Canadian faith leaders must stand up against the hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people

Almost two weeks ago, I stood at the site of the most horrific attack against women in modern times. Hundreds of women were brutalized at the hands of their rapists and murderers. I listened to a black woman cry and sometimes stop her speech to cover her mouth with shock and shake her head as she stared at the ground, “It’s been over two years … I can’t believe that it’s been over two years.”

Mazal, the Ethiopian Jewish young mother of a little boy, spoke of the most cruel and violent brutality that human beings are capable of. “They didn’t just come to shoot us. That would be bad enough. They had to torture us sexually before murdering us.” I cannot write down her description of the sexual violence these men did to these women, as it isn’t fit for print. Nor can I share on social media the audio and video recordings she made during the attack. It is more than horrifying.

Mazal stayed alive by playing dead in the sand for hours while soaked with blood, her two best friends dead on either side of her. Some of the young men and women had crawled under parked cars – only to have the terrorists roll hand grenades underneath.

Some of the young adults climbed into the dumpster to hide under the garbage. After the few policemen on duty at the festival had valiantly tried to hold off the terrorists were killed, the terrorists climbed up into the dumpster and riddled the garbage with bullets.

Later, Mazal fled to a nearby car that hadn’t been torched, and rolled herself up in a ball in the back seat with a blanket over her trying to remain invisible. Time stood still. Hours passed, every minute seemed like an eternity until she was rescued. 

Young Jewish women like Mazal Tazazo who survived the Nova Festival attack in Southern Israel on October 7, 2023, will never be the same. Survivors guilt will plague them. Their dreams will be haunted. And when they are invited to share their story at a university in North America they will be revictimized. Mazel was invited to speak at a North American university, and experienced young women accost her afterwards, “You’re lying! Who paid you to make up this story?”

Later that day we visited Kfar Aza, a community in south Israel where on their highest holiday weekend of the year, people were murdered inside their own homes. We went into the home of one young 23-year-old couple who were hiding under their beds when the invaders to their country found them. They were dragged them out and riddled with holes, left on their bed soaked in their blood. It still looks like a crime scene. The house has been left as it was the night before on October 6. Dishes are still in the sink, now covered with dust. The home is riddled with big holes from assault rifles. The homes in that desert community of over 300 people are crumbling from hits from RPG’s. There was nowhere to escape.

The most amazing part of visiting that village was to meet Avishai Kfar-Azza, the chef of the Kibbutz. He doesn’t hold rage in his heart towards his Gazan neighbours. Instead, he longs for the day he and his young family who survived the attack can return to Gaza to shop in their stores as he and his father did before Hamas was voted into power in 2006.

Our one week in Israel was a multi-denominational Christian delegation of clergy to Israel, not only visiting religious Christian sites, but also two sites hit hardest during the October 7 attack. We were made of Catholic, Orthodox, United Church and Evangelical clergy from across Canada. The woman who organized the trip is a Druze Israeli woman who is posted at the Israeli embassy in Ottawa.

On this trip we listened to Israeli people from all backgrounds: religious Jews, Druze, Palestinian Christians, Maronite Christians, secular Jews – from Israeli Druze in the far north close to the Lebanon border, to the non-religious peace-loving Jews living in the desert in the far south near Gaza and Egypt.

A common theme was repeated with everyone we talked to. The Israeli people, no matter what their religious or cultural background are under an existential threat from Islamic Jihad. We cannot be fooled by Hamas propaganda. October 7 was not an attack of resistance fighters who see Gaza as an “open air prison”, a false narrative countless Canadians like to repeat. Those who we talked to have experienced this intense hatred towards them for decades.

October 7, 2023, was an attack motivated by a religious ideology that is like no other. Jews, Christians of all kinds, moderate Muslims and Druze Arabic-speaking Israelis are all hated by Islamic Jihad. They cannot be tolerated by those whose goal is to humiliate, torture, rape, maim and kill “the infidel” who has “invaded” their part of the world. For the minorities we spoke with, they were all in agreement. Israel is the safest place to live in the Middle East.

Some of the minorities were critical of the Israeli government. Things like being evacuated from their towns and not being able to return because of the threat of rocket fire from neighbouring towns. And yet, even with their criticism, they admitted, “We’re able to criticize because we live in a democracy. We wouldn’t be alive if we lived in an Islamic regime and criticized their government.”

As Canadian faith leaders, our churches in Canada have never been targets of hatred like the Jews, Christians and moderate Muslims face in countries like Yemen or Somalia. But our country is changing rapidly. Since October 7, antisemitic, and anti-Israel sentiment in our country has been increasing at an alarming rate. Our University campuses are seeing increasing intolerance of anyone who dares side with Israel, the only democratic, free country in the Middle East. 

During our week in Israel, people were waking up to disturbing pictures of antisemitism from Canada. Disturbing footage from TMU of an antisemitic attack, and from a synagogue in Toronto that has been vandalized for the twelfth time. Israelis believe that Canada, once their greatest friend in the Western world has turned against them.

I quickly realized that wearing a Canadian flag doesn’t bring the respect it once did. Even a burly shopkeeper in the crowded Carmel market in Tel Aviv stopped me and wagged his finger when he saw my Canadian pin. “Canadians used to be our favorite. But we know what Carney thinks about us.” 

To them, it’s like their best friend has stabbed them in the back. Israelis in high positions in Israel’s foreign affairs, told us that today, Canada is at the lowest point of diplomatic relations in Israel’s history.

For those of us who thought we understood the Gaza war, we had an awakening to the reality of what is really going on.

We also walked away with more questions than we came with. Especially towards ourselves as Canadian Christian leaders. How and why is history repeating itself? Has Holocaust education failed? After visiting Yad Vashem, the International Holocaust museum we asked, “Why is the same type of propaganda used against Jewry in 1930’s Berlin, going unchecked in Canadian universities?” All denominations of the Christian church in Germany largely stood silent during those years. Haven’t we learned what happens when we stay silent? Why aren’t we as Christian leaders standing up in protest? And mobilizing our congregations to do the same?

After listening to Israeli leaders from minority communities - both Druze and Christian communities, we also asked ourselves, “Why are Christian leaders in the West staying silent about against Islamic violence towards minorities in Islamist countries?”

A Druze mayor in the northern Druze town called Daliat El Carmel took us through a tour of that beautiful community. He told us that the Druze people in Israel, who live as equal citizens with Jews, have lobbied the Israeli government to use the IDF to open a corridor into Syria so that their people who are facing real genocide aren’t completely wiped out. He said, “When you hear that the IDF is making incursions into Syria, they are doing it for us, to stop us from being wiped out.”

One thing we all agreed on. As faith leaders in Canada we can no longer remain silent. Our Israeli friends in the Middle East are feeling more isolated than ever before. My Canadian Jewish friends tell me that they have never felt more alone than they have since October 7, 2023. Some of them are talking about emigrating to Israel, because they feel its more safe there.

There was one last question we asked ourselves. After all they’ve gone through to try to survive as a tiny democracy in the middle of a hostile area, how are they so upbeat? No one was hanging their heads. Wherever we went, we saw evidence of a flourishing society. Their youth approach us with bright smiles and dialogue with us as if we are their long-lost friends. They believe that everyone in their society can make a difference in the world. Israeli technology in all sectors is innovating new discoveries for the good of humanity and the planet. 

One of the best ways Christian leaders can fight the scourge of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in Canada is by taking our congregations to Israel. To see the Christian sites, that the Israeli government is protecting from destruction, yes. But also to observe a miracle. A land that Mark Twain described as a useless swamp and desert is blooming. And vibrant. Israelis from every background love life. 

I returned home with hope. Hope that the Christian church in Canada can make a difference in stemming the tide of antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric that has plagued our nation the past two years.