ALGEMEINER
by Joshua Levitt
August 14, 2014

As reports of the ‘Global Pogrom’ around the world reflect the latent anti-Semitism brought out by Israel’s battle to disarm Hamas in Gaza, one non-Jewish Canadian wanted “to really understand what Jewish people go through,” and decided to “become a Jew” for a week. Ryan Bellerose is Métis, from the native tribes who make up 1.4 per cent of Canada‘s population, and is an advocate for the rights of all indigenous peoples, including Jews. In May, watchdog Honest Reporting flagged a Twitter exchange between Bellerose and Tony Blair’s sister, a partisan journalist well known for advocating for Hamas in Gaza.

Bellerose tweeted: “I believe in civil and human rights for all people, but I advocate for indigenous rights, the Jews are an indigenous people.” On the Israellycool blog this week, Bellerose described the racism and bigotry his family has suffered as Métis and what he personally experienced first hand. “But it was the reaction of people to the attack on some of my Jewish friends at a political demonstration that really sent it home to me,” he wrote.

“I decided that in order to really understand what Jewish people go through, I was going to ‘become a Jew’… All I had to do to incur the hatred and enmity that comes along with being Jewish, was put on a hat.”

“I didn’t need to speak, walk or act differently, just put on a hat that identifies me as a Jew. Now think about that,” he said. “I wore the same clothes I always wear, spoke the exact same way, walked the same way, but by putting on a small piece of woolen apparel, I suddenly became despised to the point where it was uncomfortable for me to walk in certain areas in my own city here in Canada.”

“I had a few people threaten me with physical violence but in all honesty, I am not a small man so I was not concerned. It just made me think about what smaller people must go through, people who do not have my gifts. I should be clear: while I wore the kippah, I tried not to behave badly. I maintained my generally civil disposition, I still held doors, I still behaved much like I normally do. I didn’t suddenly keep kosher, I wasn’t keeping Shabbat, I just wore the hat. But to some people, that made me a target for hate. It made me a Jew.”……

Philo-Semite Becomes a Jew for a Week to Experience Anti-Semitism Firsthand