The non-profit news website The Maple published a list of 85 Canadians and Canadians with Israeli citizenship who have served in the IDF. The website announced that this is the initial list and that it intends to publish additional lists of additional Canadians that have joined the Israeli military.
Those behind the publication of the database conducted thorough research. In addition to the names of those who served in the IDF, the biography of each of them was also detailed. Some of the entries also include posts and videos that those Canadian Jews uploaded to their social media accounts. At this stage, at least, the site does not outright accuse them of committing war crimes while serving in the IDF.
The site also calls on anyone who knows a Canadian who has at any time served in the IDF to let them know. "You should share their name, how you know they were in the military, and any public sources you have that prove it."
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The Maple provides a list of Canadian citizens who served in the IDF
(Photo: Screenshot of The Maple)
The project defines a 'Canadian' as "someone who is a Canadian citizen, and/or has lived in Canada for a significant amount of time, and/or currently lives in Canada."
Among the 85 names that appear on the list, is the name of Ben Mizrachi, 22, a former IDF medic killed while helping victims of the Nova Festival on October 7. The person who compiled the list found a video in which his mother talks about her son.
The website states that this is the first part of the database, which was prepared by the managing editor of the opinion section of The Maple website, Davide Mastracci, and that more names will be published in the near future.
Jews and Israelis in the Jewish community in Canada say that the publication of the database adds another layer to the general feeling that there has been a rise of antisemitism in Canada.
"It's stirring up the community," said an Israeli who has lived in Canada for five years. "It's running wild in our groups. In general, you see, our whole sense of 'security' here has been radically undermined for a long time. There will always be those who ignore it and say that it's more dangerous in Israel. That may be true, but Canada, which was the symbol of a comfortable and safe life for Jews, has long since ceased to be so. There are antisemitic incidents all the time and the great concern is the lack of intervention by the police here. Just last Sunday police refused to take action against protesters who celebrated the deaths of the Bibas family members."
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The Israeli resident of Canada added: "It is criminal naivety to publish such a list as part of freedom of expression. It opens a window, God forbid, for serious things that he certainly would not write publicly. What else needs to happen for those who need to wake up? We are experiencing processes here from 1930s Europe. Marking Jews/Israelis, excluding them, shaming them in public. The point is that there is no doubt that the whole world is against us, but Canada is no longer a safe place for Jews."
Jews in the Toronto community say the feeling behind the publication of the list is that the shedding the blood of Jews is being condoned. "Whoever published the list is careful. He is not calling for harming them, but insists on publishing a list only of Canadians who served in the IDF. Why is that good?" the community said. The Jewish community added: "There is also a condoning of shedding of Jewish blood; a feeling that the police are doing nothing."
There has also been a sharp spike in antisemitic incidents against Jews in Canada, and since October 7, 2023, the number has jumped by about 670%. Last month, windows were smashed at the "Healthy" Hosahra restaurant in Toronto, which is very popular among Jews and Israelis. This caused great panic.
In December, shots were fired at a Jewish girls' school in Toronto for the third time in about a year. Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue in Montreal for the second time in a year.