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November 5, 2004
Anti-Jewish stereotypes
Many Canadians undecided about negative remarks.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Ten per cent of Canadians believe Jews have too much power. Eight
per cent believe Jews use shady practices to get what they want.
Ten per cent say Jews are so shrewd others can't compete with them.
Jews are over-represented in media, according to 14 per cent of
Canadians. The same number of Canadians say Jews have too much influence
in government. Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their
own kind, according to 13 per cent of Canadians.
These are among the results of polling done for the new umbrella
body that advocates for Israel and Canadian Jews. But what most
alarms Bernard Pinsky of the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish
Advocacy (CIJA) is not that a tenacious but relatively small proportion
of Canadians hold blatantly anti-Jewish attitudes; far greater numbers
of Canadians disagree with these statements. What is most alarming,
said Pinsky, one of the B.C. representatives on the board of CIJA,
is that a large swath of Canadians say they're neutral on these
anti-Semitic statements. Though eight per cent of Canadians say
Jews use shady practices to get what they want, 62 per cent of Canadians
disagree with this statement. But the remainder – about a quarter
of Canadians polled – don't know what to think about Jews.
"Maybe they're shady, maybe they're not," summarized Pinsky.
The details of the poll, which was conducted almost a year ago but
not widely publicized, formed the basis of a presentation Pinsky
made Oct. 26 to a group at Har-El Synagogue in West Vancouver.
Overall, based on a variety of questions asked of a random sampling
of Canadians, Pinsky asserted that about one-third of Canadians
are "neutral" about explicitly anti-Semitic statements.
The definition of anti-Semitic attitudes is contentious, though,
added Pinsky. While 39 per cent of the Canadian population believes
that denying Israel's right to exist is inherently anti-Semitic,
in the Jewish population that number goes up to 79 per cent. Also,
Jewish Canadians are far more likely than other Canadians to believe
that anti-Semitism is a persistent and increasing problem. Ninety
per cent of Canadian Jews say anti-Semitism has increased globally
over the past three years, and 71 per cent say it has increased
in Canada. Numbers like these, Pinsky said, represent a "disconnect"
between Canadian Jews and the population at large.
Among those respondents whose answers were most likely to be anti-Semitic
were Canadians 65 and over, Quebec residents, less-educated Canadians
and relatively new immigrants.
Indications of prevalent attitudes in Quebec suggest a particular
lack of patience with Jewish concerns, said Pinsky.
"Quebec sees Jews as always screaming anti-Semitism and they
don't want to hear it," he said. While Quebec tended to have
some of the most prejudiced respondents to the poll, Pinsky cautioned:
"it's not way off the map."
Indeed, the good news, Pinsky said, is that Canada fares far better
on attitudes toward Jews than some European and other countries
– if that can be construed as good news.
While eight per cent of Canadians agreed that Jews use shady practices,
that number is small compared with the 19 per cent of Americans,
21 per cent of Germans, 16 per cent of French, 18 per cent of Belgians
and 13 per cent of Danes who agree with that statement. Though 13
per cent of Canadians say Jews don't care what happens to anyone
but their own kind, similar polls in other countries indicate that
assertion gained agreement from 16 per cent of Americans, 20 per
cent of French, 24 per cent of Germans and 25 per cent of Belgians.
Although Canadians in general have more accepting attitudes toward
Jews than some Europeans and Americans, advocating for Israel within
Canada holds special challenges not faced by European and American
Zionists, said Pinsky. In Canada, he said, multilateral harmony
is idealized, we tend to side with the perceived underdog and a
large proportion of Canadians innately abhor the use of military
force. In a tendency that may reflect a misguided effort at compromise,
Pinsky said, Canadians are inclined to equivocate on the Middle
East conflict, equating Israel's legitimate national security with
terrorists' murder of civilians in a no-fault narrative called "the
cycle of violence."
A form of anti-Americanism also pervades the debate on the Middle
East in Canada, said Pinsky. Israel and the United States are close
allies, which rubs some Canadians the wrong way.
"If the Americans are for it, we're agin' it," Pinsky
quipped.
Recognizing that a number of top CIJA activists are or have been
active in the federal Liberal party, an audience member suggested
CIJA was created by Prime Minister Paul Martin to lead Jewish voters
toward supporting the governing party. Though he acknowledged that
some people like CIJA's chief executive officer, Hershell Ezrin,
have roots in the Liberal party, he insisted that the membership
base and political outlooks of Canadian Jews in general and CIJA
members in particular is diverse.
"Canadian Jews consider a lot of issues, not just Israel, when
they vote," said Pinsky, adding with a smile, "I can categorically
deny that CIJA was created by Paul Martin."
In fact, according to Pinsky, CIJA has some substantive complaints
with the approach the Canadian government has taken in recent months
and years. CIJA would like to see a change in Canada's voting record
at the United Nations, where this country's designates have routinely
voted in favor – or, at best, abstained – from some votes
that CIJA thinks Canada should have actively opposed. CIJA would
also like to see Canada act immediately to stop Canadian tax dollars
from going to UN agencies that are actively biased against Israel
or employ Hamas terrorists.
Among the most fervent and worrying battlegrounds for Canadian advocates
of Israel, Pinsky said, have been Canadian campuses, where anti-Israel
activism has sometimes taken on historically reminiscent mob atmospheres,
such as when a riot prevented former Israeli prime minister Binyamin
Netanyahu from speaking at Concordia University in Montreal and
another former prime minister, Ehud Barak, was prevented from speaking
just weeks ago on the same campus due to security concerns.
"A few hoodlums have shut down free speech on campuses in this
country," Pinsky said.
Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.
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