Features - Winnipeg Jewish Review

My name is Dan Grummett, weekend anchor with Global Winnipeg.I’m looking to get in touch with Rhonda regarding an anti-semitic email reportedly sent to her recently. Please give us a call. We like to do something on this. 204-978-8545

Dan Grummett
Global News

October 14, 2012

Hi there, we heard that your publication received an email similar to the posters that have been put up downtown.

Deborah Mensah-Bonsu, Reporter/Weekend Producer CTV NEWS 775 8016
Deborah Mensah-Bonsu | Reporter/Weekend Producer
CTV News Winnipeg | t 204.775.8016 | f 204.943.3112 | [email protected]
400-345 Graham Ave.
Winnipeg, MB R3C 5S6

Toronto, ON – Over the last two days, more than a million civilians in southern Israel have been the target of more than 80 missiles and mortars fired by the Hamas regime and other Palestinian terror groups in Gaza. At least three workers have been wounded on a farm in southern Israel.

In response to the escalation in attacks, David Koschitzky, Chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued the following statement:

“We vigorously condemn the ongoing, intensive targeting of Israeli civilians by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza. This week’s events are a stark demonstration of the core obstacle to peace. In 2005, Israel withdrew every last settlement from Gaza as a unilateral gesture that should have paved the way for a resolution to the conflict. Hamas has since answered with violence and unwavering rejection of the Jewish state’s very existence.

“Every missile fired by Hamas not only threatens the lives of Israeli civilians, but ultimately endangers the people of Gaza and further delays the arrival of peace and a prosperous Palestinian state. It’s time for Hamas to accept its responsibilities as set by the International Quartet starting with a renouncing of violence, and in so doing take a bold step to secure a positive future for the Palestinian people.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is a non-partisan organization that serves as the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada.

ADL lambasted the report, titled "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories since 1967" and due to be presented tomorrow to the General Assembly, as "tainted from the start in its message and by its messenger."

"While the issue of human rights violations experienced by Palestinians is a legitimate area of concern and inquiry, Richard Falk has repeatedly abused his position as special rapporteur to unleash unrestrained hatred and disdain for Israel," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "This malevolence permeates his official reports and, at times, his personal statements, which include the use of anti-Semitic imagery and comparisons of Israeli actions to those of the Nazis."

As Special Rapporteur, Falk has made it his mission to single out Israel as a human rights violator while using the imprimatur of the U.N. to advance a biased agenda fueled by anti-Israel animus which erodes the credibility of the U.N.

In a letter to Secretary-General Ban, ADL condemned Mr. Falk's latest report for focusing on private corporations doing business in Israel – one of the hallmarks of the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign to pressure companies doing business with Israel. ADL strongly urged Mr. Ban to withdraw his transmittal of Mr. Falk's report to the General Assembly's Third Committee and to publicly distance himself from Falk's "biased and offensive behavior."

"The United Nations should not be complicit in this wholly unjustified effort to single out Israel," Mr. Foxman wrote in a sharply worded letter to Mr. Ban on the eve of the session devoted to Mr. Falk's report. "We believe you should have prevented the Secretariat from being a party to Mr. Falk's anti-Israel agenda. Mr. Falk's entire tenure as Special Rapporteur has served to undermine the credibility of the institution of the United Nations."

strenuously objected to Mr. Falk's appointment as Special Rapporteur and, more recently, lodged a complaint with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights over his use of Nazi comparisons to castigate the Jewish state.

With respect to Rhonda Spivak’s critique of Roger Cohen, it goes even further. Last year, Cohen appeared on a Bloomberg television debate with respect to Israeli-Us foreign policy relations. Cohen asserted that the ONLY way to bring Israel to the negotiating table was to create ‘daylight’ between the US and Israel, so much so that the latter would have to move on peace talks or incur an even greater degree of wrath by the former. President Obama said to Governor Romney last night that on almost every major foreign policy issue the governor has been wrong. This same can easily be said about the Israel-related statements of Roger Cohen. It is obvious that Cohen has little time for the State of Israel, which is fine. He is entitled to his opinion. But when he uses his perch at the NYT to attack anything pro-Israel on a regular basis, that becomes a different issue.

October 22, 2012 - Winnipeg – When emptyful opened along with the renovated Millennium Library Park, no one quite anticipated the splash it would make.

The new work by Vancouver artist Bill Pechet was created through the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Public Art Program as part of the Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada designation, and has gotten attention from local, national and international media.

The Winnipeg Arts Council has received requests for information from travel and design magazines as far away France (Courrier International), Germany (Studio5555), and Russia (Afisha Mir), and the piece has been highlighted on countless blogs and websites across the world.

Recently the Discovery Channel show Daily Planet also aired a segment about the work.

“You always hope your work will make an impression, that it will interest people, but this was unexpected,” said Bill Pechet who was in and out of Winnipeg countless times during the creation of the work. “emptyful’s not quite a Justin Bieber phenom, but close!” he joked.

The 11 meter high stainless steel sculpture has been winterized for the season, so the water and fog have been turned off. People can enjoy the lights which have been set to warm colours to cheer the park in the winter months and act as a giant downtown hearth.

“I’m thrilled but not surprised,” said Tricia Wasney, Manager of Public Art for the Winnipeg Arts Council of the attention and accolades bestowed upon emptyful. “The work is iconic, mysterious and playful. It will be a calling card for Winnipeg in the years to come.”

October 4, 2012

To the Editor,

Hello,

I wanted to offer a Q&A or story idea around a Toronto-based architect who specializes in designing for Jewish schools. Paul Cravit, Design Director at CS&P Architects (csparch.com) worked on the Community Hebrew Academy Toronto (CHAT) 15 years ago building on a long-standing relationship with Independent schools in Canada and the firm’s track record in education. The school was originally a small Toronto District School Board facility but with the help of Paul and CS&P, has expanded into two campuses: The northern Tannenbaum Campus and the south Kimmel Education facility. It was through this project and Paul’s association with Jewish culture that grew this area of the firm’s work in education.

CS&P recently finished a $5 million renovation to Leo Baeck, the only reform Jewish Day School in Canada and largest in North America. They are also currently working on projects for two elementary schools which are scheduled for completion in 2013.

There are a number of factors that must be considered when designing for a Jewish school that impact the design and set it apart from a secular facility. These can include pedagogy, culture, religion and issues of security. Classrooms are set up differently from a spatial perspective and have different requirements. Jewish festivals and holidays must be accommodated in the space and there are more stringent security requirements which need to be established.

The recently completed Leo Baeck was designed to foster a connection to nature and incorporates a lot of natural light. Creating a feeling of openness and transparency through visual sightlines into the classrooms, CS&P worked to create a space with a real domestic quality. When a student enters their new school the hope is to create the feeling that they are entering a neighbour’s home.

I’d be happy to facilitate an interview with Paul and/or provide more information and images of the new Leo Baeck school if you’re interested.

Thanks,
Julia Harper

October 5, 2012

Hello Rhonda,

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading the newsletter. It provides me with a lot of insight and in-depth information into many areas that I otherwise would not be able to easily obtain. Although I have been to Israel and have volunteered in the Jewish community in Winnipeg I appreciate being able to be kept up to date on the variety of topics the newsletter contains. Could spend the day reading it if I had more time!

Regards,

Lisa Lewis

Dear Ms. Spivak,

Mr. Tenebom's experience is very similar to mine.
I am a published writer, born in post World War II Germany to Jewish Holocaust survivors. Now living in the USA.
My books in German about growing up Jewish in Germany won high acclaim but they had been severely censored by the publishers ( Schaffstein Verlag and Ellermann Verlag). I withdrew my last book 1987 but they published it censored despite my official withdrawal of the manuscript.
I subsequently continued writing in English.

An article I wrote in 2000 titled "JEWS IN GERMANY " was rejected by every newspaper that had initially been interested, after reading the article - including the SZ.
After the heated public diatribe against Jews in connection with the circumcision debate and the inappropriate honor bestowed on the Jewish-American scholar Judith Butler, a staunch critic of Israel, I submitted this article updated, as requested by Der Stern Magazine, which promptly rejected it again.

Germany has been very successful suppressing the ugly reality and projecting an image of a new Germany, with the help of accommodating Jews both in Germany as well as abroad. I was attacked for obscuring Germany's achievements by the vice-consul of Germany in Boston some years ago, when a local newspaper published a piece about the censorship I was subjected to by my publishers.

If you are interested in the article, now updated to 2012 I will be pleased to send it to you.

My new book in German SCHANDE - eine Liebe in Deutschland (Transl: Disgrace - a love affair in Germany)- a collection of stories about Jewish life in Germany- is currently under consideration by a publisher. The outcome is unclear so far.

Sincerely

Aliana Brodmann
Phone: 617 240-7033

[email protected]

This was an amazing experience for everyone in the room and you captured those very special moments in your article. Adding the videos allowed your readers an opportunity to hear what we heard in the congregation. As I said to a friend, "The music was so beautiful and somber at moments, there wasn't a dry eye in the audience."

October 1, 2012

TERRIFIC JOB ROZ !! CAN'T PRAISE YOU OR THANK YOU ENOUGH. IT WAS DONE WITH THE SAME PASSION AND DEDICATION THAT PERVADES THE SPIRIT OF OUR SERVICES. YOSHER KOACH !

ALLAN BLYE

September 28, 2012

To the Editor,

RE: http://www.winnipegjewishreview.com/article_detail.cfm?id=2905&sec=1&title=Forgotten_Refugees:_Israel_Highlights_Jews_From_Arab__&_Muslim_Lands_at_U.N.

It's also important to remember that the Jews didn't leave "just" because they felt threatened (a BIG "just").

The Arab refugees is the ONLY refugee group where "refugee status" is passed from generation to generation. Hence you see a kid at a session on the Middle East calling himself a 4th generation Palestinian refugee.

By the same logic I'm a 100th generation Judean refugee as a result of the Romans crushing the Bar Kochba revolt.

Toronto, ON – Today at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas re-affirmed his intention to persist in avoiding formal obligations to engage in direct negotiations with Israel, and instead to pursue unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN.
In response, Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued the following statement:

“We are disappointed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to avoid direct negotiations with Israel, and has instead chosen to use the UN as a platform for symbolic gestures that will create neither peace nor a Palestinian state.

“Both Canada and the broader international community, along with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, have signed on to a clear framework for resolving the conflict. This consensus approach envisions the creation of a Palestinian state solely on a foundation of peace with Israel and including security guarantees to maintain that peace. Such a resolution will be determined only through direct negotiations, reconciliation and difficult compromises by both sides. On all three of these points, Israelis have shown not only willingness, but a demonstrable record of achievement.

“In refusing direct negotiations for all but a few months over the past three years, the Palestinian leadership is not merely undermining the established peace process. It is ultimately forestalling the creation of a Palestinian state at peace with Israel. In so doing, Mahmoud Abbas risks perpetuating this painful conflict for the next generation of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is a non-partisan organization that serves as the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada.

For Information:
Steve McDonald, Associate Director, Communications
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs
416-953-4417 – [email protected]

I am the publicist for Sony Music Canada, I hope my email finds you well. I am delighted to be working with Sony Music on the release of Itzhak Perlman’s new CD release. There is some information below, I have also asked Sony to send you a copy of the disc as soon as it is available. I wondered if you might be interested in speaking with him about this recording? It was released in Canada on September 4^th.

AS THE Winnipeg Free Press reported "Winnipeg police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down the perpetrators of anti-Semitic posters that were put up around the downtown Friday." We should not be surprised by this sort of behaviour. Winnipeg and Manitoba still have many narrow minded folks that have no idea about how to handle diversity issues. We live in a bubble thinking all is just great but antisemitic behavior is up in Manitoba and Canada as a whole. This is just not behaviour that is directed towards those who are Jewish but it includes Muslims and all visible minorities.

I teach a Workplace Diversity course at Brandon University in the Department of Business. It is the only such course at any University in Western Canada. Students have little understanding of other cultures and community and are open to learning about the customs of other communities; they have for the most grown up in a Wonder Bread environment.

Learning to accept and celebrate our differences is how we like to think of Canada but in many communities of our province intolerance is alive and well. We tolerate intolerance too much in this province and have lost the act of social activism for those that are the victims of discriminatory behaviour. Everyone will give lip service to this or that hate crime/incident, but few will do anything about discriminatory behaviour in our communities. We all must become community engaged when dehumanizing abusive behaviour is directed to any one group in our community.

Learning to welcome people with differences into our community is something many of us still need to learn. When I walk the streets of Brandon I hear the most awful hateful remarks about new immigrants that have come to live in our community. I also hear this in the streets of Winnipeg concerning aboriginal peoples. We must not allow social or cultural indolence to ever raise its head in our communities. The solution is social and legal activism to ensure that when this nasty behaviour challenges our society values, we react swiftly and responsibly to say this is antisocial behaviour and individuals behaving in this fashion will be dealt with by our justice system.

Assoc. Professor Alan Levy BA, MIR,LLM
Human Resources, Labour Relations & Dispute Resolution
Department of Business Administration
Faculty of Arts
Brandon University

“We have asked the Government of Canada to urge the Security Council to refer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the ongoing incitement to genocide of the Jewish people by Iran’s leadership. The ICC has a mandate under international law to act in this matter. Iran’s president continues to openly call for the Jewish State to be wiped off the map, and sponsors terrorist groups to attack Israeli civilians and Jewish communities around the world.

Re: QUESTION FOR BARTLEY KIVES, RE ANTISEMITIC POSTERS : HOW MANY ANTISEMITIC EMAILS DID YOU GET? by Rhonda Spivak, September 16, 2012

I anxiously await your update and/or correction to the above mentioned piece, considering that the Winnipeg Free Press did in fact publish a comprehensive article focused entirely on the anti-Semitic nature of these posters and the ongoing investigation (Sept 16, by Geoff Kirbyson). The decision whether to publish the exact text or a photo on the poster is, as you surely understand, an editorial choice - possibly one made easier in this case as a result of the journalist actually doing the job of a journalist by getting the story.

Per the attached link, one can read the entire WFP article (entitled 'Anti-Semitic, a Hate Crime') and the author's interview with David Matas who, in his capacity as B'nai Brith legal counsel, addresses both the specific anti-Semitic details contained in the posters as well as the broader implications of anti-Jewish hate speech. Furtherreactions and quotes from Mayor Katz and businessman Earl Barish (both mentioned on the poster) are also included.

To suggest that the WFP shied away from covering the anti-Semitic details of this case, or that Mr. Kives is gagged by his employer is, at best, a stretch. It's just as possible that Mr. Kives declined to comment on your story because his focus is on investigating the facts and ramifications of this case rather than replying to unsubstantiated conjecture of the Winnipeg Police Services' hate-on for Jews, a premise apparently based solely on an initial press release that didn't scream 'hate crime'.

As you said in your article, "I am posting a photo of this disgusting poster because I want to make sure that all of my readers have a chance to see it--and be shocked by it." The facts of this case are chilling enough without your readers requiring additional shock value.

If you are trying to say that I ought not have published a photo of the poster, since in your words "the facts of this case are chilling enough," I want you to know that I made the decision ot do so, after having been in contact with someone who was named in the poster, who was in favour of my doing so. Secondly, I did so after consulting with a leading scholar on antisemitism. I also did so keeping in mind that I thought it made no sense to have Jewish readers of the Sun seeing the poster, while many Jews in the community who do not get the Sun would not be able to see it.

I also considered that publication of the poster can possibly benefit the police investigation of the matter. When something such as this shown to readers, it is possible that someone in the community at large on seeing it, will realize that they are aware of somewhere else in the city where the poster is hanging, or where similar posters are hanging, or that they will realize in hindsight that they saw someone hanging posters that looked like this downtown.

As for your comments suggesting that I have taken the postiiton that the Winnipeg Free Press shied away form the issue of antisemitism in regards to these posters, I didn't say that at all. What I was suggesting is that it may be interesting for Bartley Kives , who has written that he has received antisemitic emails , to write a piece about how often in writing pieces where the sbject matters Jewish, results in him receiving antisemitic emails. Has this happened once in his career, 10 times or a hundred times ? How many antisemitic emails has he recently gotten or has he gotten over the span of his career. I have no idea, and it may make for a very interesting article, particularly if he has never reported these incidences to Bnai Brith Canada sucjh that they have not been relected in th e audits of antisemitism Bnai Brith puts out yearly.[ Clearly to the extent that people in the Jewish community do not reporting these incidences to Bnai Brith then the reality may well be that there is more antisemitism out there than is captured by the audit.]. Anyone in the Jewish community who is concerned with antisemitism ought to be encouraging victims of antisemitism to report the incidences to Bnai Brith so their audit includes them and is as reliable as possible.

As someone who has previously worked as a lawyer in the Department of Justice, when I read Bartley Kives saying that he has recently been receiving antisemitc hate mail , I began thinking whether he would be sharing that hatemail with city police. Is it possible for example that the culprit/s behind the antisemitic poster have read Kives's articles about the goings on at City Hall recently and have even in fact sent Bartley similarly worded emails ? If this were the case, then viewing Bartley's emails and the email addresses from where they were sent could conceivably help police in identifying the culprit/s in the investigation of the antisemitic posters. That is why in my view it could be very important that Bartley share his antisemitic emails recently received with the police. Since I have worked in the Crown's office before in the area of defamatory posters, I know how diffucult it can be to uncover supporting evidence to identify the author/s of such anonymous posters.

If Bartley is in possession of recent antismeitic emails he can share with th epolice, then I (and no doubt many others inthe community) encourage him to do so. I asked the question in the article I wrote about whether Bartly is able to share these emails with police, because I know that at times there are issues of "privilege" that can apply to journalists. It is not always the case that journalists are able to share their emails, or their sources. I don't know what the policy of the Winnipeg Free Press is in regard to any of the antisemitic emails that Bartley has received , and wouldn't want to criticize Bartley for not having reported about the existence of the antisemitic emails he has received to the Bnai Brith or the police if in fact there was some journalist related reason why he felt he could not share these emails. That is why I asked the question and I think it is a legitimate question.

If Bartley has received antisemitic emails that he simply decided not to report to Bnai Brith or the police , then I hope he will consider changing this and beginning to report them. As a community, I believe we would be well served if he did so.

Finally, there is one point I wish to ad regarding the coverage of the Winnipeg Free Press in regard ot the article written by Bartley Kives entiteld "Katz Bought Sheegl's Biz. Certainly, any newspaper has the right to offer criticizm of this transaction , but I urge readers to look at the photo the Free Press chose to use of of Katz laughing with Sheegl. Arguably it is an inflammatory photo as it in my view makes it appear as if katz and Sheegl are having a good laugh about the sale of Sheegl's buisness to him. Unless the photo was taken at the time the transcaction occurred,(and there is no reason to suggest it was that I can see) why would they match this particular photo with the article? http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/katz-bought-sheegls-biz-169428336.html