Liberal member of Parliament Anthony Housefather talks to reporters as he arrives to a caucus meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. Housefather is part of a Canadian delegation in the U.S. capital as part of a multilateral effort to combat the rise in antisemitism.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
WASHINGTON – Two Liberal MPs are part of a Canadian delegation in the U.S. capital today to join a multilateral effort to combat the rise in antisemitism.
Mental Health Minister Ya’ara Saks and Montreal MP Anthony Housefather are taking part in two days of meetings as part of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians.
Housefather says this is the council’s first in-person meeting in eight years and comes during what he describes as the worst worldwide upsurge in antisemitism since the 1930s.
He says recent incidents in Montreal – including attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and a protest at Concordia University last week that turned violent – have been his most emotional time as an elected official.
The Canadian delegation will also take part in what police expect will be a large pro-Israel rally scheduled to take place Tuesday in the shadow of Capitol Hill.
Housefather says a number of Canadian protesters will also be in D.C. for the rally, part of an international outpouring of emotion amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2023.
