A Canadian official tasked with countering Jew-hatred has pushed back against recent bigotry he experienced himself.
On Friday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of parliament member Anthony Housefather to the role of special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism.
Trudeau said that the member of the Liberal Party—who has pushed back on anti-Israel efforts among his colleagues—would work toward “continuing to make sure Jewish Canadians’ voices are heard, protecting Jewish Canadian communities and making Canada more inclusive for everyone.”
On Tuesday, Housefather shared a photo he had received of a poster on a Montreal lamppost labeling him a neo-Nazi and demanding he “get out of Canada.”

A Manchester mosque has issued an official apology after a Jewish Conservative Party candidate it had invited to speak was called a “snake” by bigoted hecklers.
After Rabbi Arnold Saunders, the Conservative candidate in the Bury South parliamentary district of Manchester, spoke at the Masjid Bilal Islamic Centre in Prestwich, he was harassed by several individuals in an incident captured on video.
“The event was well received and the Rabbi was welcomed, and most people present engaged positively with the Rabbi,” read a statement issued by the mosque. “Unfortunately one or two individuals questioned the Rabbi in a hostile manner and this clip has been widely circulated. This clip was recorded by one of the individuals himself.”

A Hebrew-inscribed tombstone dating to the 13th century has been discovered in southern India.
The tombstone was found on a coconut farm in the city of Ramanathapuram in the state of Tamil Nadu, The Week reported on Friday.
Thoufeek Zakriya, a Jewish history researcher and Hebrew calligrapher, was the first to decipher the inscription, telling the Indian English-language news magazine that it dates to the years 1224 or 1225 C.E.
“This means that it is older than the Sarah Bat Israel Tombstone in Kerala’s Chennamangalam, which is considered the oldest Hebrew tombstone ever identified in India,” Zakriya told The Week.
Hathim Ali, 32, a chemical engineer and history enthusiast, first brought the tombstone to the public’s attention.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing mild symptoms, his office announced Sunday, but his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, has tested negative and remains asymptomatic. Emhoff spokesperson Liza Acevedo said in a statement that the second gentleman “is fully vaccinated and three times boosted” and that he is “currently asymptomatic, continuing to work remotely, and remaining away from others at home.” Acevedo said Harris was tested for COVID on Saturday “out of an abundance of caution” and the result was negative. She is scheduled to campaign in Las Vegas for President Joe Biden ‘s reelection on Tuesday. Emhoff previously tested positive for COVID in March of 2022, and Harris tested positive for the virus the following month.

Israeli lawmakers from across the political spectrum gave their backing on Sunday to three Israelis suspected of murdering a Gazan terrorist who infiltrated the Jewish state during the Oct. 7 massacre.
The criminal case has been under investigation for several months but did not become public until Thursday night, when the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court eased a gag order and ordered two of the suspects released to house arrest.
The three civilians—a discharged soldier, a United Hatzalah volunteer medic, both in their 20s, and an older individual—met up after they made their way to southern Israel to fight on the morning of Oct. 7.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday marked nine months since Hamas’s massacre by calling for the immediate return of the 120 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.
“It’s nine months since the great disaster that befell us on October 7. Nine months since the barbaric attack in which babies, women, men and the elderly were brutally murdered, raped, tortured and kidnapped,” began Herzog.
“Our hearts are with the bereaved families, the physically and mentally wounded, the abductees and their families who have been working for months to return their loved ones home. Our commitment to return the hostages is absolute and supreme. We do not forget them for a moment,” he continued.

Hundreds of Israelis, including Knesset legislators, attended a festive musical prayer service early Sunday morning in the recently legalized Jewish community of Evyatar in the central Shomron.
The Halle for Rosh Chodesh Tamuz was attended by lawmakers Zvi Sukkot and Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionism Party), as well as Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and Tzfas Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.
Initially established in 2013 in the wake of the fatal stabbing of Evyatar Borovsky in the area but dismantled numerous times, Israeli civilians moved back to Evyatar following the June 2023 shooting attack at a gas station outside Eli.

In a social media post, Yair Netanyahu, the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a scathing attack on the country’s judicial system. Alongside a picture from a recent court hearing related to the October 7 terrorist attack, Yair wrote, “The Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s office are destroying the state.” This is not the first time Yair Netanyahu has spoken out against senior figures in the defense establishment. Last month, he targeted Air Force Commander Tomer Bar in a tweet, questioning his actions on the day of the terrorist attack. “Where was he and what did he do on October 7?” he asked. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)