Rick Salutin’s August 18 opinion column in The Toronto Star, “A conversation about the current state of antisemitism,” appears to be all over the place, lamenting a rise in antisemitism all while putting scare quotes around a study which found there has been an indisputable rise in hate crimes against Jews.

Salutin, whose previous commentaries have been documented by HonestReporting Canada for in our view recycling anti-Israel conspiracy theories and ignoring the Islamic Republic of Iran’s extremism, begins his column by appearing to frame concern over antisemitism as overblown, writing that “there are people I know, some Jewish and some not, who see antisemitism as an eternal, virtually supernatural force, even if it manifests itself differently in different eras. This conviction exists on the deep level of assumptions one grew up with. It’s a bit like believing in God, in the sense that it’s hard to argue with it, it’s an article of faith.”

Antisemitism’s Long History Is Not an ‘Article of Faith’

But seeing anti-Jewish hate as a timeless shape-shifter is not an article of faith, nor does it require belief. In fact, thinking anything else is what requires boundless faith. Jew-hatred has been at the core of the ancient Romans and Greeks, to the Crusaders to the Nazis, to Islamic fundamentalists, communists, nationalists, and the far-right and left alike.

In fact, given the long history of antisemitism and its remarkable ability to morph with the times (as it currently has, into anti-Zionism, or the denial of the Jewish People’s right to self-determination in their historic homeland), Salutin’s apparent inability to acknowledge this reality speaks volumes about his own opinion column.

What Salutin Gets Wrong About the IHRA Definition

Salutin dismisses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, saying that its goal has been to “shut down discussion of vital issues.”

While Salutin claims such definitions “settle nothing,” had he capably read the actual definition, he would have seen that it states precisely the opposite of what he claimed, noting that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

While European antisemitism targeted Jews on the basis of religion, the Nazis targeted Jews on the basis of race, and contemporary Jew-haters attack Jews on the basis of the existence of a Jewish State. The failure to recognize this indisputable reality is precisely why the IHRA definition exists, and why Salutin’s inability to connect the dots is so absurd.

Anti-Zionism Denies Jews the Same Collective Rights as Other Peoples

Salutin gives only the most passing acknowledgement of how Jew-hate manifests today, namely anti-Zionism, quoting Jared Kushner as saying that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” But rather than provide a cogent response, Salutin sophomorically writes “so shut up.”

Perhaps Salutin is unable to muster a thoughtful answer to the statement that denying the Jewish People their collective rights is hate, which makes his decision to pen an opinion column on the subject all the more baffling.

In fact, Rick Salutin’s column offers nothing to the discussion around the topic of antisemitism in Canada and the Western world, and it is unclear why he authored the commentary in the first place when it is manifestly unclear what he was even trying to say at all.