For Immediate Release
July 29, 2021
Councillor Pasternak, MPP Martin Join End Jew Hatred Rally at Nathan Phillips Square
End Jew Hatred Toronto Welcomed Diverse Speakers, Urges Government and Judicial System to Speak Out!
TORONTO – This past Sunday, July 25, supporters, activists, community members, and politicians alike gathered at Nathan Phillips Square to rally against antisemitism, led by the Toronto chapter of End Jew Hatred.
Among the guest speakers were Councillor James Pasternak, Ward 6, who read a letter of support from Mayor John Tory; Raheel Raza, President of the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism; Robin Martin, MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence; Martin Rother, Deputy Consul General of Germany; and Pastor Teck Uy, from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
“We will not be afraid. We are here to bring a message of peace, of faith, and harmony,” said Councillor Pasternak. “We need a strong reckoning with where we are, and where we want to be. The vast majority of Torontonians just want to get on with their daily lives: free of harassment, free of indimidation, and free of fear – and of course, free of hate.”
The truth is, Jews in Canada are not free of indimidation, fear, and hate – which is why the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF) formed a Canadian chapter of End Jew Hatred. And in concert with End Jew Hatred Berlin and other chapters across the globe, organized a rally to send a clear message that this decades-old hate-mongering is just getting worse.
Councillor Pasternak called on the government and Canada’s judicial system to help with the heavy lifting.
“We must use all the legal, judicial, civil, and constitutional tools we have as a response to the peddlers of hate. We must make such behaviour abhorrent to the values we cherish and the civility we desire,” he said.
Similarly, End Jew Hatred chapters worldwide are calling on their respective governments to implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
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For more information, please contact:
Andria Spindel Executive Director, CAEF andria@caef.ca www.caef.ca
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