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Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan makes history as first Sephardi woman to join federal cabinet
Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan is Canada’s new minister of official languages and associate minister of public safety, following a Dec. 20 cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The 44-year-old lawyer was first elected in a 2019 byelection to fill the seat vacated by Thomas Mulcair, who represented Outremont for more than a decade, including as the leader of the federal NDP. Bendayan was twice re-elected in the riding, which has seen the NDP’s popularity rise over the last year. The seat is now considered a toss-up between the NDP and Liberals, according to 338 Canada poll projections.
Canada’s first Sephardi woman appointed to cabinet is also the former parliamentary secretary to former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, who stunned the nation by resigning last week.
She is a strong advocate for federal gun control measures and has a background in international trade law. She is one of two new cabinet members from Quebec, alongside Minister of National Revenue Élisabeth Brière, who represents Sherbrooke.
After her swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Bendayan spoke about the third shooting of a Toronto Jewish school just hours earlier and Wednesday’s firebombing of Beth Tikvah synagogue in Montreal. She also noted Jewish schools in her own riding were shot at “not once, twice, but three times” since October 2023.
She used the opportunity to reveal a new federal summit on antisemitism, which The CJN reported on Dec. 20.
“I think everybody is aware that hate-motivated crime in particular is on the rise since 2019, police reporting that hate crimes have more than doubled, that there is a significant increase in hate crimes committed against the Muslim community, and, strikingly, antisemitic hate crimes have almost tripled in that same time period.
“As a result, and in order to ensure that we stem this violence, I’ll be convening along with the minister of justice, our counterparts provincially and territorially, also municipally as well as police authorities,” she said, announcing a national forum on combatting antisemitism. “We are going to be working all together in order to address this heinous and intolerable rise in hate crimes in Canada.”
Reactions range from silence to skepticism
When asked by The CJN, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée de Québec had no comment about Bendayan’s appointment.
The president of the Canadian Sephardi Federation, Avraham Elarar, told The CJN that Bendayan’s appointment is “not a bad thing for the community, but I wish she had done more for the community at large, regardless of whether she is Sephardi, but as a member of the Liberal Party…. I like her, but where was she? Unfortunately, I didn’t see her much during the tumultuous 14 months that we have just gone through.”
(Bendayan was absent from Parliament for about six months following a debilitating concussion in January 2024.)
Nevertheless, Elarar told The CJN, the move can seem “a desperate attempt by Justin Trudeau to cater to the Jewish community. Canada has had similar experiences as democracies like France and Britain, where every time a leader proclaims itself against Israel in any way, it becomes open season on Jews in their countries. Unfortunately, Trudeau fell into the same trap…. Antisemitic acts in Canada are some of the most virulent we’ve seen in Western countries,” he says.
“It takes courage, of course, and just because Bendayan is a Jewish MP does not mean it was her burden alone to fight antisemitism, but the ethical obligations as a human, as a Canadian regardless of affiliation, should have enticed her.”
In the hot seat in Quebec
For her part, Bendayan fended off questions about Trudeau’s future and election talk, stressing the importance of looking at political crises in Germany, France and instability across the world, including in the United States, where Donald Trump will be sworn in as president in January. She noted, “It is important for us to be a stable country here in Canada. It is important for us to defend Canadian interests. I don’t intend to waste any time on partisan politics.”
Indeed, Bendayan got her first taste of the delicate ministerial portfolio she now commands, when asked the question posed by Quebec journalists to every politician working on any language file, if “French in Quebec is in decline, yes or no?”
“Quebec has a very important role,” she replied. “It is the province that must first and foremost be francophone in order to ensure that the linguistic duality that we have here in Canada is protected and maintained.”
Pressed again for a “yes or no” answer, Bendayan replied, “I think my role as minister of official languages is to make sure that we maintain bilingualism, to make sure that the English-speaking minority in Quebec is protected and that the French-speaking minority outside Quebec is protected, so that bilingualism is protected everywhere across the country and that we maintain the linguistic duality that we have and that we are so proud of.”
She was immediately pilloried by nationalists and language hawks before she backtracked, telling reporters shortly after that it’s “true that French is in decline in Quebec.” Quebec’s French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge called Bendayan’s initial response irresponsible. “The decline of French in Quebec and Canada is a fact proven by Statistics Canada figures,” he posted on social media. “The new Minister of Official Languages must absolutely recognize this, because it is her responsibility to reverse this decline.”
According to StatsCan, Quebec’s overall population grew 4.1 percent between 2016 and 2021 (to 8,501,833) while the number of those whose mother tongue is French grew by less than 1.2 percent, comprising 74.9 percent of the population. Moreover, the number of Quebecers who most often spoke French at home was outpaced by those speaking English. Nationwide, French was the first official language spoken by more than 7.8 million Canadians in 2021, up from 7.7 million in 2016, a 1.6-percent hike that lagged far behind Canada’s population growth (5.2 percent).
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet and Quebec’s sole NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice also took her to task. Boulerice posted, minutes after her appointment, “When you come to appointing Rachel Bendayan as (minister of) official languages, you’ve reached the bottom of the barrel.”
Outremont is a diverse riding encompassing the borough of Outremont, parts of Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough and Mile End, and is home to the city’s largest Haredi Jewish community, an older Greek community and new immigrants. The riding is majority French-speaking, and about 12 percent Jewish.
Known as a long-time Liberal activist and Trudeau loyalist, Bendayan joins fellow Montreal cabinet members Marc Miller, Mélanie Joly, Steve Guilbeault and Soraya Martinez. As new official languages minister, she succeeds Randy Boissonnault, who resigned from cabinet in November over controversies surrounding his business activities and claims to Indigenous heritage.
Bendayan’s predecessor-turned-pundit, Thomas Mulcair, described her the day before her appointment as a solid lawyer and backbencher. The former NDP leader told CTV, “She’s well respected and, since Oct. 7, the Trudeau-Joly team has been under a lot of criticism from that [Jewish] community. The Liberals are expecting to lose Anthony Housefather’s riding to the Conservatives on the island of Montreal, so she would be a way of sending a positive signal.”
Bendayan “is young, she’s strong, and I like her,” added Elarar. “But an associate minister means nothing. As for language issues, she’s going to have her hands very full…. I’m also realistic to know that this government will not last, and the government that will replace it will continue the tradition of Stephen Harper, who was tremendously supportive of Israel and the Jewish community.”
Housefather has been elected three times in Mount Royal—which was, until recently, one of Canada’s safest Liberal ridings, which previously elected Irwin Cotler, Sheila Finestone and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Housefather has publicly called on Trudeau to resign, saying his remaining in place is a liability for Liberal members of Parliament across the country. While the riding has been inching closer towards the Conservatives, and their candidate, Neil Oberman, over the last year, polling aggregate 338 Canada shows Housefather’s fortunes rising over the last two weeks, amid the turmoil of the Trudeau government and his calls for the leader to step down.
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There Is Massive Antisemitism in the Workplace; Here’s What You Need to Know

FILE PHOTO: A man, with an Israeli flag with a cross in the center, looks on next to police officers working at the site where, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Most people think they would recognize antisemitism if they saw it: a slur, a swastika, or someone saying Jews deserved to be attacked on October 7. However, the public rarely hears about such antisemitism permeating workplaces in almost every industry nationwide.
In my work as a non-profit lawyer specializing in workplace antisemitism, I’ve learned that some of the most insidious harm happens and remains behind closed doors.
Since October 7, 2023, there’s been a visible spike in antisemitism worldwide. Jewish students are experiencing a surge in discrimination and harassment, Jewish institutions are being defaced, a patron at a Jewish-owned bar paid for a sign to be held up saying “F*** the Jews,” and Ye (Kanye West) recently released a music video titled “Heil Hitler.”
In workplaces, antisemitism is just as present and egregious, but far less publicized. That is because most workplace antisemitism cases do not end up in headlines. Often, workplace antisemitism cases end in a signature on an ironclad nondisclosure agreement (“NDA”) and subsequent silence.
Since approximately more than half of employment law cases settle at some point before trial, the lack of publicity on Jewish civil rights violations in workplaces is not surprising. Still, the secrecy surrounding how those cases are resolved has devastating ripple effects. Given that most workplace cases settle, employees experiencing workplace antisemitism rarely hear about other similar incidents, which could have empowered them to enforce their rights or set a meaningful precedent in the courts to help them assess their chances of success. Another reason workplace antisemitism cases often do not make headlines is that many employees do not report their concerns out of fear of retaliation.
In my work on employment-related antisemitism matters as Senior Counsel at StandWithUs Legal, a division of StandWithUs, many of our cases involve employees in medicine, education, service industries, and technology who simply wanted to do their jobs. What they experienced instead were hostile comments from colleagues, exclusion from diversity programs, denials of promotions, or even termination. Some were mocked for their Israeli nationality or Jewish identity in team meetings. Others were treated unfairly based on Israel’s military actions, were told that Jews started the California wildfires with laser beams, or were called genocidal by colleagues. One was repeatedly subjected to “Anne Frank” jokes by her supervisor.
Employers rarely know how to handle antisemitism, and since these cases usually settle and involve NDAs, employers often can avoid directly addressing the problem. Jewish identity is frequently treated as invisible or controversial. Some employers encourage political discussions about every global injustice except those affecting Jews, drawing lines around Jewish identity that no other minority group is asked to navigate.
Antisemitism in the workplace remains a largely invisible problem — one that’s growing, unchecked, simmering just beneath the surface. The chilling effect of these settlements, NDAs, and silence is profound. When someone is fired for raising concerns about antisemitism, or pushed out under the guise of “performance” after reporting a hostile work environment, they’re often offered severance in exchange for silence in an NDA. It’s a cruel choice: rebuild your life with some financial security, or speak out and risk everything. Most understandably take the deal, but that means the problem continues to go unaddressed.
Whether guiding an employee through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) process, partnering with firms nationwide to sue, or interfacing with human resources or corporate general counsels to resolve the issue, I’ve seen firsthand how powerful the law can be in the workplace. It can force accountability, restore dignity, and, at its best, prevent future harm.
Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” While many of the victories I help achieve remain confidential, the mission is clear: to give voice to those who were silenced, empower employees to enforce their rights, and ensure that silence is no longer the cost of employment.
Deedee Bitran is Senior Counsel and Director of Pro Bono with StandWithUs Saidoff Legal.
The post There Is Massive Antisemitism in the Workplace; Here’s What You Need to Know first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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The Netherlands Also Has a Campus Antisemitism Problem

Anti-Israel protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Esther Verkaik
The Netherlands often presents itself as a beacon of tolerance and progress. But in recent years, that image has started to crack — especially in its universities. These institutions, which should champion open discussion and critical thinking, are now becoming known for something else: hostility toward Jewish and Israeli voices.
Recently, the heads of Dutch universities published a “Statement on Academic Freedom.” It’s full of idealistic talk about openness, free debate, and the importance of diverse opinions. But for many Jewish and Israeli academics, these words ring hollow.
Where was this concern for free expression over the past two years, when Jewish speakers were uninvited, Israeli scholars were boycotted, and students of multiple religions were silenced just for expressing support for Israel?
Where was this defense of dialogue when protests took over campus buildings, tried to intimidate and force out Jews, and declared these buildings and institutions were “Zionist-free”?
And let’s be clear — “Zionist-free” isn’t just about Israel; it’s a chilling phrase that echoes a much darker history.
And this isn’t just about silence. In some cases, universities actively supported or ignored clear discrimination against Jews and anyone who supported Israel’s right to exist.
At Wageningen University, for example, staff openly pledged not to supervise Israeli students. That’s not protest — that’s academic discrimination, pure and simple. The administration said nothing.
At TU Delft, a course described Israel as a colonial project and framed all Israelis as colonizers. Some of the people involved had even supported terror groups like Hamas, or downplayed the Holocaust. This wasn’t fringe — it was university-approved.
At Maastricht University, Jewish speakers were denied platforms due to “security concerns,” while pro-Palestinian speakers with long histories of hate speech were welcomed. The university even gave office space to a group known for antisemitic rhetoric and threats of violence. And Jewish professors needed security just to walk through campus.
So when these same universities now suddenly say they care about academic freedom — after ignoring these issues for years if they involved anyone Jewish or who supported Israel’s right to exist — it’s hard to take them seriously. It feels less like a change of heart, and more like damage control.
The truth is, academic freedom only means something when it’s applied fairly — not just to those with popular opinions, but also to those who face criticism and hostility. That includes Jewish and pro-Israeli voices.
If Dutch academia wants to rebuild trust, it must begin with honesty: admit the past failures, recognize the harm caused, and commit to applying its values consistently. That’s the only way forward.
This isn’t just a policy issue. It’s a moral one.
Sabine Sterk is CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.
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Iran’s Khamenei Dismisses US Nuclear Proposal, Vows to Keep Enriching Uranium

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was “100 percent” against the country’s interests, rejecting a central US demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
After five rounds of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran’s insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and Tehran’s refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium – possible raw material for nuclear bombs.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said nothing about halting the talks, but said the US proposal “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of ‘We Can.’”
“Uranium enrichment is the key to our nuclear program and the enemies have focused on the enrichment,” Khamenei said during a televised speech marking the anniversary of the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests … The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” he added.
Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’
Reuters reported on Monday that Tehran was poised to reject the US proposal as a “non-starter” that failed to soften Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment or to address Tehran’s interests.
Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran since his return to the White House in January, which included tightening sanctions and threatening to bomb Iran if the negotiations yield no deal.
Trump wants to curtail Tehran’s potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and threaten Israel. Iran’s clerical establishment, for its part, wants to be rid of devastating sanctions.
During his first term, Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the pact’s limits.
Iran’s clerical establishment is grappling with multiple crises — energy and water shortages, a plunging currency, losses among regional militia proxies in conflicts with Israel, and rising fears of an Israeli strike on its nuclear sites — all intensified by Trump’s hardline stance.
Iran’s arch-foe Israel, which sees Tehran’s nuclear program as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Tehran has vowed a harsh response.
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