“Anti-Semitism is the world’s most reliable early-warning threat to freedom”

Allen Macartney
Special to Spur Ottawa

An Imam and a Rabbi stood together to speak out against the growing threat of anti-Semitism at a special event on Parliament Hill, Monday, June 18, 2017. The two leaders, Rabbi Steven Garten and Imam Mohamad Jebara, were co-recipients of this year’s Raoul Wallenberg National Citation for Moral Courage in the Face of Anti-Semitism.

The award is named after the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg, who led one of the most successful rescue efforts during World War Two. His work saved thousands of Hungarian Jews.

Garten used the event to clarify how he defines anti-Semitism. He explained that you are not an anti-Semite just because you don’t like some Jews.

“We all have people we don’t like, and that is okay. That is human and it isn’t dangerous. Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism today means denying the rights of Jews to exist collectively as Jews—the same rights everyone else enjoys.”

“In Nazi Germany, Jews were not the only ones who suffered.”

Sadly, anti-Semitism still has a strong foothold in some circles today. The threat is growing and it threatens everyone.

“The new anti-Semitism may begin by anti-Israel rhetoric but it does not end there,” says Garten underscoring how hatred morphs and spreads, with an increasingly large target.

“In Nazi Germany, Jews were not the only ones who suffered. Under Stalin we Jews were not the only ones who suffered. Anti-Semitism is the world’s most reliable early-warning threat to freedom, humanity, and the dignity of difference.”

Imam Mohamad Jebara, Garten’s co-award recipient, agrees strongly.

“Unless we stand together we’ll all be engulfed by hatred,” he said at the event. “The greatest example is Nazi Germany. Hatred starts when it is aimed at someone else or an entire people. But once that person or people are dealt with, the hatred just spreads to another group of people. It’s a search for scapegoats.

“You can’t undo the darkness by adding more darkness.”

“We have been created into many language groups and tribes, with different features and approaches to life. We were created this way for a purpose. God wanted humanity to recognize the differences and love each other despite the differences.”

Jebara emphasizes that this has to go far beyond the buzz-word notion of “tolerance”. He says society has to reach a place of truly accepting people, regardless of their differences.

“You can’t undo the darkness by adding more darkness,” Jebara stated. “You do it by switching on the light.”

A key message the two recipients drove home is that the horrors of the Holocaust did not start in the gas chambers; they started with unkind and hateful words. The pair also stressed that Canada is not immune. A mere 50 years ago, park benches in many Canadian cities had signs that read, “No dogs or Jews allowed”.

Although it has been widely under-reported, recent Statistics Canada data shows that Canada’s relatively small Jewish community faces more religiously-motivated hate crimes than any other group.

“That is why it is imperative to remain part of the general society and not retreat behind self-imposed ghetto walls,” says Rabbi Garten, who called on others to follow Raoul Wallenberg’s example of courage. “All who stand up to the new forms of anti-Semitism, and do not themselves become hateful or spiteful, are worthy to be called courageous.”