Why Canada is holding Israel in ‘such contempt’

The need to define antisemitism, Opinion, May 8

Sloane J. Freeman writes that “never has another country, let alone a democratic ally, been on the receiving end of such contempt.” Indeed, millions of Canadians protested against South Africa when it was an apartheid state. Then-prime minister Brian Mulroney imposed trade sanctions against South Africa in 1985. Furthermore, Freeman describes Israel as a democracy.

In 2018, Benjamin Netanyahu passed a law stating that “the right to exercise national selfdetermination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.” The Israeli government forces Palestinians to live behind walls and fences, to endure daily checkpoints, to carry passcards, to go without adequate food, water, shelter and education. Palestinians have had to endure a land, sea, and air blockade.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, nearly 35,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. More than half of them women and children, according to local health officials. This is why Canadians are holding the Israeli state in “such contempt.”

Calling these protests antisemitic is just an excuse to deny the horrors that the Israeli government continues to inflict on the Palestinian people.

Joanne Clarke, Toronto