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<\/a><\/p>\nA protester with a megaphone tells Neil Herland “You’re going to hell!” outside Yopm Kippur services. (Screenshot\/X)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The reported suspension came after Neil Herland shared footage of protesters gathered outside the Meridian Arts Centre in north Toronto, which on Sept. 20 was hosting Yom Kippur services for The Song Shul. <\/p>\n
Herland, who has worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for nearly 30 years, began his post on X, \u201cOn Yom Kippur I went to a synagogue service in Toronto and was met by protesters trying to taunt and intimidate me from entering the building.\u201d <\/p>\n
A man can be heard yelling \u201cZionist alert!\u201d through a megaphone, while another masked protester approaches the camera and screams, \u201cYou\u2019re going to hell.\u201d <\/p>\n
A pro-Palestinian group, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, filed a complaint against Herland with the CBC, saying he had mischaracterized the protest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear to CJPME that Mr. Herland was aiding the pro-Israel side of these demonstrations defending Mark Regev\u2019s presence, while smearing these pro-Palestine protesters as antisemitic for their criticisms of Regev\u2019s awful record on Palestinian human rights,\u201d their complaint said, referring to the presence of a former Israeli diplomat at the event.<\/p>\n
The Toronto Sun reported the suspension on Sept. 24. CBC declined to confirm the suspension and said reporting had mischaracterized what had happened. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t comment on internal matters,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cThat said, we are aware of reporting on this matter which has errors and mischaracterizations but we can\u2019t get into the specifics given the confidentiality of the situation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Reached by JTA, Herland declined a request for comment. <\/p>\n
A press freedom group decried the reported suspension, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecording events in a public place and reporting them to the public is not misconduct,\u201d Sheila Gunn Reid, president of the Independent Press Gallery \u2014 a non-profit advocating for independent and nongovernmental journalist organizations \u2014 said. \u201cIt is journalism. It is not the role of a public broadcaster to punish its journalists for doing their jobs to appease activist groups. Its role is to defend their right to report.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a thread under his tweet about the protest, Herland noted that \u201cThe guest speaker at the Toronto synagogue tonight was an Australian-born university teacher who lives in Israel and once served as Israeli ambassador to the UK. His speech was about making peace in the Middle East. Let\u2019s hope that happens this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was referring to Regev, formerly the Israeli ambassador to Britain, who gave a talk during Yom Kippur services. Online defenders of the protesters chided Herland for not personally naming the prominent media defender of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza in his post.<\/p>\n
Commenters also scored Herland for describing the venue as a synagogue even though the service was held in a public events space.<\/p>\n
However, Jewish groups who reviewed the video or otherwise tracked the protest said that Regev\u2019s presence did not seem germane to the protesters\u2019 chants, and noted that synagogues often move to event venues for the High Holidays because of the volume of congregants attending.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe protesters claimed to have been demonstrating against the speaker, but I don\u2019t recall seeing anything that particularly said they were targeting [Regev],\u201d Rochelle Direnfeld, senior criminal counsel for the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, said in an interview. \u201cIt seemed to be much more general against Jews and supporters of Israel.\u201d <\/p>\n
Criticism of Israel is not inherently antisemitic, Direnfeld said, but the protesters\u2019 apparent targeting of worshipers was worrying. \u201cIt\u2019s not okay to blame Canadian Jews for what\u2019s going on in the Middle East,\u201d Direnfeld said. \u201cGiven what [the protesters] were saying to the people trying to enter the building for services, that\u2019s what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simon Wolle, CEO of B\u2019nai Brith Canada, said the protests on Judaism\u2019s holiest day amounted to intimidation. \u201cIt is deplorable that members of the Jewish community are subject to these incessant acts of hatred and intimidation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is especially alarming when these protesters target members of the community as they enter their houses of worship, in this instance on Kol Nidre, the holiest night of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolle said the CBC needed to explain its reported disciplinary measures. \u201cNeil Herland had every right to document his lived experience, and the very idea that he would face disciplinary action for that is deeply concerning,\u201d he said. \u201cAs Canada\u2019s public broadcaster, the CBC owes the public an explanation for its inexplicable treatment of Mr. Herland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vivian Bercovici, a lawyer as well as former ambassador of Canada to Israel and a CBC board member, said the alleged discipline Herland has faced is cause for concern. <\/p>\n
\u201cHerland didn\u2019t say anything derogatory, rude or inappropriate,\u201d said Bercovici. \u201cHe told us what was happening in a very clear and factual way, and so I think that the CBC owes us an explanation as to why that post was so egregious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herland\u2019s tweet thread also included a post noting that his late father was an Austrian Jew who survived the Holocaust in Romania, and that he \u201ccame to Canada as a refugee. This year I got an Austrian passport, in case Canada becomes unsafe for me as a Jew. I fear that moment is approaching, here in Canada and elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herland\u2019s expression of his own distress at the alleged harassment is not usual practice for reporters, but it is also not unheard of.<\/p>\n
His comments echo those of many Canadian Jews, who increasingly are saying they do not feel safe in the country and even considering taking up potential offers to move to the United States as refugees.<\/p>\n
Direnfeld said the incident reflected what is becoming a pervasive complaint among Canadian Jews that the authorities are not doing enough to decrease tensions. The police practice of deescalation was failing, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDe-escalation can quickly turn into capitulation, which only serves to embolden these protesters to continue,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re now seeing the fruits of that capitulation in conduct such as what happened in Belleville,\u201d she continued, referring to a gunman who tried to attack the Sons of Jacob synagogue on Yom Kippur but was killed in a shootout with police. <\/p>\n
Bercovici said the protest was no less distressing because the Meridian Arts Centre is an events space. <\/p>\n
\u201cA synagogue can be anywhere, and there are a lot of religious groups that rent space over specific holidays because they don\u2019t have their own building,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s just a fatuous, ridiculous argument.\u201d <\/p>\n
Herland has posted only once to X since his reported suspension: A photo of Shabbat candles on Friday, Sept. 25.<\/p>\n