Social shaming for antisemitism is more effective than police crackdowns, says Jesse Brown

Fault Lines examines the pressures pulling Canadian society apart and the principles that can hold it together. We look beyond headlines to understand how institutions, communities, and democratic norms are fraying. Our mission is to show how better choices can repair what is broken. Toronto-based journalist Jesse Brown is urging Canadians to confront antisemitism post October 7 using  social pressure rather than state intervention, arguing that hateful rhetoric toward Jews should carry the same reputational costs like other forms of bigotry still do today. Brown, the founder of the investigative podcast network Canadaland, recently completed a multi-part series, “What is Happening Here,” documenting an alarming rise in anti-Jewish hatred across Canadian institutions, including thwarted mass murder plots and the exclusion of Jews from workplaces and public life. The Hub spoke with Brown to better understand his findings and how he believes Canadians should respond. Here are five key takeaways from the conversation: Canada has narrowly avoided multiple mass casualty attacks on Jews Brown’s investigation revealed a disturbing pattern of planned violence that has received minimal public attention. “There have been seven mass murder attempts, some of them ISIS-connected, like people planning to set off explosives or shoot as many Jews as possible,” he said. “Late stage plans, like serious plans by people who had the weapons, who had the explosives and were quite serious about it,” Brown added. These thwarted attacks represent what Brown calls “narrowly avoided Bondi beach style massacres of Jews in Canada again and again and again.” The reference to the 2025 Australia attack, where two gunmen killed 15 at a Hanukkah celebration, underscores the severity of the threat. Also late last year, just days after the Bondi attack, police in Ontario arrested three men facing 79 criminal charges, including hate-motivated offences against Jewish women. The three young men are facing charges involving conspiracy to commit kidnapping, hostage taking, and weapons charges. One even faces terrorist charges, due to connections with ISIS. However, Brown argues the level of public awareness of all these events is incredibly low. Jews are being  pushed out of Canadian institutions Beyond physical threats, Brown documented a more insidious pattern: that Jews are being driven out of workplaces across the country. “In institution after institution, Jews are leaving,” he said. “We’re seeing an exodus of Jews from public institutions and organizations across Canada.” The reason, Brown explained, involves the intersection of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies and anti-Israel activism. “When a Jewish person feels that they have experienced antisemitism at work, from a colleague, from a student,” he explained, “they’re told that’s not racist. Our policies don’t cover Jews, DEI doesn’t cover Jews, [the institutions say], or we’ve taken a position against Israel, and this is political.” This creates what Brown describes as “an existential problem” where Jewish employees conclude, “I don’t know if I can work here anymore.” Anti-Zionism functions as a hate movement, regardless of intent Brown rejects the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism as largely meaningless. “To be anti-Zionist is another way of saying anti-Israel, which is different than being critical of Israel,” he explained. “When you criticize something, you want it to be better. I want you to have a better leader. [For example,] ‘I want you to have a more just system’.” By contrast, Brown argues, anti-Zionism often means opposing Israel’s existence entirely. “We don’t ask other countries to forgo their sovereignty, to give up self-determination,” Brown said. “That is a demand that is exclusively made of Israel.” “It’s a hate movement. And we don’t have to spend another second trying to classify it as antisemitic or not. It doesn’t matter. It’s a hate movement,” Brown concluded. Canadian media failed to adequately cover domestic antisemitism Brown was sharply critical of how Canadian newsrooms have handled the domestic story since October 7th. “The moment of sympathy or grieving over October 7th was very short lived,” he said. “We entered into a media framework where the foreign reporting was all we had [and it] was propaganda.” Brown singled out the Toronto Star, claiming the paper published pieces framing Jewish concerns as paranoia, rather than documenting actual threats. “They would go to like a Jewish old folks home and write a piece about Jews are increasingly afraid,” he said. “Essentially the story they were telling was of Jewish paranoia.” Brown also revealed that the Star‘s editor-in-chief prevented most of its reporters from viewing October 7 footage provided by the Israeli consulate, hampering their ability to truly understand the conflict they were covering. Social consequences, not arrests, should deter antisemitic behaviour Despite documenting serious threats to Canada’s Jewish community, Brown opposes increased police intervention. “I don’t like cops arresting protesters,” he said. “I want people to avoid hateful messages because, you know, ideally, because it’s wrong.” Instead, he advocates for social pressure. “There was a time when you would be afraid to yell, ‘Go back to Europe!’ to a Jew because it was socially unacceptable,” he explained. “It’s actually not against the law to yell the N-word, but you don’t do it because there’s a high social cost to doing that.” Brown wants to see similar consequences for antisemitism return. “I would like there to be a high social cost again for being hateful towards Jews.” He pointed to examples of protesters losing their jobs after being identified at demonstrations as the kind of accountability he supports—what he calls “consequence culture,” rather than state censorship. This story draws on a Hub video. It was edited using NewsBox AI. Full program here.