This year’s Distinguished Sol and Florence Kanee Lecturer for the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is David Frum, author, political commentator, and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, 2001-2002. Frum’s lecture “Is Time Running Out for Israel?” takes place Thursday, April 28 at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue at 8 pm. On his blog frumforum.com and on other on-line and print publications, Frum regularly writes about political issues that affect US life as well as about issues dealing with US/Israel relations. Just this past week, he discussed the fighting in Libya and in Syria. And, as his roots are in Canada and because he maintains an interest in Canadian political life, Frum has also written about the upcoming federal election and about the legacy of Trudeau. To read more, go to: http://www.frumforum.com/who-will-lead-canadas-economic-recovery and http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/23/david-frum-the-disastrous-legacy-of-pierre-trudeau/

Closer to his US home yet linked to Israel are Frum’s comments about a person he loves to hate_fellow Republican Sarah Palin. Unlike other Jewish Republicans, David Frum is no fan of Palin. He criticized her recent trip to Israel as not having been organized by the Jewish Republican Coalition, of which he is a board member.  He comments that in their bids for election and re-election, Republican politicians go out of their way to gain support of the Coalition. Says Frum, “Very likely you have never heard of the Republican Jewish Coalition. But then again, you probably are not seeking the Republican presidential nomination. If you were seeking the nomination, the RJC is one of the groups whose support you would certainly want. Joining an RJC Israel tour is a well-established ritual in gaining the support of the RJC's board and the group's 40,000 activist members. The RJC's board of directors includes four people who have served as national finance chairs for the Republican Party -- the party's "fundraiser-in-chief." Eight board members have run major donor groups within the GOP and 18 members served as state finance chairs for George W. Bush's re-election in 2004.” Sarah Palin, it seems to Frum, has again shot herself in the foot, this time vis-à-vis RJC support. To read more, go to: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/21/frum.palin.israel/index.html?hpt=T2
Not surprisingly, Jewish conservatives have attacked Frum for this attitude toward Palin’s travel arrangements. And these attacks can easily be found by googling Frum/Palin/Israel.

In light of David Frum’s interests, opinions, and accomplishments, the JHC is eager to hear his lecture about Israel, and anticipates that he will focus a lens that ranges widely on the topic, one that will interest people of all political points of view. The Lecture is the JHC’s major annual fundraiser. Lecture sponsorships, with income tax receipts, are available starting at $100. Individual tickets are $36, $24 for seniors and students. An American Sign Language interpreter will be present at the lecture. Contact the JHCWC at 477-7460 or at jhcwc.org.

The mandate of the JHC is “to acquire, interpret, convey, and share the history, experiences, achievements, culture and religious life of the Jewish people of Western Canada, and to establish and maintain a Holocaust Education Centre.” The JHC develops exhibits, holds lectures, provides education about the Holocaust through its Freeman Family Holocaust Education Centre, and maintains the Irma and Marvin Penn Archive of photographs and documents of Jewish life in Western Canada, particularly Manitoba. The JHC has also recently published Manitoba author Allan Levine’s Coming of Age: A History of The Jewish People of Manitoba (2009), which received no fewer than six local and national awards. Sponsored by the Freeman Family Holocaust Education Centre, Voices of Winnipeg Holocaust Survivors is a collection of personal narratives of the struggles of Winnipeg survivors. Edited by Belle Millo and launched in 2010, this book has been distributed to almost 500 Manitoba high school libraries. Both books are available through the JHC as well as through booksellers McNally Robinson and Indigo.