It’s hard to say with any certainty what motivated Canada’s arms embargo—anti-Semitism, or simple moral confusion, or something else—and in any case the question is largely academic. But something else happened in Canada just a little earlier this month: the country’s two largest kosher-certification agencies filed suit against the national government, claiming that recent regulations on kosher slaughter amount to a de-facto ban on the practice, which is crucial to Jewish life and religious observance. And it is especially damning that, unlike similar regulations in several European countries, these don’t affect the production of halal meat—only kosher meat.

Eric Grossman observes:

The new regulations . . . are, ostensibly, being put forward as a measure protecting animal welfare; however, selectively singling out Jewish slaughter as an odious treatment of animals has a long and ugly history, intimately intermingled with . . . anti-Semitism. As Jews, it is difficult not to feel targeted when governments go to great lengths to rationalize brutal practices of other groups but determine Jewish [observances] to be barbaric.

For instance, Grossman writes, seal clubbing is entirely legal in Canada—a practice that claims the lives of tens of thousands of Canadian pups every year. He adds:

As noted by Professor Dan Michman, head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research, “The Nazis perceived ritual slaughter not as a religious matter but, . . . as a manifestation of Jews’ cruel nature.” One hardly needs to highlight the bitter irony that the Nazis banned Jewish slaughter at the same time as they were preparing their slaughter of the Jews.

While I doubt many Canadian parliamentarians would make statements about the cruel nature of the Jews, the case against Israel ultimately rests on the assertion, or implication, that there is something especially cruel in the manner in which it defends itself. And it’s not as if anti-Semitism is unknown in Canada, as Grossman points out:

Among the many incidents that occurred last week alone, anti-Israel protestors descended upon Jewish neighborhoods in Toronto and Montreal, and angry mobs intimidated attendees of synagogues in both cities. Demonstrators surrounded the Jewish Federation building in Montreal and blocked participants attending a pro-Israel event from getting in or out for hours; . . . pro-Palestinian protestors in Ontario shouted, “Go back to Europe.”

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.