Recent controversies around how Muslim Canadians define Islamophobia have created intense strains on the community’s relationship with several prominent Jewish organizations.

It all started when Liberal MP Iqra Khalid (Mississauga-Erindale) presented her private member’s motion — Motion 103 (M-103) — in December 2016, which called for the House to “condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.” Less than two months later, six Muslims were killed in a mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque.

The Conservatives criticized M-103 for privileging one religion over others and for using the term “Islamophobia” which, according to Tory MP Garnett Genuis, is defined not just as bigotry against Muslims, but also as criticisms of Islam. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and B’nai Brith Canada, two well-known Jewish advocacy groups, presented the same concerns and warned against possibilities of criminalizing disapproval or condemnations of Islam in Canada. The motion eventually passed on March 23 with support from only two Conservatives (another Conservative MP, Alex Nuttall, abstained).

But the controversy around the concept of Islamophobia continues. B’nai Brith Canada recently called for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to pull its Islamic Heritage Month guidebook because it refers to a definition of Islamophobia that also includes “dislike” of Islam. In response, the TDSB has revised the definition. But its chairperson Robin Pilkey said any suggestion that the board was trying to silence teachers or students who criticize Islam is “outrageous” and “categorically untrue.”

These controversies have heightened tensions between Muslim and Jewish communities in Canada. In at least one instance, a major Jewish group has thrown its weight behind the conspiracy of “creeping Sharia”— the idea that significant forces in the Muslim community are seeking to replace the Canadian legal system with Islamic law.