I do not have an answer for how we avert the worst aspects of humanity — only that we must speak up.
Imagine for a moment being a progressive, secular Jewish woman in Ottawa, reporting to the Hate Crimes Unit of the Ottawa Police sometimes daily or weekly. There has been relentless harassment directed at me over the last four years as a physician and in the past year as an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee. On the darkest days, I wondered where I’d go if antisemitism worsened here.
On Oct. 9, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa held a vigil. The Jewish Community Centre overflowed, 1,400 people grieving the massacre in Israel. At the front of the room, rabbis, dignitaries, MPs, MPPs, city councillors, trustees. My husband and daughter and I sat down. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe sat to my right. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a seat directly in front of us.
As moving as the evening was, however, there were notable absences. Politicians whom I think of as friends and allies were not in attendance. Antisemitism, hate, the unravelling of democracy will only worsen if we are collectively silent, complacent.