John Williamson: Israel booth drops out of Saint John Culturefest due to safety concerns

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Antisemitism isn’t just a problem in Canada’s biggest cities. While the highest profile examples of violence directed at Jewish Canadians and their places of worship repeatedly occur in major centres such as Toronto and Montreal, problems can be found across the country.

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Case in point is in Saint John at New Brunswick’s popular International Culturefest. The main feature of this annual, federally-funded event organized by the Saint John Newcomers Association is an array of booths representing countries from around the world, all staffed by locals proudly displaying their culture and promoting their heritage. As its slogan suggests — “Celebrate Diversity. Build Community. Experience the World — Right Here in Saint John!” — it’s a relaxed, non-political event highlighting Canada’s best attributes.

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Or at least it was, until last year. In August 2025, a group of anti-Israel protesters went looking to make trouble. Video from that day shows the group chanting slogans and trying to intimidate the Israeli booth. Later things got out of hand. Fortunately, Saint John police did their job and responded quickly. In the end, two protesters were arrested, one was charged with assault, another with obstruction of justice.

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A coalition of activist groups, including the Palestinian Solidarity Committee of Saint John, claimed the mere presence of an Israeli booth at Culturefest had caused “tensions and divisions” and thus led to the violence. In June, this group “asked” the organizers of the festival to “reconsider the participation of the Israeli Zionist Group” stating that it would be “wise and responsible” and that failing to do so “risks further harm to community relations and public safety.”

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The veiled threat appeared to work. After some back and forth with event organizers, the local group N.B. Israeli Community decided to take a pass on the 2026 festival. Organizer Esti Barlevy told the Saint John Telegraph-Journal newspaper that “we don’t feel safe to participate.” As for her discussions with event staff, she said, “No one took accountability, no one reached out and talked about security and how we can prevent it from happening this year.”

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Left to fend for themselves, Barlevy and her organization made the only choice possible: stay home to stay safe. As a result, the Jewish pavilion was nowhere to be seen at this summer’s Culturefest. It was as if Saint John’s Jewish community didn’t exist — which is, of course, the goal of the protesters. The mobs’ veto triumphed, once again.

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Another troubling aspect of this case is the lack of attention it garnered. A CBC News headline after the first day of the event blithely stated: “Saint John cultural festival running smoothly after last year’s conflict, arrests.”

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With Jews deciding it’s not safe enough to attend, the cultural festival is now a success. Hooray for Canadian diversity!

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Beyond CBC News, the media and political reactions elsewhere were similarly blasé. Such a lack of concern ought to disgust every clear-thinking Canadian.

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It is disgraceful to imagine that an event can be considered to be “running smoothly” simply because no one got arrested for allegedly punching a Jew or damaging an Israeli flag. A group choosing not to attend out of fear for their safety is not a synonym for success.