Dear Friend,

"Punched me, kicked me, knocked me down."

This is not a memory from Berlin in 1933. It is an alarmingstory of Toronto in 2016 - told to me last night by a mature Jewish businessmanwho called me to describe his evening at a posh Yorkville restaurant. Afterconfronting a vile antisemitic verbal attack while at the restaurant last week,he was assaulted in a dark alley by several assailants who reportedly"beat me up." He described his horrific ordeal to me: "Theypunched me in the face, knocked me down and kicked me." He fellunconscious to the ground, remembering very little after waking up in hisapartment in a complete daze. Unquestionably, this was a violent attack by a group of thugs in the heart ofToronto.  It could easily have happened to you or me.

Antisemitism is real and it is lethal. After years of Jew-hatredbrewing and permitted on university campuses; spearheaded by unions andchurches through the antisemitic disguise of "BDS" and the labellingof Israel an apartheid state - what can we expect? Should we expect a differentresponse when a Canadian Imam declares that all ofIsrael should burn? When an antisemiticmural continues to hang at York University? When hategraffiti starts to proliferate in Canadian communities? And mostsignificantly, when our own legal system and hate speech laws cannot and willnot contest rabid "news" pamphlets that call for "bookburnings" and Nazi-like marches?  

Even within the Jewish community there are those who play down thesematters. Who want to go along to get along. But this is not business as usual.The vile hatred that has become institutionalized on many campuses, that hasbecome commonplace at some unions and churches - and even in the media - willundoubtedly give rise to violence. We charge these institutions of civilsociety with incitement and irresponsible conduct for sowing the seeds of hateagainst the Jewish people and their friends. 

In this week's Huffington Post,Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Rabbi Abraham Cooper charges the"UnitedChurch of Christ Indoctrinates Children to Hate." He writes, "Itsglobal Ministries recently released a Study Guide for Advent, the four weeksleading up to Christmas, and designed to be used in Sunday Schools. The lessonsfocus on the separation barrier and curfews that make life difficult for thePalestinians...the text makes no mention of Hamas, an organization dedicated toIsrael's destruction...it does not inform the children that thecheckpoints...were built after the deaths of many hundreds of Israelis -Jewish, Christian and Muslim...without such context, they turn Israelis intoheartless monsters."

If the "Zeitgeist" -  the defining spirit or moodof a particular period in history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of thetime - is the promotion of Jewish hatred, we should all be deeplyconcerned. It is no secret that antisemitism proliferates on the internettoday.  A focused study by cyber experts found this week that hate groupshave manipulated the internet to such an extent that most searches on theinternet about "Jews" result in negative hits which come up first.This needs to be challenged immediately.  

We cannot allow one instance of antisemitism to go unchallenged.This week, a top team from the Friendsof Simon Wiesenthal Center met with Ryerson University president Dr. MohamedLachemi. The team included myself, Chancellor of Ryerson and Director atFSWC Lawrence Bloomberg; award winning film producer Robert Lantos, Chair ofthe FSWC 2017 Spirit of Hope Benefit and anardent opponent of anti-Israel boycotts; and FSWC Director Paul Bronfman, aleader in the Canadian entertainment industry and an outspokencritic of antisemitism.  We expressed the concerns of the Jewishcommunity in the strongest terms over an antisemitic incident which occurred oncampus at the end of November, when a motion to offer programs and educationfor Holocaust Education Week  during a student union meeting elicited anorchestrated walk-out to quash the initiative. 

President Lachemi listened intently and agreed that he and the university have"zero tolerance for antisemitism."

However, we cannot be satiated or feel vindicated bywell-intentioned motions and statements - this is just not good enough. I amcalling for a dramatic policy shift by the community at large, including fromthe Jewish community. We cannot allow Jewish people to be attacked on thestreet, to feel intimidated or hesitant to express their views. Ifstanding up and speaking out gets you beaten up, we have a problem. What ispreventing these thugs from assaulting the next Jewish person they may see onthe subway, or walking to shul? This is not Iran or Beirut, oreven Marseille. This is Toronto - a civil and law abiding communitythat aspires to achieve humanity's best practices in the form of tolerance andhuman rights. 

If you care (and I hope you do), we need you to stand with us boldly atthe forefront. Consider your year end support to continue empowering thisremarkable organization to speak for you and stand with you. Please donatehere: https://www.friendsofsimonwiesenthalcenter.com/donate

Thank You and Shabbat Shalom,

Avi