Jewish Far-right Extremists Linked to Outlawed Terror Group Show Up at pro-Palestinian Events in Toronto - U.S. News - Haaretz.com
NEW YORK – Several counterprotesters spotted at a recent pro-Palestinian event at Canada's University of Toronto have links to the far-right Jewish Defense League, Haaretz has confirmed, while others are tied to Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
During a small march last Friday by a group called UofT Occupy for Palestine, some of the counterprotesters waved flags with the Jewish Defense League, or Kahane Chai, symbol on them.
Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1968, the JDL promoted Jewish self-defense and militant nationalism. Kahane's Kach party, formed in 1971, extended these ideas into Israeli politics, before being banned in the 1980s. After Kahane's assassination in 1990, his followers established Kahane Chai to continue his extremist agenda.
The JDL is on the FBI terrorist watch list for promoting Islamophobia and violence. In Canada, however, it has not been banned, though it has been dormant for several years.
One counterprotester last Friday was sighted wearing a Kahane Chai cap. Another, masked in a balaclava, was heard shouting "Let's make Gaza a parking lot." Another protester shouted Islamophobic chants.
Samira Mohyeddin, a Toronto-based independent journalist, filmed the counterprotesters. "They were swearing and getting in people's faces," she said. "Some were yelling, 'Get out of Canada. This is our country.'"
She said she recognized one of the men from earlier protests because of his demeanor and thick Russian accent. "I asked him if he was the same guy from the previous counterprotest. He said yes and unfurled a Kahane Chai flag."
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Also seen among the crowd were longtime counterprotesters with known links to Jewish extremist groups.
These included Meir Weinstein, the founder of Israel Now – which has been described as a rebranded Canadian JDL that operates mainly on social media. A longtime activist in Jewish extremist groups, he previously led the Canadian chapter of the Jewish Defense League.
In 2020, he was banned from entering Toronto's York University after a violent clash between pro-Israel supporters and a counterprotest organized by Students Against Israeli Apartheid to an event bringing Israel Defense Forces reservists to Canada.
Eli Schwarz, left, and Meir Weinstein in Toronto last week.Credit: Samira Mohyeddin
In 2021, a video that seemed to show a group of pro-Palestinian activists attacking an elderly man – an incident initially widely condemned by Canadian politicians – later revealed that the man was wielding a knife and was part of a group wearing shirts with Kahane Chai symbols.
Contacted by Haaretz, Weinstein denied acting violently and said all of his actions, and those of other Jewish groups with whom he had partnered, were "completely legal."
According to a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a political advocacy organization focused on combating extremism and disinformation, Israel Now "actively promotes physical confrontations with Palestinian supporters and encourages direct harassment of individuals online and potentially offline, as well as more broadly promoting anti-Muslim hatred."
Weinstein rejected these claims and said he was simply counterprotesting.
"I view a counterprotest as an opportunity to present accurate information to the public," he said. "It's our right, as long as Canada remains a free country, to stand up, hold signs, share information, speak publicly using sound systems and spread that message through social media."
Weinstein said his split with the Jewish Defense League was not ideological in nature. Instead, he said, it was prompted by a need "to adapt to new realities" during the pandemic, when in-person meetings were not possible.
Israel Now has a small social media presence and relies mostly on a website and email list to promote itself. But Weinstein also collaborates with Never Again Live, a podcast and YouTube livestream focused on threats to the Jewish community.
Never Again Live's content includes videos supporting Israel and slamming Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists. It has denounced Jewish Canadians critical of Israel as "traitors" or "kapos."
'Steve Bannon wannabe'
Also identified in the crowd last Friday was Eli Schwarz, who was wearing a Kahane Chai hat. He was reportedly recently seen driving a truck with Islamophobic images registered to Rebel News – a right-wing outlet run by Ezra Levant, whom The Forward described in 2017 as "Canada's Jewish Steve Bannon wannabee."
That same year, Karen Mock – at the time president of progressive Jewish organization JSpace – accused Levant of finding "common cause with known antisemites, white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers," through his work with the likes of Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.
Levant has also reportedly been criticized for falsely reporting a hate crime at a Jewish Day school earlier this summer.
Several burly men wearing black shirts labeled "Surveillance Team" were seen standing on the sidelines of last Friday's event as protesters marched through the St. George campus. They were part of the newly formed Magen Herut security team, which, along with a group called JForce, has been standing guard at pro-Palestinian protests and Jewish community events in Canada since October 7.
Members of the Magen Herut security team during the pro-Palestinian protest in Toronto last week.Credit: Aaron Hadida
The security team's founder, Aaron Hadida, told Haaretz: "We went down there specifically to ensure that if any members of the Jewish community are present, they have someone looking out for them and watching their backs. We're not there to fight anyone, but to protect Jewish students. We adhere to all the laws. We don't accept anyone with aggressive tendencies or looking to start trouble. It's purely a safety patrol."
Hadida is also the national director of Herut Canada, a Zionist organization linked to Israel's ruling Likud party. Magen Herut, he said, is not connected to Weinstein's JDL-affiliated group, though Weinstein told Haaretz he had "called a friend who was in the JDL, Aaron Hadida, who said he'd bring some guys."
"God bless him, but we're different," said Hadida in response. "I don't want to be associated with that group: we just happened to be in the same place at the same time. Some people involved don't have the best reputation – often unfairly. I can't have our new organization linked to anything that brings negativity."
Hadida said his team includes non-Jews and is open to anyone regardless of their political leanings. He added that he was planning on expanding the security force's operations to the rest of Canada and the United States.