Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism documents the rise of antisemitic incidents around the world in its April 2025 Summary Report on Antisemitism. Surprising to some, perhaps, was the dramatic increase reported in 2024 in Canada – up 670 percent compared to 200 percent in the United States. It was not a surprise to Canada’s 400,000 Jews, particularly those living in cities with college campuses and large Jewish populations like Toronto (160,000) and Montreal (90,000).

Since the October 7^th 2023 Hamas led terrorist attack on Israel that precipitated the ongoing war in Gaza, global attention has focused on the vitriolic antisemitic behavior on American campuses that seriously threatens the safety and well-being of mainly Jewish students, staff and professors. As the report details, Canada’s campuses and cities have experienced much of the same disturbing behaviours.

Most Canadian Jews are descendants of Eastern Europe immigrants that arrived at the start of the 20^thcentury through the gateway cities of Halifax, Montreal and Toronto. Today, it is fair to say that we are fully integrated citizens and one would be hard pressed to find many Canadian Jews who would say that they had personally experienced or felt physically threatened by overt antisemitism. That is, until now.

Montreal is a cosmopolitan city about the same size as Boston and fondly referred to by many as the “Paris of North America” because of the dominant French speaking population and multicultural population mix of people who have immigrated from around the world. Home to several large universities and colleges providing postsecondary education to over 300,000 students, there is a large contingency of foreign students and professors. Our campuses have long been open, welcoming, peaceful and popular destinations for learners from around the world.

Since October 7, 2023, however, Montreal has suffered fire-bombings of synagogues, bullets fired at the front doors of Jewish schools, vandalism, broken windows and antisemitic graffiti on our campuses. With the exception of those who personally survived the Holocaust or escaped Muslim countries that expelled Jews after the declaration of the state of Israel, community members have never experienced as high a level of overt antisemitism. 

Of great concern and discussion is the perceived weak response from school administrators, police and government officials whose mandate it is to provide a safe learning environment for all.  Many question the faith placed in public officials who are mandated to enforce school codes of behavior and the law. It is argued by some, that failure to act early and decisively, when the first antisemitic acts occurred, contributed to the gradual normalization of disruptive campus life. Antisemitic cat-calls, spitting on students and physical violence has created a toxic environment never seen before. Ours was always a tolerant and open society, that is now being violated by antisemitic social activists who chant their cause while hiding their identity.

McGill University’s main campus is located in the heart of downtown Montreal. On April 27, 2024,  after months of both on and off campus pro-Hamas demonstrations, activists established an encampment of about one hundred tents on the front lawn of McGill’s main entrance. The activists were a mix of students from several schools and non-students with ties to a variety of Marxist political movements against capitalism, industrial development, global warming, and other ideologies.

After a few days, McGill administration ordered protesters to disband and leave the property. Police were called when they refused but the police would not forcibly remove the protesters. The mayor proclaimed that she would not interfere as the property occupied was public – in her mind – and so, there was a question whether the protesters were actually in violation of any law. After two subsequent court actions initiated by McGill administration, private security forces were hired and along with city police, the camp was finally dismantled on July 10. Only one man was arrested for assaulting a police officer. Complaints that the protesters suffered no consequences for their illegal actions eventually faded.

Only a short walk from McGill, is Concordia University’s main campus. In 2002, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel sentiment on campus triggered a riot and violent destruction of school property when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to deliver a speech on campus. The speech was cancelled, broken windows were replaced but the message sent was clear. Concordia had established its anti-Israel credentials and violent social activism.

This reputation was highlighted by one of many incidents of campus violence on September 25, 2024, when activists chased Jewish students out of the Concordia library into the adjoining subway station. Fortunately, police responded quickly and three arrests were made. Two students were charged and are facing criminal court. In the meantime, Concordia suspended the students and refuses to reinstate them until after their criminal charges have been dealt with in court. Needless to say, there have been subsequent protests about the unfair treatment these students have received. 

In response to the ongoing threat to normal campus life, several concerned individuals have joined together to protest inaction or poor actions by administrators, police and government authorities and provide constructive solutions. One such group is MANAA, the Montreal Academic Network Against Antisemitism. Representing mostly professors from the many Montreal area universities and colleges, MANAA members monitor, address and meet with school administrators and students in order to help mitigate the toxic antisemitic atmosphere on our campuses. In addition, MANAA members participate in public lectures and discussions in an effort the educate those who are willing to learn about the growing threats on campus.

MANAA can serve as a model for other academic communities where the way to fight back requires vigilant documentation and reporting of any violations of what we all understand to be a proper functioning campus – inside and outside of classrooms. By working with administrators and appealing to the vast “silent majority” of campus denizens, the battle for mutual respect and academic freedom can be won. No student, professor, administrator, or politician can be allowed to transform the educational institutions we share into a place where only some ideas can be discussed and the others suppressed. Abuse of the podium by professors or students must be monitored and confronted. The refusal by good actors to identify and take action against those who would undermine our campuses will accelerate the decline. We all have a responsibility to say and do something when we learn about it. Discourse is key. Everyone has the right to organize sessions that may support one side of an argument, the other side or both. Those who would interfere with this simple campus guidance do not deserve to be members of the campus.

Recently, a group of MANAA members attended a public viewing of the documentary film, October 8: The fight for the soul of America. The film provides a framework for understanding the inexplicable widespread public reaction to the October 7^th 2023 Hamas led terrorist attack on Israel. Instead of a public outcry and condemnation of Hamas, the streets were quickly filled with activists unsympathetic to the victims of the attack and instead celebrating the Hamas terrorists and their atrocities. The experience in Montreal mirrored events depicted in the film, complete with street marches, the McGill University encampment and Concordia riots. 

After meeting with Jewish community leaders and MANAA representatives, the film’s director, Wendy Sachs, admitted she had not known the depth of the problem in Canada and particularly in Montreal. In her closing remarks she referred to Montreal as “ground zero”, for antisemitism in Canada but that, like us, she was optimistic for our collective future since we were all clearly aware of the problem and ready to confront the antisemitic enemy in our midst. As she says at each presentation of the film, “On October 7^th Israel was attacked. On October 8^th Jews woke up.”