re drawing a link between being Jewish and the actions of the Israeli Defence Forces, in the Air Force, Army etc. in the Gaza Strip. The two are not the same. And it is absolutely mandatory that those who have legitimate concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza make that distinction, focus their attention on what they see is the actions of the Israeli government and not the thoughts, adherences, allegiances, or whatever, of average Jewish Canadians.
I think as Canadians, we cherish the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we recognize the right to assembly, we recognize freedom of speech, freedom of thought but when that crosses the line to very blatant antisemitic statements or antisemitic acts, these have to be stopped and they have to be stopped immediately.
So, I’m hoping that this gives you some kind of context into what we’re dealing with here in Canada. I cannot imagine how busy my former colleagues at CSIS are these days with this particular phenomenon, as well as my friends at the RCMP and provincial and municipal police forces dealing with crowds, dealing with occupations in university campuses, dealing with protesters.
Petition e-4985
But it’s important for us as Canadians to demand, and one vehicle of doing so is through this petition, that the government take appropriate action and urgent action to say antisemitism is not acceptable, those that engage in speech that constitute hate speech under the Canadian criminal code will be taken to account, and where there is enough evidence to warrant, they will be arrested and charged under the Canadian criminal code.
This is not what it means to be Canadian.
We are a people of fairness, we are a welcoming people, we are people that try to see many sides of an issue.
But in this case we’re talking about very simple hate, antisemitism, and to the nth degree the possibility of acts of terrorism carried out by people against Jewish communities in the name of groups such as Islamic State.
So, I hope this is giving you some kind of context to want to help support this petition and send a very firm message to the government that these activities are unCanadian, they should not be accepted, and we expect the government to take action on these issues.
Petition Links:
English: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4985
French: https://www.noscommunes.ca/petitions/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4985
Petition e-4985 (Public safety)
Petition to the House of Commons
Whereas:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), launched a massive terrorist attack on Israel;
Hamas and PIJ are designated terrorist entities;
Police vigilance to the Jewish community has since increased;
Bomb threats, death threats, violence, vandalism of Jewish homes, schools, and synagogues, and boycotting of Jewish-owned businesses are causing many Jewish Canadians to experience re-traumatization of the Holocaust and feel unsafe to reveal their Jewish identity;
Rallies across Canada include antisemitic rhetoric, hate symbols, intimidation, illegal encampments on campus and praise for Hamas and other terrorist groups;
While Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows for peaceful demonstrations and protests, sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code forbid the promotion of genocide, public incitement of hatred, and the wilful promotion of hatred;
Section 83.01 ff. of the Criminal Code address offences pertaining to committing and facilitating terrorism;
Robust enforcement of Sections 318, 319 and 83.01 ff. of the Criminal Code will help restrict proliferation of threats and keep our communities safer;
Deferred intervention communicates public tolerance of antisemitism, allows further victimization of Jewish Canadians, emboldens terrorists and those espousing extremist views, and can incite further violence and raise Canada’s national terrorism threat level; and
Urgent action is needed to counter antisemitism and keep all Canadians safe.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to enact urgent public safety and national security measures to ensure proper and timely enforcement of Sections 318, 319 and 83.01 ff. of the Criminal Code.
Sign Petition:
English: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4985
French: https://www.noscommunes.ca/petitions/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4985