On September 17, The Suburban published an opinion piece by Adam Allouba of the anti-Israel organization Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). In it, Allouba accused The Suburban of engaging in “anti-Palestinian racism” for using a photo of a woman wearing a keffiyeh while giving a Nazi salute to accompany an editorial about the need for Montreal law enforcement to protect its Jewish community.

On October 1, HRC Executive Director Mike Fegelman rebutted this accusation, clarifying that the issue with the image lies not in the keffiyeh, but in the hateful Nazi salute itself. He further argued that if making Nazi salutes must be considered a protected part of Palestinian identity and denouncing it is deemed “anti-Palestinian racism” simply because the individual was also wearing a keffiyeh, then that is a flawed identity with no home in Canada.

Adam Allouba’s Sept. 17 letter (“Selective Solidarity Shortcomings”) highlights exactly the kind of rhetorical confusion that makes honest discussion of antisemitism so difficult in Canada today.

To begin with, he argues that using a picture of a woman wearing a keffiyah while giving a nazi salute makes it seem like there is something “inherently antisemitic about protests advocating for Palestinian human rights.” Respectfully, this is the worst kind of intellectual dishonesty. What makes this woman antisemitic is the nazi salute she’s throwing, and nothing else. If you find it uncomfortable for your movement to be associated with acts like this, it would behoove you to denounce them yourselves. But more to the point – if it is considered “anti-Palestinian racism” to denounce a woman giving a Nazi salute simply because she happened to be wearing a keffiyah, then the definition of that term needs serious rethinking. Criticizing the hateful actions of an individual is not itself racism, nor can it be excused or protected by claiming a national identity. To argue otherwise is to erase accountability entirely. Said plainly, if making nazi salutes must be considered a protected part of Palestinian identity, as he seems to be arguing, then that is a flawed identity with no home in Canada.

Moreover, the very phrase “anti-Palestinian racism” is itself oxymoronic. Palestinian is a national identity, not a race. To declare that any critique of Palestinian politics or nationalism constitutes “racism” is to demand uncritical acceptance of every political claim advanced in its name — or else face the charge of bigotry. That is not a sustainable or honest framework for debate.

Mr. Allouba also insists we must stop conflating antisemitism and Islamophobia, yet in the same breath argues they are “deeply intertwined and complementary.” Which is it? These are distinct forms of hatred, with distinct histories and impacts. Pretending they are one and the same serves only to blur the urgent reality that antisemitism is spiking at alarming rates in this country, far more quickly than any other form of racism.

And here the statistics speak for themselves. In 2024, there were 920 reported incidents of antisemitism directed at Canada’s 450,000 Jews. By contrast, there were 229 incidents of Islamophobia against Canada’s 1.8 million Muslims. Proportionally, Jews remain by far the most targeted minority in Canada, and are 16 times more likely to suffer a hate crime than Muslim Canadians. Yet public and political discourse does not accurately reflect this reality.

If Mr. Allouba and CJPME truly wish to “focus on what matters,” then we must start by addressing hatred with clarity, precision, and honesty: by naming antisemitism when it manifests, by rejecting rhetorical tricks that distort the truth, and by holding individuals accountable for their actions regardless of the flag, scarf, or cause they claim to represent.

Mike Fegelman
Executive Director
Honest Reporting Canada