AUDIT OF ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS SHOWS RACISM STILL A THREAT

New national survey of attitudes towards minorities featured in this year’s Audit

Toronto, March 21, 2002

For Immediate Release

Toronto, March 21, 2001 — The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada has released the 2001 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, its annual study of patterns of prejudice in this country, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. This year’s 80-page Audit indicates that traditional antisemitic activity in Canada has remained a constant threat, with a 35% increase over the past five years. Rochelle Wilner, National President of B’nai Brith Canada, commented: “The 286 incidents under review continue the trends noted in 1999 and 2000 of a persistent, creeping increase in hate/bias targeting the Jewish community. These figures represent the tip of the iceberg in our overall assessment of the new terminology and technology of antisemitic activity in Canada today.”

The incidents under review included synagogue and cemetery desecrations, anthrax hoaxes and bomb threats against community institutions, physical assaults, harassment, verbal and written abuse, vandalism and graffiti. The Audit noted that incidents against Jews — as against religious minorities in general — peaked in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. 35% of all incidents reported to our offices in Canada took place in September and October, while in Toronto this figure rose to 41% of the year’s totals. Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, noted: “It is clearly no longer valid to examine antisemitism in Canada in isolation from world events, which commonly unleash the hatemongers in this country. Our Audit this year illustrates that antisemitic propaganda emanating from abroad has already reached these shores, contributing to the increasing intimidation of Jewish students on campus.”

In Quebec, antisemitic activity saw an 11% increase in the past year over levels that had already risen significantly since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East in the fall of 2000. These findings are particularly troubling given the results of a new survey by COMPAS, specially commissioned by B’nai Brith Canada for the Audit, that examines changes in attitudes towards Jews, Italians, African Canadians, Germans, Asians and Scots. The Audit’s survey, while finding encouraging indications of a rise in empathy towards minorities, points to disturbing indications of a rise in prejudice in Quebec that, paradoxically, appears to increase as the level of education rises. Italians, African Canadians and, especially, Jews are particularly targeted by this negative feeling. The survey also suggests a rise in anti-Asian sentiment on the West Coast.

This year’s Audit features a new analytical component, in which specially commissioned experts look at the wider context of antisemitic activity in Canada in the aftermath of September 11. The Audit tracks the use of the Internet to disseminate mass antisemitic propaganda — though its many-faceted activities are not included in the incident count… It also examines the increasing interchangeability of ‘Israel’ and ‘Jews’ as targets of harassment, abuse and vandalism in Canada. Professor Stephen Scheinberg, National Chair of the League who also heads Concordia University’s History Department, cautioned: “Future studies of antisemitism will have to take into account subtle changes in terminology which have blurred the lines between traditional forms of antisemitism — long considered illegitimate in the west while still highly popular in the Middle East — and the current rhetoric of anti-Zionism, which delegitimizes the rights of the Jewish people to national self determination.”

Ruth Klein, National Director of Advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada, who prepared and edited this year’s Audit, commented: “Our consultations with the police forces, other minority groups, statisticians and sociologists, indicate that the Audit provides a barometer of the nature of prejudice and discrimination in Canada in general. It is our hope that continued consultation with all stakeholders will strengthen the fight against hate/bias crimes targeting minorities.”

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SUMMARY OF THIS YEAR’S AUDIT

Section 1: ATTITUDES — PATTERNS OF PREJUDICE IN CANADA TODAY
Dr. Conrad Winn, President of COMPAS, and a leading pollster in this country, examines how attitudes towards minorities have changed over the past generation.

Section 2: INCIDENTS — HOW THE STREET RESPONDS
This section summarizes antisemitic incidents reported to the League over the past year.

Section 3: TECHNOLOGY — THE MECHANICS OF MASS HATE
Ken McVay, OBC, Director of the Nizkor documentation site, discusses the ever-growing use of the Internet to disseminate hate propaganda, and its potential implications for Canada.

Section 4: THE LAW — A REMEDY AGAINST HATE?
Marvin Kurz, Legal Counsel for the League for Human Rights, gives an update on recent legal cases that impact our ability to fight hate propaganda through the courts.

Section 5: TERMINOLOGY — TOWARDS A NEW DEFINITION
Professor Stephen Scheinberg, National Chair of the League for Human Rights and Chair of History at Concordia University, will offer a landmark thesis on the ‘new antisemitism’ and examine the inroads this phenomenon has made in Europe as compared to Canada.

Section 6: CHALLENGES AHEAD — A POST-DURBAN AGENDA
David Matas, internationally-renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Legal Counsel for B’nai Brith Canada, will examine the implications of the antisemitism unleashed during last summer’s UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, and suggest a suitable response.

For further comment, call:
Rochelle Wilner at (416) 254-1010,
Frank Dimant at (416) 802-1010,
Marvin Kurz at (905) 455 7300,
or Ruth Klein at (416) 346-0114.

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s foremost advocacy and volunteer organization.