If Canada and Israel are at War, Who Gets My Support? Challenges of Competing Diaspora Loyalties: Marshall Sklare Award Lecture

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the issue of competing loyalties for diaspora Jews, using Canadian Jews as a case study. The Jewish case has become marginal in the study of diasporas and transnational ties. This is particularly the case where we find real or perceived political conflict, which Jews have encountered historically as the charge of dual loyalty. The history of anti-Semitism, notably after the Enlightenment, and debates about Zionism were precursors of this current dilemma for Jews, and indeed other diasporic minorities. Interviews with Canadian Jewish leaders, and a review of the case of a prominent Canadian Jewish politician, illustrate that the tensions of status insecurity continue to be found even in a highly successful and integrated Jewish community such as that in Canada.