Toronto Star columnist and regular anti-Israel agitator Rick Salutin never misses an opportunity to bash Israel, even using the tragic murder of two Israeli diplomatic staff in Washington, D.C., one who was Jewish and the other Christian, to make a point.

In his May 23 opinion column entitled: “After total hopeless despair, the horror in Gaza started looking solvable,” he reached a new low. His article minimized antisemitism and cynically suggested that the murder could derail a potential ceasefire in Gaza.

From Jewish conspiracy to blood libel, Salutin’s commentary drew on every trope in the book to convince readers that Israel is working full-time to block a peace deal.

Salutin’s doubt that the killings were antisemitic rings loud and clear throughout the entire column. He wrote that “the killings have already been declared antisemitic by Trump, Netanyahu and others, though it’s unclear why they’re that rather than anti-Israel, or anti-Zionist.” He claimed that the murder may have been caused by “actual policies” of the Israeli government rather than a far-left gunman obsessed with the Palestinian cause.

Importantly, the terrorist didn’t stop to question Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, as they emerged from an American Jewish Committee networking event. It wasn’t an Israeli government program, despite images of the couple taken weeks earlier with an Israeli flag. He didn’t ask about their stance on Israel, Gaza, or the two-state solution. He found a place where Jews gathered, picked a target, and opened fire. That’s antisemitism, fueled by mainstream media that paints all Jews as oppressors.

But Salutin didn’t just deny that the murders were antisemitic.

He denied antisemitism as constituting a growing phenomenon, putting scare quotes around the term “rising antisemitism.” This overlooked a global surge of 340% in incidents worldwide compared to 2022.

Salutin acknowledged that there may be some “actual manifestations” of antisemitism. Still, he seemed to believe the entire phenomenon is being manipulated by “Israel, its backers and right wing U.S. forces.”

This language echoes ancient fears of a Jewish conspiracy. And what’s the point of the conspiracy? To expel Palestinians, reverse equality gains, and “revive” racist discourse.

Salutin revealed, as if it’s a secret, that the conspiracy has even been “reported” by the New York Times as “Project Esther.” In fact, Project Esther’s entire strategy is freely available on the Heritage Foundation’s website. It aims to dismantle support for Hamas in the U.S., protect Jews from antisemitism, and bolster U.S. support for Israel.

For Salutin, it seems, countering antisemitism is primarily political—not a legitimate response to actual threats. He painted Jewish self-defense and global concern over antisemitic violence as cynical and manipulative.

Almost at random, Salutin brought up Israel’s recent actions—in his words—“to reoccupy and raze Gaza.” For Salutin, Israel is conducting a campaign of “relentless bloodletting.” As evidence, he cited right-wing Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich as saying, “We will destroy everything that’s left” in Gaza.

If Smotrich’s statement sounds extreme, that’s because Salutin cut off the last words: “because it’s one big terror city.” Smotrich also added that civilians would first be moved away from combat areas.

However, Smotrich’s claim is not far from the truth: Hamas has turned Gaza into one big terrorist base. They spent 20 years building terror tunnels beneath civilian homes, schools, and hospitals, and about 40 percent of these tunnels are still intact. Hamas also continues to deliberately booby-trap civilian areas all over Gaza. Israel’s goal is removing Hamas from power, but it’s Hamas who has made Gaza literally unlivable.

According to Salutin, “the only thing that can alter Israel’s conduct is U.S. pressure.”

Israel is an autonomous country under siege on all of its borders. Israel acts, first and foremost, in its own self-interest. Occasionally, that self-interest includes acceding to U.S. requests. After all, the U.S. is a major weapons supplier and trade partner. But that doesn’t include compromising its war aims—or rewarding terrorists with a state. Especially when that state would likely serve as a launching pad for the next October 7-style massacres.

Nevertheless, Salutin fears that the impact of the killings will “race through the U.S. Jewish world.” And the reaction in the Jewish community could derail the peace process.

Here, Salutin has it completely backwards.

Antisemitism is real. The hatred in the eyes of the man who shot Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky in Washington, D.C. is the same hatred that triggered Hamas’s attacks. And that hatred—which has led Palestinians to reject every peace offer that includes a Jewish state—is the only thing getting in the way of a Middle East solution.

Anti-Israeli bias in the media may not directly cause antisemitic violence. But in widely read publication like the Toronto Star, inflammatory language and a one-sided depiction of Israel as a bloodthirsty, scheming cabal, may reach impressionable readers, serve to mislead and fan the flames of hatred.