A few days ago, Israeli Knesset member Sharren Haskel, who was born in Canada, made headlines when she said her 88-year-old grandmother, who lives outside of Paris, had been badly beaten by two Arab suspects who noticed the visibly Jewish elderly woman wearing a Star of David necklace. The alleged attack is part of a series of antisemitic violence against French Jews that has sprung up since Oct. 7—and spiked even higher in the run-up to the recent French election.
Over the weekend, early ballot results proved a surge in popularity for the federal far-right party with Holocaust-denial roots, led by Marine Le Pen, but also tallied the shocking victory of a hastily assembled leftist coalition whose leader has sided with Palestinians, engaged in antisemitic tropes and downplayed the antisemitism problem sweeping France. Haskel posted on social media that France has abandoned its responsibility to protect Jews, and argues it’s time for her grandmother—and other Diaspora Jews—to move to Israel for their own safety.
The Israeli politician warns that these same antisemitic currents in France are also at play here in Canada, and brought her message directly to this country’s lawmakers and Jewish leaders during a recent trip to Toronto and Ottawa, sponsored by the Exigent Foundation.
Haskel joined The CJN Daily‘s Ellin Bessner to explain why she thinks Canada is seeing the growing influence of the forces of Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, and why Canada’s pro-Palestinian stance on the war—including support for UNRWA—is like “a knife in the back” that “will cost Israeli lives.”
What we talked about:
- Read Haskel’s article in a French newspaper from July 3 about how France is failing to protect its Jews from radical Islam
- Learn why Haskel’s IDF military service during the Second Intifada coloured her views of possible peace with Palestinians, in The CJN from 2017, and read other Sharren Haskel coverage in The CJN archives
- Follow Haskel on Instagram
Credits:
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.
