True allyship is not tested when it’s easy to stand together, but when it’s hard. The measure of a real friend is whether they show up in difficult times.

That lesson runs deep in the histories of both Canada’s Jewish and Chinese communities — and it must guide us today.

On the heels of a dramatic escalation in violence on Nov. 5 of pro-Palestinian protesters forcing entry into a private Toronto venue and attacking Jews, leaving one guest injured by shattered glass and several students hospitalized, and synagogue Kehillat Shaarei Torah being vandalized a tenth time in 18 months, it is worth reminding Canadians of a forgotten chapter when it was not Jews but another community being targeted.

A century ago, being Chinese in Canada meant exclusion. The 1923 Chinese Immigration Act — more

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