Sitting in the public responses to that post was the following, written by a constituent of mine: “there is certainly a lot that Zionist Jews have to atone for” it reads. “I doubt any god or future humanity will absolve you…of your crimes.”

This was not written by an A.I. bot or someone far away, it came from a person who lives in my neighbourhood. I added it to the list of antisemitic messages I have received since being elected, which include the likes of “you dirty Jew,” “Hitler should have finished his job,” and “you will get yours, Jew.”

Instances of antisemitism have been on the rise for years, but recently they have worsened at an increasingly alarming rate. In the past few weeks alone, we have seen Canadian streets littered with swastikas and graffiti that say “fu*k Jews", a woman in Ottawa wearing a Star of David necklace stabbed at a grocery store in the Kosher aisle, patrons entering events at the Jewish Community Centre in Winnipeg told that “Hamas is coming for you”, and social media platforms rampant with Jew hating rhetoric and threats of violence, just to name a few.

On Wednesday, several Jews in Manchester, U.K. were murdered at their Synagogue on Yom Kippur. What happened there is no longer unimaginable in Canada.

What is the result of all this hate? Out of fear for their safety, Jews in Canadian cities are taking down their mezuzahs (a religious symbol that sits atop the doorway entrance of a home). Young Jewish students are hiding their Star of David necklaces on university campuses due to harassment. Parents are living with anxiety when they drop their kids off at a Jewish daycare, school, or religious event. Synagogues are hiring police officers to protect congregants.

A significant reason for the rise in antisemitism stems from people’s views on the conflict in the Middle East. Most disturbing is that many are unable to reject antisemitism in its most basic forms, and instead, create a false association between those acts of hate and the conflict itself.

It was extremely wrong and racist to hold Muslims accountable for the actions of a select few terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks or the Oct 7th attacks. It is equally wrong to hold Jews accountable for the violent actions of a settler in the West Bank or hateful speech uttered by government officials in Israel.

We do not target or blame Chinese, Syrian, Iranian, Sudanese or Congolese Canadians for human rights violations, unjust laws, or controversial actions advanced by the leaders of those countries. Why do we continually see, and accept, that Jews are being held accountable for the decisions of the Israeli government? The inability to disassociate the Jewish people from a foreign government is breeding antisemitism at historic rates.

We have reached a point in society where a standalone comment on social media condemning a terrorist attack on Jews, or even the mere acknowledgement of a Jewish holiday, cannot exist without some response that draws a connection to the Middle East, and by implication, suggests Jews everywhere are at fault. For example, I commonly see replies to a post referencing an antisemitic incident met with something along the lines of “Israel is committing war crimes."

It perplexes me as to how people do not see prejudice in this. What does the death of a Jewish person in the U.K or the stabbing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, simply because of her Judaism, have to do with what Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas militants decide thousands of miles away?

During the Second World War, our country held Japanese and Italian Canadians responsible for events in their country of origin and declared them guilty by association by virtue of their heritage. That was wrong. Too many Canadians are repeating that mistake with how they view the Jewish community today.

If we want to talk about the Middle East, as we should, and must, let us do so, but without holding our views in relation to it up as some type of justification or distraction from the very real and growing threat Jews in Canada are facing.

As the 2nd anniversary of the Oct 7th attacks approaches, regardless of your views on the conflict, let Jewish Canadians express their grief without having to bear the burden of things outside of their control. Empathize with them, just as we do with those who grieve the loss of innocent Palestinian lives, without conflating it with support for Hamas.

Let us all stand up against antisemitism. It is dangerous and it needs to stop.

Ben Carr is the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre