March of the Living 🎗️ @MOTLorg · 52m "I don't feel safe in Canada; I am afraid to go out."- Holocaust Survivor Esther Fairbloom The International March of the Living strongly condemns the disgraceful act of antisemitism at the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. This was a vile attempt to defile a sacred space dedicated to the memory of six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. It reflects a dangerous surge in antisemitic hatred and historical distortion that must be confronted without hesitation. Canada is facing an unprecedented surge in antisemitism. In 2024, reports documented a 670% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to previous years. Despite making up only 1.4% of the population, Jewish Canadians were the target of 70% of all religious hate crimes. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers have endured repeated attacks, including firebombing, shootings, and vandalism. In the past three decades, thousands of Canadian teens, accompanied by Holocaust survivors–educators, participated in the International March of the Living program in Poland and Israel, learning on site about the horrors and the lessons of the Holocaust. Two of the survivors, who accompanied the teens for many years, commented on the antisemitic attack: Holocaust survivor Esther Fairbloom, 84, born in 1941, survived the war years in Poland as a hidden child. She has accompanied students to Poland and Israel on the March of the Living 12 times. Esther said that the attack made her sick and that she doesn’t feel safe anymore: "I am sick. I could never believe that such an incident would happen on Canadian soil. I always felt the people living here were more compassionate and had more heart. But unfortunately, I was wrong. It’s extremely sad. I don't have the same faith as I used to. I don't feel as strong. I don't feel as secure. I feel safer in Israel. I'm scared to go out. It's everywhere. It's anywhere. And I live in a Jewish area. The only way… is to stand together and fight together. I never thought I would say the word fight. But we do, whether it's by words or whether it's by action. We have to." Holocaust survivor, Nate Leipciger, 97, survived Auschwitz and a number of other Nazi camps. He has accompanied students to Poland and Israel on the March of the Living 21 times. Nate said: “I feel terrible. I'm upset, I'm disgusted. It is a sad comment on our society, when a group takes out its hatred on the monument that represent the greatest crime in humanity by defacing it. It just shows how depraved they are in their logic and how they're completely unrealistic in thinking that putting graffiti “feed them” onto the building would somehow help the people in Gaza. Who is the message to? It's Hamas that is stopping the Palestinian from being fed. I think it has to be made clear that the sign is misrepresenting in its terrible depravity. The people who are preventing the people from being fed is not Israel, but Hamas." Scott Saunders MBE, CEO of the International March of the Living: “This abhorrent act is an assault on memory, truth, and dignity. Holocaust memorials stand as solemn reminders of humanity’s darkest chapter and as warnings of what can happen when hatred is left unchecked. Defacing this monument is a cowardly attempt to erase history and spread division. We stand in full solidarity with survivors and with the Canadian Jewish community. We must never stay silent in the face of hate.” International March of the Living calls on Canadian authorities to treat this incident as a hate crime and ensure the protection of Jewish institutions and Holocaust memorials. The memory of the Holocaust must never be defiled, and the voices of survivors must never be drowned out. (Photo credit, left: Theodora Draper. Right: Ziv Koren)
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AntisemitismCanada In 2026, Tulsa And Panama Are Courting Canadian Jews As Antisemitism Redefines The Cost Of Staying As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels across Canada, Jewish families and professionals are quietly reassessing their futures, and some are being actively courted elsewhere. Ron East By: Ron East December 31, 2025 SHARE A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options as antisemitism intensifies and confidence in public protection erodes. (Image: Illustration.) TORONTO — For generations, Canada sold itself as a country where Jews could thrive without constantly looking over their shoulders. That assumption no longer holds for a growing number of Canadian Jews, particularly in the aftermath of October 7 and the months that followed. What has changed is not only the number of antisemitic incidents. It is the atmosphere. Public hostility has been normalized. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres operate under permanent security protocols. Anti-Jewish intimidation is increasingly framed as political expression. Enforcement is inconsistent. Accountability is rare. When Jewish life requires constant risk assessment, mobility stops being a luxury. It becomes a rational act of self-preservation. That reality helps explain why, in 2026, two very different destinations, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Panama, are appearing with growing frequency in serious conversations among Canadian Jews who have the means and flexibility to move. This is not a panic migration. It is a strategic recalculation. Canada’s new warning lights Jewish Canadians represent a small fraction of the population, yet account for a vastly disproportionate share of reported hate crimes. This is not a perception problem. It is a documented pattern. More troubling than the statistics themselves is the message many Jews hear in response: concern, sympathy, and context, but little deterrence. Protests that spill into harassment are tolerated. Jewish institutions are targeted repeatedly. Antisemitism disguised as antizionism is parsed endlessly rather than confronted directly. The result is a slow erosion of confidence in the state’s willingness or ability to enforce equal protection. When a community moves from assuming it belongs to hoping nothing happens today, the social contract has already been fractured. It is within this context that Tulsa and Panama are not merely attracting attention but actively courting. Lech Le’Tulsa and intentional Jewish welcome Tulsa is not presenting itself as a refuge city. It is presenting itself as a place that wants Jewish life to grow. In 2026, that effort has taken concrete form through Lech Le’Tulsa, a Jewish-focused relocation initiative designed to attract Jewish families, professionals, and entrepreneurs to the Tulsa area. The program combines relocation assistance with intentional community building and access to Jewish infrastructure. The name is deliberate. Lech Lecha, the biblical call to go forth and build a future, is not branding by accident. It speaks directly to a Jewish historical instinct that understands movement not as retreat, but as agency. Lech Le’Tulsa offers what many Canadian Jews increasingly feel is missing at home: A clear signal that Jewish presence is welcomed, not merely accommodated Immediate access to synagogues, schools, and Jewish communal life A civic environment where Jewish identity is not treated as a liability The financial incentives matter, but the social architecture matters more. Tulsa is offering a landing ramp. It is saying, we are prepared for you to arrive. That clarity stands in stark contrast to the ambiguity Canadian Jews experience when their safety concerns are acknowledged but endlessly deferred. Panama and the appeal of optionality Panama represents a different but equally rational response to insecurity. For Canadian Jews with international mobility, Panama offers residency pathways tied to investment, business activity, or long-term economic contribution. It also offers something increasingly valuable: optionality. Panama has an established Jewish community, a comparatively lower cost of living, and an immigration framework that openly courts skilled and capital-carrying residents. For some, it is a permanent relocation. For others, it is a second base, a contingency plan, or a future passport pathway. What matters is not the destination itself, but the logic behind the choice. When Jews seek second options, they are not rejecting diaspora life. They are applying historical lessons. Jewish continuity has always depended on redundancy, resilience, and the ability to move before crisis becomes catastrophe. The Zionist lens Canadians prefer to ignore Zionism does not deny the legitimacy of diaspora life. It insists that Jews must never be dependent on the goodwill of others for safety or equality. That lesson was written in blood long before the modern State of Israel existed. Israel institutionalized it at a national level. Individual Jews apply it on a personal level. When Canadian Jews explore Tulsa or Panama, they are not abandoning Canada in anger. They are responding rationally to warning signs. They are building leverage. They are ensuring their children have options. This is what Zionist consciousness looks like outside Israel. It is quiet, pragmatic, and unsentimental. An indictment Canada should take seriously Tulsa and Panama are not superior societies. They are intentional ones. Tulsa is saying, we want contributors, and we are prepared to integrate them. Panama is saying, we want residents and investment, and we have clear legal pathways. Canada, too often, is saying something else entirely: we are sorry you feel unsafe, but the politics are complicated. A serious country does not treat antisemitism as a public relations challenge. It treats it as a threat to civic order. That requires enforcement, deterrence, and moral clarity, including the willingness to name antisemitism even when it hides behind fashionable political language. Until that happens, Canada should not be surprised when Jews quietly explore exit ramps. The bottom line In 2026, the fact that Tulsa and Panama can plausibly court Canadian Jews is not an oddity. It is a warning. When antisemitism reaches levels that fundamentally alter how Jews calculate their futures, movement becomes strategy. History teaches Jews to act before apologies arrive too late. Canada still has time to reverse this trajectory. But time matters. And Jews, having learned this lesson repeatedly, are no longer inclined to wait.
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