Since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel one year ago on Monday, there have been transformations and lessons to be learned in areas that stretch well beyond the conflict itself. Here are 10 of the biggest, from the world of workplace law and beyond.
1. DEI has revealed its true colours
The movement for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace was hijacked by the radical left years ago, morphing from its initial mission of equality for all races to one pitting groups against each other based on race and gender identity. Disaffection with that transformation had started well before Oct. 7, with many companies reducing their focus on the issue and terminating their DEI staff. But Jewish groups quickly noticed that much of the antisemitism we experienced from the radical left in the wake of Oct. 7 was abetted by DEI's characterization of Jews as whites at the top of the racial hierarchy, who can justifiably be discriminated against. Many Jewish groups believe that much of today's antisemitism flows directly from the DEI movement.
2. Unions can spend their members' money as they wish
Some unions are excellent stewards of their members' funds. Others, such as the Canadian Union of Public Employees and its Ontario president, Fred Hahn, have been accused of being focused more on their leaders' personal political predilections rather than on improving the lot of their members. The rabid antisemitism of some union leaders has lead to human rights complaints by their Jewish members and to some union locals looking to disaffiliate from their larger unions.
Under the current law, unions are free to spend their members' dues on whatever frolics they wish. Short of the government changing the law as to the use of dues, that will continue and, short of sufficient members organizing to replace their existing executives, Jewish members (and next time others) had best keep their heads down.
The reality is that human rights cases and other legal actions take years to prosecute, potentially dragging on until the problem has vanished. Such cases often have little practical value beyond publicly exposing the problem. You can see how little attention the class-action lawsuits against various universities for their tolerance of antisemitism received after their initial launch.
3. You have to fight insurrections with resolve, not appeasement
We should have learned this from the Second World War, but many have forgotten that lesson of history. I have been opposing a ceasefire in these pages as that would have provided Hamas and now Hezbollah a chance to rearm, regroup and return to attack Israel reinvigorated, as has occurred after every previous ceasefire. If there had been a ceasefire when U.S. President Joe Biden demanded one, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah would still be alive, 20,000 Hamas terrorists and their leaders would still be alive and 2,000 more Hezbollah fighters would be threatening Israel today.
4. There are legal limits to 'free speech'
Our communities have been beset by mass protests for the last year. At virtually every one, genocidal chants such as "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," calling for the elimination of all Jews in Israel, have been chanted in unison. Many of the protesters are doing so without even knowing what river or sea they are screaming about. Death threats have been made. Criminal damage to property and assaults on identifiably Jewish individuals have occurred. The police have been impotent, claiming that making arrests would ignite the crowds further, apparently forgetting that permitting mob violence incentivizes it. Unless hate speech and other charges are laid, it will only get worse.
5. There are employment consequences for hate speech
Employers have learned that they need not put up with employees who participate in hate speech or other criminal conduct and can fire them for doing so. If an employee is client facing, public facing, managerial or otherwise in a position to damage the company's "brand," taking part in such conduct is cause for discharge without severance. Similarly, if employers tolerate racism in their workplace, they can be sued for constructive dismissal and negligence or face human rights applications.
6. Anti-Zionism equals antisemitism
At a conference I attended in Washington, D.C., several years ago, the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévi talked about the mutations of antisemitism through politically acceptable forms over the years. As he put it, the current form of that virus is anti-Zionism. This equivalence, of course, is denied by those who refute Israel's right to exist. But when Jewish schools, synagogues, businesses and homes are firebombed or shot at in Canadian cities in protest of Israel's response to the Oct. 7 attacks, it becomes hard to deny it any longer.
7. Moral relativism, a feature of woke culture, must be fought
There is good and there is evil. There is right and there is wrong. If we cannot distinguish heroes from villains, society is in moral peril. That is something Jordan Peterson frequently states and one of the reasons he is so hated by the left. The fact that so many youth are not taking Israel's side in fighting back against terror shows a moral degeneration. Even when Israel conducted the most surgical strike in military history, blowing up the pagers of Hezbollah fighters with few civilian casualties, the claims of genocide continued unremittingly.
Too many on the left, cheered on by their Islamist fellow travellers, have taken the side of the Iranian dictatorship and its proxies while openly decrying rules-based democracies that support human rights. Infected by DEI and woke culture, they view Israel as an example of the Western civilization they repudiate. When we have groups such as "Queers for Palestine" — oblivious to the horrific irony that homosexuals can literally face execution in Gaza — we know that we have descended into Wonderland itself.
8. Nothing beats winning
The very night that 1,200 Jews were butchered and raped by terrorists, protesters took to Canadian streets by the thousands, cheering madly before Israel had even responded. When, over the last few weeks, Hamas was virtually defeated and Hezbollah's leadership was taken out in short order, along with much of its firepower, our radicals were quiescent. As I saw the various rungs of terrorist leaders in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon consecutively executed, I was reminded of the Jewish proverb that one should not delight in the misfortune of one's enemies. Happily, I am not religious.
9. The UN courts are shambolic parodies
Historically, antisemitism has been prosecuted through the courts, such as in the Dreyfus affair at the turn of the 20th century and the blasphemy trials in the Middle Ages. The International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice appear to be real courts. But they cater to the whims of the majority of United Nations (UN) states, which are implacably hostile to Israel. The fact that corrupt South Africa, supported by Iran, lead the genocide charge against democratic, rules-based, Israel should dispel any rational person's illusions as to the meaning of any charges brought or convictions obtained at the UN It is shameful that Canada is not supporting Israel there.
10. This is not the time for a two-state solution
Imagine if Hamas's genocidal attack was rewarded with a Palestinian state? The Palestine Liberation Organization in the West Bank has a view of Israel that is not radically different from that of Hamas. In time, hopefully, moderate Palestinian leaders will come forward or Gulf and U.S. forces will act as peacekeepers. Until then, though, it is hard to imagine a Palestinian state will become anything but a terrorist state with political legitimacy.
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