This is one of those small stories about antisemitism raising its ugly head that nonetheless happen so frequently that an example or two is worth recounting from time to time. The victim was one Miriam Mattova, a dual citizen, of Canada and Slovakia, and a model (she happens to be beautiful, but that is neither here nor there). She was riding in an Uber in Toronto, and talking on her phone, mentioning something that had happened to her on a recent trip to Israel. The Uber driver, a Muslim woman, stopped the car in the frigid Canadian air, and told her ride to “get out. I don’t drive Jews.” Not “I don’t drive Israelis,” but “I don’t drive Jews.” More on this contretemps can be found here:
‘Don’t drive Jews’: Jewish ex-Miss Slovakia Miriam Mattova kicked out of Toronto Uber – interview
by Mathilda Heller, Jerusalem Post, December 8, 2025:
Canadian-Slovakian Jewish model Miriam Mattova was kicked out of an Uber in Toronto when the driver realized she was a Jew. Mattov’s lawyer, Howard Levitt, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The incident occurred on November 30, when Mattova got into an Uber on Dundas Street (booked by her friend) to travel to her home. Once in the car, Mattova facetimed another friend and casually recounted details of her recent trip to Israel.
In the middle of the intersection, the driver, a Muslim woman, suddenly hit the brakes and told Mattova to get out of the car. She asked her what was happening, and the driver responded that she did not feel comfortable with Mattova in the car.
“I asked why, because I still didn’t understand the situation, and then the driver responded by saying they do not drive Jewish people,” Mattova told the Post.
“At that moment, I chose to step out of the car, not out of fear but out of clarity. When someone reveals open discrimination, there is no reason to remain in that space.”
Mattova called another Uber, returned home, and the next day filed a detailed complaint in the Uber app. The friend who had ordered the Uber also filed a complaint. However, they only received a response after the story was published in The National Post.
“Uber responded with a phone call, saying that they are going to give me a refund. I wanted to be clear that this situation is about more than the cost of a ride and that the incident I experienced was a blatant act of antisemitism.”
Mattova inquired as to whether the driver would be removed from the company, to which Uber responded that it could not give her an answer. In a subsequent email correspondence, Uber said it would speak to the driver, but no more information was provided.
“When [Uber] called [Mattova], they wanted to ask whether she had an injury from it, like an insurance company does,” added Levitt. “That is all they were interested in, not about the racism of the driver.”
Levitt sent Uber a letter demanding that it stipulate in every driver’s contract that there can be no discrimination, basing the stipulations on human rights grounds, which of course include religion and race.
Levitt confirmed that if Uber does not respond, he will file a human rights application before the Human Rights Tribunal in Ontario.
Mattova told the Post that since she posted about the incident on Instagram, scores of people have been reaching out to her to say they have experienced similar antisemitic incidents. They had also reported the incidents to Uber but had received no answer….
The only reason Uber responded in this case was because a story about the incident had appeared in The National Post. And I suspect the only reason the story appeared in The National Post was because the victim, Miriam Mattova, is so stunning.
“At this moment, I question if I do have a future in Canada,” she said.
The increasing unpleasantness expressed in Canada toward Jews prompted that melancholy answer from Ms. Mattova. When there are so many anti-Israel demonstrations across the land, that so often have descended into squalid antisemitism, where the prime minister, Mark Carney, has now recognized “a state of Palestine,” and where the Mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow, told a Muslim crowd that “the genocide in Gaza affects us all,” her answer does not surprise.
Will Uber fire this driver? If not, it ought to provide a reason why such behavior is being tolerated. And Uber ought to be asked what it would do if a Christian or Jewish Uber driver had ordered a Muslim fare out of the car. I think that driver would be shown the door at once. But it’s been ten days since the incident was reported to Uber, and that Muslim driver is still working for Uber. Why?
