Jewish journalist punished for report on Yom Kippur harassment

A pro-Palestinian advocacy group said it complained to CBC about Neil Herland’s posts.

By World Israel News Staff

A Canadian Jewish journalist is facing disciplinary proceedings from his employer after documenting an anti-Israel protest outside a Toronto synagogue on Yom Kippur, where demonstrators harassed Jewish worshippers with slurs including “baby killer.”

Neil Herland, a prominent journalist and producer for CBC News, was abruptly yanked from his regularly scheduled airtime and summoned to a disciplinary hearing following a series of social media posts about the demonstration outside the Song Synagogue in Toronto last Monday.

Herland posted a video showing several dozen anti-Israel protesters gathered outside the synagogue as Jewish worshippers arrived for Yom Kippur services, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The protesters could be heard shouting “baby killers” at those entering the synagogue, while also chanting “Free Palestine” and “you’re going to hell.”

“I’m a journalist. And I happen to be Jewish. On Yom Kippur I went to a synagogue service in Toronto and was met by protesters trying to taunt and intimidate me from entering the building,” Herland wrote in the post.

“My late father was an Austrian Jew who survived the Holocaust in Romania. And came to Canada as a refugee. This year I got an Austrian passport, in case Canada becomes unsafe for me as a Jew. I fear that moment is approaching, here in Canada and elsewhere,” he continued.

Herland added that “Jewish Canadians are living in a parallel world. Where police stand guard with guns outside synagogues. And Jewish schools, religious sites and businesses are targeted with bullets. And most Canadians have no awareness or understanding.”

Aliza Spiro, a senior figure at the synagogue, defended Herland’s reporting in a media statement, saying his video “accurately documented the siege outside our synagogue on this day” and emphasizing that “his tweets were journalistically accurate.”

Spiro said the atmosphere outside the synagogue became so hostile that numerous worshippers were too frightened to make their way through the crowd. Some ultimately turned around and returned home, missing the final services of Yom Kippur.

Herland’s posts have since prompted a complaint from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), a pro-Palestinian advocacy organization, which publicly stated that it had complained to CBC about his social media activity.

Herland has declined to comment publicly on the proceedings, saying that his lawyer advised him not to discuss the matter while the process is ongoing.