WASHINGTON — Canadian parliamentarians and protesters alike are descending on the U.S. capital for what's being billed as a massive international effort to confront the growing spectre of antisemitism and demand the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Organizers say they hope Tuesday's "March for Israel" on Washington's National Mall will rival similar protests that took place in D.C. in 1987 and 2002, when more than 100,000 people turned up.
At the same time, U.S. lawmakers will sit down with a host of international counterparts from around the world for three days of meetings hosted by the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians and the World Jewish Congress.
It's the first in-person meeting in eight years for the council, which Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) helped to resurrect in 2021 as a response to a mounting tide of authoritarianism and anti-Jewish sentiment around the world.
"I never faced any antisemitism growing up, I don't remember any antisemitism when I was in college, and I never faced it in my professional career," said Anthony Housefather, a Liberal MP from Montreal who is in D.C. for the meetings.
"The first time I've really confronted it has been in the last seven years as a federally elected MP."
One particular spike came in May 2021 at the height of fresh clashes between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, but Housefather said it doesn't compare to the vitriol that has emerged over the last month.
"I can say shocked, appalled — there's really almost no words to see what's happened this time," he said. "I never would have thought this could happen in Canada and the United States, ever."
Also rounding out the Canadian delegation are Ya'ara Saks, a Toronto MP and newly appointed Liberal government cabinet minister, as well as Sen. Marc Gold, the government's representative in the upper chamber.
A spate of recent incidents in Montreal, including attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and a protest at Concordia University last week that turned violent, have been difficult, said Housefather, whose riding is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Canada.
"Students on campus are feeling afraid to go to school," he said of the Concordia aftermath. "This is something like I've never seen before, and I think it's probably the most difficult emotional time that I've ever had as an elected official."
A number of Canadian protesters are also on their way to take part in the rally in D.C., where organizers, police and security officials are bracing for crowds that could exceed 100,000 people.
Sam Mogil, 16, attends a Jewish high school in Toronto that he said is just one of several similar institutions that are cancelling classes Tuesday and sending busloads of their students to the U.S. to take part in the protest.
"Judaism cuts across borders. we have strength in numbers … and we want to work together," Mogil said in a brief telephone interview.
"We are going to witness history, but we are also going to change history. We want people to act, to take action after seeing how much pain this has caused our community."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2023.
James McCarten, The Canadian Press
