Features - Winnipeg Jewish Review

Toronto, ON – Today, the CBC reported that hackers in Europe have exposed an international network of white supremacists, including a list of 74 Canadians involved with hate organizations.

In response, Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, made the following statement:

“We were disturbed to read today’s report, which reminds us that classical antisemitism continues to exist, and occasionally inspire violence, here in Canada.

“Such toxic hatred disgusts the overwhelming majority of Canadians and stands in stark contrast to Canada’s core values. Today’s report should serve as a wake-up call for all of us to remain vigilant in standing against hate, regardless of the community that is targeted.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is a non-partisan organization that creates and implements strategies for the purpose of improving the quality of Jewish life in Canada and abroad, increasing support for Israel, and strengthening the Canada-Israel relationship.

Ottawa, ON – Today, the Government of Canada announced measures to enhance sanctions targeting Iranian nuclear proliferation.

The new measures target front companies used by the Iranian regime to circumvent existing sanctions, entities known for funneling weapons to the brutal regime in Syria, and three highly placed Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officials.

In response, David Koschitzky, Chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, made the following statement:

“We commend the government for this initiative, which exemplifies the important role Canada plays in the international effort to counter Iran’s illegal drive to obtain nuclear weapons. We are gratified that Canada continues to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with likeminded nations in taking peaceful measures to confront the Iranian nuclear threat.

“The most recent UN report from the International Atomic Energy Agency paints a grim picture of Iran on the cusp of developing the capability for nuclear weapons. Combined with its funneling of weapons and funds to terror groups around the world, the Iranian regime poses a grave threat to international peace and security. If these sanctions fail to convince the regime to abandon its dangerous course, Canada must be prepared to take further peaceful steps in response, such as listing the IRGC as a terrorist entity.”

Steve McDonald
Associate Director, Communications
(416) 953-4417
smcdonald@cija.ca

I am hoping that you will be able to provide me with this information I am
having a heck of a time finding his item grape leaves but, they can’t be in
brine either dried or fresh any help I can’t have vinegar at all.

Toronto, ON – In honour of Raoul Wallenberg Day, which was established ten years ago by Parliament to be observed every January 17th, David Koschitzky, Chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued the following statement:

“Raoul Wallenberg Day serves two important purposes. First, it reminds us that, just as we must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust, we must honour those who took action to save lives at great personal risk.

“Known as the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’, countless individuals resisted the cruel power of Nazi Germany and demonstrated that even a single person of conscience can have an extraordinary impact. Raoul Wallenberg’s tireless and solitary campaign, in which he used his diplomatic post to provide safe haven for the doomed Jews of Hungary, is credited with saving thousands.

“As Canadian Jews, we are blessed to be citizens of a country that values freedom and human rights as universal, core principles. Indeed, these are the bedrock values of a country that sacrificed so much in the fight against Nazi Germany – something for which all Canadians can be proud.

“This speaks to the second purpose of Raoul Wallenberg Day. For it is a day that should inspire us not only to preserve these values for future generations, but to continue to take a firm stand against evil. We can best honour his legacy by speaking up and taking action on behalf of those who face persecution around the world.”

Steve McDonald
Associate Director, Communications
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs
smcdonald@cija.ca / (416) 953-4417

Rhonda

I am writing you to express my disappointment for including my picture in the article that was sent to you by Howard Morry entitled:

Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State.

Showing my picture with Howard in this article gives the reader the impression that I am in support of the position that Howard stated in the article.

As you are aware, Howard and I debated this point at great length at the Arab Jewish Dialogue chapter meeting on Wednesday November 16th

At that meeting I disagreed with Howard's view of the subject and gave my rational for not agreeing with this position as it is an obstacle for peace. The Palestinian Authority already stated they will never accept Mr. Netanyahu‘s position which he placed as a precondition for negotiation.

We are now at square one, obstacles are again put in place such as this one and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem which have resulted in stalled negotiations and continuation of the conflict. At the meeting I stated that both parties should seize the moment and set down at the negation table and be open for discussing all the issues without preconditions. Changes are taking place rapidly in the Middle East and the time has come to have the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians resolved, this is past due as well. As co-chair of the Arab Jewish dialogue, I am proud of the fact that we can debate all the issues freely in a secure environment without any fear of negative labelling. We don't have to agree with one another on all issues, all we seek is understanding of each other's narratives and hopefully find common ground.

Editor's response: I put in the photo of you next to Howard becasue you are co-Chairs of the Arab-Jewish dialogue and I thougth it was a nice photo of the two of you. By no means did I mean to imply that you agreed with the content of Howards's article. Similarly, when newspapers have photos of world leaders next to each other it by no mean's implies that they agree with eachother on a given point. However, given your letter, I have taken down the photo.

For the record Ab, I think that Netanyahu's position is not that recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is a pre-condition to negotiations, but that this recognition will be required in order for any peace agreement to ever be made, otherwise it will not signify an end to the conflect but only a prelude to the next stage of the conflict.

Ab-Can you clarify what you disagree with in particular in Howard's article. It is a lenghy piece and he said a lot. i.e. Do you agree with Howard that the crux of the dispute is that Israel's neighbours haven't accepted a Zionist state in the region, or do you think that Netanyahu has no interest in peace and is simply stalling by introducing irrelevant conditions ?

Ab Freig's response: As I mentioned above, neither party should place obstacles they know would discourage peace negotiations.

Editor's response: For the record Ab, I think that Netanyahu's position is not that recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is a pre-condition to negotiations, but that this recognition will be required in order for any peace agreement to ever be made, otherwise it will not signify an end to the conflect but only a prelude to the next stage of the conflict.

Hi, just wanted to make sure you saw this important discussion with Secretary of Defense Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dempsey on yesterday’s Face the Nation.

KEY EXCERPTS
Panetta on Iran:
I think -- I think the international strategy here, and this really has been an international strategy, to apply sanctions, to apply diplomatic pressure on them, to try to convince Iran that, if -- you know, if they want to do what's right, they need to join the international family of nations and act in a responsible way.
I think the pressure of the sanctions; I think the pressure of diplomatic pressures from everywhere -- Europe, the United States, elsewhere -- is working to put pressure on them, to make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they're doing.
Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that's what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us.
Panetta on Military Option:
Well, you don't take any option off the table. I think that's extremely important. Don't take any option off the table. But the responsible thing to do right now is to keep putting diplomatic and economic pressure on them to force them to do the right thing and to make sure that they do not make the decision to proceed with the development of a nuclear weapon.
Dempsey on the U.S. Has the Capability to take out Iran’s Nuclear Program:
Well, I would rather not discuss the degree of difficulty in any way encourage them to read anything into that. But I will say that my responsibility is to encourage the right degree of planning, to understand the risks associated with any kind of military option, in some cases to position assets, to provide those options in a timely fashion. And all those activities are going on.
SCHIEFFER: Could we, if we had to, without using nuclear weapons ourselves take out their nuclear capability?
DEMPSEY: Well, I certainly want them to believe that that's the case.
SCHIEFFER: Well, is it?
DEMPSEY: I absolutely want them to believe that that's the case.

Panetta on Military Options if Iran Moves Towards a Nuclear Weapon:
I think they need to know that if they take that step that they're going to get stopped.

Panetta on Strait of Hormuz:
We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. That's another red line for us. And we will respond to that.

Dempsey on Iran’s Ability to Block the Strait of Hormuz:
They've invested in capabilities that could, in fact, for a period of time block the Strait of Hormuz. We've invested in capabilities to ensure if that happens, we can defeat that. And so the simple answer is yes they can block it. Of course that is, as well, a -- we've described that as an intolerable act.
And it's not just intolerable for us, it's intolerable to the world. But we would take action and reopen the straits.

Panetta on Israeli Military Action against Iran:
I think, you know, our preference is that the international community, including Israel, ought to work together on this issue. We have common cause here. We're not interested in them developing a nuclear weapon. We are not interested in them proliferating violence throughout that region. We are not interested in them trying to assist in terrorism. We are not interested in them trying to destabilize governments in that region or any place else. We have common cause here. And the better approach is for us to work together and not act...
… If the Israelis made that decision, we would have to be prepared to protect our forces in that situation. And that's what we'd be concerned about.

As always, feel free to get in touch to discuss further. Best, Ari

Ari Goldberg
Spokesperson • Director of Media Relations
agoldberg@aipac.org
AIPAC • The American Israel Public Affairs Committee
251 H Street, , Washington, DC 20001

TORONTO, 3 January 2012 – B'nai Brith Canada has condemned the desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia that took place this last weekend while Canadians celebrated the new year. Five grave-sites were defaced with swastikas and other symbols of hatred. Congregation Emanu-El is housed in a heritage building and is Canada's oldest continuously operating synagogue. The cemetery associated with this proud congregation opened in the 1860's and was the province's first Jewish cemetery.

Frank Dimant, CEO of B'nai Brith Canada commented, "In May 2010, a Victoria playground was defaced with swastikas and antisemitic slurs shortly after a communal celebration there. Now we learn of this act of desecration at the nearby burial site where in fact many survivors of the Holocaust have been laid to rest. We trust that British Columbia police will investigate this hate crime with all due diligence to identify the perpetrators as the work to clean away this ugliness begins.

Jan 1, 2012

To the Editor,

I very much enjoyed your article on Alzheimer´s disease!

December 20, 2011

Subject: Re: Rhonda Spivak 's article on Channukah in Puerto Vallarta

I am trying to locate Rhonda Spivak. She wrote an article last year about
Puerto Vallarta not having a Jewish Community center, Kosher food etc.

Shaul Groman and Yosef Elkayam are the Directors for "The Jew Wish" in
Puerto Vallarta, www.thejewwish.com and I know they would be happy to be
interviewed for an article about their Jewish Community, and all things Kosher
in Puerto Vallarta. They recently received Rabbi certification for a Kosher
kitchen and the inauguration was just last week, plus are having a Hanukkah
celebration next week in Puerto Vallarta.

Please pass this on to Rhonda or have her contact us for more details so she
can write an updated article about Puerto Vallarta's Directors of Jewish
events.

I've attached the Hanukkah invitation for you.

Thank You
Robin Miller, Peurto Vallarta
robin@carpediemrealestate.com

Dear Editor,

The only way to stop the attacks is to keep Hashem's commandments. Non-Jews respect Jews who respect Judaism.

Respectfully,

Adam Sheps

We are pleased to announce the first Canadian Social Justice Fellow in Israel. This is a very exciting new opportunity NIFC is making available to Canadians.

This prestigious, subsidized fellowship places young Jews in Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for a year of in-depth community service and learning.

Additional information is included here. If you know of any potential candidates or someone who might contact others qualified for this program, please feel free to circulate this email. Please note that the deadline for application is January 20, less than six weeks away.

On behalf of the Board and Staff of the NIFC, I want to wish you a healthy, prosperous and peaceful 2012,

PS: As 2011 draws to a close, please be generous in sustaining our important work through your support of NIFC. Information on donating provided via the button below.

Lawmakers from both parties call for the US to get tougher on the Islamic Republic

AIPAC welcomes the House-Senate Conference Committee's completion of tough new sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and urges its immediate passage and full implementation. This important, long-overdue measure will raise the pressure on Tehran to abandon its illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons.

AIPAC applauds the authors of the amendment, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), and thanks the following lawmakers for their leadership in ensuring its inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act conference report: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) and Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA).

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Ranking Member Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) not only played a role in the conference, but were originators of legislation targeting Iran’s Central Bank. A Berman amendment offered in October was included in legislation that the House is voting on today.

The CBI is the key financial facilitator of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, and provides significant assistance to previously sanctioned banks and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). If properly enforced, the new provision will require foreign financial institutions to choose between doing business with Iran's Central Bank and continuing to have access to the U.S. financial system.

It is essential that the administration embrace the Menendez-Kirk amendment in an effort to stop Tehran's nuclear program and its global support for terrorism.

AIPAC urges Congress to take additional strong steps through passage of comprehensive Iran sanctions legislation before both the House and Senate.

This is the same historical read that has convinced Palestinians that it is Israel and the West that created the Arab-Palestinian refugees, rather their own Arab leaders who did indeed put them in this state intentionally. Today, the perfidy of Palestinian society lies in its division, dysfunctionality, and complete denial of the reality it lives in.

To the Editor,

I read the interesting article. However, I never wrote a book. Perhaps, you are referring to Harold Troper's book "The Rescuer."
The reason she could not find Syrian Jews is that there are only 22 elderly individuals left, all in Damascus. They chose to stay because they have no
children.

The reason for the Hebrew school being in decent shape is because it was renovated by the JDC but there are no Jewish children remaining.

Judy Feld Carr

Editor's response: Thanks for writing in. You are correct . Ahava was referring to the book by Harold Troper , the Rescuer, which outlines your courageous and historic rescue of Syrian Jewry . It is a recommended read for anyone interested in the subject. I had t epleasure of hearing you tell your story of rescuing Syran Jewry in a clandestine manner first hand when I was a student and attended a general assembly of Jewish Federations conference and I never forgot you.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs commends the Federal Government for designating new funding for the Security Infrastructure Program.

TORONTO, ON -- Following the announcement by Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews of new funding for the Security Infrastructure Program, David Koschitzky, Chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued the following statement:

“We thank the government for its continuing support of vulnerable communities through the Security Infrastructure Program. This vital program will continue to assist at-risk communities to protect their communal institutions and the community members who use them from violence and vandalism. It is an unfortunate reality that some communities need to worry more about their safety than others, but it is indeed comforting to know our government understands these concerns and is prepared to offer assistance.”

“When an act of vandalism or violence is directed against a place of worship or a school or a building that is identified with one community, the fabric of Canadian life is damaged. Thankfully, we live in a country that understands that hate is incompatible with our core values and that in order for any community to thrive and contribute to the rich cultural landscape of our nation, we all must feel secure and protected. We applaud Minister Toews and the Federal government for joining with at-risk communities to help them protect against acts of hate.”

December 14, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs issued the following statement regarding the recent acts of violence on Israeli institutions

OTTAWA, ON --- Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued the following statement on the recent acts of vandalism on Israeli
institutions:

"Our community is concerned about recent acts of violence perpetrated by marginal, yet active elements against Israeli military facilities and an abandoned mosque in Jerusalem. These unacceptable acts are contrary to the Jewish and democratic values of Israel and are reproved by the whole of Israeli society."

"We commend the determination of the Israeli government to stop all forms of extremist violence and share the position of the Israeli Prime Minister that
this violence must end now before this marginal phenomenon gains any magnitude. We are confident that the perpetrators of the attacks will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law."

For more information, please contact:

Jordan Kerbel
Deputy Director, Communications and Advocacy Training
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs
jkerbel@cija.ca<mailto:jkerbel@cija.ca>
416.638.1991 ext. 5142

Arafat ascribed to the principal that a lie told often enough becomes the truth.

The Living Legacies series currently has three published volumes. Each volume is a collection of original, creative nonfiction writing by contemporary Canadian Jewish women. The authorship of this series includes a broad range of diverse Canadian Jewish women from across the country. Each woman has a unique voice with a message to deliver. The contributing authors bestow their wisdom and share their insights and experiences. In chronicling their stories, the authors empower and enlighten the readers. Each volume includes a collection of legacy writing that is both personal and universal. Legacy writing is a meaningful expression of identity, purpose, values, beliefs, reflections and experiences.

Dec 4, 2011

Rhonda,

Thanks...and your paper keeps getting better and betterJ!!!!

Ronna Goldberg
Regional Event Planner
Sturgeon Creek 1 Retirement Residence
10 Hallonquist Drive
Winnipeg, Manitoba