SPECIAL:
The Demonization
of Zionism
Since the term “Zionism” emerged in the 19th century, myths about Jewish power, wealth, and influence have included fabrications about a Zionist plot for global domination. During 2025, as seismic changes unfolded in global affairs, a similar conspiratorial logic gripped many Canadians engaged in political activism. In spaces such as labour unions, student associations, and civil rights groups, those opposing what they described as “Zionism”, whether by way of ignorance or intent, devolved into peddling antisemitism.
Those propagating anti-Zionist manifestations of antisemitism do not belong to one homogenous group. They range from supporters of leftist ideologies to white supremacists and religious fundamentalists. Their anti-Zionism may be rooted in a misinformed perception that Zionism is analogous to settler colonialism, or it may be based in racially or religiously motivated hatred towards Jewish people and thus Jewish statehood. Whatever the rationale fueling their beliefs, their opposition to the existence of a Jewish state is their great unifier.
The widespread demonization of Zionists has contributed to the spread of outright antisemitism. This trend has been in place since the 1960s, but it has accelerated since October 7, 2023. Jews who identify as Zionists, which studies indicate is the vast majority of Canadian Jews, have increasingly faced broad censure and stigma.
The increase in attacks on Jewish life in Canada during 2025 was, in no small part, related to the demonization of Zionism. Jews who believe in the right of the Jewish people to practice self-determination in their ancestral homeland are, by definition, Zionists. Ideologues who argue that anyone who is a Zionist is responsible for what they perceive to be injustices in the Middle East are, in effect, creating a moral justification for attacks that target the Jewish community. The following is a non-exhaustive overview of some of the ways in which anti-Zionism has impacted both the Jewish community and Canadian society more broadly during 2025.
Engagement of Student Unions in Anti-Zionist Demonstrations
In March 2025, student groups from Montreal to Vancouver participated in a multi-day strike to promote solidarity with Palestine. These nation-wide gatherings included individuals associated with groups such as the Palestine Youth Movement, the Toronto-based Liberate 48, and Montreal for Palestine, all of which have produced material demonizing Zionism and glorifying those who “resist” the Jewish state, thereby justifying the use of violence.
During April, the Students’ Society of McGill University implemented a Policy Against Genocide in Gaza that resulted from a 2024 referendum. The document commits the union to a “strong” and “consistent” stance against “settler-colonial apartheid” in Palestine. This framing implies an antisemitic rejection of Zionism as it depicts Jews as an alien force in Israel.
The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union association permitted events glorifying Palestinian “martyrs”, including one event held on the second anniversary of October 7, sanitizing acts of terror and diminishing atrocities committed against the Jewish people. The solemnity of October 7 was also violated at Concordia University in Montreal. The University’s administration was forced to cancel classes on October 7, 2025, due to the threat of “extreme disruption” posed by anti-Zionist protestors.
Anarchists and the Militant Left
In 2025, Montreal remained a hotspot for some of the most militant attacks on Zionism. Groups such as Pink Bloc, Montreal Antifascist, and others have taken credit for vandalism targeting companies, banks, universities or other institutions purported to be associated with Israel, Zionism, and imperialism. Similar incidents occurred in Edmonton, Toronto, and elsewhere across the country. In some instances, these attacks were blatantly antisemitic, targeting Jewish-owned businesses, making use of antisemitic tropes and imagery, and postulating antisemitic conspiracy theories, for example, the claim that the media is controlled by “Zionists”, a classic antisemitic conspiracy centred on Jewish control of the media and global power.
Anti-Zionism and 2SLGBTQIA+ Jewish Canadians
Jewish members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who identify as Zionist Jews faced specific forms of ostracization during 2025.
For example, during a so-called “day of vengeance,” ostensibly to bring visibility to the transgender community, a Montreal advocacy group tied its activism to the fight against Israel, urging its followers to bring keffiyehs to a march that included violent confrontations with police. During the annual Pride Month in the spring, Jewish organizations and businesses with ties to Israel were excluded from, or made to feel unwelcome at, Pride festivities across the country because of their Zionistic beliefs or links to Israel.
Demonization of Zionism During Elections
During Canada’s 2025 federal election, candidates’ posters and offices were defaced with pejoratives and hateful imagery directed at their perceived support for Israel and Zionism. Some Jewish candidates had their posters desecrated with the Hakenkreuz (Nazi hooked cross) and other antisemitic iconography. Sadly, the demonization of Zionism and weaponization of antisemitism to attack political candidates did not only occur during the federal election, as provincial and municipal elections across the country were tainted by similar incidents.
Social Erasure of Zionists
During 2025, Jews who identified as Zionists encountered increasing hostility from unexpected sources. Multiple ride-share apps, including Uber, faced scandals after drivers refused to carry Jewish or Israeli passengers due to their Zionist beliefs. Stickers and graffiti found in public places, in multiple cities, condemned and attempted to marginalize those with Zionist beliefs. In one instance, stickers were found in Montreal urging members of the community not to date Zionists. The result has been the attempted systemic erasure of Zionists and, by extension, many Jews.
In Summary
Problematic framing around Zionism has had dire consequences for the Jewish community. In June, a former City of Ottawa lawyer vandalized the National Holocaust Monument. This was a gut-wrenching crime that deeply impacted Jewish Canadians. The perpetrator justified his grotesque, antisemitic actions as an expression of his anti-Zionist beliefs.
During 2025, the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies (ACJS) published a study demonstrating that many Jews are refraining from using the label “Zionist”. Yet the same research also concluded that most Canadian Jews believe in the right of the Jewish people to practice self-determination in their ancestral homeland. B’nai Brith Canada has heard from many Jewish Canadians across the country who no longer feel comfortable expressing their support for Israel in public. This inability of Jewish Canadians to express what is for many a core tenet of their faith is, in part, due to the external pressure from those demonizing Zionism. This, in turn, has caused many Canadian Jews to suppress a central feature of their Jewish identity.