The Ontario Camps Association should be commended for having categorically rejected an arrogant and unreasonable demand by a coalition of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian organizations to strip the accreditation of 17 overnight Jewish children’s summer camps in Canada due to their support of and connection to Israel.

These anti-Israel groups, ranging from the Palestinian Canadian Congress to Just Peace Advocates and the Ontario Palestinian Rights Association, do not consider the camps “problematic” because they “encourage connection to Jewish identity.” Rather, they pose a problem because they “encourage support for a genocidal, settler-colonial state.”

“All 17 camps show support for Israel in one way or another,” the coalition states. “For example, ‘Israel’ is one of the main tenets of Camp Massad Manitoba. They say, ‘Camp Massad instills in all campers a respect and love for Eretz Israel and its diverse peoples, cultures, history, and geography.'”

In addition, the coalition calls for the sacking of Joy Levy, the executive director of the Ontario Camps Association. Lambasted as “a Zionist who publicly supports Israel, its military, and promotes anti-Palestinian racism,” she is excoriated for having sent Instagram posts holding aloft an Israel Defence Forces flag and visiting an Israeli military base near the Gaza Strip.

The camps that have been targeted run the gamut from Camp Miriam and Camp Kenora to Camp Ramah and Camp Gesher. They are located in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

Their alleged offences include celebrating Israel’s Independence Day and Memorial Day, employing Israeli army veterans, and sending staffers on visits to Israel.

One camp director was denounced as a “Zionist who publicly supports Israel.” And a camp in Ontario was accused of cultural “appropriation” due to its culinary affinity for a popular Middle Eastern spice: “The smell of za’atar sprinkled on top of pita roasted over an open campfire (shows) the entrenchment of Israel in camp life … and also demonstrates the appropriation of … Palestinian culture.”

“All but one of these camps offer tax receipts for donations,” the coalition goes on to say. “Many also receive government funding.”

The campaign launched by these anti-Zionist groups is not just about summer camps per se. It is clearly meant to demean, marginalize and dismantle Israel — the world’s only Jewish state — and discredit its supporters in Canada.

There is nothing new here.

Attacks designed to undermine the legitimacy of Israel have soared to new heights since Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s invasion of Gaza several weeks later.

All these attacks accentuate the flagrant lie that Israel committed genocide during its just war of defense war in Gaza. To set the record straight, Israel targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, all of whom embedded themselves in civilian areas. As a result of their cynical tactic, many innocent civilians were killed. This not genocide. Israel did not deliberately target civilians.

The ideological vilifications to which Israel has been subjected have been accompanied by antisemitic broadsides, which bear a remarkable resemblance to classic antisemitic propaganda.

Thankfully, the board of directors of the Ontario Camps Association is mindful of the motivations driving this hateful campaign, which is aimed at isolating and destroying Israel in the name of Palestinian “resistance.”

Palestinians are theoretically entitled to statehood, but not at the expense of Israel’s very existence.

The Ontario Camps Association, in a forceful statement recently, condemned “characterizations and claims” that are “discriminatory and antisemitic in nature.” It also blasted “stereotyped libels and tropes related to Israel, Zionism and Jewish people …  that are so often spread with specifically malicious intent.”

The Ontario Camps Association adds, “Jewish camps and Jewish community members across Ontario are functioning in a heightened security environment. Antisemitism is not abstract. It has a real human and operational impact. We will not allow antisemitism, intimidation, discrimination or harassment to take root within Ontario’s camp community. OCA has consistently and categorically condemned antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination and remain unwavering in that position. Camps must be places where children, staff, volunteers, and families feel safe, respected, and protected. That includes our Jewish community, without exception.”

It is gratifying to know that the Ontario Camps Association is displaying backbone and has no intention of bowing to the outrageous demand of organizations committed to Israel’s destruction.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)