Jewish community groups in Ottawa are pulling support from Capital Pride after the group that organizes the annual Pride events released an anti-Israel statement announcing support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa, a Jewish charity, and its partners in the Jewish community announced Wednesday that it is withdrawing all funding and participation from the Capital Pride Parade. This comes after the Pride organization refused to withdraw anti-Israel statements and reverse its decision to boycott Israel.
Capital Pride starts on Aug. 17, while the parade caps the event off on Aug 25.
In a letter signed by six Jewish rights and community groups, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Hillel Ottawa, and Kehillat Beth Israel – The Jewish Federation of Ottawa claimed Capital Pride’s comments put the safety and inclusivity of the Jewish community further at risk.
“This choice was not made lightly, but we cannot in good conscience support an event that marginalizes Jewish 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and the broader Jewish community. This choice also does not align with Capital Pride’s advertised mission: respecting the full diversity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community,” the statement said.
“By disregarding our concerns and inviting this year’s Pride event to become a protest against Israel, Capital Pride has chosen a divisive position that further marginalizes Jews, who are victimized by more hate crimes than any other group in Canada.”
According to an annual hate crimes report by Ottawa police from February 2024, 92 or 27% of the 460 hate-related incidents its hate crimes unit investigated in 2023 targeted the Jewish community, representing a 41.5% increase in hate crimes against the Jewish community from the previous year.
For context, the Jewish community made up 1.5% of Ottawa’s over one million residents in 2021, according to the most recent Statistics Canada census.
“In Ottawa, we are the #1 target for hate crimes even though we are 1% of the population. There was a bomb plot against Ottawa’s Jewish community, our institutions have been targeted multiple times, and shots have been fired at Jewish schools across Canada 6 times since October,” JFO said in a separate statement. “We have good reason to be worried for our safety, and inflaming this hate just makes it more dangerous.”
The coalition of Jewish voices “challenge” Capital Pride to return to its mandate of fostering an inclusive and safe environment for all in the LGBT+ community and to ditch its usage of “divisive politics.”
“Pride doesn’t care about keeping Ottawans safe and is now inviting in an antisemitic protest movement that has been violent and disruptive, targeting Canadian Jews at home because they disagree with a foreign state,” JFO said. “Pride is telling the LGBTQ+ community Pride is only for them if they agree with the Pride Board’s political views.
The JFO aimed at Capital Pride’s accusation that Israel is “pinkwashing” its alleged human rights violations by having gay rights.
“The accusation of pinkwashing is to say that Jews and Israelis are incapable of doing the right thing, except for dishonest reasons. For Pride to publicize this just increases the culture of hate and distrust of Jews,” the group said.
“It’s sad that a handful of board members whose mandate is to respect the full diversity of Ottawa’s LGBTQ+ community chose a divisive position that excludes people,” Dan Pujdak, a senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute and a Jewish member of the LGBT+ community told True North. “Pride should be a safe and welcoming event for the LGBTQ+ community, not just those who share the board’s opinions on foreign affairs.”
He said many anti-Israel activists target Jewish communities and hold all Jews collectively responsible for any decision the state of Israel makes.
“They should know that spotlighting the war at an event like Pride can contribute to the growing climate of antisemitism and would make most Jews, an already marginalized community, feel unwelcome and unsafe,” Pujdak said. “They should be standing up against antisemitism in Ottawa, but instead, they’re isolating Jews and signalling this year’s Capital Pride is not for everyone.”
Capital Pride did not respond to True North’s requests for comment.
