Community Intelligence Brief: December 13, 2023

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Send Mounties to Investigate Hamas Rapes, Canadian Women Leaders Urge

A group of women who are former politicians - former Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, former senior minister and deputy Conservative Party leader Lisa Raitt, and Cheri DiNovo, a United Church minister and former NDP Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario - are calling on Canada to send RCMP officers to Israel to assist in investigating the sexual violence committed on Israeli women by Hamas terrorists in the Oct. 7 attacks.

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FSWC Applauds RCMP for Arrest of Two Men Accused of Supporting Neo-Nazi Terrorism

FSWC welcomes the news that the RCMP have arrested two Ontario men on terrorism charges for allegedly helping create recruitment videos for Atomwaffen Division, a listed terror organization in Canada, and extremist manifestos online.
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According to a statement issued by the RCMP on Friday, the arrests came after an 18-month investigation and the execution of several search warrants in the Niagara and Toronto regions.

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Canada Breaks with Long-Standing Israel Stance at UN in Voting for Gaza Ceasefire

Canada voted in favour of a non-binding resolution at the United Nations on Tuesday that calls for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, in a move that broke with years of Canadian policy and shocked Jewish groups.

In an online statement, FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt said Canada's policy shift "directly contradicts prior statements from this Government, by supporting a resolution that failed to even condemn the terror group Hamas and the atrocities it perpetrated against innocent civilians on Oct 7... Denying Israel’s right to defend itself, as this resolution does, will not bring peace to the region but rather embolden the terrorists and those who fund the terror, namely Iran."

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'An Abundance of Caution': Removal of Winnipeg City Hall Menorah Prompts Outcry

The menorah was temporarily removed from the front of Winnipeg's city hall out of "an abundance of caution" ahead of a pro-Palestinian protest Saturday, said Mayor Scott Gillingham, who later apologized for not consulting with the local Jewish community before making the decision.

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One in Five Young Americans Believes the Holocaust Is a Myth, Poll Finds

According to a new poll from the Economist/YouGov, one-fifth of US citizens aged 18-29 believe the Holocaust is a myth, while 8% of people between the ages of 30-44 and 2% of people aged 45-64 agreed with the statement.

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University of Pennsylvania President Resigns Amid Backlash Over Congress Antisemitism Testimony

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who came under fire for her stance on antisemitism on her institution's campus, has "tendered her resignation," according to a message sent on Saturday by the chair of the Ivy League school's board of trustees. Magill was criticized after testifying at a congressional hearing about a rise in antisemitism on college campuses alongside the presidents of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Far-Right Lawmaker Extinguishes Hanukkah Candles in Polish Parliament

A far-right lawmaker in the Polish parliament, Grzegorz Braun, extinguished candles on a menorah that were lit for Chanukah, drawing denunciations from newly elected Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other politicians. Braun, who previously falsely claimed that there is a plot to turn Poland into a “Jewish state,” was slapped with the highest possible financial penalty, losing half of three months of his salary and per diems for half a year.

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