Hampstead mayor defends Thomas against "weapon of false antisemitism"

The Jewish mayor of Hampstead has come to the defence of Tim Thomas after the Pointe-Claire mayor was accused of making an antisemitic slur during a recent closed-door meeting at city hall.

Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi said the mayor’s accusers were engaging in political smear tactics to have Thomas removed as mayor.

“I am aware of the facts in this story and it is not antisemitism,” Levi wrote on his Facebook page. “Rather, it is a political effort to unseat (Thomas) using the weapon of false antisemitism. This is not acceptable.

“I am a Jew, and not insulted or offended with that happened.”

Thomas acknowledged the hurtful impact of his words on his Facebook page, and also called each of the city councillors personally to apologize. But councillors Tara Stainforth and Brent Cowan did not return his calls.

Stainforth, who serves as chair of the city’s Diversity and Social Inclusion Committee, has filed an ethics complaint against the mayor. She also said she will not attend meetings with the mayor present until he issues a formal written apology.

“Antisemitism — defined as hatred toward Jews — seems to be on the rise. However, we must be careful that in our heightened vigilance we do not call out an instance of antisemitism where it does not exist. This would be analogous to the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and counterproductive to combating hatred.”

B’nai Brith, Canada’s oldest Jewish human rights organization, also deemed that Thomas is not antisemitic nor had any anti-Semitic intent when he used a “hurtful” remark during a caucus meeting.

“B’nai Brith has spoken to Mayor Thomas. We do not see him as antisemitic or having had antisemitic intent, but we have informed him his words were hurtful,” said Marvin Rotrand, national director of the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada, said in an email to the Montreal Gazette.

“We accept that (Thomas) is contrite and have offered to work with him, councillors and staff in Pointe-Claire to raise awareness as to antisemitism.”

While some on community social media forums condemned the mayor as antisemitic and a racist, B’nai Brith found no such evidence after examining the file.

“We research politicians and we could not find anything that would lead us to conclude that Mr. Thomas is antisemitic (or) this is a behaviour that has happened before,” Rotrand said.

Rotrand, who served as a Montreal city councillor for nearly 40 years, said he was unfamiliar with the term Thomas used, a derogatory slur that refers to the act of burning down one’s house or business in order to fraudulently claim insurance money.

“I had not heard it. I had to look it up,” Rotrand said. “However, it could be taken offensively. Any ethnic group that’s been accused of being arsonists could be offended. But I don’t think it’s seen in the same way as other types of slurs. Which is why we’re not making a big issue of this.”

“I have been working with Mayor Tim Thomas for over a year, and not once, have I ever felt a hatred towards me, from him,” added Levi. “I have a great relationship with him and he’s a great guy. We, as a society, both Jews and non-Jews, must be careful to root out  tree evil without collateral damage  against good people.”

The mayor said he also attempted to personally apologize to both Stainforth and Cowan but was rebuffed.

Stainforth of District 4 said on her Facebook page that she was hurt by the mayor’s slur that came while discussing a city dossier. She also had never heard the term used before, but searched it on Google to learn its antisemitic meaning.

Rotrand noted that Thomas made his remarks during a caucus meeting and apologized afterward. “He immediately reached out to some of the councillors, but I understand Pointe-Claire council is kind of divided.”

jmeagher@postmedia.com

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