The Israeli intelligence ministry recently wrote a “concept paper” arguing Canada would be an ideal place to send Palestine refugees because our country has such a “lenient” immigration policy.
Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller hasn’t confirmed or denied this request but strongly suggested Canada would welcome the shipment of refugees.
“We are open to those fleeing war. This is a war,” he said at an Oct. 31 press conference.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau infamously invited virtually anyone identifying as a refugee to come to Canada in a 2017 social media post.
“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” he wrote.
Given the explosive level of extreme antisemitism – “Death to the Jews,” its rallying cry – ingrained in the Palestinian population, the thought of 500,000 Palestinians flooding into Canada, refugees no Middle Eastern country has been willing to accept, is shocking. This is not the least because it would surely meet with strong opposition, especially from Canadian Jews, most of whom are still deeply traumatized by the genocidal October 7 Hamas massacre.
It would also be resisted by most other Canadians, 75% of whom back the notion that non-citizens should face deportation “if they publicly express hatred towards a minority group or support a terrorist organization,” according to a recent Leger-Postmedia diversity poll.
Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization in Canada.
Supporters of the occupants of Gaza and the West Bank claim Hamas does not represent most Palestinians. Polls disprove that notion: 75% of Palestinians agreed with the October 7 attack and 74.7% said they support a single Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.”
This poll is backed up by videos showing Palestinian crowds wildly cheering Hamas’ Oct. 7 savagery.
It could be argued that this repugnant number is ‘understandable,’ given that Palestinian children are taught from an early age that Jews are parasites and locusts only fit to be eliminated.
Here is a six-year-old boy, already filled with hatred, and a dangerous level of antisemitism that will probably stay with him for life.
This early indoctrination explains the chilling telephone conversation heard around the world on October 7 when a Palestinian terrorist bragged to his father that he had killed ten Jews, and his father replied “God bless you, son.”
This example of toxic antisemitism is not an aberration. It is the inevitable result of decades of brainwashing by a Hamas regime that is every bit as murderous and xenophobic as ISIS at its peak.
The last time significant numbers of proven antisemites were allowed into Canada occurred largely by accident when Nazi war criminals and collaborators slipped in following the end of World War II. The estimated 2,000 immigrants, 0.4% of the number of Palestinians now being considered, should never have been allowed into our homeland.
And as in the case of Hamas, with its widespread support from Palestinians, Hitler had widespread support within Germany for his genocidal, antisemitic policies. Despite repeated denials, many Germans knew perfectly well what the “final solution” entailed, according to the careful research of Daniel Goldhagan in his book Hitler’s Willing Executioners.
So many Nazis were allowed into Canada after Hitler’s genocidal war that our country became known as an ex-Nazi haven.
Moreover, we’ve already seen shocking examples of Palestinian antisemitism on display in this country and elsewhere. Chants of “Gas the Jews” should send chills down the back of every Canadian.
A Montreal imam, Adil Charkaoui, leader of a supposed religion of peace, is now under criminal investigation for exhorting a crowd to do something that sounded like “kill the Jews.”
The chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a naked call for Jewish extermination – has been heard in protests across the globe.
Although Palestinians make up only a fraction of the people taking part in the protests, they and other Muslims have been instrumental in sparking an ever-growing antisemitic fury.
This does not deny the right to loudly challenge Israeli policies and actions. What should be objected to, however, is vitriolic antisemitism, coupled with calls for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews.
No country should allow the immigration of people with those attitudes unless it wants their hatred to provoke pogroms like the one on October 7.
This is not some anti-immigration screed. Canada needs immigrants and Canada is a nation of immigrants – from Indigenous people who came from across the Bering Strait thousands of years ago, through United Empire Loyalists who came several hundred years ago, all the way to Filipinos who arrived last week.
Canada needs peaceful hard-working people glad to accept and live by traditional Canadian values. Canada does not need hateful antisemites.
This is not a racial, ethnic, or religious ban. It is simply saying that people like Adil Charkaoui do not belong in Canada. Their presence will simply make life intolerable for Canadians – particularly Jewish Canadians. If a Palestinian applicant is not prepared to put his or her animosity toward Jewish people aside, they should not be allowed entry into our country.
Brian Giesbrecht is a retired Manitoba judge and a Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Hymie Rubenstein is editor of REAL Indigenous Report and a retired professor of anthropology, the University of Manitoba.
