The Honest Report

In author John Goddard's new book, he chronicles the 2021 Islamic State-inspired murder of one and attempted murder of four others in Mississauga. Anand Nath, Suliman Raza, Naqash Abbasi were all convicted three years later in a story that has received surprisingly little attention, particularly given the radicalism involved. Goddard joins us in this week's episode of The Honest Report about his new book and what the news media missed.

You may have never heard of the Muslim Brotherhood, but it has big plans for Canada. The Muslim Brotherhood is a fundamentalist Islamic movement founded 100 years ago in Egypt that seeks to infiltrate Western countries to promote its fanatical ideology. And they're doing very well. That's according to a recent report from ISGAP, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), which has chronicled Muslim Brotherhood-aligned networks in Canada. In this conversation, we sit down with Charles Asher Small, founder, director, and president of ISGAP, where he walks us through the chilling successes of these radical movements.

The last three years have unmasked the chilling intersection between radical Islam, far-left extremism, and Jew-hate manifesting throughout the Western world. In this week's podcast, we sit down with Toronto author Israel Ellis to discuss his new book, "The Wake Up Call: Global Jihad and the Rise of Antisemitism in a World Gone MAD," where he speaks with HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker about both the challenges of radical Islam and how civilized Canadians can take responsibility.

A trickle has become a wave, with a growing number of troublesome incidents where 'woke' indoctrination has become the norm throughout public schools. How did this infiltration happen, and who is behind it? And no less important, how can parents and the public take it back from the ideologues who had so much success? In this week's podcast, HonestReporting Canada Assistant Director Robert Walker sits down with Dr. Weidong Pei, TDSB school trustee.

For the last three years (and beyond), the dynamic has been predictable: anti-Israel groups organize a campaign, protest, event or effort, and pro-Israel Canadians stand up to challenge the hate. But does it have to be that way? While it may be that anti-Israel activists enjoy foreign funding and support, that does not explain it all. So what must be done? In this conversation, HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker is joined by Matthew Taub, founder of Unapologetically Jewish.

The Nazis are often seen as the epitome of antisemitism, but they were also fervent Antizionists, making them ideological allies of sorts with today's radical Islamists and far-left agitators. That little-known aspect of Nazi ideology is explored in this week's podcast, part 2 with Professor Andrew Pessin, Founding Director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism.

For years, and the last 3 years in particular, antizionist professors have hijacked the word 'Zionism' and used it to falsely demonize Israel and its supporters. While it is indisputably a form of antisemitism, it is also a hate movement in its own right. In this podcast, we are joined by Professor Andrew Pessin, founding director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism, to explain how this happened. The institute is a scholarly initiative dedicated to producing and promoting critical research on the history, evolution and contemporary manifestations of antizionism as an ideology, worldview and movement.

The news from Iran is changing almost by the minute. Following the recent conflict, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed, which was widely seen as a capitulation by the White House. How did the Islamic Republic convince the U.S. to stand down? In this conversation, we are joined by Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at The Institute for National Security Studies. He helps us understand what is motivating the Islamic Republic of Iran, and what may come next.

For decades, but particularly over the last three years, anti-Israel activists have repeatedly sought to hijack indigenous language and terms in their attempt to demonize the Jewish State. From accusations like "colonization," these activists have turned truth on its head, and received widespread sympathetic coverage from the news media as a result. But that doesn't mean there is any merit to their claims. One of their loudest opponents has been the Honourable Harry LaForme, a trailblazing Indigenous judge in Canada who has served as Chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Land Claims, among many other achievements.

Sana Ebrahimi is an Iranian-born academic and activist in the United States, where she is an outspoken opponent of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the pro-Palestinian political movement. But that wasn't always the case, and in this fascinating interview, Sana shares her own personal journey, what led her to where she is today, and the remarkable parallels she sees between Iranian state media and Western media. Sana Ebrahimi joins Robert Walker, HonestReporting Canada assistant director, in conversation.

In early July, it will be 1,000 days since Hamas' massacres in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, what have we learned about the state of the Canadian news media? How have they fared when it comes to telling the unvarnished truth to the Canadian public? In this week's episode we are joined by Dave Gordon, journalist for The National Post, who offers his insights and diagnosis of the Canadian news media.

For more than 2.5 years (and many years before it), most of the Canadian news media has uncritically regurgitated oversimplified, misleading and sometimes outright false claims about Israel. And even aside from their factual inaccuracy, the wording has often been constructed in a way that leaves the Canadian public seriously ill-informed. In this week's episode, HonestReporting Canada Assistant Director Robert Walker sits down with Toronto-based creative director Oded Levy, to discuss his tryUnframed.com product, which analyzes headlines, statements and rhetoric.

When Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a national address on antisemitism recently, he hit some high notes, but also missed critical details. In a recent opinion column in The Globe & Mail, Rabbi Steven Wernick of Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto, one of the largest congregations in the country, thanked the prime minister for speaking out on antisemitism but also noting that a lot was missing. Rabbi Wernick joins us as our guest this week, in conversation with HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker

For nearly 300 years, Jews have played an integral role in Canada, from their origins working in the fur industry to today, where the country's 400,000-strong community remains central in the fields of arts, culture, philanthropy, business, science, medicine and more. To help us understand the story of Canadian Jews over the last three centuries, we are joined by David Koffman, the J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry & an associate professor in the Department of History at York University. He is also an accomplished author. David joins HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker in conversation this week. Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.

Next month, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg is slated to open its "Nakba" exhibit focusing on Israel's 1948 war of independence and the displacement of Arabs as a result of the attempted destruction of Israel. Critics have said that the exhibit appears to be presenting a stridently anti-Israel narrative and could embolden anti-Jewish hate crimes by enshrining pro-Palestinian propaganda. By presenting this exhibit, the museum - a recipient of taxpayer dollars - may be violating Canadian law, according to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, a lawyer, human rights activist and founder of Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center. Shurat HaDin recently sent a legal letter to the museum, warning them that unless they take concrete action to address these concerns, there may be legal consequences. To tell us more, Nitsana joins us as our guest this week, in conversation with Robert Walker, HonestReporting Canada assistant director.

Following the terrorist attack at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia in December, Toronto city councillors James Pasternak and Mike Colle called for an intergovernmental task force, led by the RCMP, to address violent acts of antisemitism. But in the six months following, this task force has not materialized, even after repeated violent incidents. To help us understand what role such a task force might play, and why Ontario's lax bail conditions may be a big part of the problem, HRC Assistant Director Rob Walker sits down with Councillor Pasternak. Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.

In Israel's Negev Desert, which spans most of the country's land mass but home to only 8% of its people, sits Dimona, a town built from scratch to house new immigrants from across the Middle East and beyond, and it is where some of the biggest growth is happening. In this episode, HRC Assistant Director Robert Walker sits down with Itai Tick, who is a reservist in the Israeli military and the Director of Mifalot Dimona, which works with underprivileged youth in Dimona. We speak to him about the city's rapid growth, life in the desert, and about some remarkable events during the recent war with Iran.

In a scandalous but increasingly unsurprising story, Melanie Bennet, an investigative journalist with Juno News, recently broke that the Hamilton-Wentworth District School board in southern Ontario spent $70,000 on a training module to teach thousands of teachers about 'anti-Palestinian racism.' Bennet got hold of the training transcript, and what was taught was not about combating racism, but demonizing Israel and spreading woke ideology to teachers, all paid for by the taxpayer. Melanie Bennet joins us as our guest this week, where she sits down with HonestReporting Canada Assistant Director Robert Walker.

When it comes to combating anti-Jewish hate, it is important to look to leaders for inspiration and education, no matter where they are. And in the fight against anti-Jewish hate, one of the loudest voices has been Cora Neumann, a Democratic Montana state senator, a state with a Jewish population of only about one-tenth of one percent. Nevertheless, Neumann has been a vocal opponent of antisemitism, and has used her position to help educate other elected officials and the public at large. In this episode of The Honest Report podcast, Neumann speaks with Robert Walker, HonestReporting Canada assistant director, offering her insight and experience in fighting history's oldest hatred.

How is it possible that Israel can be attacked on multiple fronts, from Yemen to Iran to Gaza and Lebanon, and yet be ranked the eighth-happiest country in the world? What is the secret to Israel's resilience? How do Israelis cope with war, and more importantly, learn to thrive despite the circumstances? In this podcast, HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker speaks with Tzivia MacLeod, a Canadian-Israeli writer who lives in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Haifa, who offers her first-hand experiences and perspectives.