By Howie Silbiger, Editor in Chief
“Globalize the Intifada” is not protest, it is a declaration of war. And in Montreal we are living it in fire, glass, and blood. Do not insult us with talk of human rights. Do not preach free speech while our synagogues burn. This chant is a call to attack Jews, to torch our houses of worship, to spray bullets into our schools, to beat our fathers in front of their children, to humiliate us in the streets while self-styled activists applaud. We know what it means because we are the ones paying the price.
Our synagogues have been firebombed. Our schools have been riddled with bullets in the dead of night, their walls scarred as if to send a warning that children would be next. A Jewish father was savagely beaten in front of his children in a park. A man in Saint Laurent screamed for Jews to die in the name of Allah. At pride, Jewish marchers were pelted with balloons of urine while officials beamed about inclusion. This is not politics. This is terror under the banner of protest.
And the poison is everywhere. In Amsterdam mobs hunted Jewish soccer fans like prey. In Paris Jewish homes were painted with Stars of David as if Europe had learned nothing from its shameful past. In London embassies quaked to the chant while Jews were told it was only freedom of expression. In Sydney and Melbourne, Jewish schools locked their gates as crowds outside screamed that they would finish what Hamas began on October 7. This is not isolated. This is global.
And what did our Parliament do? It stood and applauded a Nazi. During a historic address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the House of Commons rose to its feet for Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old who fought with the Waffen SS Galicia Division. Our lawmakers gave him a standing ovation. The Speaker resigned in disgrace. The Prime Minister mumbled apologies. But nothing erases the truth that Canada’s Parliament saluted a Nazi while Jews treat their wounded and patch the bullet holes in their schools.
And the cultural elites? They lecture us on art. The entire Toronto International Film Festival has for years partnered with a Palestinian festival that glorifies the destruction of Israel. TIFF disgraced itself last week, by censoring a documentary about a daring October 7 rescue, silencing survivors of Hamas’s slaughter. Only after outrage did it reverse course, but not before whispers emerged that Hamas itself would need to approve footage of its own atrocities. Terrorists dictating how their massacres can be shown while Jewish voices are muzzled. That is not culture. That is collaboration.
And then there is Zohran Mamdani. Not a fringe radical, but the man who just won the Democratic primary to become mayor of New York City, the largest Jewish community outside Israel. Pressed to condemn “Globalize the Intifada,” he refused. He smirked, dodged, and said it was not his job to police language. At pro-Hamas rallies he and his allies chanted “Death, death to the IDF” like a sports cheer. This man is on the path to lead millions. His cowardice is not neutrality. It is endorsement by silence.
As if this were not enough, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to recognize a Palestinian state, joining France, the United Kingdom, and Australia. All while Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages and openly celebrates October 7 as “resistance by any means necessary.” Shamefully, Jewish backbenchers in the Liberal Party, rather than resign, stand behind him, giving his betrayal a kosher stamp. They will wear that disgrace forever.
We remember the First Intifada. We remember the Second. We remember buses blown apart, cafés reduced to rubble, families ripped to pieces by suicide bombings. “Globalize the Intifada” is not rhetoric to us. It is the promise of more Jewish blood spilled. And that promise is already being kept. Our synagogues smolder. Our schools are scarred by bullets. Our fathers are beaten. Our children live in fear.
Every leader who refuses to condemn this chant is guilty. Every institution that excuses it is guilty. Every festival that partners with terror’s cheerleaders is guilty. Every Jewish MP who props up a Prime Minister bent on rewarding Hamas with recognition is guilty.
We are finished with their excuses. We are finished with their lectures. We are finished with their shameless betrayal dressed up as nuance. “Globalize the Intifada” is not a slogan. It is an order. It is being carried out. And when the history of this moment is written, it will not say the world did not know. It will say they knew, they saw, they applauded. They stood and cheered for a Nazi while Jewish schools and synagogues were under attack.
History will not call them neutral. It will call them what they are. Collaborators.
