Groups living in Saskatoon say violence in the Middle East is impacting attitudes at home in the city.
“People just look at me with disgust and I don’t deserve this.”
Rahaf Jaradat, a Palestinian woman living in Saskatoon, said a target has been painted on her back and the backs of other Palestinians since the eruption of the Israel-Hamas conflict three weeks ago.
“I get flipped off everywhere I go to, I get people rumbling and saying weird stuff that I can’t even make sense of.”
Jaradat immigrated to Canada from Jenin, a small city in Palestinian territory. In the last few weeks, she said she has faced discrimination on levels she hasn’t been subjected to before.
“My daughter does not need to see this. She does not need to see someone flipping me off in a Costco or a Superstore because I’m Palestinian or they saw me at a rally.”
For the last three weeks, she has watched in horror as more lives are lost in the Middle East, including members of her own family.
Her mother’s cousin, his sons and his grandkids were killed in the midst of military conflict.
“We have gotten to a point where it is normal to hear this, oh, this person got killed, oh, your cousin got killed, oh, your dad’s cousin got killed. It’s not OK,” Jaradat said.
“I feel guilty sitting here knowing I am not going to die in the next hour or two when there are Palestinians that have no idea if they are going to see the light of day tomorrow.”
“Being pro-Palestinian means we condemn what is happening right now, we are against the killing of children.”
Sonia Ahmad, a psychotherapist in Saskatoon, said she is afraid the number of hate crimes related to Islamophobia and disinformation is about to skyrocket.
“I have friends who have siblings that went to the Palestine protest here in Saskatoon last week and they were harassed about their hijabs, and they had they had men force themselves onto them to try to take their hijabs and threaten women.”
The Jewish community in Saskatoon has also been discussing fears around the rise of antisemitism as a result of the conflict.
“Certainly, there is worry,” said David Katzman, president of B’nai Brith. “You can’t turn on the television. That’s the last thing I do at night and the first thing I do in the morning. I’ve been trying to limit my intake during the day because it just creates more anxiety.”
He said he hasn’t heard of discriminatory acts against Jewish people in Saskatoon coming out of the conflict yet and remains hopeful.
In June, former Saskatoon police chief Troy Cooper said hate crimes were on the rise across the country.
“We saw national statistics around hate crimes rising, and we had some issues locally, cases locally, that involved hate,” Cooper said.
He said the Saskatoon Police Service had more than 200 incidents last year where hate was a component, whether it was a crime or not.
“Forty-six times last year a crime occurred where hate was part of it, and on 10 occasions we laid charges or worked with the Crown to make sure that would be noted at sentencing for those offences.”
Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said he is nervous that the horrors in the Middle East will ripple into Saskatoon in the form of discriminatory acts.
“It’s an important time to continue to build relationships and not have people in our community feel discriminated against as a result of something that is happening on the other side of the world.”
The Saskatoon Police Service told Global News in an email statement that it had been in touch with Palestinian and Jewish communities in the city to offer support.
Ahmad said the conflict has inspired her to offer pro-bono work to everyone affected by the tragedy.
“I don’t care whether you are a Jew, or Christian, or Muslim, or if you are a Palestine or Israeli and this is affecting you.”
Katzman said that no matter what, the violence must end.
“I don’t think there are words to convey how awful all of this is. Can you imagine if it was your child in captivity for three weeks by Hamas? The poor people in Palestine whose homes have been levelled — they don’t know which way to go, they have no water and no food.”
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