B’nai Brith Canada announced on Aug. 6 that the group is calling on law enforcement to investigate a Polish newspaper in Toronto for blaming the COVID-19 pandemic on the Jews.
The National Post reported that the newspaper, Glos Polski, published an April 22 article on how COVID-19 originated, stating that “biological weapons are being worked on in the U.S. and Israel not by just any experts, but (under) the leadership of usually Jewish psychopaths.”
The Post added that the article also stated that “organized Jewry” can “laugh their heads off” at the COVID-19 crisis, and that Jewish social media had manipulated the world with “Goebbelsian propaganda.”
The article also called ISIS “a Jewish creation” and blamed Israel for “all the world’s woes,” according to the Post. The Post noted that the Polish National Union of Canada, which publishes Glos Polski, received $146,000 in 2018-19 and $130,000 in 2012-13 for renovations and a roof replacement, respectively.
“To publish something like this in a Canadian newspaper, whether it’s in English or non-English, is criminal,” B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn told the Post. “It’s absolutely criminal to pursue this form of hatred.”
He acknowledged that while Canada’s hate speech laws aren’t often enforced, the Glos Polski article “does cross the threshold.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that the Glos Polski article is “blatant anti-Semitism.”
“Thank you to @bnaibrithcanada for taking action to shine a light on this hate,” Greenblatt wrote. “This is just one of the many examples of how the anti-Semitic trope of blaming Jews for disease is being invoked to scapegoat Jews for #COVID19.”
This is blatant #antisemitism. Thank you to @bnaibrithcanada for taking action to shine a light on this hate. This is just one of the many examples of how the antisemitic trope of blaming Jews for disease is being invoked to scapegoat Jews for #COVID19. https://t.co/JotFO5pk95 https://t.co/ys8QhoKYph
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) August 7, 2020
In June, Canadian publisher Andrzej Kumor was arrested for his Polish publication Goniec running articles stating “Jews are spying on you” and that Jews and Zionists have “terrorism in their blood.” Kumor subsequently was released with a warning that he would be charged with inciting hatred against Jews if he published any more anti-Semitic content.
“It’s important news outlets understand that racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism are not fair game and are not going to be tolerated in Canada,” B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn told the Toronto Sun at the time.
