(Regina, Canada) โ Last week, The Free Press published an article titled, “A Pogrom Is Brewing In Canada.”
A pogrom is a violent, organized massacre or attack directed at Jewish communities, often condoned or ignored by local authorities. History records many pogroms that took place against the Jewish people, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. I’m deeply troubled and disturbed to observe that we may already be on a path towards repeating such horrific events.
The Free Press reported what has been going on in Canada, and here are just some of the shocking highlights.
“Canada has become one of the most antisemitic countries in the Western world,” they asserted. “In a report released on May 6 by Israelโs Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, it states that from October 7, 2023, through the end of 2024, antisemitism in Canada skyrocketed an astounding 670 percent. Further, between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2024, there were 1,500 pro-Palestinian rallies in Toronto alone. Thatโs over four a dayโevery dayโfor a year straight.”
“While the outbreak of antisemitism throughout the West has been precipitous in virtually every countryโthe tenor, violence, and extremist nature of Jew-hatred in Canada has ratcheted up in a way few other places on Earth have experienced,” they detailed.
The Free Press article lists an astonishing eleven pages of anti-semitic attacks in Canada. Here are just a few of these attacks on the Jewish community to ponder:
- In September 2024, protesters sympathetic to Hamas and the โresistanceโ jubilantly rallied outside a Jewish retirement facility in Ottawa where several Holocaust survivors live, and where 60 percent of the residents suffer from dementia. Chants of โGo back to Europeโ and โWe want bullets and missiles!โ in Arabic could be heard from their bedrooms.
- On Remembrance Day in 2024, at Sir Robert Borden public school in Ottawa, where there is a large Jewish student body, a Palestinian protest song was the only song played during an event to honor Canadian soldiers. When pressed on the choice of music, Principal Aaron Hobbs said it was chosen to add some diversity and inclusion to a day usually about โa white guy who has done something related to the military.โ
- Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protests surrounded the Holocaust Museum in Montreal in March 2024, where they shouted, โDeath to Israelโ and โDeath to the Jews.โ
- In April, a pro-Hamas rally was staged in Winnipeg, just steps from a Jewish community center where children attend school and day care.
- During Israelโs official day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism on April 29, protesters stood in front of Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue in Toronto waving Palestinian flags. One man wore a sweater that read โPalestinian Holocaust: Never Again Is Now.โ
- Earlier this month in Montreal, protesters were filmed chanting โAll the Zionists are racistsโ through megaphones at a school for students ages 4 to 16 with intellectual disabilities and autism-spectrum disorders.
“These activities arenโt normal protests,” The Free Press underscored. “They arenโt in front of the Israeli embassy in Ottawa or the Israeli consulate in Toronto. They arenโt directed toward a specific Israeli policy, law, regulation, or act, and they certainly make no mention of Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other terrorist organization that has brought immense death and destruction upon the Palestinians. These are belligerent acts of aggression designed to intimidate Canadaโs Jewish community, to coerce them into silence, and ultimately, to extinguish their public presence.”
The Free Press went on to further warn about antisemitism in Canada, citing more disturbing examples:
- In October 2024, men masked with keffiyehs took to the streets of Ottawa, calling for Jews to โgo back to Europeโโa phrase theyโve repeatedly used everywhere from flag-raising ceremonies to synagogues to university campuses.
- In Vancouver, British Columbia, protesters gathered on the one-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, massacre and declared โWe are Hezbollah, and we are Hamasโ while burning the Canadian flag.
- Protesters have also gathered outside hospitals, such as Torontoโs Mount Sinaiโa hospital founded by Jewsโwhere patients could hear screams for an โintifadaโ from inside the building.
- In April, a man wearing a keffiyeh in downtown Toronto climbed onto scaffolding, lit an Israeli flag on fire, and doused it with gasoline, while chants of โAll Zionists are racists; all Zionists are degeneratesโ could be heard in the background.
I could go on, but I would encourage you to read the article in its entirety for yourself. It is horrifying what is taking place in my country.
“Pogroms rarely begin with organized massacres,” The Free Press stressed, “typically, they start with tolerated incitement, with mobs unpunished, and with authorities hesitant to act decisively for fear of political blowback. And that is perhaps the most alarming thing of all happening right now in Canada.”
“On more than one occasion, protesters clad in keffiyehs, inciting violence, intimidating Jews and non-Jews alike, and calling for the erasure of Israel have been met with equivocation,” they emphasized. “Too often, authorities have hesitated to enforce laws against harassment and incitement when masked by the rhetoric of ‘resistance.’ Political leaders have downplayed the extremist nature of these rallies. Universities and unions have wavered in condemning overt Jew-hatred cloaked in the language of activism, righteousness, and progressivism.”
“Canada now faces a moral test,” The Free Press cautioned. “Our institutionsโfrom police and prosecutors to politicians and civil societyโmust decide whether to confront antisemitic threats firmly or equivocate and excuse them as protest. This is not a Jewish issue. It is a Canadian one. A society that allows a vulnerable minority to be openly menaced cannot claim to be safe or just for any of its citizens.”
“Antisemitism is often the first sign of broader social decay. If mobs can intimidate Jewish schools and hospitals today, what do we expect theyโll do tomorrow?” they concluded, adding “Everyone with eyes is bracing for the explosion.”
If that doesn’t want to make you sick, I’m not sure what will. What in the world is going on in Canada? Why are the nation’s leaders so silent? Why is the media so biased?
As I said before, this is not the Canada that I grew up in, and it’s not the Canada I want my grandchildren to grow up in. It’s time to shut down this evil hate without delay. Every Canadian reading this, I implore you to get involved. Speak out, pick up your phone, write a letter, or send an email. Canadians must prayerfully and persistently urge their city counselors, mayors, MLAs, provincial premiers, police chiefs, and the Prime Ministerโit’s time to end this hatred.
Most importantly, I’m calling on believers (inside and outside Canada) to pray. We are in a spiritual battle for our nations and for the Jewish community. It is not only Canada that is in the grips of this battle; it is taking place globally.
I reiterate: It is a spiritual battle going on, if you have eyes to see.
What does the God of this universeโthe God of Israelโhave to say about all of this? A verse I frequently quote is Genesis 12:3, where God, speaking of the Jewish people, says, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee…”
It is very simple: if you want a blessing for you and your country, then bless Israel and the Jewish people! If your mandate is to persecute them, woe unto youโyou are causing yourself and your nation to be cursed by God.
God also says this to the nations in Zechariah 2:8, against speaking of the Jewish people: “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.”
Have you ever had a piece of dirt in your eye? It is a powerful irritant like no other. When you’re coming against God’s chosen people, you are poking God right in the eyeโ“Whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye.”
In the following verse, God says, “For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.” I believe that portion of scripture is a Messianic reference. When Israel’s Messiah returns, He is going to judge the nations for what they didโor didn’t doโto the least of these, His brethren (Matthew 25:31-46). That is speaking of Jesus’ brethren, the Jews.
This world is on a collision course with the God of this universe. We ought to get involved and not stay silent. My heart goes out to the Jewish community. I want them to know today that they have true friends who will stand with them no matter what. As a Director of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, that has been our mandate since 1938โto comfort God’s chosen people and we continue to do that each and every day as the God of Israel gives us breath.
Let’s continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. When there is peace in Jerusalem, there’s peace in the world. When there’s peace in the world, there’s peace in our Jewish communities. Let’s continue to lift them up in prayer and be involved, grabbing hold of every opportunity that God gives us.





















