“Invite me to your book launch (and I’ll invite you to mine)” by Gail M. Murray

Experienced any book launches lately? Recently, I attended the launch of good friend, Liz Torlee’s second novel, In love with the Night, organized by her publisher Blue Denim Press, held in a charming bistro along the Danforth in Toronto.

Slow on a Sunday afternoon, many bars and restaurants will rent out space or small banquet rooms for a nominal fee. Your venue could also be a public space such as library, book store, church basement or even your living room, depending on numbers.

Liz shared the podium with debut novelist Pam Royl, (who got me so interested in her novel, The Last Secret, that I promptly bought a copy), and writer/publisher Shane Joseph. Joseph retired from a lucrative marketing career and found publishing to be second nature as well as an outlet for his prolific writing talents. I’d first met Shane in our salad days at a critique group, East End Writers, and have since followed his writing exploits which is how I met Liz. It’s all about networking and connection.

So why have a formal launch? You’ve just spent a year or more of hard work and discipline, researching, writing, editing, and revising. Don’t you deserve to socialize, celebrate your achievement?

Perhaps one can compare it to labor. “It’s an announcement to the world like a christening party” says Joseph.

“The launch is a celebration that, not only brings closure to the endeavor, but allows you to howl about your work, ride the wave,” says author W.L. Hawkin. “Writing is isolating and those moments of socialization where we hear the applause give us the courage and inspiration to lock ourselves away again for another few months or years.”

 “It was great to be able to truly celebrate,” says Liz. Celebrate she did as friends who could not make it sent champagne. Corks popped amid laughter. It was lovely to see the smile on her face as she greeted friends and colleagues. What a high.

Launching is thrilling, generates creative juices and builds momentum. It’s part of marketing, and now you’re practiced and ready to present in libraries, book stores, university ladies clubs, historical societies, just minus the food and drink.

And you sell books. During Liz’s two-hour launch, her publisher made over one thousand dollars in sales. Mostly you feel great!

As an attendee at a launch, you show support and admiration for your friend. You’d go to their game and cheer them on, wouldn’t you? And if you really can’t make it, champagne and flowers are appreciated. 

As a writer, you’re cheering on a colleague and taking one step closer to standing on the podium yourself. It’s an opportunity to commiserate with other writers, find out about critique groups and pick up marketing tips and ideas for your upcoming launch.

To prepare for your own launch, cast a wide net. Advertise. Remind people a week before. At some launches, the author will charge an entry fee which covers the cost of the novel; others don’t charge but widely display their wares, take cash or credit card and sell the novel for less than retail.

When celebrated Canadian author, Jennifer Robson, launched her fifth novel The Gown (2018) at the Royal York Hotel at a cream tea in a private room, the event sold out in an hour on her Facebook page. Tickets were limited to the first one hundred. Luckily, I follow her on Facebook.

Jennifer, along with Kate Quinn (The Huntress) were formally interviewed by a local radio personality then circulated, sitting at each table for a ten-minute Q and A. Given the $35.00 price tag for two novels neatly tied in white satin ribbon and a three-tiered cream tea of fancy cakes, we surmise that their publisher HarperCollins picked up the brunt of the tab but think of all the marketing those delighted guests will do!

At her launch, my colleague Susan Siddeley (poet, author, workshop leader) read a portion of her charming memoir Home First from a bar stool in a Cabbagetown neighbourhood pub – very low key, while friends ordered, paid for and enjoyed a beer or glass of wine.

Novelist Ian Shaw joined a bevy of authors on the Supermarket Restaurant stage in Kensington Market, organized by Guernica Editions. We sat at small tables sipping cappuccino as one by one, authors took to the stage for their fifteen minutes of fame.

As a reader I love to hear the back story. Writers are fascinating, creative people. How did Robson persist and get that first novel published? Timing is everything. Robson completed her first novel, Somewhere in France in 2009, receiving little interest from publishers. After the success of British TV drama series, Downton Abbey on PBS in 2011, she resubmitted her manuscript with the pitch Downton Abbey meets M.A.S.H. and the world was her oyster. There’s a lesson here for all writers.

I enjoy connecting with the author, even more now that I am writing and reviewing myself but even non-writers enjoy being in on the inside scoop. Celebrate and celebrity do come from the same root word. How much of the author is in the characters they create? Do they plot it out or write intuitively? Where do ideas come from? It makes the actual reading of the novel so much richer.

So whether you self-publish, work with a small publisher or large publishing company, invite me to your launch!

***

Gail M. Murray was an English teacher and teacher-librarian with a focus on drama and literature. Gail’s writing is a response to her natural and emotional environment. Her poems have been published in Written Tenfold, Blank Spaces, Wordscape, Arborealis, The Banister, and CommuterLit.com.

Her creative nonfiction has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Heartbeats, Renaissance, The Ontario Gardner Magazine, Blank Spaces, Just Words Volume 2, Stony Bridges, Ottawa Review of Books, Historical Novels Review, Our Canada, More of Our Canada, Devour, and Our Canada, Our Country, Our Stories.

Gail will be having her own book launch for her poetry collection Reflections & Reveries on Sunday, April 14, 2024, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Stone Cottage Pub in Scarborough, Ontario. RSVP: gailmurray73@hotmail.com

If you can’t make the launch, Reflections and Reveries is available on Amazon here.

For more essays and other pieces about reading, writing, and the writing life, see here (and scroll down).

For information on submitting to Blue Denim Press, see here.

See Brian Henry's upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

“Losing my Religion” by Sheila Perkins

“Aw, the poor wee thing. “Whatever is going to happen to her?” the church ladies whisper.

But their murmurs fade into the background as I focus on the polished walnut casket draped in white roses and lilies. I'm petrified to look yet I can't avert my eyes.

My mind is fixated on comprehending the sight before me; it's my mom, yet not quite her. Only her upper half is visible, the rest hidden beneath the glossy dark wood of the coffin.  She appears to be sleeping peacefully on a bed of cream-colored satin. Her hands are folded gently under her heart and her hair is neatly brushed back. There's a heavy layer of blush on her cheeks, giving her a slightly artificial rosy glow. She looks pretty.

Her smile, however, seems forced, like the ones she gives me when I've messed up but she decides not to scold me about it. But I know it's all fake. She's not really smiling.

I can't see her eyes either; they're closed tightly as if she's focusing on something that doesn't involve me. I stand for a minute, willing her to open her eyes so she can see me even though I know that's not possible. It’s one of my few superpowers; staring at people until they wake up. But it is not working this time. My hand, seemingly of its own accord, rises and brushes against her cheek.

My mom's skin feels frigid, colder than any skin I have ever touched before, but I don't have time to dwell on it; my Aunt Isobel snatches my hand away, her grip tight as she turns me towards the congregation.

“Let's go, dear. It's time for the ceremony.”

All eyes are on us as we take our place in the front pew alongside my dad and my brother. The bench is hard and cold against my legs, but I hardly notice. My gaze remains fixed on the casket, as if by sheer willpower, I can bring my mother back to life. But deep down, I know it's futile.

Religion isn’t a big part of our life. We only go to church on Christmas and Easter. But I understand that God is important. My friend Jada taught me that.

Jada is a devoted Catholic and just last week she explained all about Confirmation to me, a ceremony at her church that required special clothes. We both held our breath as she carefully unwrapped blue tissue paper to reveal her beautiful white dress made of soft satin and delicate lace. I couldn’t believe my eyes.  

“Try it on,” she said. I didn’t need to be asked twice. As I buckled up the shiny white patent leather shoes that completed the ensemble, I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror hanging behind her bedroom door.  I looked like a princess. Or maybe a bride! I was jealous and wished fervently that I could be a Catholic.

Now, I turn to gaze at the pews filling up behind me. To my annoyance, everyone is dressed in black. My Protestant congregation looks like a somber shadow compared to the memory of Jada's beautiful, white confirmation dress.

“Humph,” I mutter, maybe a bit too loud.

I feel my brother's elbow dig into my side as he hisses at me to sit still and be quiet. He’s four years older than me and since our mom got sick, he’s been the one taking care of me, so I'm used to obeying him. I look at him to see if he’s serious. But right now, all I can see is fear in his usually confident face. His freckles stand out against ghostly pale skin. 

It makes my stomach clench and brought up the memory of Dad telling us Mom was dead. My brother burst into tears and ran out of the room. He hardly ever cries. He’s the bravest.

To show him I can be brave, too, and he doesn’t have to worry about me, I put my hands in my lap and face forward, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

I can't bear to look at the coffin any longer, so I focus on the noises surrounding me. My dad is clearing his throat quietly but repeatedly, something he does when he’s nervous. My aunt blows her nose loudly and someone else is sniffling every few seconds (I don't dare turn around to see who it is for fear my brother will give me another elbow in the ribs.)

The loud drone of the organ bounces off the rafters and I sit up straighter, craning my neck to get a good view of the minister who will be conducting the ceremony.

The service begins smoothly. The minister spends a few minutes saying how amazing my mother was, which I agree with, and then we all stand to sing a hymn. Some people know the words and melody by heart, but even though my brother finds the correct page in the hymnal for me, I am only in first grade and can't read that quickly. So I just pretend to sing.

It's when we sit down again that the unthinkable happens. The minister has resumed his sermon, only to declare, “And now, dear friends, let us take a moment to honor Margaret's memory and acknowledge that she has ascended to a better place, the Kingdom of Heaven.”

What?!? My mom's in a better place now?? How can that be? Even a six-year-old kid like me knows that's not true. A better place would be for my mother to be here ... with me.

I've barely finished this thought when he goes on to say, “The Almighty has a glorious design for each of us, and on this blessed day, He is embracing Margaret into His eternal kingdom.”

Wait. Is this truly part of God's plan? To take my mother away from me and leave me to alone without her? It seems cruel, unfathomable. 

I clench my fists and make a silent vow to have nothing to do with God or church, now or ever again.

“NO!” The word is out of my mouth before I can even think. As soon as it's uttered, a chorus of gasps echoes behind me. My aunt and dad exchange panicked glances, their eyes wide with concern.

My brother stands up and mumbles, “I've got it,” as he clasps my hand and leads me down the aisle to the back of the church. I keep my gaze on the bright red circle ablaze on his cheek. He is looking steadfastly at the heavy wooden door before us, ignoring the pitying looks and whispers and pulling me along in his wake.

As the door thumps closed behind us, the warm sunshine and gentle spring breeze lift my spirits immediately. My brother drops my hand and smiles.  “Let's get out of here,” he says.  

He begins to run, much faster than I can. My legs pump furiously as I try to catch up, arms swinging like windmills. But it’s okay. I know he'll wait for me at the park.

***

Sheila Perkins has always had the writing bug but it wasn’t until the pandemic that she could focus on what she loves most … telling stories. During the Covid lockdown, she took several courses and workshops to hone her long-neglected writing skills. Lo and behold, four years and two novels later, she still looks forward to those hours each day she spends pecking away at the keyboard.

To read more short stories, poems, short memoirs and essays, see here, (and scroll down).

See Brian Henry's upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

Cormorant Books & DCB seek books for adults and young people

Cold Snap my Maureen Jennings
published by Cormorant Books

You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here:  https://brian999.substack.com/

You can also get an email about twice a month about what’s coming up in terms of writing classes, workshops, and retreats, plus providing links to the other material on the Quick Brown Fox blog. For that, add your name and email in the Sign-Up box in the righthand column. ~Brian

Cormorant Books

260 Spadina Avenue, Suite 502
Toronto, ON  M5T 2E4

https://www.cormorantbooks.com/

Cormorant Books is an independent literary publisher, with a young reader’s imprint known as DCB {Dancing Cat Books, though no one calls it that}. Cormorant publishes both fiction and nonfiction. As a literary press, Cormorant places great emphasis on the quality of the writing and the editing process, paying attention to each manuscript individually. They look for writing that is authentic, has a distinction of voice and style, and is written by a writer with something to say, ideally from a community or life experience that is not yet part of the fabric of our literature.

Currently, Cormorant isn’t accepting poetry.

For books for adults, query Cormorant at: submissions@cormorantbooks.com

The subject line of your email should read QUERY, plus YOUR NAME.

For fiction, your query should include a brief description of your manuscript (maximum 200 words); for nonfiction, include a proposal, no more than two pages in length.

Also attach the opening pages of your work, to a maximum of 50 pages.

As Cormorant seems extremely particular about formatting, before submitting, see their guidelines here.

***

Note: If you’re interested in finding a publisher, don’t miss our upcoming “How to Get Published” workshop with a literary agent as the guest speaker. See here.

***

​

Life Expectancy by Alison Hughes
published by DCB

DCB is an imprint of Cormorant Books that publishes fiction and nonfiction for middle grade and for young adult readers, plus {some} picture books. 

“The goal of DCB is to help readers explore and think about their world through high quality books. We celebrate the intelligence and potential of young people who engage with literature, and hope to provide them with a starting point for a lifetime of learning.”

DCB is currently accepting submissions for middle grade fiction and nonfiction and for young adult fiction and nonfiction, but not for picture books.

They only publish Canadian authors.

​Authors are asked to please send complete manuscripts rather than sample chapters.

​Submissions should include a brief synopsis (no more than 200 words), an author bio, and full contact information (address, phone number, and email address). The manuscript should be double-spaced and one-sided. Please indicate the word count of your manuscript.

Submit by email to: submissions@dcbyoungreaders.com

​Attach your full manuscript

Illustrators: Illustrators are asked to email links to their portfolio or website. “For illustrators who work in a variety of styles, we ask that your links direct us to work suitable for covers or for children’s picture books.”

Before submitting always check out the full submission guidelines for DCB here.

We have a “How to Get Published” workshop, a few writing retreats, and spring classes coming up soon. See details here.

 

"From the river to the sea – antisemitism makes a big come-back in Canada" by Brian Henry

From the River to the Sea

On October 7, we saw what Hamas means by the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” They mean Jew-free. If ever we had doubts before, no longer. We saw the homicidal glee with which Hamas kills Jews, because they recorded their exaltation as they murdered and tortured (here, for example). And in Canada, some celebrated Hamas’s atrocities, dancing in the streets of Mississauga (here) and handing out sweets in Toronto (here). Not to mention the demonstrations in support of Hamas in all major Canadian cities and the statements of support from CUPE, student unions, and professors (here, for example). 

Protesters continue to gather in their thousands, inspired by Hamas, chanting for Israel to be replaced by a Palestinian state, “from the river to the sea.” As for the seven million Jews already living in that bit of real estate, Hamas would like to kill them. Their supporters either agree or don’t much care, but they know what the chant means.

In Canada, we’ve also seen:

June 30, 2024: In the early hours of the morning, a man on a motorcycle stopped outside the Pride of Israel synagogue in Toronto and threw stones at the stained-glass windows, puncturing them, and at the large windows about the main doors, smashing them. The vandal then drove over to Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue and threw rocks at a window there. This is the third time since Oct 7 that vandals have attacked Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue. More here.

June 16, 2024: A "pro-Palestinian" protestor (as the media likes to call them) defaced the future site of a new Holocaust museum in Montreal with graffiti reading: "Fuck Quebec. Fuck Israel." More here. 

June 3, 2024: Vandals smashed windows at the Anshei Minsk Synagogue in downtown Toronto. Built in 1912, the Minsk  is a historic building, dating from when the Kensington Market area was largely Jewish. 

A sample of Miriam Libicki's work

June 3, 2024, Vancouver: The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival banned a highly regarded American-Israeli Jewish graphic artist Miriam Libicki because, she once served in the Israeli military (as Israelis do). Having suffered enormous backlash, most of the festival's board has now resigned and remaining board members have apologized. More here.

May 30, 2024, Vancouver: The Schara Tzedeck synagogue was hit with an arson attack while members of the congregation were inside, having just finished evening prayers. More here.

May 30, 2024, Toronto: A student at the Ontario College of Art and Design is suing the college for not even trying to protect her from antisemitic harassment. More here. 

May 28, 2014, Montreal: The Belz school at the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue was attacked with gunshots overnight. Fortunately, no injuries reported. More here.

May 25, 2024, Toronto: In the early morning hours, two gunmen opened fired on a girl's Jewish elementary school. This was at the Bais Chaya Mushka School - in my neighbourhood! The two gunmen fired five shots into the school but did only minor damage, as the school is surrounded by a security fence and the windows are armoured glass - I hate to say it, but we've been expecting this. Fortunately no children were at the school when the attack occurred and no one was injured. More here.

May 24, 2024: MP Melissa Lantsman revealed that a 100-page official Government of Canada document booklet titled "Dismantling Racism" (which is meant to teach anti-racism) is itself antisemitic. The booklet claims: "Jews have opted to become white in order to benefit from white supremacy." Yeah, right no one I know. 
Unfortunately, it's not a surprise to come across something like this. No actual Jews have traded in our heritage to become white, only fantasy-Jews invented by the currently fashionable, so-called "anti-racist" ideology.
This ideology divides everybody into good groups (black, indigenous, LGBT+) and bad groups (white people, straight people and Jews). And unfortunately our current government, the civil service, and universities have largely bought in to this racist ideology. More about this new antisemitic ideology here.  

Police investigate after shots fired at Montreal Jewish school

May 17, 2024, Toronto: Two hundred people from the neighbourhood walk a 13-year-old boy to Faywood Arts Based School, because he and a couple of other Israeli kids have been continually bullied since October 7. Faywood's a 10-minute walk from my house; we'd considered it for my daughter, way back when she was starting kindergarten. More here.

May 17, 2024: Windows of the Kehillat Shaarei Torah Synagogue in Toronto were smashed for a second time in a month. Police are again investigating this as a hate crime. (More here.)

April 30, 2014, Fredericton: Following  seven months of harassment, a Jewish teen is physically attacked by a pro-Palestinian student. The attack was captured on video and on May 17, the police charged the attacker. More here.

April 7, 2024: A rally at Toronto City Hall in support of the hostages held by Hamas is disrupted by "pro-Palestinian" protesters. The speaker wrapped in a Palestinian flag, yells at the gathered Jews: "Your happy days are over. Every time you come out to celebrate we'll be here....you guys are known as the prophet killers. Ask your parents what you guys did to Jesus. Ask them what you did to Moses. Look at this filth right here." (More here.)

Feb 22, 2024: Anti-Israel protestors blocked the entrance to the Bronfman Building at McGill University, forcing the university to cancel classes there. Why the Bronfman Building? The answer is all in the Jewish name. One the groups organizing the blockade was Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. SPHR describes Hamas’s October 7 atrocities as “heroic” (here). Apparently, SPHR is unaware that human right don't include mass murder, mass rape, and mass kidnappings, not even for Palestinians. (More here.)

Feb 16, 2024: Back in December, Ottawa police arrested a 15-year-old boy for plotting a terrorist attack against the Jewish community. They’ve now charged a second youth and added the charge of conspiring to commit murder. The youths apparently had the materials for a bomb, but whether they were planning to blow up a Jewish school, synagogue, or what, we don’t know yet here.

Feb 14, 2024: Vandals papered MP Melissa Lantsman's office with anti-Israel signs, including a warning to the "Jews of Thornhill" that history is watching them.
Lantsman was recently assigned RCMP protection, as was Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal NDP, and also Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly after anti-Israel protesters appeared outside her Montreal home. More here.

Feb 12, 2024: Pro-Hamas protesters blocked the entrance to Mount Sinai, Toronto’s Jewish hospital. They allegedly roughed up security guards, pushed their way inside, and chanted for an intifada. 

The last intifada in Israel was a terror war that saw numerous suicide bombings, including the slaughter of 21 people, mostly young teen girls an all-ages disco, the murder of elderly Jews at a Passover Seder, the bodily shredding of families at a pizzeria jointly owned by a Jew and Arab, numerous attacks against shopping malls and aboard city  buses, and at other locales throughout Israel. Altogether, Palestinian terrorist murdered 1,000 innocent Israelis and injured thousands more. 

Details of Mount Sinai Hospital incident here. 

January 27, 2024, Holocaust Remembrance Day: Vandals smash seven windows of Sgoolai Israel Synagogue in Fredericton. Details here.

January 24, 2024: A dozen schools and school boards from B.C. to the Maritimes, including the Toronto and Peel district school boards in Ontario are facing legal suits for failure to deal with antisemitism in the classroom.

Elementary and high-school children have been punched, spat at, chased by groups of children shouting abuse, ostracized in class and faced antisemitic taunts – as well as Nazi salutes.

Children and Jewish teachers have faced death threats.

Children have endured chants of, “We are going to finish the job that Hamas started – Jews must die.”

At one downtown Toronto school a boy brought a Nazi flag and played Nazi music on his phone while circling a little Jewish boy in the classroom. The Jewish boy got removed from the classroom after he broke the flag and the aggressor remained in the class. Details here.

January 9, 2024: Vandals smash windows of car and puncture tires because of Israeli decal on window. “I feel that I’m in Germany in 1937,” said Victoria Adamov, owner of the car. The Toronto police hate crimes unit is investigating. Details here.

January 6, 2024: Four young adults on their way home from synagogue in Thornhill (just north of Toronto) were allegedly accosted by a man on an electric bike who spat at them and made antisemitic comments. The good news is he's been arrested  and charged with assault and breach of probation. Details here. 

January 3, 2024: To start off the new year all wrong, an arsonist attempted to burn down a Jewish delicatessen in Toronto (Steeles and Keele area) and dabbed the window the words “Free Palestine” so that we’d know this wasn’t random. Details here. 

Jan 3, 2004: For the past week, pro-Hamas protesters have been closing down the Avenue Road bridge over Highway 401 in Toronto, a location apparently chosen because it’s in the heart of the Jewish area of Toronto. One of the organizers is Toronto4Palestine, a group that handed out candies to celebrate Hamas’s murders, rapes, kidnapping and other atrocities in Israel on October 7. Details here. 

December 19, 2023: The Toronto Police Department reports that since October 7, antisemitic incidents make up more than half – 53% – of reported hate crimes in the city. For reference, Jews make up 6% of Toronto’s population. Details here.

December 18, 2023: A pro-Hamas protester at Eaton’s Centre in Toronto repeatedly threatens a shopper, saying, “I’ll put you six feet under,” while police look on, and at the Bayshore Mall in Ottawa, protesters disrupt the Santa’s village. More here. 

Starbucks at Bathurst and Eglinton targetted
for being in a Jewish neighbourbhood

Prior to December 15, 2023:

A Chapters/Indigo store was defaced in Toronto, with the Jewish owner accused of “funding genocide” and her photo covered in fake blood. The police have arrested eleven perpetrators and charged them with alleged hate-motivated mischief (here). Weirdly but not surpassingly, the people arrested for defacing Jewish business see themselves as social justice activists and anti-racists – some of them actually teach antiracism. But it’s been evident for some time that woke ideology is deeply antisemitic, and it dominates our universities. See here and here, for starters.

A 20-year-old and two teens were arrested for allegedly making threats against kids at a North York Jewish high school (here), while at public schools, Jewish kids are being bullied (here).

Landwer and Aroma cafes (Jewish-owned cafes) in Toronto were swarmed by protesters, with customers intimidated and staff threatened (here and here).

A Starbucks in Toronto was also targeted for graffiti. Not that Starbucks has anything to do with Israel; it’s crime was being in a Jewish neighbourhood. 

A middle-aged woman allegedly was punched out by “pro-Palestinian” protesters in Toronto because she dared to hold a sign calling for the return of a kidnapped Israeli (here).

A man putting up posters of kidnapped Israelis in North York allegedly was assaulted by another man who started ripping down the posters (here).

Olga Goldberg allegedly assaulted by "pro-Palestinian" protesters for holding a poster of Israeli hostage Mia Schem

Thousands of such posters showing the photos of murdered or kidnapped Israelis have been ripped down almost as fast as people can put them up, because Jew-haters will not allow that Jews can be victims, only perpetrators (here, here, here, …)  

Protesters showed up at a fund raiser for Toronto City councilor Josh Matlow, not because of his views on the Israel-Hamas war (he's been almost silent), but because he's Jewish. And then the protestors screamed at two young people, leaving the fund-raiser: "How many kids did you kill today?" What was that about? Well, one of them was wearing a kippah. The lead antisemite, the guy with the bullhorn, said: "They're smiling because they killed so many children. They're so happy" (here).

Molotov cocktails were hurled at a synagogue and at a Jewish community centre in Montreal (here) and some days later at another one (here).

And gunshots were fired at Montreal Jewish schools – at one of them, the haters returned to do it again a couple nights later (here).

In my neighbourhood – a Jewish neighbourhood – we have a mobile police command van parked at the corner and lots police around, just in case. But what I’d really like is to see the police enforce the law. When these protesters disrupt traffic, close down Union Station, swarm the lobby of Scotiabank, block the entrance to a business or harass staff or customers, and generally get in the way of people going about their business, arrest them!

Note: This piece was originally published December 15, 2023, on TheJ.ca here, but since then, I've been adding to it.

***

Brian Henry teaches creative writing and publishes the Quick Brown Fox blog. He’s been a regular contributor to the TheJ.ca and has also contributed to the National Post, The Toronto Star, the (now defunct)  Jewish Tribune, and the Engage and Harry’s Place websites in the UK. He's been wearing an IDF hoodie since Oct 7. Read more of his pieces on Quick Brown Fox here.