Ottawa Attacker’s Facebook Shows Years of Open Antisemitism
On Wednesday afternoon in Ottawa, a 71-year-old man named Joe Rooke entered College Square Loblaws, the grocery store with the largest kosher section in the city, and stabbed a Jewish woman in her seventies as she shopped.
She was hit in the torso and taken to the hospital with serious injuries but has thankfully since been released. Ottawa Police have laid charges and confirmed the hate crimes unit is now involved.
That is the headline. But there is a lot more behind it.
What His Facebook Reveals
After a tip from @DrCaseyBabb on X, I went back through Rooke’s Facebook posts. It didn’t take long to see a pattern. His page is filled with years of obsessive and often violent antisemitism.
He called Israel “a very evil state.”
He described Jews as the very worst of the “political and religious hierarchy.”
He mocked Jewish belief as “nonsense,” writing: “I am under no obligation to like Jews and I do not. If that makes me an antisemite, so be it.”
It goes on. He compared Jews to Nazis. He accused Israel of “genocide.” He said Judaism was “fiction, fallacies, and lies.” He insisted Jews deserve “no respect.”
All of this was out in the open for years.
The Larger Context
Canada has been sliding into this moment for a long time. Since October 7, antisemitism has exploded into public view. Campuses are filled with chants that cross into direct calls for violence. Protesters block streets and celebrate terrorist groups. Politicians offer soft language and excuses. Media outlets sanitize it.
The result is a man who spent years inciting against Jews online walking into a kosher grocery store and stabbing a Jewish grandmother in broad daylight.
Where Things Stand
Now, instead of taking responsibility, we will get the usual parade of empty condemnations. Statements from leaders like @MarkJCarney, polished and meaningless. Words with no action behind them.
The question is not what politicians will say. The question is whether Canadians want to live in a country where Jews are unsafe. Whether they are willing to accept a society where an elderly Jewish woman can be attacked while shopping for food and everyone pretends it is just another incident.
Do they really think it ends with the Jews?
It never does.