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Prime Minister Mark Carney warned this week that Jewish Canadians are being “brutally targeted,” while also announcing a new anti-racism council that includes two members who reportedly hold troubling views on the Jewish state.
Following Carney’s speech on anti-Semitism, critics reacted with anger at the composition of the council and questioned how an organization created to fight hatred and anti-Semitism included two members who are reportedly hostile to the concerns of the Jewish community.
Former Liberal Party cabinet minister and Member of Parliament Omar Alghabra has faced criticism for publicly condoling the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The former PLO leader was described by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as “the father of modern terrorism”. Following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, when asked by Canadian Rebel News, he declined a request to condemn them.
Alghabra has also faced scrutiny over past comments regarding Israel. According to The Jerusalem Post, in 2005, he criticized Toronto’s police chief for participating in and leading a “Walk with Israel” event. He described the event as “a display of solidarity for a foreign state in the midst of a currently unresolved conflict” and referred to Israel as “a country that is conducting the cruelest and longest contemporary military occupation in the world.”
Canada’s Carney faces pressure to take action after synagogue shootings in latest anti-Semitic incidents
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after a cabinet meeting to discuss trade talks with the US and the situation in the Middle East at the National Press Theater in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2025. (Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images)
Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre hinted at the involvement of a terrorist organization in a separate encounter with him. He told reporters, “I remember that Mr. Alghabra lobbied for me to keep Hezbollah legal before he came into politics, so I’m not sure he’s the right person to fight anti-Semitism.”
Hauer, the Jerusalem Post reported that Alghabra had described Hamas as a terrorist organization during a 2016 parliamentary debate.
Another controversial member of the council, Awanish Nanda, represented pro-Palestinian camp efforts at the University of Alberta. Critics of the camp argued that it created a hostile environment for Jewish students following Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
Then-Minister of Transportation Omar Alghabra speaks with the Toronto Star at an editorial board meeting at the Wells Building in Toronto. (Lance MacMillan/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
In April, B’nai B’rith Canada’s League for Human Rights released a report showing that 6,800 anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the country in 2025, representing a 9.4% increase compared to 2024. On average, this represented 18.6 events a day and was the “highest volume” recorded since the group began tracking events.
Rabbi Jolie Claman of Montreal’s Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem Congregation told Fox News Digital, “I am a Canadian-born Jew serving as the rabbi of the vibrant Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem community in Montreal, and I was really surprised to learn that among those selected to sit on Prime Minister Carney’s latest council is Omar Alghabra, who has publicly criticized Yasser. Expressed condolences over Arafat’s death and remained silent when asked to condemn the October 7 attacks.”
Talmud Torah Elementary School in Montreal was one of two schools hit by shootings this week, according to Montreal police. (Google Maps)
“Canadian Jews are struggling to understand how our Prime Minister could believe this would be a constructive appointment.”
When announcing the new Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, Carney said, “The Council has a clear mission to guide the Government of Canada as part of our efforts to combat racism and hatred in all forms and create a fairer, more just, more inclusive society,” She also said, “The crisis of anti-Semitism in Canada today is unique, it is serious, and it demands a targeted response. And our government is fully committed to that,” Reuters Told.
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Asked about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement, B’nai B’rith Canada, one of the country’s leading Jewish advocacy organizations, said that while it welcomed the Prime Minister’s acknowledgment of rising anti-Semitism, it believes additional action is needed to address the growing crisis facing Canada’s Jewish community.
Anti-Israel protesters hold anti-Semitic posters in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 13, 2025. (Photo by Artur Vidak/Nurfoto via AP)
“B’nai B’rith Canada acknowledges the Prime Minister’s solidarity with the Jewish community,” Simon Wooley, the organization’s chief executive, told Fox News Digital. “He was right to order that the Special Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion prioritize researching and combating anti-Semitism.”
At the same time, Wolle questioned whether the newly announced council had the necessary authority and scope to effectively address the problem.
“But we are concerned because the council does not have the power or scale to address this crisis in an appropriate and meaningful way,” he said. “This is an important aspect of the government’s approach to tackling anti-Semitism, but it is not enough.”
Anti-Israel protesters gather outside Union Station in downtown Toronto during a rally on January 4, 2024, demanding a ceasefire. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anatolia)
Wooley said B’nai Brith Canada “will continue to call on the government to establish a national emergency task force on anti-Semitism, among other initiatives, because the Jewish community needs urgent action, not just words, in this time of violence, hatred and threats to our right to exist and participate in Canadian society,” he said. Wole did not comment on the appointments of Omar Alghabra and Avnish Nanda.
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Canadian Jewish activist Ariela Kimmel also questioned the effectiveness of the newly announced council.
“The Jewish community is only 1.2% of the Canadian population, yet is the target of 75% of hate crimes, which is astonishingly disproportionate. Canada doesn’t have a hate problem; it has a Jew-hating problem. A very specific virus is spreading rapidly in this country, and our Prime Minister is giving a blanket catch-all antibiotic that won’t help.”
On March 3, 2026, a shooting was fired at Temple Emanu-El in Toronto. There is no report of anyone being injured. (Nick LaChance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Kimmel said that his speech lacked concrete solutions and failed to address the growing hostility toward Jewish communities.
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He said, “There is nothing in the hateful chants we hear in the streets, nothing about mobs targeting Jewish neighborhoods, nothing calling for the police to enforce the laws that already exist.”
“Canada does not need another special council on racism. We need to address the real elephant in the room, the targeting of Jews by using ‘Zionism’ as an inexcusable reason, led by radical progressives and Islamic fundamentalists.”
Fox News Digital contacted Carney’s office and Omar Alghabra and Avnish Nanda for comment.
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