Mayors fêted by JNF

MONIKA ULLMANN

The 2006 Negev Dinner, Turning Vision into Reality, honored four past mayors of Vancouver – Larry Campbell, Philip Owen, Michael Harcourt and Art Philips – for their ability to turn visions into reality. In this case, that reality is what's known among city planners as the "Vancouver model" – a vision of a modern, high-density lifestyle that is the envy of the world.

As Yossi Darr, shaliach (emissary) of the Jewish National Fund and the dinner's host, pointed out, turning a desert into a fertile land requires not only vision but also commitment and determination, something Campbell characterized as "the can-do attitude of the Israeli people."

The event was held at the Four Seasons Hotel and most of the guests, who included the current mayor, Sam Sullivan, were not aware that there was quite another reality happening outside, where a small group of protestors had gathered under the watchful eye of Vancouver police.

The leader of the protest, chairman of the Canadian Palestinian Association, Hanna Kawas, initially declined to talk to a reporter from the Independent.

"We don't talk to you because the Jewish Independent is racist and Zionist," he said, waving a Palestinian banner. However, when Kawas was asked what was so terrible about planting trees in the desert, he answered in spite of himself.

"This isn't about the so-called greening of the desert," he insisted, "it's about destroying Bedouin lands. They're being pushed out of their ancestral lands and the Israelis are destroying the crops of the Bedouin."

Another man, Sid Shniad, who identified himself as Jewish, said that, "The Palestinian people are not my enemy, and the Zionist project has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the Palestinian people in violation of international law and fundamental human decency."

The group marched up and down while Kawas shouted about "ending Israeli apartheid." "History is on our side," he declared.

Inside, the dinner proceeded without a hitch.

Sullivan greeted the guests with "Shalom" and talked about how the Jewish people had among them so many "heavy, powerful think-ers." Perhaps by way of identifying with the crowd, he said: "I belong to a Jewish sect called Christianity myself," at which point he was interrupted by loud applause and cheers. He went to say that Jews "represent the world" and that their impact is enormous, especially in Vancouver. He ended by stating that "We need to make sure that we have a strong and healthy Israel."

Darr then introduced a video showing what the JNF has achieved in the Negev. He talked about how Israel isn't just planting trees in the region (so far, a quarter billion), but is primarily engaged in research and development of reclaiming and managing scarce water resources and sharing their knowledge with other arid states, such as Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Alberta.

Alberta recently signed an agreement with British Columbia and the JNF to work jointly on a water preservation project. The provinces will share their expertise in water management. Among the new projects that the proceeds of the dinner will support is the construction of a new ecological field centre that will serve as an educational hub for young people from all over the world.

Darr, who is nearing the end of his three-year term as shaliach, thanked the "gracious Vancouver community" for its generous support to the cause.

After dinner, the mayors gave short speeches that showed that there is a long history of support for the Jewish cause at City Hall, going back all the way to Vancouver's first mayor, David Oppenheimer. As Yosef Wosk pointed out, a mayor is really a "mehir – someone who ... stands alone, who strives, who lights a candle in the darkness."

Monika Ullmann is a Vancouver freelance writer and editor. She can be reached at [email protected].

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