Right-wing demonstrators hold signs at the entrance to Jerusalem Monday in protest of a government moratorium on new housing projects in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The signs read in Hebrew, "stop the freeze" (left) and "settlement freeze-reward for terror" (centre). According to the director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, anti-Semitism in the early 21st century no longer seeks to rid the world of Jews, but to rid the world of the Jewish state.

Photograph by: Ronen Zvulun, Reuters

OTTAWA — The manner in which anti-Semitism is expressed in Canada has mutated since the end of the Holocaust, according to Mark Freiman, director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, who says the underlying message of hate remains the same.

"(The message is) the evils that beset our society are caused by Jews," he said.

Anti-Semitism's latest mutation has identified Israel, the Jewish state, as its target, Freiman said.

Freiman testified Monday at a hearing for the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism, made up of MPs from all political parties who are examining the status of anti-Semitism in Canada, and seek to combat a global resurgence in the prejudice and hatred against Jews.

Having held seven hearings so far, the coalition plans to release a report after the inquiry ends in February.

Anti-Semitism in the early 21st century no longer seeks to rid the world of Jews, Freiman told the inquiry, but to rid the world of the Jewish state.

"The new anti-Semitism . . . employs double standards and resorts to demonization in order to delegitimize the world's only Jewish state," Freiman told the inquiry. "What is equally anti-Semitic on the broader level is to tie what is said to be misdeeds by the state of Israel to its status as a Jewish state."

Israel, however, should not be exempt from legitimate criticism of its policies and behaviours, he said.

Illegitimate criticism takes the form of comparing Israel to South Africa during the apartheid era or Nazi Germany, Freiman said in a written report presented to the inquiry.

Freiman urged MPs to recognize that "so-called anti-Zionism can and often does cross over to anti-Semitism."

But Denis Lemelin, another witness at the inquiry, told MPs he sees a difference between challenging and criticizing the actions of Israel and exhibiting anti-Semitic behaviour.

Lemelin is the national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which in April 2008 passed a resolution at its national convention that demanded Israel end all military action and withdraw from occupied territories.

"Criticizing the policies and actions of Israel is a democratic right and to attempt to criminalize this dissent by labelling it as anti-Semitism is an unwarranted attack on our civil liberties," Lemelin said in a written submission to the inquiry.

Adam Atlas, president of the Quebec Jewish Congress, told the inquiry on Monday that colleges and universities are where many groups express hatred or opposition toward Jews.

"People who are visibly Jewish feel uncomfortable on these campuses," Atlas said.

"Today . . . too many Jews on campus don't feel comfortable expressing their Jewishness, being pro-Israel," said Dr. Gil Troy, a history professor from McGill University and a witness at the inquiry.

"Synagogues are vandalized and people are being harassed. This is unacceptable," he said.

Criticism of Israel degenerates into anti-Semitism when Israel is demonized, Troy told the inquiry.

Opponents of Israel should have to justify their opposition to Israel, particularly when they don't express opposition to such countries as Libya, Iran and Sudan, which are under dictatorships, he said.

Another witness, Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said suppressing the free speech of groups or individuals who express anti-Semitism isn't a solution.

"We have to strengthen our monitoring systems," Des Rosiers told the inquiry. "We need more counter-speech."

Carla Wittes said anti-Semitism can be prevented by immersing young children of all backgrounds in educational programs about the Jewish religion and broader diversity.

"We need to take it beyond the confines of who we are in the Jewish community, who we are in the Jewish and Christian community and pay attention to the fact that the demographics of Canada are very different now and we need to bring other people into this conversation," said Wittes, the vice-president of programs for the Canadian Centre for Diversity.