Thank you.
My name is Amir Epstein. I am the chief executive officer of Tafsik Organization, one of the fastest-growing Jewish organizations in Canada.
The explosion of anti-Semitism we are witnessing across Canada today is not an accident. It is not spontaneous and it is not happening in isolation. It is being fed, shaped and normalized by the information Canadians consume every single day. This includes our schools and our universities, and it absolutely includes the CBC, our main national public broadcaster.
The CBC is not a fringe outlet; it is not a blog. It is a taxpayer-funded national institution to the tune of over $1 billion, which Canadians are told they can trust. When that power is exercised carelessly, when unverified claims are amplified, when biased sources are relied upon and when narratives are presented without proper scrutiny, the consequences are not theoretical; they are societal and they are measurable.
When the CBC amplifies claims from terrorist sources without any verification or context, it is not simply reporting; it is acting as a conduit for narratives that are designed to promote hate and violence against my Jewish community. The most glaring example of this was the reporting on the al Ahli hospital explosion in Gaza in 2023. Within minutes, claims originating from Hamas—a designated terrorist organization that murdered my people—were spread across Canada by the CBC, alleging that Israel had bombed the hospital and killed hundreds of civilians. Well, it was all a lie: The explosion was caused by a misfired rocket launched from Gaza. However, the damage was already done. Millions of Canadians will forever believe the lie that Israel had bombed that hospital.
When those narratives portray the only Jewish state—and by extension Jews in Canada—as uniquely immoral or violent, they reinforce deep-rooted and dangerous patterns of hate. This is how modern anti-Semitism operates—in the form of anti-Zionism—and it is repackaged through the language of politics and activism. However, the structure remains the same: the singling out, the demonization and the application of double standards.
Classic anti-Semitism has largely been associated with the far right, including the neo-Nazis and the white supremacists, relying on blood libels and tropes that Jews control governments and manipulate society to justify hatred of the Jewish community. Today, anti-Zionism has become a modern vehicle for the same hatred. It emerges from segments of the far left and Islamist movements, using similar falsehoods reframed to claim that Israel and Zionists control global affairs or commit genocide and apartheid, which are lies that some politicians, such as Olivia Chow, have accepted to justify hostility toward Jews.
We have seen narratives from Hamas and its proxy UNRWA, the United Nations, Al Jazeera, the Government of Qatar and the Islamic regime in Iran amplified without the level of scrutiny expected from a publicly funded broadcaster. This is not journalism at the highest standard, nor is it journalism at the most basic level. The CBC is acting is a mouthpiece for narratives by terrorist entities, something that would have been unfathomable 20 years ago.
Media does not just inform; it conditions Canadian attitudes. The CBC tells audiences who deserves sympathy, who deserves skepticism and who deserves blame. If Hindus are attacked by Khalistanis, who cares? If over 100 churches are burned to the ground, who cares? The media choose what is newsworthy and what isn't based on their own biases. We are now seeing those attitudes manifest here in Canada. Jewish students are facing hostility on campuses, while synagogues, Jewish schools and Jewish-owned restaurants are being shot at repeatedly.
The CBC elevates fringe anti-Zionist Jewish voices to represent the broader Canadian Jewish community, when they actually represent only themselves. This creates a distorted picture for Canadians. The vast majority of Jews in Canada and worldwide believe in the right to self-determination in our ancestral homeland, just as every culture in the world should. Anyone claiming to speak as a Jew while denying that right is detached from Jewish history and reality. When the CBC platforms those voices, it reinforces false narratives about Israel and the Jewish people, contributing to a climate of hostility, rising anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
A publicly funded broadcaster must reflect reality, not shape it selectively. This is not about silencing criticism of Israel, as its government can and should be scrutinized. However, scrutiny must be grounded in facts and applied consistently to every nation. The CBC helps shape how millions of Canadians understand the world, and in this case, it is contributing to an environment in which anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are increasingly normalized.
This is about whether Jewish Canadians can live openly and safely, whether students can walk on campuses without fear, whether families can attend synagogue without security or whether children feel safe wearing a Star of David without being suspended for anti-Palestinian racism—the latest fabricated tool to extinguish Jewish identity. When trusted institutions fuel narratives that lead to suspicion and dehumanization, they are no longer observers but have become part of the environment in which that hatred grows. The cost of getting this wrong is measured in the safety, dignity and future of Canadian Jews.
Thank you very much.