It took long enough. The culture war that has been raging in the Unites States has finally arrived in Toronto. For those who may be unaware, Aviva Polonsky, a teacher at TanenbaumCHAT, Toronto’s Jewish community school, recently chaperoned a student trip to the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. While there, she posted a group picture on social media of her students meeting with Sebastian Gorka, who was a member of the Trump administration. Polonsky tagged the school in her post, leading some to claim that it appeared the school was endorsing Gorka’s policy positions.

The school quickly released a statement promising that the picture had been taken down and promising this – whatever “this” was; the school didn’t explain what exactly it was apologizing for – would not happen again. Meanwhile, a petition condemning Polonsky spread among former students on social media.

Before long, Polonsky began receiving threats on Facebook and Twitter. She was called out and shamed publicly. (No doubt, emails flowed to the school calling for her censure or worse.) It was outrage culture at its finest.

Of course, the outrage was entirely unjustified, first and foremost because a bunch of students taking pictures with prominent politicians at the biggest pro-Israel gathering in the world isn’t controversial in the first place.

READ: TEACHER AT CENTRE OF SEBASTIAN GORKA CONTROVERSY SAID SCHOOL WAS AWARE OF MEETING

The biggest controversy surrounding Gorka is the accusation that he supports a pro-Nazi group. This stems, in part, from a pin he wears to honour his father’s anti-Nazi and anti-communist actions. However, Gorka has adamantly denied being a fascist or anti-Semite. “In everything I have ever done, I have been a great friend of Israel,” he has been quoted as saying. Gorka is unabashedly pro-Israel and has always spoken out in favour of Israel. He was also the keynote speaker at an Israeli Anti-Terror Conference. Search through the web, and you won’t find a single quote from Gorka that is remotely anti-Semitic.

But did any of this matter to those protesting Polonsky? Of course not.

For me, the response was strikingly similar to the reaction to the recent Munk Debate in Toronto between David Frum and Steve Bannon. Bannon, who is both pro-Israel and a former Trump ally, was similarly maligned as being anti-Semitic based almost entirely on allegations made by his ex-wife in a divorce case. While I was waiting to enter the debate, angry protesters tried to shut down the speech, calling out Bannon as a racist, fascist, and Nazi. Now, as then, a determined group of people are trying to snuff out free speech because they don’t like what they heard. One can be against many of Bannon’s policy ideas (as I am) without labelling him as a Nazi so as to shut down debate. Now, as then, a pro-Israel politician was impugned as being anti-Semitic based on superficial headlines unconnected to actual beliefs.

Luckily, the loudest voices are not necessarily the majority. Polonsky has received a lot of support from former students and people in the community. Some students who attended the confab have written to her to express support, but fear doing so publicly lest they be called Nazis by their peers.

This controversy is a perfect microcosm of our contemporary culture war. It contains all the elements of the genre – a right-wing politician associated with President Trump, social media involvement, the polarization of right versus left, and Israel at the centre of it all. It would have been better had the culture war not hit our community, bringing with it division and anger at a time when unity is needed most. Ultimately, this sordid affair sends the wrong message to those who speak out passionately in favour of Israel, at a time when pro-Israel advocates are needed most.

Michael Tweyman is a Toronto lawyer and graduate of TanenbaumCHAT.