A new spectre has arisen on the pro-Israel Jewish right. And it is all the more dangerous as it purports to sit in the progressive heart of the labour movement in Canada and the United States. It consists of Jewish union members claiming that they are currently the targets of antisemitism within their respective unions.

Larry Haiven reflects on how childhood lessons in empire, whiteness, and settler-colonial loyalty shaped his subconscious sympathies during the Siege of Vienna. Using historical and personal narratives, he explores why Western nations support Israel, revealing the intertwining of race, empire, and inherited biases in both individual perspectives and global politics.

Who can be a fascist? Or a better question is: is any group of people inoculated against fascism, who can’t “catch” or succumb to it? Like Jews, perhaps? As the child of a survivor of Auschwitz, I am especially interested in this question. And my answer has always been the same: Suffering under fascism in no way immunizes any group against falling for it.

Not only does the focus on antisemitic incidents draw Canadians’ attention away from the death toll in Gaza and the muzzling of Canadian voices condemning it, it also amplifies calls by representatives of CIJA, B’nai Brith Canada and other mainstream Jewish leaders for more severe repressive measures against peaceful opposition to Israel’s genocide.

Israel and many of its supporters insist that a wide range of international organizations and bodies are antisemitic. And then Israel doubles down and the outrage against it grows and the outraged are denounced as antisemites. And on and on it goes. Where it stops, nobody knows. Perhaps until the “new” antisemitism turns into the “old” antisemitism?

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, just wrapped up a speaking tour of eastern Canada. But pro-Israel lobby organizations tried every trick in their well-thumbed playbook to bar the renowned human rights jurist and scholar from doing the job she was assigned by the UN for a three-year term in 2022.

Somewhere in Western newsrooms and political backrooms, there must be an instruction manual or playbook entitled “How to make accusations of antisemitism with hardly any facts.” I imagine that Steve Paikin got hold of it and employed it to write his latest column. I am afraid that the piece is seriously lacking in intellectual honesty.

The concept of a mitzvah goes well beyond good deeds and, given current circumstances, has come to encompass some very ugly deeds. How and whether Jews observe these obligations are intricately bound up in one’s sense of what it means to be a Jew. And in fact, as the tragedy in Gaza and the West Bank intensifies, no less than the soul of Judaism is at stake.

In the wake of the recent events in Israel-Palestine, conservative and even centrist politicians all over the West have denounced rallies organized in support of the Palestinians and many have suggested prohibiting them and some have done so. Does the political will exist to support relevant governments banning pro-Palestinian gatherings?

As in Vietnam in 1968, the lessons are there to learn, if people are prepared to learn them. When history presents us with parallels, albeit imperfect ones, we need to pay heed. One thing is for sure: Israelis and their allies can no longer ignore Palestine, pretending that the brutal occupation can continue with impunity.