A Jewish advocacy group is calling on the government to ban the glorification and promotion of terrorist organizations, saying that Canada has reached a “troubling tipping point.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has started a petition calling on the government to criminalize the use of symbols and flags which promote terrorist groups. CIJA’s rationale is that they hope such a ban will decrease the radicalization of Canadians, which the group says has led to incitement and terrorist attacks.
In a post on X, CIJA said the “disturbing trend of home-grown radicalization — including the public promotion of terror organizations, and displaying of their associated symbols — poses a grave threat to Canadian values.”
To demonstrate its point, the petition points to a recent stabbing attempt against the Israeli Defence Forces in Israel by a Canadian citizen, a foiled ISIS-linked terror attack in the GTA, and organizations such as the Vancouver-based Samidoun. CIJA accused the group of promoting the Oct. 7 terror attack and actively campaigning for the release of members of the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
“Since October 7, we have seen increasingly large numbers of people marching in the streets with flags, signs and other types of banners that glorify groups associated with terrorism,” David Cooper, the Vice President in Government Relations for CIJA, told True North in an interview.
CIJA posted a video Monday highlighting protests in Toronto. The video shows signs that say “Long live legal armed resistance” and an upside-down red triangle on a banner.
The red triangle has become a symbol of support for Hamas, as the terrorist group that rules Gaza uses the triangle in its propaganda videos to indicate the position of the Israeli soldiers they want to kill. Cooper said that for many people, the inverted red triangle is like seeing a Swastika.
In Montreal on Saturday, one protest organizer for an event billed as the “Gaza Night of Rage,” who has been identified as Iyad Abuhamed, led a group of protesters in a call for Jihad.
Abuhamed has posted multiple times in support of Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7. As X user “Leviathan” has uncovered, he has shared speeches from Hamas Leader Abu Obaida, which included a prayer asking for “victory over the disbelieving people.”
Cooper said countries like the UK, Germany and France have “much tighter” rules against individuals who promote terrorism on their streets. Cooper would like to see Canada adopt similar laws. At the end of June, Germany enacted legislation that prescribes deportation for non-citizens who incite and glorify terrorism
He said the current Canadian legislation prohibits anyone from participating in or financing a terrorist group such as Hamas or Hezbollah yet does nothing to criminalize their glorification.
Cooper wants police to enforce the laws already in place in Canada, such as hate speech and incitement of violence laws.
Joanna Baron, the Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a Jewish person herself, feels that broadening the meaning of hate speech is unnecessary, and the use of terrorism symbols could fall under the purview of existing incitement laws.
“Flying the flag of a terrorist organization is a reprehensible act that should trigger further investigation by CSIS and be taken seriously. If police can prove that the flag is wielded with the intent to incite hatred, it is a crime under…the Criminal Code,” she said. “To the extent those wielding flags of terrorist organizations can be proven to be doing so with the intent to incite hatred, this act is already criminalized, and so the proposal is redundant.”
Baron said broadening the meaning of hate speech is an “illiberal instinct” that will not serve the minority communities it purports to serve.
“It merely sweeps this conduct under the rug where we can be less vigilant about it,” she said.
Cooper, on behalf of CIJA, wants all levels of government to take steps to delineate what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to the public discourse, making clear that glorifying and promoting terrorism is not acceptable in Canada.
“In (the Liberal government’s) attempt to be favourable to everybody, they’re actually doing a disservice to Canada,” Cooper said.
He said the regular showcasing of terrorist support in demonstrations in Canadian cities such as Montreal and Toronto is evidence that the government hasn’t been clear about where the line is drawn in Canada.