Vancouver mayor, Jewish group accuse newly elected councillor of antisemitic posts
Sean Orr says 2021 post has been misinterpreted and he opposes all forms of racism
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and some Jewish community groups are condemning comments made on social media dating back to 2021 by newly elected city councillor Sean Orr.
In a Wednesday morning news conference, Sim and Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver— which describes itself as the community's centre for Jewish philanthropy — asked Orr to address his statements and publicly apologize.
Specifically, the foundation called on Orr to retract a comment posted in August 2021 on X, formerly known as Twitter, that stated, "Everyone knows Vancouver City planners are controlled by a secret cabal of Jews who have a bunker in the earth's core fml."
In a statement Monday, Orr said his tweet was taken out of context, and was meant to be condemning "an antisemitic dogwhistle" used by the poster he was responding to.
He said his post was sarcastically quoting a joke by comedian David Cross, who used similar wording while talking about the stereotypes he faced growing up Jewish in the American South.
"It's unfortunate that this was taken out of context and misrepresented," Orr said of his tweet. "My [campaign] platform called out anti-semitism by name & committed to fighting it, along with Islamophobia and other forms of racism."
In 2021, I sarcastically quoted the comedian David Cross while condemning an antisemitic dogwhistle on Twitter. I was defending Karm Sumal against the claim he was a "globalist shill." I have been outspoken over the years opposing all forms of racism including anti-semitism. <a href="https://t.co/Q5qfft07xk">https://t.co/Q5qfft07xk</a>
—@seanorrOn Wednesday, Sim said his news conference was "not political", and Shanken said he was hurt by the posts.
"It hit me in the pit of my stomach," said Shanken. "We are yet a sarcastic comment for this individual. We are a butt of this individual's joke."
The federation, along with national Jewish groups like B'nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, also condemned Orr for accusing Israel of committing acts of genocide following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), Orr's party, said their candidate has been a consistent voice of opposition to fascism and antisemitism, and said the attacks on Orr were a "bad faith attempt to smear him" for his opposition of Israel's war in Gaza.
Orr topped the polls in last week's byelection, with the two candidates belonging to Ken Sim's ruling ABC party coming in sixth and seventh place.
A different Canadian Jewish organization is standing by Orr, condemning what it called "disingenuous attacks" launched in "bad faith."
"Councillor Orr has shown integrity and courage in condemning Israel war crimes," said Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) in a statement released Tuesday.
The IJV identifies itself as a grassroots organization representing Canadian Jewish voices advocating for peace in Gaza.