Before B’nai Brith Canada established a broad-based mechanism for collection and analysis of antisemitic incidents across Canada almost a quarter century ago, the Jewish community had to rely on a hit-and-miss approach. Now government agencies around the world know where to turn for the definitive picture on antisemitism in this country.
“Scattered reports here and there would be all that was available in the past, with little analysis of how regional incidents might compare with similar cases in other locations, or with trends identified in the national picture as a whole,” said Ruth Klein, national director of the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada, one of the foremost experts on antisemitism in the country.
“Individual communities might underestimate the anti-Jewish activity right in their own backyard, partly because victims are often reluctant to report their experiences, especially when they have little hope of getting any practical help,” said Klein. “People report to the League for Human Rights because they know that for us, this is not just a matter of writing our Audit of Antisemitic Incidents – when people call our 24/7 Anti-Hate Hotline or use the online reporting tool on our web site, they know that each incident will be followed up by our trained professionals to ensure that there is recourse for the victims wherever possible.”
Harvey Goldberg, team leader of Proactive Initiatives of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, said, regarding the 2005 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents:
“The Canadian Human Rights Commission particularly appreciated B’nai Brith highlighting hate on the internet, especially in light of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which specifically deals with internet hate. CHRC recognizes that internet hate is part of a much bigger issue of hate. The B’nai Brith audit is very useful to us at the CHRC.”
Last week, data in the League’s 2005 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents was queried in an article in the Halifax Chronicle Herald, which cited a claim by the Atlantic Jewish Council, an arm of the UIA Federations based in Nova Scotia, that there were only two antisemitic incidents in Nova Scotia in 2005. The Audit, on the other hand, documented 18 incidents in the Maritimes in 2005, of which seven occurred in Nova Scotia.
“Comparing the data in the Audit with piecemeal reports collected locally is like comparing apples with oranges. The Atlantic Jewish Council is probably referring to high-profile public cases,” said Klein. “Our study, on the other hand, is inclusive of incidents that happen in the totality of Jewish life in this country such as discrimination in the work place, hate propaganda in school settings and online hate. It is impossible to talk authoritatively of antisemitism in Canada without a thorough knowledge of what is going on just below the community’s radar screen. That is why the Audit is regarded around the world as the single most credible source of information on antisemitism in Canada.”
The Audit is cited internationally by such bodies as the US State Department in its reports on human rights and religious freedoms, the Organization on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Human Rights First, the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism, and Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Centre on Contemporary Racism and Antisemitism.
In Canada, the Audit is referenced by, among others, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Statistics Canada and various texts on the criminal justice system.
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