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Database of synagogues, Jewish schools and summer camps could become 'catalogue for hostile actors,' group says
One advocacy group says that a recently published database of Canadian Jewish institutions associated with Israel and its military could become “a catalogue for hostile actors who are looking for targets.” The list features schools, summer camps and synagogues in Toronto.
“Jewish institutions and communities in Canada have been shot at, fire-bombed, their windows smashed, marked with Nazi imagery, and subjected to sustained vandalism and intimidation,” said Austin Parcels in a statement to National Post. Parcels is the manager of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada.
Publishing a database of such places “framed as if their ties to Israel are incriminating is inciting and dangerous,” said Parcels.
The database, called GTA to IDF, features seven Jewish institutions, a description of each one and how they have engaged with Israel Defense Forces soldiers, from hosting soldiers to speak to students to supporting soldiers through charity. It was published by reader-funded outlet The Maple last week.
“These are Jewish organizations. Treating that basic fact as if it reveals something hidden or corrupt is an attempt to manufacture suspicion around Jewish identity itself,” said Parcels.
“When you turn the most elementary fact of Jewish identity into suspicion, you are not revealing anything. You are giving people who want to harm Jewish institutions the ammunition they are looking for.”
The information is not being “collected and republished here to encourage any harassment of the institutions named,” it says online, in an article by The Maple about the database on Dec. 3. “We’re also not accusing these institutions of having recruited or facilitated the recruitment of Canadians into the Israeli military.”
The Maple did not respond to National Post’s request for comment.
When the article’s author and database creator Davide Mastracci posted about it on X, many users commented, asking why it was created and criticized it for including places mostly geared toward children.
University of Toronto economics professor Joseph Steinberg was one of the people who commented on X. He told National Post that while the intention behind the database may not be to target Jewish institutions, that could be the impact — especially amid rising antisemitism in Toronto.
Recent incidents include mezuzahs (or Jewish prayer scrolls) being stolen from the doorways of Jewish seniors living in a community housing building over the weekend, two people being arrested at an anti-Israel protest outside a debate about a “two-state solution” at Meridian Hall last week, and five people arrested after Toronto Metropolitan University students tried to host an off-campus event where IDF soldiers were scheduled to speak in November.
Steinberg, who is not Jewish, said that he lives in a neighbourhood with a number of synagogues.
“Every time there is a holiday, anniversary of October 7… They all have to have security guards to prevent vandalism, to prevent violence. This is the context in which this kind of thing is being done,” he said.
He called the database “shameful.”
The list could have “dangerous implications for Canadians,” said Richard Marceau in a statement to National Post. He is the senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Jewish advocacy group, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
“These are community institutions where children learn, families gather, and people pray,” he said.
“Following violent and even deadly incidents like the ones we’ve seen in Manchester, Melbourne and Boulder, this kind of targeting emboldens extremists and increases the threats to our people.”
Marceau said the database is “a tactic that recalls some of the darkest chapters of our people’s history.”
Becky Friedman is the director of communications and governance at Associated Hebrew Schools, which is included in the database. She said she doesn’t believe it endangers students or the community.
However, she did say she found it “blatantly antisemitic.”
She added: “We’re quite proud to be known as a community that is very supportive of Israel.”
In February, The Maple published a database of 85 Canadians who served in the Israeli military , called Find IDF Soldiers. Since then, it has grown to include a total of 206 Canadians.
Each of the institutions that were featured in the new database published last week were “associated” with at least four soldiers from the Find IDF Soldiers database. “This project defines ‘associated’ as an individual having attended, spoken or worked at an institution,” according to The Maple, although it “doesn’t mean the soldier represents the institution in any capacity or that the institution necessarily endorses any of the soldiers’ actions or statements.”
Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin of the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation, included in the database, told National Post that its creator “may feel that they are intimidating or embarrassing these individuals and the Jewish institutions and communities of which they have been a part.”
“But we could not be prouder of our children and students,” he said. “Anyone who has witnessed the IDF in action, has spoken to the soldiers, or has visited their bases, knows that Israel hates war and loves peace.”
He continued: “IDF soldiers have made mistakes on the battlefield, to be sure, and innocents on both sides have paid the price for the ravages of war. But we continue to hold our heads high with pride over the heroism, bravery, and humanity of the soldiers of the IDF, especially those who have chosen to serve from our own community.
“These young men and women are our heroes. We love them, are proud of them, and we wish them only the best.”
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