An anti-Semitic flyer urging the purchase of kosher products “to help Israel” has been circulated in much of Canada in the past few months. It carries the logo of a Star of David superimposed on a dollar sign and is signed by “Jews for a Richer Israel.”
Spokesmen for the Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai B’rith said the flyer has been traced to an anti-Jewish group in British Columbia. They described it as “slick” and “sophisticated.”
The message is that buying kosher products brings revenue to Israel and enriches rabbis with hundreds of millions of dollars. “Manufacturers pay a lot of money every year to make their products kosher . . . the costs are passed on to the consumer, so every time you buy a kosher product you’re doing your part to help Israel,” the flyer says.
According to Manuel Prutschi, national community relations director for the CJC, and Alan Shefman of B’nai B’rith, it has been mailed to companies in the food business and placed under windshield wipers of parked cars. The flyers have turned up in Toronto and in most of the provinces. They have also been mailed to Jewish organizations with a cover letter threatening to expose companies that allegedly pass the extra expense of kosher products to their customers.
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