Another humbling loss for pathetic Maple Leafs, this time to Rangers

Gym teacher straddled teen boy in his car, cops claim: 'I can't believe I'm doing this!'

SUNshine Girl Crystal

WARMINGTON: Toronto cops will watch weekend pro-ayatollah rally but so will Canadians

MANDEL: Ex-Ontario judge thought he was above the law

Share this Story : Toronto Sun Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

TAUB: A strategic opportunity for Jewish and moderate Muslim Canadians

We can allow distant war to harden domestic divisions or we can recognize this moment as an opportunity to strengthen alliances grounded in shared democratic commitments

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

At a moment when global tensions are escalating, something significant is possible here at home.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.

Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.

Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.

Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.

Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.

Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.

Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Don't have an account? Create Account

Jewish Canadians and moderate Muslim Canadians have an opportunity to stand together – not in spite of the war between Israel and Iran, but because of what that war is revealing.

TAUB: A strategic opportunity for Jewish and moderate Muslim Canadians Back to video

While headlines focus on missiles and military exchanges, the deeper story is about alignment. And that alignment has implications far beyond the battlefield.

The loudest voices often insist that Jewish and Muslim communities must exist in permanent tension. Social media amplifies this assumption. Protests dramatize it. Activists reduce complex realities to binary identities. Yet beneath the noise, the interests of Jewish and moderate Muslim Canadians increasingly converge.

Both communities want safety. Both want stability. Both want Canadian institutions to function without intimidation. Both want their faith practiced without fear.

Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond.

There was an error, please provide a valid email address.

By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

The Israel–Iran war has clarified why this convergence matters. Iran’s actions in this conflict are not calibrated retaliation. They are lashing out. In the aftermath of Israeli and American strikes, Tehran has launched waves of missiles and drones not only toward Israel but into the airspace and territory of Gulf states, disrupting aviation and threatening civilian infrastructure.

Governments across the region have condemned violations of their sovereignty and are reassessing their security posture. For Sunni majority states focused on modernization and economic diversification, instability is not theoretical. It threatens investment, trade, and long-term national development.

Canadian Israelis cope with another night of Iranian missile attacks

LILLEY: Could military strikes on Iran prompt terror attacks in Canada?

KINSELLA: Jew-hatred hasn’t stopped since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire

Arab governments increasingly view Israel as potential security partner

That reality is accelerating a shift that began with the Abraham Accords. The premise was straightforward. Security and prosperity require cooperation among those who reject ideological extremism. War has reinforced that logic. Israel is increasingly viewed by several Arab governments not as a regional outlier but as a potential security partner in containing shared threats. Intelligence coordination deepens when risks intensify. Strategic dialogue expands when volatility rises. This is not sentimental diplomacy. It is interest driven alignment.

Canada should draw a lesson from this development.

Jewish Canadians are confronting a documented rise in antisemitism. Synagogues require heightened security. Students report hostility. Community institutions operate under pressure. The vulnerability is real. Moderate Muslim Canadians face their own set of pressures. Many reject violence and extremism yet find themselves expected to align with polarized narratives shaped by geopolitics rather than Canadian civic values. They risk being defined by conflicts they neither control nor endorse.

Shared understanding creates common ground and opportunity

Both communities understand how quickly rhetoric can escalate. Both understand how imported conflicts can corrode local coexistence. Both understand the cost when extremists dominate discourse. That shared understanding creates not only common ground but genuine opportunity.

The central divide today is not Jew versus Muslim. It is moderation versus militancy. Institutional stability versus ideological absolutism. Jewish Canadians have an interest in ensuring that opposition to antisemitism does not morph into suspicion of Muslim neighbours. Moderate Muslim Canadians have an interest in ensuring that concern for Palestinian civilians does not translate into tolerance for rhetoric that glorifies violence or denies Jewish self determination.

Both benefit from consistent law enforcement. Both benefit from institutions that resist intimidation. Both benefit from a Canada that protects minorities equally and applies standards uniformly.

Stability requires cooperation

Extremists depend on permanent antagonism. They rely on the claim that coexistence is impossible and that solidarity across communities is betrayal. The emerging regional realignment challenges that assumption. Several Arab governments have concluded that endless confrontation undermines their own futures. Stability requires cooperation among those willing to reject destabilizing forces.

Canada faces a parallel choice. We can allow distant war to harden domestic divisions. Or we can recognize this moment as an opportunity to strengthen alliances between Jewish and moderate Muslim Canadians grounded in shared democratic commitments.

Unity does not require agreement on every foreign policy question. It requires agreement on civic principles. Violence is unacceptable. Incitement is unacceptable. Intimidation is unacceptable.

In times of war, clarity emerges. The clarity now is that the future belongs to those who build stable institutions and resist ideological extremism, whether in the Middle East or in Canada. Jewish Canadians and moderate Muslim Canadians have an opportunity to lead together.

It is an opportunity rooted not in sentiment but in shared interest. And it should not be missed.

— Matthew Taub is the founder and executive director of Unapologetically Jewish, a national organization fighting antisemitism in Canada

Share this Story : Toronto Sun Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Gym teacher straddled teen boy in his car, cops claim: 'I can't believe I'm doing this!' World

Gym teacher straddled teen boy in his car, cops claim: 'I can't believe I'm doing this!'

Another humbling loss for pathetic Maple Leafs, this time to Rangers Hockey

Another humbling loss for pathetic Maple Leafs, this time to Rangers

SUNshine Girl Crystal Sunshine Girls

SUNshine Girl Crystal

WARMINGTON: Toronto cops will watch weekend pro-ayatollah rally but so will Canadians Toronto & GTA

WARMINGTON: Toronto cops will watch weekend pro-ayatollah rally but so will Canadians

MANDEL: Ex-Ontario judge thought he was above the law Toronto & GTA

MANDEL: Ex-Ontario judge thought he was above the law

© Toronto Sun