WOKE focus groups prioritize ‘Arab rights,’ ignore rising antisemitism
Federal focus groups argued that greater relations with Arab-majority countries would improve how the Arab diaspora perceives Canada. Meanwhile, antisemitic hate crimes are up 71% since 2022, according to Statistics Canada.
Federal focus groups polled the Arab diaspora on their “rights and safety,” though similar polling was never conducted with Jewish Canadians.
DOCUMENTS: @PrivyCouncilCa polls Arab Canadians on their "rights & safety" amid anti-Semitic street protests. There were no corresponding focus groups with Jewish Canadians. https://t.co/cyP92HJHbW #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/KjEnyRVGAY
— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) January 13, 2025
“Many shared concerns regarding what they perceived as rising rates of Islamophobia,” said the report. Meanwhile, antisemitic hate crimes are up 71% since 2022, according to Statistics Canada.
Recent testimony by Jewish advocates found Canadian Jews increasingly at odds with Muslims and Arabs, who they say are responsible for “a crisis of Jew hatred in this country.”
Trudeau says there's "never any room" for antisemitism in Canada despite an anti-Israel riot wreaking havoc in Montreal's downtown core Friday evening as he danced to Taylor Swift. https://t.co/vD78U4ZuZQ pic.twitter.com/4NGnFuzUOk
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 25, 2024
According to focus group findings, several individuals perceived a growing “anti-Arab sentiment” following the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel by Hamas, reported Blacklock’s.
“Many were of the opinion that Arab countries were frequently treated differently by the federal government compared to countries in other parts of the world and believed that immigrants from these countries were often subjected to a greater level of mistrust and discrimination,” said the report Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views.
The focus groups argued that greater relations with Arab-majority countries, and increased outreach to the Arab diaspora would improve their perception of life in Canada and better “promote [their] rights and safety.”
Meanwhile, shootings at Jewish schools and firebombing of synagogues became commonplace after the fact. Among the 1,200 casualties included eight Canadians.
“There is a crisis of Jew hatred in this country, the anti-Semitism emanating from the extreme right, the radical left and, to be truthful, from segments of the Muslim and Arab communities,” testified Simon Fogel, CEO of the Centre, at the Senate human rights committee.
Fourteen months of persistent antisemitism, vandalism, and unexplained attacks against Montreal’s Jewish community—and still, police respond with kid gloves instead of decisive action.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) December 8, 2024
FULL REPORT by @TheVoiceAlexa: https://t.co/FG0Gl9Z6cd pic.twitter.com/5Axwx6Jaxr
According to StatsCan, Jews in 2023 were the leading targets of police-reported hate crimes in the country despite accounting for less than one percent of the national population. Only 335,000 Jews live in Canada, in contrast to 1.8 million Muslims and 694,000 Arab Canadians.
A separate StatsCan study predicted Muslims (2.8 million) would be Canada’s third largest religious group by 2036, behind Catholics (12.9 million) and Protestants (5.4 million).
“We’re the low-hanging fruit, the proverbial canary in the coal mine,” Fogel said. The number of police-reported hate crimes increased from 3,612 incidents in 2022 to 4,777 in 2023, a 32% increase.
The polling, dated last July 29, comes mere days after StatsCan identified that antisemitic violence increased 71% year over year, according to the report Police-Reported Crime Statistics In Canada 2023.
Conservative MP Jivani slams justice minister Virani's "DEI criminal justice policies" after the violent pro-Hamas riot in Montreal.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 25, 2024
"This Liberal justice minister, just like his boss, the prime minister, refuses to take any responsibility." https://t.co/vD78U4ZuZQ pic.twitter.com/1TFBxxGy0H
Attorney General Arif Virani faced backlash from Conservative MPs, who claimed he had no interest in protecting the Jewish community.
“This Liberal justice minister won’t lift a finger to do anything about the violence targeting religious communities in Canada,” claimed Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, a committee member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. “I reject that out of hand,” replied Virani.
“On this side of the House … we are working to ease tensions in our communities,” he said. “We are looking at the statistics on hate crimes. We are seeking to address them.”

Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-01-15 21:13:46 -0500Woke folks know nothing about the real situation. They believe the Hamas cult and their narrative of Israel being the aggressor. And even neighbouring Arab countries don’t want Palestinians. So this whole initiative is a waste of money.
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Andrzej Matuch commented 2025-01-15 15:56:34 -0500Why should Canadians care how countries where marrying your cousins and/or six-year-olds perceive our country?