Jewish Faculty Condemn “Hate Motivation” Accusation in Alleged Indigo Postering

November 27, 2023

Sent to:

On Wednesday November 23rd, 2023, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) raided and ransacked the homes of half a dozen Toronto families in a way that one expert described as “typical for a high-risk warrant where you have one or two suspects who have guns or drugs.” The alleged crime was splashing washable red paint and postering the windows of a corporate bookstore, whose CEO is Heather Reisman. What is the reason for the TPS’ senseless brutality, which probably cost the taxpayer several hundreds of thousands of dollars? A reckless and spurious labelling of the alleged offences as “hate-motivated.” We condemn these spurious charges.

As Jewish faculty, we recognize this police brutality stems from a charged climate where false allegations of “antisemitism” are being used to silence political dissent and intimidate peaceful protestors. We wrote a letter signed by more than 180 Jewish faculty from across Canadian universities and colleges to oppose such weaponization of antisemitism.

The background to the protests, and to the backlash, is the horrifying military assault on Palestinians living in Gaza--a campaign that hundreds of experts, including from the UN, have warned amounts to genocide. The massively disproportionate use of Israeli military force has been accompanied by a growing campaign to silence criticism with false charges of antisemitism. This amounts to a dangerous conflation of Judaism with the State of Israel. This spurious conflation is challenged by the participation of Jewish people in Palestinian-led anti-war protests around the world, as well as by Jewish-led protests. In this way, Jewish people are clearly saying "not in our names."

Protests at Indigo stores are not new. Since 2005, Indigo has been identified by the peaceful Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement as complicit in Palestinian oppression because of the HESEG Lone Soldier program, sponsored by Reisman. This program supports volunteers to serve in the Israeli army, which enables the ongoing occupation of Palestine, including the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank in contravention of international law.

In addition, Reisman is one of the co-founders of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which is known in Canada for silencing and criminalizing legitimate criticism of the State of Israel. Just this week, CIJA falsely claimed that high school students at a Palestine solidarity rally had engaged in antisemitic slurs, endangering the students. CIJA has yet to apologize for this outrageous incident. Protesting Indigo has nothing to do with Jewish identity, nor does it threaten the safety of anyone for being Jewish.

The TPS’s labelling of the offences as “hate motivated” and the brutality with which they carried out the arrests are an attempt to suppress and criminalize dissent. These actions serve a political agenda: to maintain public support for a genocidal war. It also dangerously narrows the possibilities for civic engagement and freedom of expression, which restricts the rights of all Canadians.

We insist that real antisemitism must be confronted. But to label the protests against Indigo “hateful” or “antisemitic” is to misunderstand the politics of peaceful civil disobedience and the right to dissent. It distracts and confuses efforts to challenge genuine antisemitic actions, which overwhelmingly arise from far-right movements in Canada and internationally.

The silencing of criticism with false allegations of antisemitism also erases the breadth and vitality of Jewish communities. Peace and justice are at the core of our understanding of Judaism. We re-commit ourselves to these goals every year at Pesach, when we recall our histories of persecution and vow to work to address all forms of oppression. We draw on the long history of Jewish activism for social justice, when we say “never again” means “never again for anyone.”

We demand that all charges against all protestors be dropped immediately. We also stand in solidarity with those who face the daily reality of policing which is often brutal, overly zealous, and violent.

Jewish Faculty Network Steering Committee