What Does Trump Think About Canadian Anti-Semitism?

IS CANADIAN ANTI-SEMITISM PLAYING A ROLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS?

According To American Christians & Canada’s National Post Newspaper – It Is.

My Dad was Born in Canada to Jewish Russian Immigrant Parents from Ukraine, who Fled Europe to Escape the Pogroms (Organized Attacks Against The Jews) Before the Start of WWI.

At The Canadian Declaration Of WWII, My Dad & Three of His Brothers Donned Canadian Military Uniforms & Went to War. They Didn’t Wait to be Drafted. They Signed-Up, Trained & Did their Duty.

By All Metrics, My Dad Was An Honest To Goodness Decorated Canadian War Hero.

My Dad Was Not A Conspiracy Theorist. He was Not a Timid Man . . . And He Didn’t Charge-Off into the Unknown Without Thought.

My Dad Was Shipped Off To England Where He Was Trained.

He First Saw Battle During the Invasion of Sicily, Months Before D-Day, where He was Wounded at the Battle of Casino & Decorated as a Result of His Heroism.

In the Netherlands, my Dad was Decorated by Queen Wilhelmina for Extreme Bravery . . . Above & Beyond The Call Of Duty.

When My Dad Spoke . . . His Words Came From Experience & Were Worth Listening-To.

I TOOK HIM AT HIS WORD:

I Clearly Remember Just Before My Bar Mitzvah (1963) – My Dad Telling Me that People will Hate Me for My Entire Life, Not Necessarily Because of Anything I Might Do or Say, But Rather, Because I Was Jewish . . . And Being Jewish Bears A Responsibility.

Even Though We Were Relatively Poor . . . My Two Sisters & I Lived a Privileged Life Growing-Up in a Safe Lower Middle-Class Community, where our Greatest Risk Would be Missing a Meal because we were Having Too Much Fun with our Friends. But I Never Forgot The Words Of My Father.

I was Blessed to Grow-Up Amongst a Plethora of People Celebrating Different Religions, Cultures & Races.

I Also Grew-Up Amongst French Canadians, where I Discovered an Entirely Different Montreal Culture . . . And During All This Time – I Can’t Remember A Moment When I Suffered From Anti-Semitism.

AND THEN CAME 1968:

In 1968 It All Changed For Me . . .

Just Prior To 1968 – When  I First Got Involved, a Surge of Violent Anti-Semitism was Flourishing on the Streets of New York City, which Led to the Creation of the Jewish Defense League Led by Rabbi Meir Kahane (Eventually Assassinated On A Street In New York City), where Roving – Mostly Black Anti-Semitic Gangs were Targeting Jews for Beatings & Humiliation.

Kahane Proved One Thing . . . If You’re Going To Target A Jew – Expect A Consequence.

We In Montreal Didn’t Follow The Rise In Violent Anti-Semitism That Much, Since What was Happening to Jews 450 Miles Away in an American City Wasn’t Really our Problem . . . Until It Was.

It Seemed Like It Came Out Of Nowhere, When all of a Sudden, Jewish High School Kids in Montreal began Getting the New York City Anti-Semitic Treatment, with Jewish Boys Being Intimidated, Beaten-Up, and Jewish Girls Violated.

What Made the Rash of Anti-Semitic Attacks Worse in Montreal During that Period of Time was the Ho-Hum Attitude of the Montreal Police and their Administrators in City Hall . . . Which Led A Group Of Jewish Activists To Take Things Into Their Own Hands.

I Was Just 18-Years Old – When I was Approached by the Newly Formed Montreal Chapter of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) . . .

At a Meeting, which became a Very Muted Ceremony in a Dumpy Poorly Lit Two-Story Walk-Up, Where It Was Only Myself & Two Older Men . . . After a Brief Conversation I was Asked if I was Prepared to Take a Pledge that Would Bind Me For Life.

It Was Simple. While I Held a Menorah (Jewish Candelabra) in My Left Hand, the Two-Word Pledge Flowed from my Lips . . . Never Again!

Not Long After the Foundation of the Jewish Defense League, and after Multiple Confrontations with the Anti-Semites . . . the Jews Delivered Painful Physical Lessons to the Brutes who Terrified the Jews . . . Until It Literally All Came To A Screeching End.

We in the JDL were Called Jewish Neo Nazis by Liberal Jews in our own City. The Police Branded us as Thugs and the Media Treated us as Hoodlums . . . We Were None Of The Above . . . But we were certainly Successful in What we Accomplished.

I Never Hid Who I Was & Never Apologized For Standing-Up For The Jewish Community.

During The Years Of My Political Activism . . . The Quebec French Mainstream Media Referred to Me on their Front Pages (Above The Fold) – As . . . Le Juif Galganov (Galganov The Jew), even though I Never Conflated my Political Activism with my Religion or Religious Beliefs.

The Federal French Quebec Separatist Party (Bloc Quebecois) even Tried to Have Me Formally Sanctioned in Parliament as Persona Non Grata, because of my Advocacy for Free Speech. They Even Tried to Have the Canadian Jewish Congress Denounce Me as a Radical – Also . . . Because Of My Advocacy For Free Speech.

A French Separatist Magazine Called “La Tempete” (The Storm), Published by a Convicted Murderer out on Parole, Had a Cartoon on its Cover with me Wearing a Cowboy Hat with a Star of David Upon the Front of the Hat, while I was Sitting Atop a Horse, with a Noose Hanging in the Background. According To The Police, That Wasn’t A Hate Crime.

Graffiti Targeting Me in French was Spread Far & Wide Throughout Montreal with Epithets Scrawled on Walls that Said in French – Kill Galganov, Plan the Assassination of Galganov & Worse.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT – THIS WAS BOTHERSOME – BUT IT DIDN’T SCARE ME:

Out Of Caution – We Lived With Armed Bodyguards For More Than A Year.

Was I A Target Because Of My Politics Or Because Of My Being Jewish? . . . Or was I a Target because of Both? Truth Be Told, there were Other Prominent People in Montreal who at the Same Time Led Groups Opposed to Quebec Separatism & French Ethnocentrism . . . But They Were Not Singled-Out.

WHAT IS THE REASON FOR ANTI-SEMITISM TODAY?

I Dismissed Much of the Anti-Semitism Against Me Because it was Tied to My Socio/Political Activism . . . But Now, I am No Longer the Montreal/Quebec Culture Warrior I Once was, and to the Very Best of my Knowledge, No One Has Risen from the Time I Decided to Leave Quebec for Ontario . . . To Take My Place.

So Why Has Violent Anti-Semitism Exploded In Quebec? But Not Just In Quebec.

Why Has Anti-Semitism Become Rampant Throughout Canada, with Jews & Jewish Institutions Being Shot-At & Firebombed, while Peaceful Jews who are Visibly Jewish are Attacked on the Streets, at their Schools & While in and Outside their Synagogues.

Why Are Jewish Professors & Students Harassed, Intimidated & Excluded?

Why Are Jewish Owned Businesses Coming Under Attack, as are Visible Jewish Restaurants & Bakeries? Why are Jews Worldwide Terrified to Go to their Synagogues this Year to Celebrate Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Jewish Day Of Atonement), When Jews Confess Their Sins To God In The Synagogue?

Why Are Jewish Professionals – Doctors Included, Leaving Canada For America Or Israel?

History Repeats Itself . . . It wasn’t that  Long Ago (1930’s) when Anti-Semitism became Acceptable throughout Much of Europe . . . Also Acceptable in America through the American Nazi Party . . . Right Up To American’s Entry Into WWII.

I Don’t Know If Trump Was Just Blustering with his Comment to Give Canadian Jews a Fast Pass into America if they were in Jeopardy in Canada. Does Trump Know Something We Don’t?

Even Though it Bothered Me Somewhat to be Targeted as a Jew in Canada because of my Socio/Political Activism and my Aggressive Style . . . It Bothers Me Far More that Canadian Jews, and Not just Jews in Canada, are Being Targeted Worldwide for No Reason Other than Just Being Jewish.

IS THIS THE PRECURSOR TO ANOTHER VIOLENT SURGE AGAINST JEWS?

In The 1930’s . . . No Country Would Take-In The Jews. Not Even America – But this Isn’t the 1930’s, and Nor is it Europe . . . This is America, where there is at Least One Leader who Openly Muses about Rising to the Occasion . . . Thank You President Trump. Thank You America.

HISTORY DOESN’T CHANGE . . . ONLY THE NAMES & EXCUSES CHANGE:

Will Anne & I Go To America If It Comes To That . . . Or Will We Stay & Fight?

Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov