Friday, December 9, 2005

Canadian Jewish Congress article

Native Injustice “Template” for Canadian Discrimination: CJCPR Chair In a recent major address to a symposium on hate-motivated crimes, CJC Pacific Region Chair Mark Weintraub urged Canadians to address the festering injustice perpetrated against First Nations in order to facilitate justice for all.

“We need to reverse the tendency to add racism against Aboriginal peoples to the end of the list of concerns and congratulate ourselves for even thinking about these issues,” Weintraub told a packed audience of police, Crown counsel, politicians and others at the forum, which was sponsored by the Justice Institute of B.C. “Rather, we could benefit by considering how relations with Aboriginal peoples perhaps provided a template for how subsequent minority populations have been treated.”

Weintraub spoke of the history of discrimination against Aboriginal Canadians and praised the communities’ patience.

“In light of all this,” Weintraub said, “we should think ourselves fortunate that there still remains a wellspring of generosity within Aboriginal communities to meet any sincere attempt at reconciliation.”

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Canadian Jewish Congress article

Antisemitic materials show up at Toronto universities, BC’s Fraser Valley Antisemitic flyers landed on three of Canada’s largest university campuses in the Greater Toronto area last month, while extremist flyers were passed around in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley area.

In both cases, the materials are believed to have originated with white supremacist groups in the U.S.
CJC Ontario Region was notified by staff at Hillel of Greater Toronto when the pamphlets, entitled Jewish Supremacism Unmasked, were discovered on the campuses of Ryerson University, University of Toronto and York University. Their content was “graphic, hateful and comprises deeply painful themes of classic antisemitism coupled with radical anti-Israel vitriol,” said Hillel Executive Director Zac Kaye.
CJCONT was in touch with University administrators and security at all three campuses, as well as with Toronto and York Regional Police Services. “We were most concerned with limiting the spread of the pamphlets and minimizing their impact on all students on campus,” noted CJCONT Regional Director and General Counsel Steven Shulman.
In British Columbia, CJC Pacific Region expressed its condemnation for extremist literature that was distributed in the Fraser Valley. CJC, PR remains in contact with local police about this incident. Police have not yet identified those responsible for distributing the material, whose content targets immigrants and immigration and which appear to originate from a Virginia-based white supremacist group.
"The danger in materials like these lies in the fact that this type of clearly mean-spirited attack exploits ignorance and pre-existing prejudice,” said CJC, PR Chair Mark Weintraub, who noted that B.C.’s Hate Crime Team will investigate to determine whether Criminal Code charges for promotion of hatred should be laid.
“We cannot permit those with ignorant minds and hard hearts to harm our fellow Canadians,” he added.
http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=ioi&item=82

Friday, December 2, 2005

Jewish Independent Editorial


December 2, 2005
Editorial
With a federal election now underway and a Grey Cup under our belts, last week’s first ministers’ meeting on Aboriginal affairs may seem a long time ago already. But the Kelowna conference – and the announcement of compensation for victims of residential schools that came just before the meeting opened – will go down in history as a turning point in this country’s relations with our First Peoples.
The announcement of plans to compensate victims of residential schools and to commemorate their experiences reflects a first step in addressing the problems. Many of the social ills affecting Aboriginal Canadians were bred in the residential schools system. The values that the schools inculcated were intentionally antithetical to those of native Canadians’ traditions. The schools had, among other explicit purposes, the goal of eliminating aboriginal culture and assimilating the students into the dominant European-Canadian culture.
This failed for a range of reasons. The imperialist objective of assimilation was not sustained by any inculcation of alternative values. Having their traditions beaten out of them on a daily basis in the estranged and isolating environment of church-run residential schools, the curriculum that young First Nations people learned from our dominant culture were lessons of violence, coercion, verbal and physical abuse, sexual exploitation and torture.
Like victims of any social catastrophe, the survivors are forever affected by their experiences. The social crises in many First Nations communities – poverty, educational outcomes, addiction, abuse and unemployment among them – can be traced back in varying degrees to the experiences of past abuse of Aboriginal Canadians at the hands of religious, educational and governmental authority figures.
The announcement of an agreement-in-principle for compensation and commemoration of the residential schools experience last week was a prerequisite to the first ministers’ summit that followed. Until we recognize the significance of the residential school system on the trajectory of First Nations’ well being since European contact, we will not be able to sufficiently or fairly address the contemporary challenges. Canada, it seems, has finally recognized this fact.
As this historic process has unfolded, the Canadian Jewish community’s leaders have been vocal in support of the First Nations cause. National and local leaders of Canadian Jewish Congress have gone on record marking this issue as a priority.
“We are pleased that Canada has finally understood its responsibility for a shameful part of our country’s history, and is seeking to rectify its actions,” Canadian Jewish Congress national president Ed Morgan said in a news release on the residential schools agreement.
“Canada has made a crucial and substantive step toward recognizing our national culpability for this grievous historic wrong,” added CJC Pacific Region chair Mark Weintraub.
But why, of all issues, has the treatment of aboriginal Canadians become a core Jewish issue?
The reasons are numerous and can be interpreted in ways both simple and complex.
In a purely self-interested sense, it is in the interest of Jewish Canadians to nurture an environment where historic wrongs are recognized and ameliorated. Sensitivity to the historic wrongs of one people will presumably engender sensitivity to the historical experiences of all.
There are also a variety of complex theological and cultural parallels, which are best left to experts in their respective fields to elucidate. But, in its simplest sense, First Nations welfare is a concern to the Jewish community because at the core of the Jewish tradition is the interdiction to seek justice. As peoples who have both seen their cultures, histories and identities subjected to attempted eradication, Jews and aboriginal Canadians share a unique and dark perspective on human capability.
Canadian Jews support the struggle of First Nations for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it is the just thing to do. This, we believe, is all the reason we need.
http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=itn&Story=1602

Thursday, November 24, 2005

CJC News Release: CJC welcomes government recognition of residential school abuse victims


November 24, 2005
For immediate release
CJC welcomes government recognition of residential school abuse victims

OTTAWA - Canadian Jewish Congress welcomed the Canadian government’s announcement of plans to compensate Aboriginal Canadians who were abused while attending government-run residential schools, which includes funds for a truth-and-reconciliation commission.
"We are pleased that Canada has finally understood its responsibility for a shameful part of our country’s history, and is seeking to rectify its actions," said Canadian Jewish Congress National President Ed Morgan.
"Canada has made a crucial and substantive step toward recognizing our national culpability for this grievous historic wrong," added CJC Pacific Region Chair Mark Weintraub.
"As this process moves forward, survivors' and Aboriginal voices must be heard in the development and implementation of the programs being created on their behalf. The Jewish community will certainly lend its unqualified support to authentic reconciliation," he noted.
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For more information, contact:
Wendy Lampert
National Director of Communications
Canadian Jewish Congress
416-631-5844 (office)
416-845-4674 (cell)

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Voiceonline.com: Is the RCMP doing enough to stop hate propaganda by scumbags?


IN FOCUS WITH RATTAN

#3. Is the RCMP doing enough to stop hate propaganda by scumbags?

What on earth are the Mounties doing about incidents of hate crime against Indo-Canadians and other minorities? The latest racist incident against Indo-Canadians, Jews and gays took place in Langley and the RCMP kept it a secret until someone who also received the hate material in their mailbox contacted the media last weekend. Why didn't the Langley RCMP inform the media so that other victims could come forward. WHY? Decent white Langley residents expressed their disgust at the flyers that denounce mixed race marriages, homosexuality and minorities. Langley RCMP told the local media that there had been some complaints about the hate flyers and claimed that this material had first been distributed throughout that city and was now being distributed in the township. Meanwhile, the Canadian Jewish Congress strongly condemned extremist literature that has been distributed in the Fraser Valley. It said it had spoken about the flyers with police, who say their content targets immigrants and immigration. They also say the flyers appear to originate from a Virginia-based white supremacist group. Police have not yet identified those responsible for distributing the material locally. "All non-Aboriginal Canadians are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, which makes this extreme anti-immigration material seem quite absurd," said MARK WEINTRAUB, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. "The danger lies in the fact that this type of clearly mean-spirited attack exploits ignorance and pre-existing prejudice," he added. Weintraub noted that it is also distressing that the materials appear also to highlight a hate-based Internet site. He said the provincial Hate Crime Team will investigate to conclude whether the flyers promote hate and will determine charges under the Criminal Code accordingly. "I am proud that here in Canada we have established a culture of respect for diversity. We cannot permit those with ignorant minds and hard hearts to harm our fellow Canadians. CJC, Pacific Region, is confident that the police will identify the perpetrators in this case, and that they will be dealt with appropriately under the law," he said. Well, let's wait and see what the RCMP do in this case.

http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/051112/JUSTMINUTE.php

Friday, November 11, 2005

Langley Advance: Racism: Hateful mail distributed in Langley


Racism: Hateful mail distributed in Langley

Flyers filled with anti-immigrant messages have been found in Langley and throughout the Fraser Valley.

by Erin McKay

Racist hand-outs have ended up in Langley mailboxes, and while their message is offensive, the RCMP's Hate Crimes Unit is not too worried about them.

"We'd love to know who is doing it," said Sgt. Mark Graf, "but we are not spending a great amount of time or effort on them. There are other things that are higher priorities."

Over the past week or two, Langley RCMP received a handful of complaints from residents who found the flyers in with their mail.

The hand-outs did not get delivered with local newspapers.

Cpl. Diane Blain, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP, said such issues are not handled at a detachment level, but instead the information is collected and forwarded to E Division's Hate Crimes Unit.

The flyers have turned up in other communities, including Surrey and Mission, and while Blain said such racist attacks are "really unusual" in Langley, Graf noted that similar hand-outs circulate two or three times a year in the Lower Mainland.

"Nobody wants them in their mailbox," Graf said, but added that the two-man Hate Crimes Unit is responsible for all of the province, and puts a higher priority on dealing with more personal offences.

He added that it is not known who is responsible for distributing the flyers locally, and advised those who find a flyer to contact their local police detachment.

The Canadian Jewish Congress has condemned the flyers, which target immigrants and appear to originate from a Virginia-based white supremacist group.

"All non-Aboriginal Canadians are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, which makes this extreme anti-immigration material seem quite absurd," said Mark Weintraub, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region.

"The danger lies in the fact that this type of clearly mean-spirited attack exploits ignorance and pre-existing prejudice," he added.

"I am proud that here in Canada we have established a culture of respect for diversity," Weintraub said. "We cannot permit those with ignorant minds and hard hearts to harm our fellow Canadians."

published on 11/11/2005

http://www.langleyadvance.com/issues05/112205/news/112205nn6.html

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

CJC News Release: CJC Condemns extremist literature



November 8, 2005 - CJC Condemns extremist literature

Vancouver - Canadian Jewish Congress strongly condemned extremist literature that has been distributed in the Fraser Valley.

CJC has spoken about the flyers with police, who say their content targets immigrants and immigration. They also say the flyers appear to originate from a Virginia-based white supremacist group. Police have not yet identified those responsible for distributing the material locally.

"All non-Aboriginal Canadians are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, which makes this extreme anti-immigration material seem quite absurd," said Mark Weintraub, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. "The danger lies in the fact that this type of clearly mean-spirited attack exploits ignorance and pre-existing prejudice,” he added.

Weintraub noted that it is also distressing that the materials appear also to highlight a hate-based internet site. He said the provincial Hate Crime Team will investigate to conclude whether the flyers promote hate and will determine charges under the Criminal Code accordingly.

“I am proud that here in Canada we have established a culture of respect for diversity. We cannot permit those with ignorant minds and hard hearts to harm our fellow Canadians. CJC, Pacific Region, is confident that the police will identify the perpetrators in this case, and that they will be dealt with appropriately under the law,” he said.

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Contact:
Pat Johnson
Acting Co-Director
Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region
604-257-5101
patj@cjc.ca
www.cjc.ca

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=news&story=756

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Justice Institute Speech

Speech addressed to Justice Institute, November 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen. I am honoured to have the opportunity to present my thoughts on issues related to hate crime to a group so dedicated to it’s eradication. I wish to first acknowledge our presence here on the traditional lands of the Musqueam people and express our thanks and gratitude.

This symposium is being held two days after the passing of the famed Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal. It is therefore incumbent upon me that I preface my remarks by recognizing the enormous contributions he made to the post-holocaust world in which we live. Simon Wiesenthal was one of those individuals who helped us as a war torn world restore at least a modicum of faith in ourselves after the demonic years of the second world war. After surviving five Nazi death camps he insisted that war criminals be tracked down, apprehended and brought to justice and otherwise dedicated his long life to combating anti-semitism and other forms of prejudice in all of it’s ugly manifestations.

Wiesenthal demanded that the world not sink into denial and let the guilty ones slip away into the night; he fought against clandestine revenge killings, he demanded that these most vicious architects of mass hate face justice with all of the safeguards of an honest judicial system. He often said that his actuating passion was a personal responsibility to those who perished to bring the murderers to account, so that if he met them in “ the next world” he could say he had done everything within his power to ensure that the guilty would not go free; but he also wanted to teach the world that through the rule of just law, that the destructive impulse of human beings may in some small measure be checked. He was born a Jew and suffered only because he was a Jew but his message of the pursuit of justice was for the benefit of all of humanity.

All of us at this Conference have committed to this path that Simon Wiesenthal embarked upon some 60 years ago. I was one of those young university students who upon discovering the great courage of this man was inspired to try in at least some small measure to make a contribution to confronting genocide and I know there were thousands of others who were similarly humbled and motivated by his heroism.

I want now to discuss the eradication of hate in the largest context because I think it critical that we try and always appreciate that we are part of an ongoing historical process which demands continual reflection.

Our century brings into focus, perhaps more harshly than at any time in the past, the elastic quality of human nature; our capacity for great acts of creativity and compassion and our capacity for seemingly limitless destruction. For while extreme and massive acts of barbarism have characterized much of human history, never before has technology reached such a sophisticated level that we can now talk of the mass extermination of human beings. Technology, mass communication, mass ideologies and a revolutionary rate of change has all too frequently been a fatal combination in the modern era..
Hitler’s remark “Who today remembers the destruction of the Armenians?” was made in the context of the anticipated destruction by the Nazis of the European Jewish community. It demonstrates with full clarity that the lack of response by the world community to one set of crimes against humanity only encourages the killers into believing quite correctly that they can get away with other such crimes.

In the conflict in Europe only a few short years ago, two thirds of Europe’s Jewish population was destroyed; over two million babies and children perished along with a two thousand year culture, this in the heart of modern Europe. The Allied forces were ultimately victorious but the war against the European Jewish community was won by those who so skillfully exploited a time-honoured tradition of the teaching of contempt towards the resident Jewish populations. And of course the Nazi’s murder machine did not stop with the torture of the Jewish people. It included amongst other incomprehensible tragedies the Nazi brutalization of the Polish nation, the genocide of the Roma, the persecution of gays, those with mental and physical disabilities and ultimately the self-destruction of Germany itself.
But despite the sadistic Nazi cruelty and the complicity of nations, institutions and millions of “ordinary” citizens, we also witnessed an altruistic response in the heart of this darkness which compels us to reject pessimism as the final answer. We know that against all odds there were some high officials and a different type of “ordinary” citizen who were prepared to sacrifice their lives to save Jews. There were countless awe-inspiring acts of heroism and decency and we must continue to highlight this nobility of the human spirit. The haters amongst us would rather let us believe that we are all guilty as human beings; they would prefer us to believe that to be either passive or maniacal is innate to the human condition, for if all are guilty, then no one is truly guilty.
The record of Denmark and Bulgaria in protecting all of their Jews is part of the Holocaust narrative which must be trumpeted as an alternative path, not utopian, but very much attainable. Few know, but it is now indisputable, that tens of thousands of Bulgarian Jews were saved the fate of their European brothers and sisters because various church, political, business and labour leaders insisted that “their” Jews would not be transported. The historical and other reasons for this success are fascinating and bear much attention, for in Bulgaria and Denmark we see the triumph of national courage over fear, greed and hate. These countries were incubators of decency and if we study what occurred we can perhaps identify the necessary factors to create hate-free societies.
Notwithstanding the mind numbing, heart stopping catalogue of infamy of the Nazi era we are also heirs today of some of the post–war attempts to extract meaning from that evil- there have been affirmative responses to the Nazi horror including the establishment of the United Nations, the development of International Human Rights Codes, anti-genocide declarations and in our own country, the establishment of human rights tribunals, the criminalization of hate and the dismantlement of some, but still not all of the existing racist infrastructure which characterized pre- World War II Canada.
Our collective sanity requires that we relentlessly search to extract meaning from chaos and to always to live in the crucible of hope. In religious terms this is sometimes cast as the concept of redemption- to redeem means to rescue, to make whole and holy, to vest worthiness in that which might otherwise have been discarded.

Other than the weekly Sabbath, the most sacred day of the Jewish calendar is approaching: Yom Kippur, a 24 hour period for personal and collective redemption and the culmination of the celebration of the Jewish New Year.

It is a day wherein each Jew annually takes stock of his or her actions and misdeeds as a necessary pre-condition for a reconciliation with one’s fellow human beings and ultimately God. But the reconciliation must firstly be with our fellow human beings and we are mandated to seek forgiveness from those individuals we have harmed- only then do our traditional teachings tell us we are entitled to seek a restorative relationship with God. Yom Kippur is also a day, when the police are on special alert for attacks against our synagogues; for the haters exist amongst us still and on the days when the Jewish community gathers together in the greatest numbers, we need extra protection.

I refer to these oncoming days of Jewish reflection not to focus on the security needs of our community, but to provide an analogy for what I urge us to do collectively as a society. Our own secular New Year’s process of making resolutions emanates from the Jewish tradition of soul –seeking and affirming a new path but unfortunately the transformative power of the ancient tradition has been diluted. But on Yom Kippur we still strain to seek authentic redemption; we are exhorted to take account of the past; confront it honestly and then commit to change with powerful action; for our present moment in time and space cannot be disconnected from the past or the future. Analogizing to our current Canadian condition, if we are to learn from the past, if we are to embrace hope instead of pessimism in the struggle to dissolve hate, we must be bone deep honest in our evaluation of why there is hate in our society.

There is much that has changed in the larger social and political Canadian climate which now accepts on a certain level that hate crimes are an assault on the very dignity of the victim in ways that are even more searing than other crimes. The individual feels singled out and vulnerable for his or her identity which creates a bewilderment and shock; such attacks also must be seen as deeply anti-social because they fray the fragility of our multi-cultural, democratic fabric. We recognize this now and have implemented hate crime teams; statistics gathering and special provisions for sentencing. All of these steps are far from comprehensive and there is significant question as to how effectively the tools available to our judicial system are actually being used but nonetheless we have achieved substantial progress in creating a legal and ideological underpinning of respect for diversity and this should be properly acknowledged and the work of previous generations in breaking new ground be recognized with gratitude.

However, I do think that sometimes we tend to be too self-congratulatory and slide into denial. So, if the reference to Yom Kippur’s demand for penetrating self-reflection is apt for a larger societal introspection, then how can we talk about how “evolved” we are in terms of diversity, respect for others and progress in combating hate-motivated crime when we fail to recognize that in our own U.N. best ranked city we have had multiple disappearances and murders of females, economically disadvantaged and disproportionately Aboriginal with too little expressions of individual and institutional concern from most of us. We have lacked respect for our most marginalized fellow citizens- where was our love, our respect as a nation when we collectively insisted that First Peoples be dispossessed of all they held dear and then discarded to be barely tolerated on the margins of this fabulously wealthy country. And the contempt continues; now the focus is on the aboriginal inability to assimilate; the failure of aboriginal leadership- there seems to be always something deficient from the dominant perspective in the Aboriginal ways- from Europe’s first contact, the colonizing powers always had the first and last word in pronouncing judgment. I think we must face up to this, be truthful about it and in our own spheres of influence and power redouble our efforts to communicate this tragic reality.

There is nothing new in these statements; they have been said countless times in the past and they are beginning to make impact; but it is only in the last decade or so that the courts have begun to redress this horrific reality of attempted genocide and only most recently that our Premier has publicly acknowledged the need for a new relationship- reversing a hundred years of greedy, self-serving, dishonest and exploitive dealings by too many of those in power. Previous generations permitted the most vicious and rapacious dishonour to reign to such an extent that there are few if any aboriginal people today who do not bear the scars of the attempted decimation of the foundations of their way of life. It should not be a shocking statement to say Canada has and in too many respects continues, to manifest hatred to the land’s indigenous peoples.

Hate against First Nations must always be discussed as a unique and urgent matter separate and distinct from other challenging race and ethnicity issues because it still looms as our greatest unresolved shame. In my view, whether as Jew, Sikh , Christian, Muslim Buddhist, Hindu, newly arrived or 5th generation Canadian we must be stopped frozen in our tracks by our individual and collective neglect, our recklessness, our arrogance and for some of us, the fact that we have let our hearts turn to the hardest of stone.

During the Yom Kippur day of redemption, Jews in each of their own congregations publicly recite a list of errors and mistakes, not because we each necessarily committed the entire catalogue of misdeeds, but we say them publicly so as not to isolate individuals from the community and to communicate that we are all bound together in our actions; one of the “sins” we publicly seek redemption for is being “xenophobic” -fearful of strangers-, and another, (from a list of hundreds) is the sin of “betrayal”.

Juxtaposing these two I think it not a very controversial conclusion to note that too many of us have been fearful of the “stranger”-of the Other -and we have betrayed our own “Western” and Canadian oft stated ethical principles to treat well the stranger in our midst- indeed to begin to see the stranger as not strange at all but part of us – the one great human family. And need I make the point any more clearer to underscore that the stranger in our midst- the indigenous peoples of the Americas were actually very much home here; they were neither strangers to the Land nor did they treat the first colonizers with fear or contempt; for the most part they were greeted well and many an explorer and colonizer was saved through the generosity of an Indian- that is not a romantic version of what occurred; the historical records are unambiguous in their gratitude for First Nations knowledge and help- and therefore the sin of betrayal plays out on even more levels; not only the betrayal of our own stated principles; but betrayal of peoples who trusted our forefather’s words only to see treaty after treaty; promise after promise breached or modified. For the sin of xenophobia, for the sin of greed, for the sin of arrogance, for the many layered sins of betrayal, should we not be seeking redemption and thank ourselves fortunate that generosity within Aboriginal communities is still available to meet any sincere attempt at reconciliation with open, albeit with understandably guarded arms? In any discussion of hate and racism and discrimination, I am increasingly of the view that our relationship with Aboriginal peoples be examined first.

If we are to vest real meaning in our claim to Canadian values of decency, courtesy, social concern; if we are to take seriously our own religious or philosophic or country of origin traditions as having any kind of wise or compassionate wellsprings, we must demand from our leadership that we be directed to a place of redemption; a place of searing honesty; a place of such intense discomfort that we vow not to be complacent until we have addressed this malevolent dimension to our history and contemporary reality and we must demand with the most powerful voices we can muster that our political, educational and religious leadership take us to this new place with the greatest urgency, indeed with an almost panicked sense of urgency. aboriginal children aboriginal women, aboriginal men; aboriginal elders… each one bears what should be heart rendering witness to a dominant culture of superiority, of high regard for our own and low regard for the other.

So vested with the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the Jewish community’s central advocacy organization, I, with the support of the organized community insist that by reason of our own history and by reason of who we claim to be as Canadians, that aboriginal justice not be simply an add-on to the list of concerns when advocating on issues related to racism and hate crime; aboriginal justice must be at the heart and center of all of our work. That is not to say that the concerns of the Jewish community are not palpable; they are- we continue to be a targeted community and must vigorously seek all necessary protections; this does not mean that racism directed to Indo-Canadians and those of other Asian origins is not a critical issue for our organization – of course it is; neither does this mean that gay bashing and other forms of denigration based upon sexual orientation is not of grave concern- for it is and continues to be a much uglier problem than our media and schools and leaders would admit- gay men still continue to be the victims of the most violent attacks simply because of who they are. What I am saying is that we need to reverse the tendency to add racism against aboriginal peoples at the end of the list of concerns and congratulate ourselves for even thinking about these issues, but rather think about how relations were first structured with Aboriginal people as perhaps the template, or forerunner of how subsequent minorities were treated. To what extent there is a causal, or other link, reasonable people can disagree, but I am certain that since the contempt goes so deep, that at a minimum, we must put aboriginal justice at the core of our concerns as part of our critique and simultaneously acknowledge that the issues are also so fundamentally different that they deserve special and separate treatment apartment from our discussion of other types of racism.

Personally, I do believe that there is a deep nexus linking historical anti-semitism, the near genocide of indigenous peoples and intolerance, prejudice, and ultimately hateful violence against other vulnerable and essentially powerless minority groups-but whether or not one agrees with this type of analysis, few could cogently disagree that it is incumbent upon us to continually raise the question- why are Jewish places of worship desecrated, a Jewish school firebombed and Jewish individuals cowardly attacked for just being Jews? why are members of the Filipino community targeted by others? why are women still beat up and murdered in the sex trade; why does being gay mean you must risk bodily harm if you disclose who you are? why do we continue to force aboriginal people to fight alone for their dignity and turn our backs to the ravages of racism wreaked on First Peoples of Canada? Why must elderly Indo-Canadians now wonder whether they are safe on our streets, in our parks or even in their homes with hooligans wandering around looking for someone to torment? And why is that so many Canadians of Chinese ancestry still feel, after over a hundred years of meaningful contribution to our society that many of European descent still treat them with disrespect, and contempt. Why do Muslims register one of the largest number of reported hate crimes?

The questions could be posed on many more different levels and the answers multiple and not always unambiguous. These are extraordinarily complex issues and no one should dare to suggest that there is one correct or true or accurate analysis or approach. But the reality is there and begs for comment and discussion and one partial answer I would like to focus on is the structural societal foundations of our society as well as the all too human emotions and states of being like fear, greed and arrogance.I subscribe to the view that hate crime is only the most overt expression of a society still structured around the superiority of some over others, whether it be ethnicity, race, religion gender, sexuality or economics; there are many explanations for these hierarchies; we know certainly that the entire complex of hatred defies simple explanations and we will be discussing some of it’s dimensions later today- but I think as part of the discussion we must ask the fundamental question not only from a cultural or political or economic perspective but also from a, spiritual or philosophical perspective ; however you wish to frame it – why are we are not a culture of love or at least respect? Why are we are not a world defined by actualized love; why is it that we have these hierarchies of race and ethnicity that promulgate hatred?

And by referring to love I am not referring to transient emotional states but love in her greatest profundity – love that flowers in the pursuit of justice, love as understood and explained by the greatest spiritual teachers, by the greatest philosophers and by our greatest of leaders such as Gandhi or Martin Luther king, or Rabbi Abraham Heschel; or some of the Bahai, Islamic, Jewish and Christian and aboriginal leaders. There are thousands of others from myriad traditions and my omission is only by reason of time and the need to identify several who are most familiar to us. We do not truly embrace the dignity of each individual and so the question must be asked ..why not? generationally transmitted ideologies of superiority of one religion or people over another? Greed?

Why in the year 2005 do we still have too much public indifference; public indifference to the Hindu temple daubed with a swastika; public indifference to the killers of Aaron Webster; public indifference to the vulnerable position of those from the Filipino community; this relative indifference does not evince a commitment to the upholding of the dignity of each individual.

Where is the outrage, where is our passion; where is our sense that our neighbour is our extended family. These are questions that are rhetorical in nature but I pose them to permit me to stand back for a minute and say – this is absurd; this is irrational this is bizarre that human beings too often have permitted leadership to institutionalize in a myriad of ways the enshrinement of a culture of hate instead of a culture of love or at a minimum a culture of respect.

To illustrate the point however, that when we talk of a culture of love we are not talking about being naïve or idealistic; all of us promoting greater awareness of hate crime would vigorously argue that being indulgent to the perpetrators of hate or other crimes is not upholding the dignity of each individual; a society which permits abusers of the most vulnerable to receive greater leniency than the perpetrators of certain property crimes does not uphold the dignity of the individual so a culture of love does not mean permissiveness- it does mean recognizing and acting to protect the inherent dignity of each of us.

Protecting the vulnerable by well funded and well trained law enforcement; well paid and trained prosecutors; fair but firm sentencing and no nonsense parole terms do enhance the dignity of the individual; listening to the First Nations of this country is an act recognizing the dignity of the individual and ought to have occurred hundreds of years ago- perhaps then the wholesale confiscation of lands, the intentional obliteration of spiritual traditions, the devastation of disease and the intergenerational physical and emotional damage inflicted by the residential schools would have been avoided- our forefathers and foremothers apparently did not have sufficient teachings to choose the love ethic wherein the dignity of fellow human beings is respected – indeed revered. We now bear the consequences and must have courage and resolve to change directions.

We are afraid to talk about love; men perhaps more than women are socialized to be squeamish about love; we fear love because we think it means being soft and exposed; we are taught that love is not something for the real hard world, but I say that our most transformative leaders have been those who have helped us understand that love of our fellow being is not to be feared - that to live in a culture of love instead of violence or fear or hate can be our human destiny and can be the propelling force for each one of us as individuals and ultimately for our larger societySo what might actualized love look like in a society; isn’t love in part the recognition that no individual can rest contented if our fellow citizen is in a markedly deprived, humiliated or otherwise marginalized or alienated state; and isn’t it a place of being that moves from the philosophical or intellectual so that one’s entire consciousness is infused with the dedication to making improvement in the lives of our family, community, nation and world and that it this recognition that ultimately makes live worth living? Isn’t it ultimately premised on the ethic?

And if that consciousness is attained we will not then recoil in shame by what we see has been done to our disenfranchised and marginalized and be motivated by righteous anger that indignities could be committed against the most vulnerable in our name in the country we call Canada by the most powerful.

I can think of no better to place than talk about the obverse of hate and prejudice than Vancouver- one of our most beautiful cities and the birthplace of many positive forces in our county- for if racism and homophobia and anti-Semitism and similar type descriptive words encapsulate fear, lies irrationality, envy and ignorance – what is on the other side? Acceptance of people who are different; understanding of people who are different and ultimately empathy; promotion of harmony amongst different peoples and a deep seated unshakeable conviction to uplift those who are most compromised through historical structural forces and ideologies.

This means more education, more contact with others, more funding for the institutions such as the police and courts who are on the front lines and more leadership to bring about greater sanctuaries of peace.

The Canadian Jewish community through vehicles such as Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai Brith envision a Canada as comprehensive mutual support system, a Canada united by a passion for the attainment of a just open and democratic society, free of threatening words and violent deeds and committed wholeheartedly to justice for First Nations; eradication and discrimination against our brothers and sisters whether they be Muslim, Indo Canadian, Filipiono Chinese, gay or disabled

This is the visioning but we in our own community and as part of the larger society must continually re-evaluate why discrimination is still too pervasive and why hate erupts against the vulnerable while the love ethic is so often absent. For once actuated by the love ethic we will be motivated as much to speak out on behalf of our fellow British Columbians who are subjected to indignities as we might for ourselves if experiencing a similar affront.

Our law enforcement officers are on the front lines and I know I speak for all of us here from minority communities that we are grateful for your commitment in combatting hate and we will continue to advocate for more funding so that you may have the adequate resources and the most trained resources to make your work even more effective.

I want to thank the organizers of this Conference who through setting the stage for today’s discussion are contributing to the creation of increasingly more expansive sanctuaries of personal dignity and harmony so that our magnificent commonalities and differences may flourish. It is of course a task that will not be finished in our generation but to paraphrase one of our time honoured teachings; we are not obligated to finish all of the work of the world, but we are certainly obliged to do our part.

Thank you for the opportunity to address this committed group of my fellow citizenry.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Impact of Hate Crimes Speech

Impact of Hate Crimes

Tombstones are knocked over and broken in cemeteries in Toronto and Kitchener. A Mosque in Pickering is the target of an arson attack. A Hebrew school in Montreal is firebombed, causing extensive damage to the library. Campaign signs belonging to UJA Federation of Greater Toronto are defaced – with the words “Jew Nazi” written across the faces of old men and young children. The windows of a synagogue are smashed. A Sikh caretaker is murdered for no reason other than his faith. A gay man is beaten because he is gay.

All of these acts are hate crimes. As such they are roundly condemned by the overwhelming majority of citizens. But why?

There are a number of reasons. Hate crimes offend our sense of moral fair play. The notion that an individual can be singled out for violent or differential treatment because of religion or skin colour or sexual orientation is repulsive to us. We instinctively rebel against such behaviours, recognizing them to be remnants of an unevolved past.

We also recognize, I think, that hate crimes have a corrosive effect on the strands that hold together our society. A society that permits the victimization of a minority group by the majority ultimately condemns itself to a slow inward collapse as its very soul disintegrates.

But all of this is at a very high level. What is the impact of hate crimes on those who are victimized by them?

To answer that question it is first necessary to identify who are the victims. As my point of departure I ask you to consider an incident that took place in Toronto in March 2004. Sometime during the evening of March 14, 2004 13 homes in a quiet neighbourhood were made the target of vandalism. Automobiles and homes were damaged. In at least two cases swastikas were drawn. In one of these latter cases, the home of Ichiel Leib and his mother, Maria, was vandalized with a swastika and the words, “Jewz Suk”. Mrs. Leib is a Holocaust survivor. In this particular case there were three specific sets of victims: The Leib family; Holocaust survivors; the Jewish community.

To the Leib family the incident was a nightmare. They had lived a pleasant life in their home in Thornhill, in a community that has a significant Jewish population. All of that was now turned upside down. Were they safe? Who could have done such a thing? What did this incident say about the nature of safety and security in Canada?

For Holocaust survivors (and Toronto has one of the largest populations of survivors in the world), the effect of the swastika was electric. It re-opened painful memories of the past and prompted some within that community to ask if “it was starting all over again”. They saw in this incident, and others like it, a foreboding shadow of the rise of intolerance and the collapse of individual human rights.

For the larger community, the incident was seen, variously, as confirmation that anti-Semitism was alive and well in Canada or as “one damn thing after another” Both responses pose challenges to us. In the first case, the sentiment that underlies the statement is that hate is an intractable human emotion and that we will never be rid of it – and that we are forever doomed to be victims of it. The second case is more troubling. In a month where homes were vandalized, gravestones were overturned, synagogues and schools were vandalized and signs belonging to the community were marred with swastikas and “SS” lightning bolts, there was a response from the community that was almost fatalistic in its content. It was as if a portion of the community shrugged its shoulders and said, in effect, “so what else is new?”

I suggest that each of these responses tells us something important about the way that hate crimes affect their victims – and why each of us should be concerned by those responses.
Hate crimes teach their victims that the world is not a safe place, that there is danger lurking and brings home the unfortunate truth that “bad things happen to good people”. The trauma experienced can have long lasting effects. This is especially true in the case of children who are directly or indirectly targeted by the attacks. This comes through very clearly when one listens to interviews of students who attended the United Talmud Torah School in Montreal, which was firebombed in April 2004. More than one student commented on how hard it was to see the destruction of a place where they had worked and had fun for years. This is a key element in tallying the repercussion of hates crimes: the loss of a sense of safety – of belonging.

Then there are those who observe the incidents of hate crime through the prism of history. They recall that the road that lead to the most horrific excesses of the Holocaust began with evil words and then escalated to evil deeds. In such cases, the conclusion can be drawn that our society is too fragile to ensure the rights of all of its citizens. The result is a lessening of confidence in the systems of society that ought to function for the benefit of all.

Then there those whose only association with a particular incident is their membership in the targeted community. What impact does this have on them? In response to a recent act of vandalism that occurred in the City of Vaughan (a suburb of Toronto), CJC’s National Director of Community Relations observed that “It’s like a constant drip, drip drip. It’s corrosive to our community. No community should have to put up with this kind of garbage”. It is this image of a slow acid burn that draws my attention. That these incidents occur on a regular basis; each of them cuts, but no cut is so deep as to be fatal. Despite that, the accumulation is debilitating and wears away at the confidence that all citizens should have in their safety and their place within a civil society.

Monday, August 8, 2005

CJC News Release: Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region denounces Hindu Temple desecration



August 8 2005 - Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region denounces Hindu Temple desecration

Vancouver - Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, denounced the recent desecration of the Geeta Gyan Society temple in Surrey, and has offered its support and condolences to the congregation.

The temple was defaced with graffiti that included racial aspersions, swastikas, and threats.

"No Canadian should face the spectacle of their place of worship being targeted by intolerance," said Mark Weintraub, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. "We share with the Hindu community their pain, outrage and disappointment at this attack on our society's cohesion," he added.

Weintraub noted that CJCPR hopes the Surrey police are able to find the perpetrators in order to bring them to justice.

"Canadian Jewish Congress has been a constant voice for education and enforcement against racial, religious and other forms of intolerance against all groups in our society. We hope that the perpetrators, once found, will face appropriate charges," Weintraub added.

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For more information contact:
Romy Ritter
Community Relations Coordinator
Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region
604-257-5101 (office)
romyr@cjc.ca
www.cjc.ca

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=news&story=729

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

MetroValley Newspaper: Community remembers founder of SUCCESS

Jul 06, 2005 - MetroValley Newspaper Group
By: Kate Trotter
Tributes are pouring in following the death of Lilian To, who helped develop an immigrant services agency into a social powerhouse that assisted tens of thousands of new Canadians.
Lilian To was chief executive officer of SUCCESS when she died July 2, following a heart attack the previous day.
She immigrated in the early 1970's with a degree from the University of Hong Kong, and obtained her Masters of Social Work at UBC. She was one of the founders of SUCCESS. Under her leadership, the charity that started in 1973 grew to 11 centres, a small staff and thousands of volunteers that provided services to immigrants - from their arrival at airports to learning English, getting jobs, understanding Canadian culture and settling into seniors' care homes. Lilian To was one of the founders of SUCCESS and its chief operating officer for 17 years.
She had a gift of leadership," said T.N. Foo, who is acting CEO until the board of directors appoints a successor. She really had a vision." Her vision, he said, inspired not only new Canadians, but the broader community who recognized her, and her commitment, to human rights and multiculturalism.
Conservative leader Stephen Harper offered his condolences, as did B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, Opposition Leader Carole James and To's peers in social service agencies.
She was a leader in immigrant settlement services and is personally responsible for the richness that so many newcomers have contributed to our society," said Mark Weintraub, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. Lilian built SUCCESS into an agency that not only provides a range of services for immigrants to find homes and jobs, but one that promotes multiculturalism more generally, that protects human rights, encourages an active and dedicated citizenry and combats prejudice in any form it might take. Her foresight, depth of knowledge and inherent sensitivity will be deeply missed."
David Oborne, assistant superintendent for School District 43 collaborated with Lilian To, and said her contribution was enormous and should be recognized by the entire community, not just those who directly benefitted from the many programs. She has been a stalwart supporter of new immigrant children," he said.
She received numerous awards and accolades during her career, but was not one to stay in the office. In Tri-City, she was often present at events including all-candidate's forums with simultaneous translations and graduation ceremonies for entrepreneurial programs - - and always advocating for new Canadians, as well as inspiring them.
She was not a very high profile person," Foo said. She spoke out when it was needed, but not for the sake of her own reputation. Whenever there was policy related to the community, she would speak out not only in the Chinese community but to the mainstream."
A private family service was planned for July 8 but Foo said civic leaders have asked to attend it, rather than waiting for a planned life celebration in September, so it is expected to be standing-room only. Memorial opportunities will be at the Pender Street office until the end of the week and at success.bc.ca.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

CJC News Release: CJCPR Mourns Lilian To



July 3, 2005 - CJCPR Mourns Lilian To

For immediate release

Vancouver - Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region will convey its sympathy and shock to the Board of United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society (S.U.C.C.E.S.S.) over the untimely loss of Lilian To, a woman who shaped Canadian society and was a major architect of Vancouver's multicultural success.

To, who was Executive Director of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., was a staunch supporter of the Jewish community in British Columbia and Canada, and an ally and friend to the officers and staff of Canadian Jewish Congress.

"Lilian was a colleague and a friend to me and I benefited along with thousands of other British Columbians from her lifetime of contributions to multiculturalism and support for new Canadians," said Erwin Nest, Executive Director of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. "I could always count on her wise counsel, her solid opinions and generous friendship. Lilian was well-informed, thoughtful and articulate but, beyond that, she was genuinely committed to a tolerant, peaceful and just society."

Canadian Jewish Congress and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. have worked together on countless projects of mutual concern for decades, most notably on programs and task forces within the non-profit sector. Lilian To was a leader in developing social services that met the needs of seniors, women, youth and families, whether they required counselling, employment, language training or other services to help them become successful and contributing Canadians. Her work in community development, settlement and public education will leave a positive and lasting mark on British Columbia's and Canada's multicultural fabric. An immigrant herself, To epitomized the contribution a single individual could make to one's chosen home.

"She was a leader in immigrant settlement services and is personally responsible for the richness that so many newcomers have contributed to our society," said Mark Weintraub, Chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. "Lilian built S.U.C.C.E.S.S. into an agency that not only provides a range of services for immigrants to find homes and jobs, but one that promotes multiculturalism more generally, that protects human rights, encourages an active and dedicated citizenry and combats prejudice in any form it might take. Her foresight, depth of knowledge and inherent sensitivity will be deeply missed."

To experienced a heart attack on Canada Day and passed away Saturday.

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Contact:
Erwin Nest
Executive Director
Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region
604-257-5101 (office)
erwinn@cjc.ca
www.cjc.ca

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=news&story=719

Friday, June 17, 2005

CJC News Release: CJC congratulates New Cabinet assurances sought on key concerns.

June 17, 2005 - CJC congratulates New Cabinet assurances sought on key concerns.
Vancouver - Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region (CJCPR), has conveyed its congratulations to members of the new British Columbia executive council who were sworn in yesterday.
“We look forward to continuing our working relationship with the returning faces and developing new, constructive areas of common interest with the newcomers,” said Mark Weintraub, chair of CJCPR.
Weintraub stated the officers of CJCPR look forward to meeting with members of cabinet, especially those whose responsibilities impact directly on the mandate of CJCPR.
“We are pleased that the responsibility for multiculturalism has been reunited under the Attorney-General,” Weintraub said. “and we are encouraged by the comments of Attorney General Wally Oppal that he will prioritize anti-racism initiatives. We are also looking forward to seeing concrete steps in dealing with increasing concerns regarding affordable housing for our most vulnerable.”
“I would hope that we could meet at the earliest convenience with Attorney-General Oppal and with Solicitor-General John Les,” Weintraub stated. “There is a range of pressing social and justice issues which if addressed can only make our Province a place for increasing pride in what we can accomplish as British Columbians working together.”
During the election campaign, CJCPR communicated with officials and candidates of the all parties on a variety of issues. In conjunction with other organizations, including S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and the Vancouver Multicultural Society, CJCPR received from the B.C. Liberal party commitments to some common objectives.
“We are heartened by the appointment of a stand-alone Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation,” Weintraub added. “Supporting justice for aboriginal peoples is a priority issue for our community and we will support Tom Christensen in any manner we can as he seeks just solutions to outstanding claims.”
Other concerns raised by CJCPR during the election period include: the province’s responsibility to compile data and publish reports on hate crimes; to encourage Crown counsels to employ hate crime provisions of the Criminal Code where evidence warrants; to continually review the effectiveness of human rights apparatus; to strengthen and promote multiculturalism; to create an integrated, comprehensive program to address challenges posed by mental illness, homelessness and addictions; and to support key initiatives in relation to First Nations issues.
CJCPR has also conveyed congratulations to the New Democratic party’s leader and caucus, who were sworn in as Members of the Legislative Assembly Wednesday.
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Contact:
Erwin Nest
Executive Director
Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region
604-257-5101 (office)

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

CJC News Release: Jewish Community sends support to victim



June 1, 2005 - Jewish Community sends support to victim

For immediate release

Vancouver - Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region is expressing shock and offering support and solidarity to the victim of a vicious attack in Richmond last week.

A young man, whose identity has not been made public, was attacked on the grounds of a Richmond school Thursday. RCMP report that the teenager was subjected to racial slurs, that his turban was torn from his person and his hair was cut with a blade, in contravention of his Sikh religious tradition.

“On behalf of the Jewish community of British Columbia and Canada, I have conveyed, through the RCMP, my deep and heartfelt support and solidarity with the young man, his family and his community,” said Mark Weintraub, chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. “We have conveyed to our friends in the Sikh community our revulsion at the assault, with its added injury to the religious dignity of the individual victim and his entire community.”

Police are not stating explicitly whether the incident is to be treated as a hate crime.

Weintraub said investigative and judicial processes will unfold in days to come, but took the opportunity to restate that his community stands with the victim, his family and community.

“We join with Sikh Canadians in bearing the painful burden of this attack, which has implications for the targeted individual, as well as broader implications for Canadian society,” said Weintraub. “The wishes and empathy of our community are with the young man and his family. The resources of our communal structure are at the disposal of police and the Sikh community if there is any contribution we can make to alleviate the suffering or to facilitate justice.”

Canadian Jewish Congress has been a strong proponent of government support to combat hate- and bias-motivated incidents. Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, contends that crimes perpetrated against members of cultural communities have impacts beyond the victim themselves and deleteriously affect the cohesion and safety of society as a whole.

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Contact:
Erwin Nest
Executive Director
Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region
604-257-5101 (office)
erwinn@cjc.ca
www.cjc.ca

http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=news&story=713

Canadian Jewish News: Canada’s Role in Darfur Not Seen as Election Issue with Parties



By Paul Lungen

It’s still fairly early in the federal election campaign, but one issue that seems to have completely slipped under the radar of the mainstream political parties and the media is the calamitous situation in Darfur.

As many as 10,000 Sudanese refugees continue to be killed each and every month by roving bands of janjaweed, militias supported by the government in Khartoum, said Dr. Norman Epstein, founder of C.A.S.T.S. (Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in Sudan).

While Canada has advanced the “responsibility to protect” doctrine, which gives countries the right to intervene in the internal affairs of other nations to prevent atrocities, political parties and voters have turned a blind eye to the ongoing mayhem in Darfur, he said.

Epstein said C.A.S.T.S. is hoping to make the situation in Darfur – which he has characterized as an “African Auschwitz” – into a campaign issue. The group is putting together a “primer” on events in Africa so that voters, armed with the information, can “raise it in town halls.”

Mark Weintraub, Canadian Jewish Congress’ spokesman on Darfur, is likewise disappointed in Canada’s tepid response to the ongoing genocide.

It now appears too much stock was placed on peace talks that have made little progress, with the result that the janjaweed continue to rampage and refugees continue to suffer, he said.

“We see that the sense of satisfaction that there would be an end to the killing has turned to disappointment,” Weintraub said in a telephone interview from Vancouver.

Canada’s political parties are ignoring Darfur. “It is not an election issue,” he said. “It must be an election issue and we will do our best to make it an election issue.”

To mid-December, the campaign has focused primarily on domestic concerns, including child care, health issues, crime and corruption – with some America-bashing thrown in. Little has been said on Canada’s deployment of troops to Afghanistan, let alone on foreign policy on Darfur.

Epstein said some progress on the Darfur file was made early in the year. Canada raised the issue in international fora, it sent a handful of support troops to the region as well as armoured personnel carriers (they languish in Senegal as the Sudanese government refuses to allow them to enter) and it pledged $380 million (since 2000) for Darfur refugees and the African Union (AU) military force. It also appointed an advisory team that includes Sen. Roméo Dallaire, former head of UN forces in Rwanda, and the prime minister has named a Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan, Sen. Mobina Jaffer.

But it can do much more. “It should walk the walk and not just talk the talk,” he said.

Canada remains in a good position to exercise its unique leverage to move things ahead, Epstein continued. Canada has good diplomatic relations with the United States, the European Union and with African nations.

A multinational force must be put in place to protect aid convoys and NGO workers.

Ottawa, he said, seems to be “putting all its eggs in the AU basket.” However, the AU force does not have the mandate to actually prevent the janjaweed from slaughtering innocent Africans (they are there as ceasefire observers), nor does it have sufficient military strength or logistical support to intervene, he said.

“Things have really stalled and the situation is even unravelling more. There is more insecurity in Darfur,” he said. Civilians continue to be murdered and even those who have fled to refugee camps are in danger.

Meanwhile, the international community’s policies continue to employ “bizarre logic.” At the same time that many members of the Khartoum regime face indictment by the International Criminal Court, “the international community continues to negotiate with those genocidaires for permission to go in and protect civilians and provide aid. The Khartoum regime is obstructing that,” Epstein said.

Weintraub said Congress will re-evaluate its advocacy program in coming weeks after it is briefed by contacts returning from Darfur. In the meantime it is attempting to co-ordinate its advocacy efforts with the American Jewish World Service, a humanitarian NGO.

* * *

Websites of the three major parties make only passing reference to Darfur.
The prime minister’s website states, “protecting civilians in armed conflict and ensuring that the international community is equipped to deliver effectively on its responsibility to protect are top priorities of Canada’s foreign policy.”

The Conservative website quotes foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day saying “Canada must do everything possible to encourage a UN coalition of nations, who are willing to show a presence in Darfur, to deter the atrocities of murder, rape and forced evacuation.”

During question period prior to parliament’s dissolution, Day said, “If the UN is determined to follow the same pattern that led to the Rwandan Genocide, then Canada must urge other nations to join in a multilateral mission to protect the people of Darfur.”

A news release on the NDP website quotes foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough saying, “Canada must urge the UN to take stronger and more tangible action on Darfur. Safety of UN personnel must be of paramount concern but it’s imperative that the developments that have led to their removal (after aid workers were attacked) spur the international community into providing a more effective response to the crisis that continues in Sudan.”

http://www.shalomdc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=169124

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Vancouver Courier: Stop genocide makes reader proud


Letters to the editor
Stop genocide makes reader proud


To the editor:
It makes one proud to be a Canadian to read the May 22 Courier cover ("Stop genocide") by Jessica Werb in which she describes the attempts by Jews, Muslims and Canadians to stop the slaughter in Darfur.

We must honour those in Canada who bring comfort and succour to those suffering injustice at home or abroad.

It is only Canada, as Ms. Werb points out, that is sending troops to help end the genocide in Sudan.

I would like to point out however two corrections that should be made. First, not only is the U.S. government not continuing to protest ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region, but its agents, including the CIA, actively work with the Sudanese government which is responsible for the ongoing atrocities. For further information you may go to your website search engine and check out "CIA and Darfur."

And then, a minor point, but many people don't know their own history not to mention that of other cultures. Arabs (and other Muslims) and Jews (all, for the most part, belonging to the Semitic "race") have not always had the turbulent and troubled and violent relations we see today, as mentioned by Ms. Werb.

For many centuries in the past Jews found sanctuary in Muslim countries when confronted with the anti-Semitism rampant in Europe. But this is a minor point.

JAY PAULSON,
VANCOUVER

Monday, May 23, 2005

Vancouver Courier: Stop the genocide


A journalist in Rwanda before he fled the country, Robert Sebufirira works as a security guard. Photo-Dan Toulgoet
Stop the genocide
By Jessica Werb-contributing writer
Robbie Waisman's eyes become clouded with the memories of horrors he has been unable to erase from his mind. Images of Buchenwald, the concentration camp in which he spent his early teenage years, come flooding back.
"There were writers, poets, intellectuals [in the camp]," the 74-year-old Polish-born Holocaust survivor remembers, quietly relating his story in a busy coffee shop on Oak street, far removed from the chaos and despair of his youth. "These people were philosophizing, saying, anyone who is lucky enough to survive will live in paradise. Wars will be eliminated, nations will not raise any weapons against another nation again.
Once the world had realized what had occurred, such inhumanity could not possibly occur again, was the thinking. But today, Waisman-a former accountant and hotelier-is all too aware the utopia that was to have emerged out of the terrors of the Second World War is nowhere near to becoming a reality. He lost four brothers and both parents during Hitler's reign, and immigrated to Canada at the age of 17, three years after his liberation. He's haunted not only by the memories of those he watched perish in the camp, but also the knowledge that others around the world are now suffering their own extermination.
"They said nothing like this is ever going to happen again. There will be no genocides, there will be no evil. And then, what happens? Again." He sighs.

"So, here we are in a world where we have a Kosovo, where we have a Rwanda, where we have a Darfur, and genocides are occurring all over. And we have to do something about it."
And he is. Waisman has for the past 20 years been telling his story to the public as part of his work with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, which he helped found in 1983. Lately, he's been urging his audiences to take action on the current situation in Darfur, a region of Sudan where government-backed Arab Janjaweed militias have, since 2003, slaughtered approximately 300,000 inhabitants of African descent, and driven an estimated 2.6 million from their homes into refugee camps.
On May 24, Waisman will be addressing the issue head-on, as part of an event at the Jewish Community Centre, to raise money and educate people about the situation in Sudan. It's a remarkable effort. Organized by a group of young Jewish women, it's brought together Jews, Muslims and survivors of some of the worst modern genocides. The title of the event: Never Again: A Call for Action in Sudan.
Speaking alongside Waisman will be Robert Sebufirira a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda, and Nouri Abdalla, secretary general of the Darfur Association of Canada, B.C. Chapter. Senator Mobina Jaffer, Canada's special envoy to the peace process in Sudan, will also speak.
The event was conceived by Tami Michaelson and Sarah Robin, both 27, who found themselves profoundly affected by reports of the atrocities in Sudan. While a February 2005 United Nations report stopped short of calling the situation "genocide," much of the rest of the world, including the U.S., has insisted that a policy of ethnic cleansing is taking place.
"Growing up, we were always told 'never again'," says Robin, who says watching the film Hotel Rwanda was a turning point for her. "We're told that we have to keep learning about the Holocaust, because we can never let it happen again, to anyone. It shouldn't be happening, and yet it happens... Jewish people should take an active role. Any community that's been affected by genocide almost has a duty to do something.
Michaelson adds: "It's our responsibility as Canadians, as Jewish people, to help one another out there in the world. It's so easy to sit at home and do nothing, but that's how these things happen-because people do nothing."
Mark Weintraub, chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, and chair of the organization's National Darfur Committee, says the Darfur crisis has mobilized the Jewish community to an astonishing extent.
"The Jewish community in Vancouver, for reasons that I still have not yet completely figured out, has taken to heart the issue of Darfur in a very significant way," he says in the downtown office where he works as a lawyer. "Our community took such initiatives as ensuring that every synagogue on our holiest day of atonement was addressed on the issue of Darfur... So on our holiest days, thousands and thousands of Jews were made aware of the human rights violations facing Sudan, and whose motivation seemed to be ethnically motivated."
Robert Sebufirira, 25, has experienced first-hand the trauma of ethnic cleansing. Scheduled to speak at the event alongside Waisman, he's a survivor of the infamous genocide in Rwanda. In 1994, between April and June an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days, in a clash between the Hutu and Tutsi tribal groups. Most of the dead were Tutsis, attacked by Hutus who, says Sebufirira, had lived peacefully with Tutsis like himself for decades. At the age of 14, he witnessed atrocities that, 11 years on, he has difficulty discussing. Recounting his own escape, his speech becomes muddled, and his hands gesticulate wildly.
"I did escape. How? I don't know," he says, in the midst of a noisy caf‚. "Seeing dead bodies on top of me, I don't think that's escaping... They killed most of the people, and you go into shock, and at the end of the day you are lying under how many dead bodies, and you are soaked in blood... I don't think there's anything that I did consciously that I can think of."
He tells stories of Hutu men who, after 30 years of marriage, turned on their Tutsi wives, slaughtering them and the children they had together.
"How can you explain that?" he asks. "What's the cause of that? I don't have an explanation."
He says that most of his immediate family survived, but that his mother, grandparents, aunts and uncles did not.
"One person that did survive is my aunt, but she died in 2000 of AIDS because she was raped during the genocide," he says.
Asked about his mother, he insists he cannot discuss her. "I know how she died, and that's it. It's one thing I never even want to talk about."
Following the Rwandan genocide, Sebufirira became the managing editor of the independent Rwandan newspaper Umuseso, a paper he co-founded. He says he was forced to flee the country after receiving death threats from senior members of the government security services, related to articles in Umuseso that exposed government corruption.
Today, he lives in Burnaby and works as a security guard. And while he wants to get on with enjoying the possibilities of a new life in a new country, he says he has recently begun to feel the psychological effects of what he witnessed as a boy.
"I thought I was passed that. But here I am, 10 years have passed, [and I'm in] a different country. I thought I wouldn't even think about it. But [when I see] stories about Rwanda, I find my life becomes meaningless and I lose hope... The whole weekend I had nightmares of what happened."
His words are eerily echoed by Waisman who, 60 years after his liberation, continues to revisit the horrors of his own youth in his dreams.
"A few months ago, and I pray that I don't have it again, I had a nightmare that I was back in the concentration camp," he says. "Only it was the present time, as today, and I was with my kids. When I woke up, I was devastated. I had to get up, go into the living room, and find reality and realize that hey, my kids are safe. It's 2005. It's not back then."
Historically, Jews and Muslims have had a troubled and, at times, violent relationship. But through events such as the one organized by Michaelson and Robin, bonds are being forged between the two communities.
Nouri Abdalla, a 43-year-old Muslim from Sudan, has lived in Canada for over 10 years working as an independent exporter of pharmaceuticals to Africa. He lost eight members of his family in the ongoing slaughter taking place in Darfur. As part of his advocacy work with the Darfur Association of Canada he has forged ties with many groups to stop the killing, but none of the connections are as strong as those he has made with the Canadian Jewish Congress.
His connection with the Jewish organization began in August 2004, when Abdalla heard Weintraub speak at Simon Fraser University for an event to raise awareness of the situation in Darfur. Abdalla was impressed, and approached Weintraub to suggest they join forces. Together, the two associations have tirelessly lobbied politicians and government ministers to take action.
"[Our membership] is very supportive of the direction we've taken working with the Jewish community," says Abdalla. "They know that the executive community of the Darfur Association of Canada has been working closely with the Canadian Jewish Congress."
Not all Sudanese Muslims have been so quick to jump on board, however. Robin and Michaelson have been working with Lubna Abdelrahman, an immigrant from the northern region of Sudan who arrived in Vancouver in 2002 as a refugee. A family outreach worker with Vancouver Family Services, Abdelrahman says when she first approached her fellow Sudanese to gain support for the May 24 event, she was met with skepticism.
"At first, people were hesitant," she says. "It's difficult to change what happened in our minds [regarding the Jewish-Muslim conflict] ... Even my husband said, 'Think about whether you really want to do this.'"
But Abdelrahman persisted, urged on by the sense that she wanted to provide a model of peace between Jews and Muslims.
"I feel a lot of things happened many years ago between Jewish and Muslim [people]. I feel that in Canada we are in a new land... and we need to build a new relationship. I said that what happened in the past is not our fault. We need to build a new concept between us and Jewish people together."
Eventually, after much prodding and convincing, Abdelrahman secured a list of 10 people from her community to volunteer at the event, including musicians who will be performing during part of the evening.
For Abdalla, working with inter-faith groups has not been an issue, and the support of the Jewish community has been an essential part of his campaign.
"The genocide that's being committed in Darfur is not a Jewish issue, not Islamic, not a Christian issue. It's a human issue," he notes, adding: "The Jewish community's support stems from the fact that the Holocaust was a time when the world pretty much abandoned the Jews... We relate to what they've gone through. Now we know."
Abdalla is in contact with members of his family who are in refugee camps or trying to keep safe in the cities, and the reports they give him are disturbing.

"There's complete civil disorder throughout the region," he says. "Nobody can trust anybody who's wearing a government uniform, whether military or police, because the Janjaweed militias, when they attack a village before they burn it down, they walk into a village wearing government military attire.
"There is no safe place, even in the refugee camps. You cannot leave the refugee camp for less than half a kilometre before a woman can be subjected to rape, or a child is abducted, or somebody gets killed... It's happening every single day."
Reports from international organizations back up what Abdalla's relatives are telling him. The "crude mortality rate" usually used to define a humanitarian crisis is one death per 10,000 people per day; the World Health Organization's latest mortality estimates for the internally displaced persons in Sudan are 1.5 per 10,000 per day in North Darfur, and 2.9 per 10,000 per day in West Darfur. On March 14, the United Nations announced a death toll in Darfur of more than 180,000 in the past year and a half-equaling 10,000 people a month for the last 18 months.
The deaths are, in large part, due to the conditions in the refugee camps, where malnutrition and disease are claiming thousands of lives, the majority of which are children's.

While the United Nations has acknowledged the crisis in the region, it has yet to send troops to Darfur, choosing to work through negotiations and ceasefire agreements with the local government. The African Union deployed about 3,000 peacekeeping troops into the area last year, in its inaugural mission. Abdalla notes that "they have a very restricted mandate."
"Basically the international community is just talking," he says. "They are just saying things but not doing anything... Killing, terrorizing, raping women, abducting children, burning villages, nothing has changed." But the work of people like Abdalla, Weintraub and Waisman appears to be paying off. On May 12, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced a pledge of up to $198 million for humanitarian aid and support for the African Union's effort in Sudan. In addition, 100 Canadian troops will be sent in an advisory role. That may not sound like much but, says Abdalla, it is significant:
"Even though the number [of soldiers] is very small, we really do commend the prime minister. Canada is the only Western government that has decided to send troops of any sort into Darfur. It's the first and only one."
For Weintraub, Martin's announcement-which some see as a move to hold onto his office in the midst of scandal-is an acknowledgement that the public's voice can be heard.

"For the first time in the last nine months that I have been working with my community and my board and my organization on this issue, I feel the beginnings of some sense... that as Canadians we do have the ability to respond to a tragedy of this magnitude," he says.
For all those involved in the May 24 event, however, there is much more work to be done. The killings will not stop overnight, nor will the suffering end when the fighting does.
"We're not letting up," says Abdalla. "We're going to push as hard as we possibly can... The social fabric in Darfur has been damaged beyond repair. It will take generations and generations to repair it and knit it back together..."
And for Waisman, who wrestles to find some meaning out of all the suffering and violence he has lived through, Darfur offers hope of redemption.
"When I see people standing up for Darfur and the Sudan," he says simply, "it gives me hope."
Never Again: A Call for Action in Sudan is at the Wosk Auditorium of the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre, May 24 at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.