Saying we are “Johnny come lateleys” to antisemitism is part of the denial and dishonesty around the Bob Gale scandal (Response to op-ed in St. Catharines Standard)

Those saying they have “not heard from us in the last two years” on antisemitism are just wrong. We have been pointing out antisemitism is the top police-reported hate crime here (and criticized the police for not counting it as racism, one of its oldest forms) and other antisemitic incidents. More recently we raised the alarm on how white supremacist groups pushing anti-migrant and anti-trans hate are using antisemitic conspiracy theories.

We would have released the Bob Gale files a week earlier but we were waiting for Jewish organizations we were consulting, the opposite of what the columnist claims. You can’t say we should have released it earlier but should also have taken time to consult with Jewish organizations, which we did.

All Niagara and Hamilton Jewish contacts we consulted agreed with us but could not participate. One retired rabbi, for example, was stopping Ford’s government from an injunction against a pro-Palestine rally in Toronto on the false grounds of antisemitism because it criticizes Israel. 

Palestine is the issue dividing some of the Jewish community on Bob Gale. When we consulted larger Jewish advocacy organizations they did not get back to us except for one, who after agreeing to confidentiality didn’t follow-up after they found out this was about Bob Gale. The reason could be that Bob Gale, like much of Regional Council, has been anti-Palestinian, and doubled down in his first speech as Regional Chair saying he would keep Council in its “lane,” alluding to a 2024 pro-Palestine motion removed from the agenda. As Rabbi David Mivasair of Independent Jewish Voices tweeted these organizations are more concerned about being anti-Palestinian than they are about antisemitism.

Members of Niagara’s Jewish community have written to us about how they are hurt by what Bob Gale did, and this was also said in the Standard by the president of the Congregation B’nai Israel. Accusing us of “…ignoring antisemitism affecting living ones,” shows obliviousness and denial about the ongoing harm of Nazi memorabilia to the level of dishonesty.

We are not “cheapening” the charge of antisemitism. The Bob Gale scandal exposes both those who are defending him, oblivious to the harm that cannot be separated from a Nazi “historical artifact,” and the even louder silence of those whose voices are absent.

Saleh Waziruddin

Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association