The Media Accountability Project  

On January 13, 2026, CJPME launched a media alert to the National Post challenging Barbara Kay’s column, “If the state and police won’t protect Jews, who will?”, which praised the Canadian branch of the Jewish Defence League (JDL) as non-violent. 

CJPME highlighted that the JDL is a far-right organization founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, shares ideological roots with the terrorist group Kahane Chai (Kach), and has coordinated with the U.S. branch of the JDL, which is considered a terrorist organization by the FBI. 

The Canadian branch also has a documented history of assaults, intimidation of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and affiliations with far-right extremist networks. CJPME called on the Post to provide accurate context and avoid normalizing a vigilante group with a history of violence.

In response, the National Post updated the column to include a reference to a 2017 assault arrest by a JDL Canada member. However, rather than make a clear and obvious correction, the National Post merely added the word “mostly” in front of “squeaky clean” in reference to the illegal actions by the JDL. The edit falls far short of the corrections these falsehoods merited.

The update also admits that the claims of non-violence come from a phone interview with Meir Weinstein, rather than being statements of fact.

Meir Weinstein was one of the co-founders of the Canadian branch of the JDL. Weinstein openly identifies as a “loyal disciple” of Kahane and regularly discusses his admiration for him. 

In January 2026, Meir Weinstein was arrested and charged with assault at a demonstration outside the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre (JCC) in the Bathurst and Sheppard area of Toronto. It is alleged that Mr. Weinstein approached a protester who was objecting to Israeli comedian Guy Hochman’s appearance at the venue. Weinstein pushed the protester, causing him to fall to the ground.

Original:

In 2015, when BDS activism was already aggressive, the Toronto-based Jewish Defence League of Canada (JDL) — defunct since 2021 — wanted to open a Montreal branch. JDL Canada never carried any weapons. They did not mask. They wore self-identifying vests. They never initiated any physical confrontation(...)

Legally, they were squeaky clean, but were perceived as tainted through name association with the American JDL, which wasn’t.

Revision:

In 2015, when BDS activism was already aggressive, the Toronto-based Jewish Defence League of Canada (JDL) — defunct since 2021 — wanted to open a Montreal branch. JDL Canada never carried any weapons. According to Meir Weinstein, former head of JDL Canada, whom I interviewed by telephone, his team never carried any weapons, and it was not their policy to mask. They wore self-identifying vests. Weinstein also told me they did not initiate physical confrontation (...)

Legally, they were mostly squeaky clean (a JDL member was arrested for assault in 2017), but were perceived as tainted through name association with the American JDL, which wasn’t.

Editor’s note: This column has been updated to include reference to a JDL member who was arrested for assault in 2017.

In this partial-correction, the National Post acknowledged the need for greater transparency regarding the activities of extremist groups in opinion coverage. 

Although a full-correction is overdue, the outcome of this update demonstrates the effectiveness of CJPME’s media advocacy in holding mainstream Canadian media accountable for misrepresenting far-right organizations.

CJPME will continue to monitor Postmedia’s attempts at platforming far-right zionist groups to counter their normalization of extremist organizations in mainstream Canadian media.

"This National Post column by Barbara Kay calls for the normalization of the Jewish Defence League (JDL), a far-right vigilante group that is considered a terrorist organization by the FBI in the United States."

"For the above reasons, this op-ed violates basic journalistic standards, even the most limited ones that apply to opinion articles. The author and its publisher should apologize and correct this work of fiction that perpetuates harmful lies about Palestinians and their advocates."

This National Post article uses inflammatory and misleading language to smear Palestinian protesters at Saint John’s Culturefest. The piece frames the demonstration as an antisemitic attack, erases its political context, and presents unverified allegations as fact. Such coverage perpetuates anti-Palestinian racism and silences Palestinian voices in Canada.

"By undermining the credibility of a widely used data source without acknowledging the corroborating evidence, the article violates the standard of accuracy and contributes to unwarranted skepticism of Palestinian sources."

"The article discusses Iran’s network of proxies, which are widely understood to mean groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. To lump PYM into the mix is both unfair and inaccurate."

"Newman weaponizes feminist language to attack Iran’s domestic policies to justify why Canadian support for Israeli military aggression."

"Leslie Roberts published this piece during a sponsored trip to Israel by the Exigent Foundation, a pro-Israel lobbying group with ties to former Israeli intelligence agents."

CJPME supports a neutral, transparent investigation that considers all credible allegations. Calls for accountability are not directed at any group or nationality, but reflect Canada’s legal responsibility to uphold international norms and prevent impunity