It's urgent Canada follows the money in the anti-Israel protests
National Post, 13 June 2024
This is not a ragtag bunch of misguided students. It is a well-funded operation run by people who know exactly what they are doing
Sunday’s 50,000-strong Walk with Israel in Toronto was described by one news outlet as “tension-filled.” While the large numbers were surely comfort to both Israelis and Canadian Jews, the massive police presence, the counter demonstrators — some of them explicitly praising Hamas — were alarming to see in Toronto.
That a pro-Israel march would require such a police deployment is lamentably indicative. But there are police officers deployed at Toronto Jewish schools, so much so that the children presume being guarded is normal. It has become normal in France, where police have been guarding synagogues, schools and community centres for years. Will that become normal in Toronto?
Alarms have been sounded for some time about the distressing rise in antisemitism. In April, some 200 political, cultural and religious leaders called for a national summit to address that scourge, which has included intimidation, vandalism against Jewish businesses and schools, and the campus encampments that spill over from solidarity with ordinary Palestinians into outright support for Hamas.
As the Hamas charter — issued in 1988, updated in 2017 — calls for the eradication of Israel, traffics in prejudicial tropes about Jews and advocates violence against them, support for Hamas means support for antisemitism.
This column explored last year the ideological sources of antisemitism, and why Christians ought to realize, as the dreadful expression puts it, that what starts with the Jews does not end with the Jews.
Recent reports raise another aspect of the rise of antisemitism, namely those who fund it. The tent villages on campus are intended to convey the sense of simple students whose passion for Palestinian causes has moved them to spontaneously set up camp. Not quite. The money and organization for such camps is significant.
Tristin Hopper reported here last week about American inquiries that are shedding light on where the money comes from which enables “Canada’s own network of pro-Palestinian encampments, protests and blockades.”
An investigation by Politico found that organizations associated with major donors to progressive political causes — George Soros and David Rockefeller amongst them — have been funding anti-Israel activity.
Canadians will recognize the Tides Foundation, the San Francisco-based “social justice” outfit, which appears in the reports. Tides was a key player in providing funds and strategy in a years-long campaign to prevent Alberta oil from getting to market. Tides has apparently widespread interests; disrupting Canadian life seems a common theme.
Canadian policy-makers might be slow to see the link between energy policy and antisemitic activity. Yet federal energy decisions have likely secured long-term funding for same.
In 2012, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) launched its “Follow the Money” project.
“The project revealed, for the first time, the existence of substantial Middle Eastern funding (primarily from Qatar) to U.S. universities that had not been reported to the Department of Education, as required by law,” ISGAP reported. “Foreign donations from Qatar, especially, have had a substantial impact on fomenting growing levels of antisemitic discourse and campus politics at U.S. universities, as well as growing support for anti-democratic values within these institutions of higher education.”
Qatar, along with Iran, is a principal patron of Hamas. It is a savvy complement to fund Hamas-friendly operations on campus. ISGAP reports that Columbia University, epicentre for Hamas-friendly campus activism, has received nearly US$3.5 million from Qatar. ISGAP reports that Columbia has not reported this money, as required by law.
What has this to do with Canadian energy policy?
Continue reading at the National Post.