Violent extremists are using antisemitism to recruit in Canada: CSIS report

Ideologically motivated violent extremist groups are using antisemitism in a bid to recruit followers and inspire violence, according to a report from Canada's spy agency. 

The report dated May 2024, released under the access to information law by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said the extremist groups are also tapping into current events, such as the Israel-Hamas conflict, to build support.

"Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremists routinely weave antisemitic commentary into their narratives in order to inspire violence and recruit individuals," says the report. "These new adherents, in turn, use antisemitic commentary, often tailored to current events, in order to disseminate violent messaging."

"Thus, antisemitic beliefs, with violent undertones, are disseminated jointly to an ever-expanding circle of recipients."

The report, obtained by the University of Ottawa's Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic and shared with CBC News, says much of that antisemitic content is circulated via social media.

"Social media is the main pathway for the consumption of antisemitic and violent extremist content, be it via popular rhetoric available from mainstream providers, or via influencers who actively convey antisemitic content or conspiracy theories," says the report. "The narratives encourage hate crimes, violence and terrorism."

The report says the continual increase in incidents targeting the Jewish community will normalize antisemitism in mainstream Canadian society and will likely be exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East.

It also says pro-Palestinian protests and university encampments "are unlikely to lead to or be staging grounds for violent extremist acts."

The agency places a number of different groups into the category of Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist (IMVE) including far-right extremists, anti-authority groups, anarchists, xenophobic violence and violence related to gender such as incels and anti-2SLGBTQ+ groups. Religiously Motivated Violent Extremist (RMVE) groups such as those that support al-Qaeda or Daesh, also known as the Islamic State, fall into a separate category.

While the report says it is difficult to measure the precise level of antisemitism in Canada, it says the number of hate-motivated incidents directed at the Jewish and Arab/Muslim communities reported to police since Oct 7, 2023, have risen.

Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, said the use of antisemitism by extremist groups isn't well known by the public but experts have seen it for some time — particularly by far-right groups.

"Antisemitism is always part of the narrative and when it can be exploited as blatantly as this, there's no hesitation in doing so," she said.

However, they don't just use antisemitism, Perry pointed out.

"The far right is playing both sides here. They're promoting antisemitism but they're also promoting anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment at the same time. [Gaza] is a win-win situation for them."

Perry said it could prompt lone actors who are part of the network to take action.

"It's not group-based violence that I think is a fear here — I think it is individual acts of violence, motivated and shaped by what they are consuming in those online spaces and that is very difficult to identify."

Given that attacks on Jewish institutions often occur in the middle of the night, it can be hard to know who was responsible, Perry said.

"Clearly it was antisemitic but what exactly were the motivations? Did it come from the left? Did it come from the right? Does it come from Muslim-affiliated or Islamic-inspired extremists? We just have no way of knowing with those kinds of events."

Phil Gurski, president of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting and a former CSIS analyst, said he thinks the greater threat of violent extremism comes from Islamist groups.

"Over the past 10 years the government has under-represented the threat from Islamist groups and over-represented the threat from far-right groups which they call IMVE," he said.

Gurski said there have been several arrests of Islamist-inspired groups or individuals planning attacks in Canada.

"We've had virtually no arrests on the far right," he said.

Gurski said there is an increase in online rhetoric but the challenge for security services is determining which of the people or groups being monitored risk going from being a keyboard warrior to carrying out an attack.

"The vast, vast majority of people who say anything online, never do a damn thing. They talk the talk, they don't walk the walk."

Andrew Kirsch, principal of the Kirsch Group and a former CSIS intelligence officer, said it isn't surprising that extremists, both religious and ideologically motivated, would try to use antisemitism and the conflict in the Middle East to inspire violent acts. 

"They are all using current events to their ends and push on people's buttons to align with their cause and antisemitism fits in a lot of buckets, unfortunately," he said.

Austin Parcels, manager of research and advocacy for Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith Canada, said the CSIS report confirms something his group believes has long been happening.

"Antisemitism is not just hatred — it's a recruitment tool for extremists and IMVE groups are embedding themselves within broader movements in order to normalize antisemitism, radicalization, justification for violence," Parcels said.

"We've seen these groups hiding [behind] a thin veneer of things like anti-colonialism or post-modernism but all while calling for the eradication of the Jewish State."