Written by -- Jewish Tribune
Tuesday, 07 September 2010
The following is a review of the Canadian news highlights of the Jewish year 5770.
OCTOBER
• In the wake of a pre-Rosh Hashanah act of vandalism at Congregation Petah Tikvah in the Montreal suburb of St. Laurent, in which stained glass windows valued at $30,000 were destroyed, three more synagogues in the community of Cote Saint Luc had rocks thrown through their windows.
• An Ottawa Jewish cemetery was vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic slogans. Eight headstones were desecrated.
NOVEMBER
• The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) has invited Canadian university presidents to testify about the problem
DECEMBER
• The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a license for Al Jazeera’s English language news network to be broadcast by digital cable satellite providers.
• Ted Greenfield of Montreal was elected senior vice-president of B’nai B’rith International at the organization’s annual Board of Governors meeting in Washington.
JANUARY
• Al-Ameen Post, an Islamic community newspaper, which ran an article accusing Jews of bringing into Israel “some 25,000 Ukrainian children” to harvest their organs, issued a public statement of apology directed to B’nai Brith Canada.
FEBUARY
• Liberal MP?Borys Wrzesnewskyj’s criticism of Cabinet Minister Jason Kenney for travelling to Poland created an uproar that resulted in the Liberal politician’s expression of regret for his statement, although it was not accepted by Kenney’s office as a sincere apology. Wrzesnewskyj had called Kenney’s visit a “jaunt” and suggested he should have been visiting Haiti instead, which is still in crisis following a devastating earthquake. In fact, Kenney had gone to Poland to present Canada at the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the trip had been on his itinerary for some time.
• David Matas, honourary senior legal counsel for B’nai Brith Canada and a member of the Order of Canada, and former Canadian cabinet minister and crown prosecutor David Kilgour were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their intensive probe over a four-year period into the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
MARCH
• Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman introduced a private member’s resolution to the Ontario Legislature to condemn Israeli Apartheid Week. The resolution, which read in part, “the term Israeli Apartheid Week is condemned as it serves to incite hatred against Israel,” passed unanimously.
• The Bloc Quebecois decided to pull its two MP representatives out of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA), which seemed highly incongruous, given that the CPCCA’s final report was to be based on a consensus of the members of the formerly all-party coalition.
• A $6 million capital fund campaign, co-chaired by CFRB talk-show host John Tory and community leader and philanthropist Judy Bronfman, was launched for the construction of a new B’nai Brith Canada Alzheimer’s health-care facility.
APRIL
• Recognized as a Book of the Year for children by the Canadian Library Association and nominated for the presigious Red Maple Award of the Ontario Library Association, The Shepherd’s Granddaughter was highly recommended by Toronto District School Board teachers and librarians. Brian Henry, a frequent writer for the Jewish Tribune and a parent of a child who attends public school, brought this book to the board’s and Tribune’s attention. Based on a reading of the book, it appeared to be a completely one-sided, pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli view with absolutely no balance or background information.
MAY
• B’nai Brith Canada contacted organizers of Toronto’s Pride Parade to urge them to ensure that the agenda of the annual parade was not allowed to be hijacked by the propaganda of anti-Israel agitators. B’nai Brith also contacted the prime minister, the Ontario premier and the mayor of Toronto – all contributors to the parade – asking for a review of the funding in light of the stated agenda of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. Toronto Pride at first decided not to allow QuAIA not to march in the parade, but ultimately allowed them to march, putting future public funding at risk.
JUNE
• Eric Bissell was elected national president of B’nai Brith Canada at its policy conference.
• About 150 university students rallied outside the Israeli consulate to show their support for Israel in response to the condemnation the country had received from its detractors due to its defensive actions aboard the Mavi Marmara, one of the ships in the ‘Free Gaza Flotilla.’
• The NDP has been urged to strip MP?Libby Davies of her leadership roles in the party following remarks she made at an anti-Israel rally stating that the “occupation of Palestine” began in 1948 and that she supported a boycott of the Jewish state. Davies, who has a long record of anti-Israel activism, is the deputy leader of the NDP and its leader in the House of Commons.
JULY
• The teachers’ union at Dawson College, Quebec’s largest CEGEP, voted in favour of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Quebec’s decision to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
AUGUST
• Jewish candidates running in the October municipal election were at a disadvantage if they wished to observe religious law. The first day a candidate could legally erect an election lawn sign is Sept. 30, which this year marks the beginning of the two-day Jewish festival of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, followed immediately by Shabbat. An observant candidate would have to wait an additional three days before posting his election signs.
• The reason Israel is not delivering mail to Gaza is a security issue, one Israeli spokesman said. There had been negative publicity in Canada, led by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), regarding a Canada Post announcement that it cannot accept mail destined for Gaza because Israel was not willing to forward it. Israel Post explained that the “mail transferring between Israel and Gaza requires coordination between the Israel Postal Authority and the Palestinian Postal Authority. The transferring is delayed because the Palestinian Postal Authority has not yet appointed a replacement for the chief of mail, who was arrested.”
SEPTEMBER
• Toronto City Council approved an amendment to the city bylaw to accommodate religious Jewish candidates in the October municipal election.