Hate Speech Defined, Condemned, and Defended

"There's an unprecedented rise in antisemitism in Canada."

"We need to do anything we possibly can to stem this tide, and we need to appeal to all levels of government including the federal government, to take the lead."

Talia Klein Leighton, petition organizer

 

"They [Canada's political leaders] hide behind ambiguity, ignorance and definitions to avoid taking action."

"This petition forces the issue and demands that those we trust to keep us safe stop hiding and do their jobs"

"It also calls for the Trudeau government, who have shown their cowardice, to follow our democratic allies in the U.S., Germany and Austria in recognizing the chant "from the river to the sea" for what it is in Hamas terms -- a call for genocide and the elimination of the State of Israel."

Kevin Vuong, Independent Member for Parliament for Toronto

 

"From the river to the sea [is unequivocally hateful and antisemitic]."

"It only has one interpretation -- what it effectively calls for is the destruction of the Jewish state."

"And then when  you take it into the context of the companion cry for a global intifada, then it extends not just to the Jewish state, but to the Jewish people, and is consistent with what Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Iran have been threatening that they intend to do." 

Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

The entrance to a Pro-Palestinian encampment in an area that was fenced off at the University of Toronto campus in downtown Toronto on May 2, 2024. Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Post

There are some who claim that the hate-and-extermination messages - chorused against Israel and global Jewry by protesters at organized public venues where a show of force and clear racism has been played in public since early October, with repeats on an ongoing basis -- are well within the law of free speech rights under the Canadian constitution. There are hate laws in Canada to protect the public and discrete groups from discrimination severe enough to be viewed as threats and intimidation. The speech in and of itself of a quality that speaks of endangering the well-being of others.

The regular protests targeting the social weal and Canadian Jews in particular are threatening in nature and are meant to send a number of messages; that Jews are unsafe in their home country, that Israel's reputation as a democratic nation for which human rights is ensured, is open to slander, statements of 'fact' outright hostile fabrications that do damage that reality and true facts struggle to correct among a force of antisemitism that has no use for truth.

The viral and ever-rising antisemitic events of intimidation and threats carried out in municipal offices, in front of and within shopping centres, hospitals, Jewish community centres, synagogues and Jewish parochial schools, have morphed more latterly into university campus occupations, leaving Jewish students, non-Jewish students, university staff and members of the faculty concerned for their security and safety, as well as for their inability to reach their classes. Authority figures, whether university administrators, provincial or federal governments have done nothing useful to uphold law and order and ensure public safety.

Now, a petition has been circulated to attempt to persuade those authorities -- city mayors, police chiefs, governments at all levels, including those of the universities involved -- to become more steadfast, reliable and active in putting an end to what amounts to racist hate-fests. The rallying cries of 'Palestine will be free', 'globalize the intefadeh', and 'long live Oct7' have no place in a civil society. What the petition asserts is that these expressions interpreted, contravene portions of Section 319 of the Criminal Code of Canada through the wilful promotion of hatred.

The phrases in question have been outlawed in recognition of their quality of hateful rhetoric that could lead to violence, in a number of other countries. The petition states that the popular slogans denigrating Israel's existence and Jews in general "implicitly raises reasonable suspicions of supporting the events of Oct. 7 and inciting hatred toward the Jewish people". It is generally agreed that the chant calling for the eradication of Israel and its citizens is meant to promote a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

True North

"While I hate these statements and while I happen to be of the view that 'from the river to the sea' is an antisemitic and probably genocidal chant, I don't think it's a clear cut case enough for Section 319."

"If you look at the text of Section 319, it says 'communicates a statement that is likely to lead to a breach of the peace' -- and somebody in Canada chanting 'from the river to the sea', I don't think reaches that very specific high threshold."

"[Other statements the petition mentions like "Long Live Oct 7" [are different]. It's very difficult to say that in a peaceful way."

"We take a strong free speech position because we think that if the mechanism for dealing with disagreements in society through speech breaks down, all we have left is violence."

Joanna Baron, executive director, Canadian Constitution Foundation