Roundup: The deafening silence around that antisemitic cartoon

Posted on by

As you probably saw, on Wednesday, the Toronto Sun published a political cartoon from an American syndicated source that was both deeply antisemitic and Putin propaganda, and in response to criticism, the Sun initially doubled down before finally withdrawing it hours later and giving an apology with no accountability for what had happened.

Justin Trudeau criticized the cartoon during his media availability in Toronto, but there was pretty deafening silence from Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, and Michael Chong. The closest it got to condemnation was Melissa Lantsman, who is Jewish, retweeting Brian Lilley calling the apology the “right move,” and later wrote that antisemitism is gross in political cartoons, universities, unions and school boards. Her fellow Jewish Conservative MP Marty Morantz was also completely silent on this. What were Conservatives vocal about? Falling for that Hamas troll-bait video, which they continued to fall all over.

It’s not an accident. They know full well that a segment of their audience here in Canada, not just the US, where the cartoonist is from, believe this propaganda and are on board with the antisemitism, and they pandered to it, much like Poilievre has been trying to skate that line in sending signals to this crowd with his Ukraine votes while paying lip-service to his party’s past support, or trafficking in antisemitic conspiracy theories while denouncing antisemitism—sucking and blowing at the same time. The silence from the Conservatives on this incident was deafening, and it should ring alarm bells for the Jewish community that for all of their constant bluster about being friends of Israel as a signal to the Jewish community that talk is cheap, and their actions (and inaction and silence) have spoken for them.

Programming Note: That’s it for me for 2023. I’m taking the next week or so off to recover, and will be back early in the New Year. Thanks for reading, and wishing all of my readers a happy holiday season.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia has launched around 7400 missiles and 3700 attack drones against Ukrainian targets over the course of the 22-month invasion. Here is a look at four factors that have stalled the counteroffensive. And Ukraine’s parliament voted to legalise cannabis in the country, citing the stress of the war on the population.

https://twitter.com/kyivindependent/status/1737958416302133568

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Toronto to announce $471 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund for the city.
  • In another excerpt from his CBC year-ender, Trudeau says that Israel’s tactics in the current Gaza conflict are eroding its support among allies.
  • Trudeau is also getting sick of all of the “walk in the snow” comments, for the record.
  • Chrystia Freeland approved RBC’s takeover of HSBC, claiming it prevents job losses from HSBC leaving the Canadian market.
  • Mark Miller announced special immigration measures for extended family members in Gaza of Canadians citizens or permanent residents, but can’t promise their exits.
  • Canada’s ambassador to the US, Kirstin Hillman, discusses the lessons learned from the Trump years (which may be on their way back).
  • Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam talks about the toll the pandemic took on her, particularly as the target of conspiracy theories and disinformation.
  • The head of the RCMP’s Management Advisory Board resigned after less than a year on the job, citing a lack of independence, cooperation, or consultation.
  • An investigation has revealed that the ubiquitous COVID rapid tests used in Canada were not as reliable as claimed, and had a higher prevalence of false negatives.
  • First Nations in Manitoba and Alberta are unhappy withs the government’s clean water legislation and want it taken back to the drawing board.
  • An Ontario Court has ruled that second-generation “lost” Canadian should have their citizenships restored (which makes sense, particularly given our high immigration).
  • Alberta has become the third province to sign the health care deal with the federal government, as part of the recent funding agreement.
  • Stephanie Carvin, Leah West and Jessica Davis call for a major overhaul of the Global Security Reporting Program after the spanking it got from NSIRA.
  • Paul Wells delves into the issue that McGill is having with the Legault government, and why it’s well on the way to losing that fight.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

One thought on “Roundup: The deafening silence around that antisemitic cartoon”

  1. Happy holidays, Dale. Thanks for all you do.
    (OT: FYI you were muted in my xitter home feed. I have never tweeted but I have blocked lots, as one does, but I have never muted anyone.)

Comments are closed.