ג’ון נוטל ואמנדה מרי קורודי, שתכננו לפוצץ את בית המחוקקים של המחוז בוויקטוריה. (צילום: RCMP)
תוגברו אמצעי הביטחון בקהילה היהודית לאור פרשת הזוג נוטל וקורודי שהתאסלמו ותכננו להרוג ילדים יהודים
זוג קנדי שהתאסלם תכנן להסתנן לאחד מבתי בית כנסת יהודיים באזור ונקובר, כדי להרוג ילדים, כך עולה מחקירת שוטר סמוי במסגרת דיוני בית המשפט העליון של מחוז בריטיש קולומביה. מדובר בפרשת ג’ון נוטל ואמנדה מרי קורודי, שתכננו לפוצץ את בית המחוקקים של המחוז בוויקטוריה, ביום העצמאות הקנדי ב-1 ביולי 2013. השניים שהתאסלמו תכננו לפוצץ את הבניין באמצעות חומרי נפץ תוצרת בית שיוטמנו בסירי לחץ. הם הציבו את הפצצות הביתיות מחוץ לבית המחוקקים, אך השוטרים שעקבו אחריהם דאגו לנטרלן ולא נגרם שום נזק. הזוג הטרוריסטי טכננו לבצע פעולות טרור נוספות ולהרוג מספר אזרחים לא ידוע. השוטר הסמוי אמר עוד בחקירתו המעניינת, שנוטל וקורודי חשבו “שרצח של ילדים יהודים, שלדבריהם מחונכים רק לשנוא ערבים ומוסלמים, דווקא יעשה להם טובה. כי אז הם יגיעו לגן עדן”. לפי תפיסתם המעוותת לעומתם הילדים “יהודים מבוגרים לאחר מותם מגיעים הישר להגיהנום”. הזוג האמין שכיוון שהם לבנים לא התהיה להם בעייה להצטרף לאחד מבתי הכנסת על תקן של חברים, לאחר שיתחזו ליהודים. כך ירכשו את אמון המתפללים האחרים.
נוטל וקורודי נעצרו לפני כשנתיים לאחר חקירה מורכבת וממושכת של משטרה הפדרלית, סוכנות הביון הקנדית וסוכנות הריגול הקנדית. השניים הפכו לג’יהאדים קיצוניים לאחר שהושפעו מהתעמולה של ארגון אל-קעידה. הם רצו להשתתף במלחמת הקודש נגד מדינות המערב, “לאור מה שהן עושות לאיסלאם”. לטענת נוטל וקורודי הם הופללו על ידי שוטרי המשטרה הפדרלית, שאף עודדו אותם והאיצו בהם לבצע את פעולות הטרור. שני הנאשמים הורשעו כבר והדיונים בית המשפט העליון לקביעת עונשם יתחדשו בחודש אוקטובר.
לאור פרשה החמורה של נוטל וקורודי הוחלט בפדרציה היהודית של אזור מטרו ונקובר להגביר את הביטחון בקרב הקהילה היהודית, תוך שיתוף פעולה מלא עם הארגונים היהודים השונים.
מנכ”ל הפדרציה היהודית, עזרא שאנקן, מציין כי הפדרציה לוקחת את האיומים כנגד הקהילה היהודית באופן רציני ביותר. עם זאת הוא מדגיש כי לא ידוע בשלב זה על גידול כלשהו בסכנה לקהילה היהודית. שאנקן אומר עוד שלפדרציה יש כיום פרוטוקולים מסודרים וברורים לנושאי ביטחון, ונעשה בהם שימוש ברגע שיש התראות ביטחוניות. לדבריו לפדרציה יש קשרים טובים מאוד עם סוכנויות המשטרה השונות באזור ונקובר בהן המשטרה הפדרלית, והיא בקשר קבוע וישיר עימם בכל הנוגע לאיומים על הקהילה היהודית.
מנכ”ל הפדרציה היהודית המקומית אומר כי הארגון נקט לאחרונה במספר פעולות מורכבות בתחום הביטחון. בהן: פיקוח, בידוק וביקורות על תחום הביטחון בארגונים היהודים השונים באזור, שידרוג מערך הביטחון של ארגונים אלה תוך הקצאת משאבים כספיים ואחרים על ידי הפדרציה, המשך אספקת מערכי תדרוך, הכשרה, תרגול ותמיכה בארגונים בתחום הביטחון. כן הוחלט לאחרונה על הקמת ועדה מיוחדת בנושא תחום הביטחון בפדרציה היהודית, שתעזור ותייעץ בקביעת מדיניות הביטחון הרחבה, כולל קבלת החלטות ומימון בהמשך הדרך.
עזרא שאנקן אומר כי לאור צורך בפעילות ביטחונית בקרב הקהילה היהודית באופן שוטף ומתמשך, נדרש מימון יציב וקבוע לנושא חשוב זה. ולכן לדבריו יש מקום להשיג את מקורות התקציב, במסגרת הקמפיין השנתי החדש של הפדרציה לשנה זו (ערב הפתיחת הקמפיין של 2015 נקבע ל-17 בחודש ספטמבר). שאנקן אומר עוד כי הקצאת משאבים כספיים מהקמפיין השנתי החדש, היא אחת מהדרכים החדשות בה נוקטת הפדרציה היהודית, שמתאימה עצמה לדרישות המשתנות של הקהילה המקומית.
הצגת היחיד “מיי פירסט סוני” עם רועי הורוביץ. (צילום: Erez Schwarzbaum)
הצגת היחיד “מיי פירסט סוני” של בני ברבש עם רועי הורוביץ תשתתף בפסטיבל הפרינג’ בוונקובר
הצגת היחיד “מיי פירסט סוני” תשתתף בפסטיבל הפרינג’ של ונקובר בחודש הבא. ההצגה תועלה בשפה האנגלית שש פעמים באולם ‘סטודיו 1398′, שנמצא בגרנוויל איילנד בספטמבר: ביום שישי (11) בשעה 10:15 בערב, למחרת שבת (12) ב-4:45 אחר הצהריים, ביום ראשון (13) שהוא ערב ראש השנה ב-1 אחר הצהריים, ביום שני ראש השנה (14) ב-6:40 בערב, ביום חמישי (17) ב-8.40 בערב, וכן בשבת (19) בשעה 8:15 בערב.
פסטיבל הפרינג’ של ונקובר שקיים מזה שלושים שנה, יערך השנה בין 10-20 בספטמבר. הוא יכלול 800 הצגות במהלך אחד עשר הימים ובהשתתפות 91 אמנים.
לאחר ונקובר תועלה “מיי פירסט סוני” גם בשתי ערים נוספות במרכז קנדה: טורונטו ומונטריאול. במסגרת הסיבוב בצפון אמריקה היא תוצג גם בסיאטל.
“מיי פירסט סוני” על פי ספרו של בני ברבש, מוצגת על ידי רועי הורוביץ, הבימאית היא דפנה וידנפלד-נגלר, ומנהלת ההצגה (והאחראית על סיורים בעולם) היא ערגה נץ.
ההצגה מציגה את התפוררותה של משפחה מתל אביב מנקודת ראות של אחד הילדים (יותם לזר בן האחד עשרה), שהחליט להקליט ברשמקול שלו “מיי פירסט סוני” אותו קיבל מאביו, את כל קורותיה הסבוכים של משפחתו. הילד עוקב באובססיביות מרובה אחר מריבות הקשות בין אביו לאימו, השיחות המעניינות והעסיסיות בין האם לחברותיה הטובות, הבגידות של האב. כן ישנם מעט מאוד רגעים טובים של המשפחה. יותם עוקב ומדווח בדייקנות מרובה אחר הנעשה במשפחתו וכמובן מקליט את הכל, ובעיקר את סיפור הפרידה בין האב לאם שמסתיים באסון.
ספרו של ברבש יצא לאור בשנת 1994 (בהוצאת הספרייה החדשה), ותורגם למספר שפות: אנגלית, צרפתית, איטלקית, גרמנית, יוונית וסינית. ההצגה עלתה לראשונה בפסטיבל תיאטרונטו בשנת 1996, ומאז היא מוצגת במשך תשע עשרה שנים ברציפות בישראל ובקומות שונים בעולם. ובהם: קנדה (היא השתתפה בפסטיבל הפרינג’ של אדמונטון), ארה”ב, גרמניה, הולנד, אוסטרליה, צ’כיה, סלובקיה, דרום אפריקה ומצרים.
הורוביץ שמשמש גם במאי ומרצה לתיאטרון הוא בוגר הסטודיו למשחק בהנהלת ניסן נתיב, מחזיק בתואר ראשון ושני בהצטיינות בחוג לתיאטרון באוניברסיטת תל אביב, וכן סיים לימודי תעודת הוראה בבית הספר לחינוך של אוניברסיטת תל אביב. הוא השתתף מספר גדול של הצגות (בהן: “קומדיה של טעויות” ו”הקפטן”), וכן שימש במאי של הרבה הצגות (בהן: “דוממים” ו”שני חדרים”).
היסטוריה בקוקויטלם: הפצצה יצאה מהארון
שיפוצניק בעיר קוקויטלם נדהם לגלות לפני מספר ימים שפצצה מונחת לה בהחבא באחד הארונות, בדירה בה עבד. הדירה הריקה הייתה שייכת לאדם מבוגר שנפטר וקרוביו הגיעו למסקנה שיש לערוך בה שיפוץ רציני. הקרובים לא ידעו כלל שסב המשפחה החביא לא פחות מאשר פצצה בארון הפרטי שלו. השיפוצניק לאחר שהתעשת הזעיק את המשטרה המקומית, שהזעיקה יחידה צבאית לפירוק פצצות של חיל הים הקנדי.
צוות של היחידה הימית הצליח בזהירות רבה להרחיק מהבית את הפצצה שמשקלה 5.2 ק”ג, ולנטרל אותה בשטח פתוח ללא פגע. לאחר שחקרו ובדקו את חלקיה מצאו שהיא יוצרה בתקופת מלחמת העולם השנייה. בהמשך החקירה בשיתוף המשטרה התברר עוד שהקשיש שגר בבית, נמנה בשעתו על חיל האוויר הקנדי, ומשום מה החליט להחביא בביתו את אחת מהפצצות ששימשו לתרגול.
במשטרת קוקויטלם אומרים כי מעולם לא קיבלו קריאה מאזרחים לחלץ פצצה מבית. השוטרים ציינו לשבח את השיפוצניק שהזעיק אותם ולדבריהם: “עשה בדיוק את הדבר הנכון”.
Liberal Party of Canada leader Justin Trudeau in an interview with Cynthia Ramsay of the Jewish Independent. (photo by Adam Scotti)
Justin Trudeau said he is cautiously optimistic about the Iran nuclear deal, insisted he is committed to fighting ISIS and reiterated his commitment to the environment and social fairness in an exclusive interview with the Jewish Independent.
The federal Liberal leader, who hopes to be prime minister after the Oct. 19 federal election, acknowledged the implications of Iran’s agreement with Western powers over its nuclear program, which the Tehran regime maintains is for energy purposes only.
“We all start from the same place on this – a nuclear-armed Iran is a threat not just to Israel, not just to the region, but to the entire world, and we have to make sure that Iran doesn’t achieve that,” Trudeau said.
There are only two ways to reach this objective, he said: direct military intervention on the ground against the Iranian regime or a diplomatic agreement. “We don’t have such a great record of military intervention in that part of the world,” he noted, stressing that the agreement is “not based on trust but on verification.”
“We are cautiously optimistic about the deal,” he said. “We’re not saying we should drop the sanctions today. Obviously, there are a lot of milestones to be addressed, but I think anything [is positive] that sets us down the path of both delaying the ability significantly of Iran to get the nuclear bomb and increases the ability of the Iranian people to put pressure on their regime to change – because we all know we can make a tremendous distinction between the Iranian citizens and their government that doesn’t represent them particularly well.”
Trudeau also advocated reopening diplomatic relations with Iran eventually. “I do feel that it would be very nice to hope to reopen that embassy at one point because you don’t have embassies with just your friends, you have your embassies with the people you disagree with,” he said. “However, on top of addressing the nuclear concerns, Iran has to do an awful lot to demonstrate that it’s no longer going to be a state sponsor of terrorism in the region, around the world, and they have to do an awful lot around human rights and repression of their own citizens and dissent within Iran before they can rejoin the community of nations. But I think we’re on a path that should be cause for at least a level of comfort that perhaps we’re in a positive direction now.”
In speaking with the JI after a speech to the Richmond Chamber of Commerce last Friday, Trudeau, in his second exclusive with the paper, clarified his stance around confronting ISIS.
“This is a great opportunity for me to spell out our position on this,” he said. “The Liberal party feels it is extremely important that Canada be a significant part in the effort against ISIS. We are absolutely supportive of being part of that coalition and, indeed, we feel there is a military role for Canada in the fight against ISIS that can make a very big difference. We disagree that bombing is the best way for Canada to do that. That’s why we voted against the mission and voted against the expansion of the mission into Syria, because it has a likely side effect of strengthening Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power and that we don’t necessarily want.”
“We are absolutely supportive of being part of that coalition and, indeed, we feel there is a military role for Canada in the fight against ISIS that can make a very big difference. We disagree that bombing is the best way for Canada to do that.”
What Trudeau would prefer, he said, is for Canada to provide more humanitarian aid, for example, and for this country’s military to provide the kind of role it does in Afghanistan. “We’ve developed tremendous expertise,” he said, “which is training the local troops to be able to take the fight more efficiently to ISIS. That would happen far from the frontlines because we don’t want Canadian troops to be involved [there] but also because we know that it is the local troops that are going to be effective at taking back their homes, their communities, and dropping in Western soldiers doesn’t make the situation better as, unfortunately, the Americans understood in Iraq awhile ago.”
He sees an opportunity for Canada to make an impact without being directly involved in the conflict. “We feel there’s a role for Canada to be a significant resource in training the local military, not in a direct combat role that Mr. Harper is proposing with the bombings,” he said.
Trudeau welcomed the opportunity to explain his support, with caveats, for the federal government’s anti-terrorism bill, C-51. “The Liberal party has always understood that we need to protect Canadian security and uphold our rights and freedoms – and you do them both together,” he said. “To our mind, Bill C-51, even though it has clear elements in it that increase the safety for Canadians – which is why we supported it – it doesn’t go far enough to uphold our rights and freedoms, which is why we’re committed to bringing in oversight, putting in a sunset and review clause onto our anti-terror legislation, and also narrowing and tightening some of the rules around what behavior CSIS [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] can have – warrantless searches and all those sorts of things.”
His political opponents, he said, go too far in each direction. “Mr. Harper thinks, ‘No, no, we don’t have to do anything more around rights and freedoms, we have enough, we’re just giving more power to our police,’” Trudeau said. “I think that’s a problem.
“Mr. Mulcair says, ‘No, we don’t need to do anything more on security. Even those things in C-51, we don’t need them, we’re fine the way it is.’” That is also a problem, according to Trudeau. “We have to do more,” he said. “But we have to do more on both sides.”
On other topics, the Liberal leader expressed support for increased trade with Israel. “We obviously support the latest announcement around Canada-Israel free trade,” he said. “I know it was a lot of agricultural stuff in this round, but it’s a very good thing. This was a deal that was signed by [Liberal prime minister] Jean Chrétien back in ’97 and the Liberal party believes in trade. We believe in free trade, and we’re happy to continue trade with Israel.”
Trudeau took the opportunity to reiterate his opposition to the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction (BDS) Israel.
“You can have all sorts of debates over positions, but when you’re engaged in demonization, delegitimization and double standards, that’s just not what we are as a country.”
“I think the BDS and anti-apartheid movement, as I’ve said many times, runs counter to Canadian values,” he said. “You can have all sorts of debates over positions, but when you’re engaged in demonization, delegitimization and double standards, that’s just not what we are as a country.”
The Independent also asked Trudeau about the Liberals’ approach to climate issues and social equality.
“At a very basic level, we get it, as Canadians, particularly here in B.C., that you cannot separate what’s good for the environment and what’s good for the economy anymore,” Trudeau said. “You have to do them both together, and you can’t get one without the other.
“You still have people saying, ‘Oh no, we have to work on the economy, so let’s forget about environmental oversight,’ or ‘We need to protect the environment, so, no, we can’t create jobs.’ Canadians know we need them both together,” he said. “One of the problems is we’ve had 10 years of such a lack of leadership on the environmental level that it’s hurting our economy. We need to get our resources to market in responsible, sustainable ways. We’re not able to do that right now because nobody trusts Mr. Harper to do it right. Restoring that sense of public trust, [so] that people know, we need jobs, we need economic growth … in a way that understands that it’s not just about governments granting permits, but about communities granting permission, as well.
“One of the things we’ve put forward in our environmental plan is that, in the 10 years of lack of leadership on the federal side, the provinces have moved forward,” Trudeau continued. “B.C. has a very successful carbon tax, Alberta put in a carbon levy-style tax, Ontario and Quebec are doing a cap-and-trade. What that means is that 86% of our economy has already put in a mechanism to put a price on carbon, so the federal government can’t suddenly say, ‘OK, we’re doing cap-and-trade. Sorry, B.C., you’re going to have to change your system,’ which would make no sense; or vice versa, ‘We’re doing a carbon tax.
Sorry, Ontario, you can’t do it.’ What we have to do is recognize that different jurisdictions will have different ways of reducing their emissions – the federal government has to be a partner, a supporter, an investor in our capacity to do that across the country, in order for us to reduce our emissions and be responsible about the environment.”
Trudeau acknowledged the solutions won’t be immediate. “We need to move beyond fossil fuels, but it’s not going to happen tomorrow,” he said. “Right now, a lot of people who are blocking and opposed to pipelines aren’t realizing that the alternative is a lot more oil by rail, which is really problematic – more expensive, more dangerous.” Under the circumstances, he said, people are just saying no: “No to everything, because we don’t trust the government in place.”
He said he hopes to form a government that addresses climate change, invests in clean technology, renewable resources and the kinds of jobs that advance beyond a fossil fuel economy. For now, “we have to make sure that our oil sands are developed going forward in a responsible, efficient way that doesn’t give us the black eye on the world stage and with our trading partners,” he said.
“The Liberal party believes in evidence-based policy and we believe in harm reduction. My own hometown, Montreal, is pushing hard to set up an Insite-type clinic. The Liberal party supports that. The Supreme Court supports that. This government, for ideological reasons, is pushing against it. I think that’s just wrong, and we’re happy to say that. ”
Vancouver has been the testing ground for new ways of dealing with addiction, particularly the Insite supervised drug injection clinic. “The Liberal party believes in evidence-based policy and we believe in harm reduction,” Trudeau said. “My own hometown, Montreal, is pushing hard to set up an Insite-type clinic. The Liberal party supports that. The Supreme Court supports that. This government, for ideological reasons, is pushing against it. I think that’s just wrong, and we’re happy to say that.”
In the same week that Canadian parents were receiving Universal Child Care Benefit [UCCB] cheques in the mail calibrated to the number of children in their home, Trudeau was promoting his party’s “fairness plan.”
“Mr. Harper’s child benefit, for example, goes to every family regardless of how wealthy they might be,” Trudeau said. “We, instead, decided, let’s make it means-tested so that people who need the help the most will get the best help. For a low-income family, it means up to $533 a month, tax-free, and then it grades down until someone making over $200,000 doesn’t get any child-care benefit at all. And the benefits that will go to the nine out of 10 Canadians will be tax-free, so the money you get is actually money you get to spend.”
The plan also proposes to lower the middle-class income bracket from 22 to 20.5, which will result in about $3 billion in lost revenue. “In order to get that $3 billion,” said Trudeau, “we’re bringing in a new tax bracket on the wealthiest Canadians, people who make over $200,000, to even things out. And it’s not just about redistribution, it’s also about growing the economy because we know, when middle-class families and the working poor have money in their pockets to spend, to grow, it stimulates the economy.
“Interestingly enough, the NDP is lined up with the Conservatives on those positions,” he added. “They support the Conservatives’ UCCB that gives big cheques, and they’re opposed to us bringing in a higher tax bracket for the wealthiest Canadians, which I don’t understand. They have their reasons for it but, for me, the NDP is supposed to be a party that stands up for the most vulnerable.”
Left to right, Talia Martz-Oberlander, Stephanie Glanzmann, Erin Fitz, Mike Houliston and Frances Ramsey wait in Wai Young’s office for a meeting with the MP on July 3, as part of a cross-Canada call for action on climate change. (photo by Sam Harrison)
On July 3, students across Canada visited the offices of seven members of Parliament. “Our asks on that day were twofold,” local participant Talia Martz-Oberlander told the Independent. “Firstly, to have a meeting with our MP and, secondly, to discuss climate policy that would keep Canada’s fossil fuel involvement below seriously harmful levels. To have those two demands met, we were willing to formally sit-in and occupy the offices. Some groups risked arrest, others chose not to.”
Martz-Oberlander was one of the students who waited in Conservative MP Wai Young’s Vancouver South office for a meeting, to no avail. Actions that day also took place in Victoria (Murray Rankin, NDP MP), Toronto (Joe Oliver, minister of finance and MP for Eglington-Lawrence), Montreal (Thomas Mulcair, leader of the opposition and NDP MP for Outrement), Shédiac, N.B. (Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal MP for Beauséjour), Calgary (Prime Minister Stephen Harper, MP for Calgary-Southwest) and Halifax (Megan Leslie, NDP MP).
Mainly organized by 350.org as part of their We Are Greater than the Tar Sands campaign, cities across Canada held rallies on July 4 “in solidarity with climate-related struggles across Canada, such as the poisoning of water from industries like fracking or open-top mining in rural Canada, the fight for a living wage for Canadian workers, or the continued breach of indigenous territory for extractive purposes,” explained Martz-Oberlander. On July 5, she said, “around 10,000 people gathered in Toronto to march for jobs, social and climate justice, headed by indigenous groups, Canadians living on the frontlines of fossil fuel projects like pipelines, students, workers, elders and every other demographic imaginable.”
Martz-Oberlander said, “The weekend was planned to send a clear message that Canadians want strong climate policy. We are asking for policy that will safely transition Canada’s socioeconomic fabric away from the one-track-minded fossil fuel industry with its large government subsidies towards industry that supports long-term economic prosperity and ecological health, both at home in Canada and globally by being less carbon intensive.”
Entering her third year at Quest University, Martz-Oberlander told the Independent that she has been involved in climate-action work since she was 15 years old. “At that age,” she said, “I didn’t understand the ‘justice’ part of climate change. Through more careful examination of human rights and oppressive social hierarchies like race or gender, I started to realize how closely all social issues are tied with climate change. It is this web of injustice that establishes how most carbon emissions are controlled and released by the richest few and the first stages of the effects of climate change hit the poorest few hardest.”
Homeschooled by her mother until Grade 9, Martz-Oberlander then attended Lord Byng Secondary, initially part-time but then full-time, graduating in 2012. Towards the end of high school, knowing that leaving home to live on her own meant “my religious practice would have to be more intentionally sought out on my part,” she started thinking about how to actively maintain a Jewish lifestyle.
“From a gap year in Boston and a summer learning Yiddish in NYC, I made strong connections in different Jewish circles, including some that identify Judaism with strong social activism,” said Martz-Oberlander. This link “tied together two previously disparate values of mine: Jewish life and supporting long-term life on earth as we know it.”
Before starting university, Martz-Oberlander said she knew she wanted to focus on environmental studies. “However, I’ve always been interested in solar energy alternatives to fossil fuels. This, coupled with a newfound love of physics I found in first year, led me to focus my undergrad research on how we can use electromagnetic radiation, or light, in our design of materials on very small scales. So, my passion for climate justice is fairly macro but I’m asking micro-scale academic questions.
“There is a tiny Jewish community at Quest, although we’re quite active. I and a few others make a point of organizing Shabbatons, celebrations of other Jewish holidays and Jewish discussion group sessions with the belief that existing in the world with a Jewish lens can enrich our lives through finding deeper meaning and practising cultural preservation.
“Of course, I can work on making the world more socially just without acting in a Jewish way, and I often do,” she acknowledged. “However, I strongly believe that living Jewishly is a way of experiencing life that no gentile can truly understand. Outside of religious practices that specifically involve community, such as a minyan or simply having people to spend Shabbos with, there truly is a difference to leading a Jewish life that can impact how one conducts business, studies science, or forms social beliefs and values.”
While her academic studies aren’t currently tied to her climate work, Martz-Oberlander believes that “everyone in any field should be advocating for policy to keep fossil fuels in the ground. After all, it doesn’t matter who burns it – if we keep using known and prospective reserves at our current rate, we won’t be able to sustain ourselves. Internationally recognized scientific findings on these changes can be found in the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] 2014 report on climate change,” she said, before returning to the topic of justice.
“Climate change follows the same cause and effect that social hierarchies implement, so if you keep the ‘justice’ in climate justice, we can make strides in income gaps, which improves society for people of all demographics. With a Jewish lens, one can clearly see the relationship between texts like Deuteronomy or Mishna Bava Batra, which discuss the need to ensure financial holdings are not contrary to others’ well-being, and that industrial toxins are safely managed. A common theme is acting towards tzedeck, justice, when we know what is right and wrong.
“Within issues of fossil fuel use lie many avenues for positive change,” she continued. “These include policy to move subsidies from the industry towards others, such as renewable energies, tourism industries, etc. Another avenue is to input moratoriums on known harmful practices like natural gas fracturing, like Quebec has. Another is divestment from fossil fuels.
“Divestment is by no means a goal, but only a path towards a climate-just future. Currently, we’re caught in this backwards world where we’re investing with the goal of amassing money for the future but we’re doing so by supporting an industry that inherently undermines life to come as we know it.”
One way in which we are doing this is through our mutual funds, said Martz-Oberlander. “Until a few weeks ago, when Vancity released Canada’s first mutual fund that excludes fossil fuel companies, all investment portfolios depended largely upon Canadian fossil fuel companies for their success. This college [or other] fund may grow for a few years but, first of all, finite resources will always eventually be used up and, more importantly, this bank account created to support a child’s future success is ultimately harming this younger generation’s ability to live in an environmentally, economically and socially stable world.”
For Martz-Oberlander, “The science is clear – current, widely accepted climate models dictate that 85% of the Canadian tar sands have to be left in the ground if we are to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius (the target agreed upon by the UN and other international bodies).”
She added that “the divest fossil fuels movement is not meant to financially harm companies. Its success lies in taking away social licence from the fossil fuel industry by waking the public up to the absurdity of investing in something that undermines future human success.”
Martz-Oberlander is one of 10 youth fellows at Fossil Free Faith Canada, an organization that looks at climate justice work from a religious perspective. She found out about the fellowship from a post on the Young Adult Club of Or Shalom Facebook page, she said.
“The post advertised applications for their new Youth Fellowship program, launching late spring of 2015,” she explained. “After the applications closed, the 10 fellows started our work through a weekend of training…. Our mission is to work with faith communities and institutions to support them in divesting from fossil fuels. In this way, our current project is similar to any divestment work, only that we are specifically targeting faith institutions, predominantly larger national or international groups that have endowments or offer pension plans for their members. Without careful financial planning, these investment portfolios almost always include stocks in fossil fuel companies.
“Working in this interfaith setting is quite inspiring because I get to witness how folks of many religions connect to social justice,” she said. “We have diverse approaches to religion and spirituality, but we all share our love of the role faith plays in our lives, coupled with a dedication to what can be really tough climate activism work.
“From my work with Fossil Free Faith, I got in touch with some folks in the U.S. working on divestment from a specifically Jewish perspective…. We’re currently working on forming a supportive network across North America for Jews looking to ask their community institutions to divest from fossil fuel holdings. A brief on Jewish divestment work has been published by a few religious and climate leaders from the U.S. … and, via the use of Skype, a few folks have started a network to support fellow Jews around North America on helping their communities divest.”
The letter left by students, including Talia Martz-Oberlander’s older sister Ariel, in Toronto for Minister of Finance Joe Oliver.
In the video that encapsulates the highlights of the 350.org July 3-5 weekend of events, one of the clips has a speaker mentioning the need for “just, rational and difficult choices.” Martz-Oberlander explained that the difficult choices aren’t the ones about “the design or engineering of alternatives. We have used and continue to further refine techniques for using energy from renewable sources, such as the sun, wind or water currents, for many generations. What’s difficult with the energy sector is transferring social and political licences from fossil fuel industries – which, at the rate at which we consume them, are highly destructive not to mention finite – towards energy sources that provide long-term, enjoyable work. That is where divestment comes in.
“Transitioning Canada to a renewable energy nation will mean a change in our economy. Right now, we’re still a raw materials economy, much like we were when this area was first colonized by Europeans, which means we inherently get the short end of the stick – economically and socially. Financially, depending on finite resources is always a losing battle, and Canada needs to get out now. Instead of worrying about changes in global oil supply, we can create financially profitable industries around training engineers to design and run high-tech renewable industries. Which would you rather work – on an oilrig or at a wind farm?”
Martz-Oberlander believes that, “by creating an economy that functions on local industries, such as the service industry, we strengthen communities by keeping jobs where people live and emphasize enjoyable work that provides trickle-down opportunities for multi-generational employment and provision of essential services. One tactic towards this is creating livable cities where life essentials, such as groceries and jobs, can be found close by. This decentralized model is known to increase total employment, which is one of the greatest concerns individuals bring up when I address the issue of reducing fossil fuel industry jobs.”
For anyone wanting to become involved in the type of climate action in which Martz-Oberlander is engaged, she suggested visiting the Fossil Free Faith Canada website (fossilfreefaith.org) for more information. “One great place to start,” she added, “is to get in touch with the board of their synagogue to find out the state of finances there, whether there is an endowment, how finances are handled, etc. There is a growing trend of banks offering socially responsible investment options, so divesting from fossil fuels doesn’t mean reducing profit. I also encourage people in the upcoming federal election to vote for the candidate in their riding whose platform will move Canada away from its dependence on fossil fuels.”
The election on Oct. 19 will be the first in which Martz-Oberlander can vote. “Needless to say, I am very excited,” she said. “However, the novelty of this privilege reminds me of the responsibility that comes with having a say. It is my duty as a Canadian to stand up for the country I want to see all the other 364 days of the year, as well.”
Last year, Yad b’Yad, Hillel BC and others joined the Pride parade. This year, they will host a booth at Sunset Beach, which will allow them to engage more in discussion with festival-goers. (photo from Hillel BC)
The Jewish contingent in this year’s Vancouver Pride celebration is inviting everyone to participate. Yad b’Yad, the Jewish LGBTQ organization, will have a booth at the festival site on Sunset Beach, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2.
The parade runs from noon until 3 p.m., culminating at the Sunset Beach site. Jonathan Lerner, who is coordinating Yad b’Yad’s participation, said the decision was made to participate as a booth rather than to march in the parade, as the community has done beginning in 2010.
“We have messaging we want to get out,” said Lerner. “While it’s great to march in the parade, you only get to pass people by for a few quick seconds and maybe, if you’re lucky, you get to hand them something. For us, we wanted to be able to have conversations with people, meet people, introduce ourselves, tell them where they could come find us, have discussions with members of the queer community and the Jewish community. So, we felt like a booth would better serve that purpose.”
Yad b’Yad will be giving away items, offering face painting, a spinning wheel with prizes and an educational component, he said.
The presence of the group on Pride day has a dual purpose, he added.
Carmel Tanaka and Rotem Tal were among the Hillel BC participants at last year’s Pride. (photo from Hillel BC)
“It’s incredibly important for LGBTQ Jews to see us there and know that resources do exist for them,” Lerner said. “It’s also important to show that the Jewish community supports the queer community. There are a lot of other ethnic and religious groups that participate. It’s important for us to have a presence there and show that we stand in solidarity with other minority communities and support them when they need it.”
Yad b’Yad is Hebrew for hand in hand, which is meant to symbolize the two communities working together and the two identities that many people have, Lerner said. Yad b’Yad is just about a year old and represents a solidification of the community’s approach to LGBTQ issues, which until now was more ad hoc.
The community’s first participation in the Pride parade, in 2010, was spearheaded by Hillel BC, with support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and other community groups, including synagogues. Lerner, who is director of operations, administration and finance for Hillel BC, explained Yad b’Yad’s mandate.
“We started out to provide resources to queer members of the Jewish community and to advocate for the Jewish community within the LGBTQ community, because we still see a lot of antisemitism within that community,” he said. “Once we established the group, Yad b’Yad, it was a decision among the organizations that had been involved before – including Federation, CIJA [Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs], Hillel – that Yad b’Yad as a group should sort of lead the charge” in organizing Pride day events.
“We encourage all the agencies to come out to the booth, be part of the celebration,” Lerner added. “If an organization wants to come and be part of the booth, maybe bring with them a couple of pamphlets about their organization, they are absolutely welcome to do so.”
Potential volunteers, or anyone seeking additional information, can email [email protected].
Salome Henry, second from the right, in Jerusalem on her Ambassadors to Poland trip with, left to right, Deborah Stein, Ashley Solomon and Zahava Rothschild. (photo from Salome Henry)
The Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ) is trying to increase Jewish engagement among Conservative, Reform and non-denominational youth. A four-week summer program for public high school teens, TJJ takes participants on a Jewish heritage trip to historical and modern sites in Israel.
Participant Salome Henry, 16, was born in France and later made her way to Vancouver with her family, before recently moving again with her family to Boston. She went on TJJ – which is run by NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth, the international youth movement of the Orthodox Union) – two years ago. She stayed involved with NCSY after the trip, which she took while she was still living in Vancouver.
“I’m hoping to stay connected to the organization,” Henry told the Independent. “I ended up going on a second summer program after TJJ. I went on the Ambassadors to Poland trip, which was spending one week in Poland learning about Jewish history, followed by three weeks in Israel, which was really intensive.”
While Henry goes to public school, her school has a Jewish students union, which she helped get started this past year. “This is one way that I stay connected to the Jewish community, because it’s rather hard if you go to public school.”
Henry said, “Most of the friends I have at school who are Jewish don’t really associate with Judaism, or they don’t consider themselves Jewish, or they celebrate things in different degrees…. I thought to myself that it would be great to have something like this. I know I definitely wanted to be able to talk about Jewish issues that I usually discuss at NCSY, but I feel like a lot of other kids can benefit from it, too.’”
Henry’s school has a large Jewish population from Israeli, Russian and American backgrounds. “It’s a very diverse community,” said Henry. “I remember when I came to the school, I realized there were so many people who are Jewish.”
The Jewish student group is looking at planning a trip next year to Israel or a one-week trip to Poland. At board meetings, they talk about upcoming holidays and there is a rabbi on hand if people have any religious or spiritual questions.
“We just received a lot of funding for next year, so what we are going to be doing is getting speakers to come and speak on important subjects and people will be able to come after school and listen to them,” said Henry.
In addition to putting together the speakers program for next year, Henry is finding places where students can volunteer in conjunction with the local synagogues. “I think it would be nice to add that aspect to our club,” she said.
“I’m going to delegate some work to some younger kids, because I want the club to be able to grow afterwards,” she added. “If all the seniors in the club graduate and no one can take over, that would be unfortunate.”
Another thing weighing on Henry is to find ways to support Israel in the larger community. “When I was in Israel last summer, we talked a lot about what it means to be a Jew on a college campus and how to speak up for Israel, especially in terms of media,” she said. “It’s hard to really talk to people who are so against it.
“A lot of kids have these ideas – they see it [Israel] in the media, which is captured very differently from what the reality is, so they immediately assume that what Israel is doing is wrong. If they took the time to analyze, they’d see what Israel is doing is logical and is what any other country would do.
“If they knew more about the IDF [Israel Defence Forces], they’d know it’s one of the most moral armies out there. So, I think that’s really something that we … today, as American Jewish youth, if we have the resources to learn about it … we really have the duty to tell others around us who don’t know about it, because it’s for the good of the Jewish community. It’s also our reputation that is at stake. Hopefully, we can focus on that next year.”
Being from France, Henry is keeping a close watch on what is unfolding there, as well – and more so as of late, as she will be there this summer. “I’m so concerned, because I know that things in Europe are so much worse for Jews,” said Henry. “With current events, people are starting to realize the intensity of the situation.”
From conversations with her family, Henry has become more aware that this current situation is not a new one for French Jews – something she feels people need to be educated about. “It’s horrifying to think the Holocaust has already happened, but people are still saying the same things that they were in the in 1940s. There’s still so much hate out there.”
Henry’s parents are very proud and happy with her involvement. “Both my parents love my NCSY friends and they are happy that I have that community near me,” she said. “They are thankful, because they know how much they mean to me.”
Seeing her go to Israel last summer with TJJ while Israel was in the midst of a conflict did not overly concern her parents, as they knew she was in good hands with a great group of kids, said Henry. And, indeed, everyone returned home safe.
Positive TJJ stats
According to a recent study commissioned by NCSY, 92% of the Jerusalem Journey “alumni feel emotionally attached or very attached to Israel.”
“The results suggest that TJJ – the trip, the subsequent educational activities and other consequences of participation – played a major role in generating increased Jewish engagement in these areas, and undoubtedly many others as well,” said the report, called The Jewish Impact of the Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ): Increasing Jewish Engagement among Conservative, Reform and Non-Denominational Youth.
Conducted by Prof. Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Ezra Kopelowitz, chief executive officer of Research Success Technologies in Israel, the internet survey portion of the study took place last spring. Non-Orthodox alumni who had participated in summer programs since 2007 were contacted. Of the 1,784 alumni surveyed, more than 20% provided responses that could be used in the analysis.
Questions focused “on behaviors and attitudes considered to be important to Jewish leaders across the denominational spectrum” in an attempt to answer the question, “Does the Jerusalem Journey help make non-Orthodox-raised Jewish youngsters ‘more Jewish’?” Responses from the TJJ survey were compared with the Pew Research Centre survey of Jewish Americans (2013), the Jewish Community Study of New York 2011 and the Birthright survey of applicants for 2001-05 but who never participated (2010).
According to the report summary, “86% of TJJ alumni said it was very important to raise children as Jewish, compared with 69% of Birthright applicants; 80% of TJJ alumni fasted for the whole of Yom Kippur, compared with only 48% of the 18-to-29-year-olds in the statistically adjusted Pew survey; 75% said it was ‘very important to marry a Jew,’ compared with 55% of Birthright applicants; and 73% of TJJ alumni usually attended a Shabbat meal, compared with only 34% of Birthright applicants.”
As well, “94% of TJJ alumni said they attended a Passover seder last year, 61% said they participate in Jewish learning on a weekly or more frequent basis and 41% said they returned to Israel after attending TJJ…. In general, the survey found that TJJ attracts significant Jewish engagement and identity among young people who were not raised in Orthodox homes.”
Louis and Toby Rubinowitz and their son, Israel, are buried together in the Jewish section of Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery, while Toby’s sister Sarah is buried separately. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
“Like a bolt from the blue, and to my profound astonishment, I was on Tuesday afternoon set upon by a number of special constables and arrested,” Israel Rubinowitz wrote from his prison cell in Nanaimo.
It was autumn 1913 when the budding defence lawyer made a plea for his release, penning a letter to Judge Frederick Howay in the midst of a coal miners’ strike on Vancouver Island. Though a Conservative in politics, Rubinowitz offered a passionate, occasionally radical, perspective in British Columbian courtrooms. He grew up in Vancouver, studied at McGill University in Montreal and attended Oxford University in England on a Rhodes scholarship in 1905. He returned to Vancouver and had only practised law for a short time when he found himself in Nanaimo – as both counsel and accused.
His predicament began when he agreed to represent members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Conflict had been brewing in mining communities on Vancouver Island’s central east coast since miners set up pickets in 1912. The coal companies refused to bargain and hired strikebreakers to keep their mines operating. “Special” constables, untrained and inexperienced, patrolled the region to keep order. In the summer of 1913, clashes broke out between strikers and replacement workers, starting in Cumberland and Nanaimo and spreading to Extension, South Wellington and Ladysmith. The provincial government declared martial law and sent in a militia on Aug. 13 after one man was killed, several surface mine buildings were burned down and homes were damaged. More than 200 strikers were arrested and 166 charged. None were granted bail. Martial law remained in the area for the next year.
The union hired experienced Vancouver labor lawyers Joseph Edward Bird and John Wallace de Beque Farris to defend the accused members. A group of Nanaimo residents fundraised independently and hired Rubinowitz, despite being advised by union officials and their lawyers that he was too inexperienced.
On that fateful Tuesday afternoon in September, Rubinowitz met with strikers Walter Pryde and William Moore on a Nanaimo street to discuss his clients’ cases. Special Constable Maguire and five other constables were patrolling the neighborhood. Maguire spied Rubinowitz and his companions and told them to move along. The trio continued walking, and were engaged in discussion when a train appeared and came to a halt. Twelve replacement workers disembarked, walking past the three men and the constables.
According to the Nanaimo Free Press, Maguire told Rubinowitz, “You are arrested for picketing.”
“I dare you,” Rubinowitz answered. “You don’t know who I am.”
“I don’t care who you are,” Maguire replied.
“After being publicly paraded through the principal streets,” Rubinowitz wrote in his letter to Howay, “I was taken to the police station where I was ultimately informed after persistent demands, that I was being charged with besetting or watching and following and intimidating workmen.”
Rubinowitz further wrote he had been falsely arrested. “I solemnly declare it is a wicked and deliberate trick to prevent my appearing [in court] for the men.”
After spending a sleepless night in jail, Rubinowitz appeared before Magistrate J.H. Simpson. He denounced the charge against him as “preposterous and fantastic.”
The exchange was reported in the Free Press:
“You put yourself in a false position,” the judge told him.
“You are not entitled to make such a suggestion,” the young lawyer responded.
“I ask for no favors,” Rubinowitz also told the court. “If I do not get justice here, I shall get it elsewhere.”
As reported in the Daily Colonist on Sept. 26, 1913, Israel Rubinowitz was released from jail “on his surety of $500.”
Thomas Shoebotham, acting for the Crown, requested that the bail hearing be moved to Friday, and the judge consented. But Rubinowitz’s letter to Howay and telegrams to newspapers had an impact. His plight received sympathetic media coverage from Victoria to Toronto. After his second night in jail, Rubinowitz was granted bail, though the judge let him know his letter to him was “ill advised.”
Rubinowitz stood before a packed courtroom for a preliminary trial on the Friday. He objected to Simpson’s presence on the bench, arguing Simpson had implied his guilt at the bail hearing and criticized the selection of Shoebotham. The judge overruled both objections.
“I was going to No. 1 mine with Pryde to see the district,” Rubinowitz testified. “I asked Moore to join me.… I stood about a minute pointing north and south. That gesture was seen by police.” Rubinowitz said Special Constable Collison pushed him. “I turned round and may have stared at him indignantly.” As for the arrival of the replacement workers, he said, “I was absorbed by my guides and didn’t notice them.”
Sam Davis, a Crown witness, was one of the workers coming off the train. He testified that he had not been spoken to by any of the accused and had not known anything about the incident until after their arrest.
Simpson seemed determined the case should proceed. “The least can be said is that the three men were in a disturbed district,” he told the court, “and that permission could have been obtained if they cared to have applied for it.” He also defended the special constables’ actions, saying, “… if no notice had been taken of this incident, there was a chance of another outbreak in the district.”
Shoebotham argued that an impartial jury in Nanaimo would be difficult to obtain because public opinion was “inflamed” in favor of the strikers, and requested the trial be moved to the mainland. Rubinowitz agreed but added, “I desire to dissociate myself from the reflection cast upon the good name of the citizens of Nanaimo.” (NFP, Oct. 2)
A month later, dressed in lawyer’s robes, Rubinowitz stood before Judge Aulay Morrison in a Vancouver court. “I appear, my lord on behalf of Pryde and Moore,” he said, “and I ask that they, together with myself, be discharged.” Before the morning was over, a jury found the three men “not guilty.”
By this time, several of the 160 accused strikers had been sentenced, following “speedy trials” in Nanaimo. They pleaded guilty on the advice of lawyers Bird and Farris in the hope of appeasing the court.
The remaining accused, having pled “not guilty,” were being tried in New Westminister. Rubinowitz represented 23 clients, while Bird defended 34. Most were granted bail and, when their trials finally concluded in the spring of 1914, nine went to prison, while others received a suspended sentence or were released because of time already served. Twenty-two men were pardoned. The last union man was released from prison Sept. 25, 1914. The union had been broken and many striking miners were blacklisted and had to find jobs elsewhere.
Rubinowitz was still seeking vindication, despite his acquittal, suing the Nanaimo Herald publisher, J.R.H. Matson, and its editorial writer, R.R. Hindmarsh, for libel. Among the alleged statements was the suggestion Rubinowitz had been purposely “seeking notoriety” the day he was arrested in Nanaimo. The case was tried June 8, 1915, before Justice William Clement with Sidney Taylor, KC, representing Rubinowitz and Robert Reid defending the newspapermen. On the second day, a jury rendered a verdict in favor of Rubinowitz and the Herald was ordered to pay him $1,000 and legal costs.
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Israel Isidore Rubinowitz was the only child of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, Louis and Toby Rubinowitz. The couple had been among thousands of Eastern European Jews emigrating to North America to seek better opportunities and escape the pogroms under Russian rule. Louis immigrated to New York City in 1879, at age 19, and traveled on to Pittsburgh, where many Lithuanian Jews had already settled. Two years later, he married Toby Rosenthal, and their son Israel was born in 1882. When Israel was 8, the family moved to Vancouver.
The couple were among the first Jews from Eastern Europe to settle in the city. David Oppenheimer, Vancouver’s second mayor, from 1888 to 1891, and a German Jew, represented the small population
of Western European Jews. Antisemitism does not appear to have been widely prevalent in the city’s early years. By the 1920s, this would change in Vancouver and elsewhere. Early tolerance of Jewish residents may be due in part to members of the dominant white population channeling their prejudicial treatment toward residents of Asian background. As well, only 83 Jewish people resided in Vancouver in 1891, increasing to 2,400 by 1931 – compared to 45,000 people in Toronto and 17,000 in Winnipeg.
Louis operated a grocery in Steveston with two partners. In 1894, his family lived in Gastown, the city’s first downtown core. In 1896, Louis opened a department store, Rubinowitz and Co., on the main floor of the five-storey Dominion Hotel, at the corner of Water and Abbott streets. He sold clothing, boots, shoes and other goods.
Sarah Rosenthal is buried separately from the Rubinowitzes, on the edge of the Jewish section of Mountain View Cemetery. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
That same year, Toby’s sister, Sarah, 23, arrived from New York, divorced, pregnant and severely depressed. She gave birth to a son, named Abraham, and they lived with the Rubinowitz family. Israel was 13 when his aunt took her life, drowning in Burrard Inlet. At the coroner’s inquest, which confirmed death was by suicide, it was discovered Sarah had been pregnant and had an abortion. The coroner attempted to discover who the man involved with Sarah could have been, but to no avail. Louis and Toby continued to care for Sarah’s son and gave him their surname.
While attending Vancouver High School and College, Rubinowitz helped his father in the store. He won academic awards in his senior year. He volunteered in the Duke of Connaught’s Own Rifles, a local militia that recruited from his high school. Following graduation with a bachelor of arts degree at McGill, Rubinowitz articled in two Vancouver law firms, his training temporarily postponed when he won a Rhodes scholarship – the second British Columbian to do so. He studied at Oxford University, then returned home to complete his articles. Attracted to England, Rubinowitz traveled overseas again to practise law for about two years before returning to Vancouver in 1911. He was admitted to the B.C. bar July 9, 1912.
Living with his parents, Rubinowitz had only a short distance to walk to his law office on Granville Street. He became a member of the Masonic order, continued his involvement with the Vancouver Zionist Society (of which he was a founding member) and, during the First World War, was active as secretary of the B.C. Red Cross.
When the First World War began in 1914, Sarah’s son, Abraham, was working as an electrician and carpenter. After the government implemented conscription in 1917, Abraham, 21, was drafted. Following his service, he moved to the United States.
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Rubinowitz had only been practising for a short time when, in May 1913, he took on the defence of a female nurse arrested for murder. Mrs. Ida Ironmonger, 43, was accused of administering drugs to Mrs. H.O. Anderson to induce an abortion, resulting in her death. Rubinowitz’s attempt to have his client released on bail pending the murder trial was unsuccessful. In October – only four days before his own trial in connection to the Nanaimo arrest – Rubinowitz convinced the court to reduce Ironmonger’s charge to “giving noxious drugs and aiding and abetting a deceased woman to commit an illegal operation.” In the four-day trial, Rubinowitz made the case, which included medical testimony, that “the act might have been committed by the deceased herself.” Ironmonger was acquitted after the jury deliberated a mere five minutes.
Until 1968, abortion was illegal in Canada under the Criminal Code. “There is no place in Canada for the professional abortionist,” Judge Murphy told the court in reference to another Rubinowitz client, Joseph Kallenthe, who was found guilty by a jury in a Vancouver court in 1915. The judge also noted of the accused, “I have no doubt from the skill you displayed that you have had much practice.” Rubinowitz urged mercy, stating it was Kallethe’s wife and two children “on whom the brunt of the punishment will fall,” and Kallethe was sentenced to three years in prison.
In 1918, Rubinowitz represented a couple who had taken out a marriage licence without a religious or secular ceremony. They had two children before learning they were not legally married. Rubinowitz corresponded with the B.C. attorney general’s office, stating it was “only fair, particularly to the woman, that every effort should be made to make the marriage valid and to make the children legitmate.” The government responded that the issue could only be remedied with a private member’s bill, an action his clients could not afford. The couple’s dilemma was submitted by letter to a newspaper editor, signed by a “Vancouver barrister.” This led a reader of the newspaper in the same predicament to write the attorney general. Consequently, the Marriage Act was amended, providing for the legitimization of children to couples in this legal situation.
Rubinowitz was presented with his most challenging cases in the midst of Canada’s 1918-1919 “red scare” era. The federal government had suspended civil liberties, enacting the War Measures Act during the First World War in pursuit of “enemy aliens.” In the social turmoil after the war, fear of an uprising similar to the Russian Revolution in 1917 led to a government crackdown on left-wing activists. Panic – real and imagined – culminated in the spring of 1919 with the Winnipeg General Strike. By June, as the strike was nearing an end, the government amended the Immigration Act. A newcomer to Canada could not be legally landed if suspected of subversive activities, as determined before an immigration board. The verdict rendered – behind closed doors – could not be challenged in a civil court.
A month following the amendment, 27 Russians in British Columbia were charged with participating in an anarchist ring connected to the Union of Russian Workers. Rubinowitz defended several of the accused. Secret service agents working with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police provided most of the evidence for the prosecution. After the hearings, the board ordered the deportation of 14 of the 27 men.
Bird’s son, Henry, also a lawyer, acted for the local defence committee. He appealed the cases to the Ministry of the Interior. It was agreed that one of the accused would not be deported but had to report regularly to the police. In October, the other 13 Russians were sent to an internment camp at Vernon to await further arrangements.
Rubinowitz instigated a perjury charge against two of the secret agents, accusing them of giving false evidence to the immigration board against three of the accused. Rubinowitz pointed out that the immigration board had taken away rights guaranteed by the Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus Act, such as trial by jury and release on bail. He also criticized the board’s composition of appointees, stating they were not familiar with law. Judge Morrison and the Crown lawyer “severely” rapped him for saying fair play had not been done. The judge said the act “was really a war measure” and necessary “for the preservation of the nation.”
On Jan. 14, 1920, the case was moved to a higher court. Meantime, the detention camp in Vernon was closed. One of the 13 accused was released on parole and the others were transported to the B.C. penitentiary.
In May, the two secret agents were acquitted, the judge deciding the evidence had not been sufficient to sustain a charge. Rubinowitz was ordered to pay $2,000 in court costs.
The 12 imprisoned Russians were paroled that December but never deported because the government was unable to find a country willing to accept them. Considered a victory for left-wing activists, these detentions and those elsewhere in Canada had nevertheless served to send an intimidating message to politically active immigrants.
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Rubinowitz was a 41-year-old bachelor when he developed acute bronchopneumonia in the spring of 1923. In the early morning of Aug. 15, he died in his parents’ home. The burial was held the following day.
Israel Rubinowitz died on Aug. 15, 1923, and is buried alongside his parents in Mountain View Cemetery. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
News of his death came as a “distinct shock” to members of the legal community, who responded with an “overflow of high esteem,” according to a newspaper account. He was described as a shrewd lawyer, quick to spot a weakness in an opponent’s argument, as well as considerate, courteous and kindly “even in the heat of battle.”
His parents carried on. Louis ran unsuccessfully for mayor three times and for alderman five times over the ensuing years. He “achieved a reputation as an eccentric and perhaps this is why he was not a recognized leader of the [Jewish] community,” observed a writer for the Jewish Independent’s predecessor, the Jewish Western Bulletin.
In 1939, Louis visited Vancouver archivist James Matthews to set down his stories.
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The Rubinowitzes are buried together in the Jewish section of Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. Toby passed away in 1952, aged 90. Louis entered a provincial home for the aged in Coquitlam a few years after his wife died, passing on in 1958 at age 98. Sarah is buried separately on the edge of the Jewish section.
Janet Nicol is a history teacher at Killarney Secondary School in Vancouver and a freelance writer, with a special interest in local history. She blogs at janetnicol.wordpress.com. The writing of this history – which will be published in greater length in the 2016 edition of The Scribe – was inspired by the novel The Sacrifice by Adele Wiseman (1928-1992). In the words of its protagonist, the family patriarch, Abraham: “… and yet there was a time, I think, when I had everything … but now, when I look back, I had at least the beginning of everything.”
On July 21, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that negotiations toward an expanded and modernized Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) had concluded. “Israel is a priority market for Canada and holds great potential for Canadian companies in a variety of sectors. An expanded and modernized free trade agreement will lead to a strengthened bilateral relationship as well as an increase in jobs and opportunities for Canadians and Israelis alike,” said Harper.
The modernized CIFTA will notably provide expanded market access opportunities for agricultural, fish and seafood products through the reduction or elimination of Israeli tariffs on a large number of products, and duty-free access under tariff rate quotas for certain products.
Four existing areas of the current CIFTA have been amended, namely market access for goods, rules of origin, institutional provisions and dispute settlement. In addition, seven new chapters have been included in the areas of trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property, electronic commerce, labor and environment.
Israel is a priority market for Canada under the Global Markets Action Plan. Since CIFTA came into force in 1997, Canada’s two-way merchandise trade with Israel has tripled to $1.6 billion in 2014. Key opportunities for Canadian companies exist in sectors such as defence, information and communications technology, life sciences, sustainable technologies, agriculture and agri-food, and fish and seafood.
The modernized CIFTA will provide expanded market access opportunities for Canadian businesses through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and help in creating new sources of jobs, growth and prosperity for both countries in the years ahead. It will support Canadian businesses and investors, deepen trade and investment linkages, and further strengthen Canada’s bilateral relationship with Israel.
רצח מקומי: ישראלי נרצח בקנדה קרוב לוודאי על רקע רומנטי
גבר ישראלי נרצח בעיר קוקויטלם ביום חמישי לפני שבועיים, קרוב לוודאי על רקע רומנטי. גופתו של הישראלי ביחד עם גופתה של אישה מקומית בת חמישים ושש, נמצאו באותו בית ברחוב אלפין ליין, כאמור בשישה עשר ליולי. שמה של ההרוגה הוא אירנה גבליס (ילידת 1959) שהייתה גם בעלת הבית. גבליס היא קנדית ממוצא אוקראיני שהיגרה לקנדה לפני שמונה עשרה שנים. היא החזיקה בחברת הייעוץ ‘נביגייטור קונסלטינג‘ מוונקובר – לאספקת שירותי ראיית חשבון וניהול חשבונות ומיסוי.
המשטרה הפדרלית (האר.סי.אם.פי) בכוחות מתוגברים משלוש תחנות שונות פתחה במצוד נרחב אחר הרוצח, וביום רביעי (לפני כעשרה ימים) הוא נתפס סוף סוף. החשוד בן החמישים וארבע ושמו מוריו (“מו”) סהלי (ממוצא איראני) גר בריצ’מונד, ניהל בעבר מערכת יחסים רומנטית עם גבליס. סהלי הואשם כבר בשני סעיפים של רצח מדרגה ראשונה, והובא למחרת (חמישי) לבית המשפט המקומי לשם הארכת מעצרו.
ששמו של הישראלי ופרטים נוספים עליו טרם הותרו לפרסום והמשטרה רק ציינה, שהוא הגיע לקנדה בארבעה עשר ליולי שזה בדיוק יומיים לפני שנרצח.
רצח מההיסטוריה: באיחור של שישים ותשע שנים קנדי בן תשעים ואחד הודה ברצח אישה אנגליה ב-1946
פוענחה חקירת מקרה הרצח הארוכה ביותר בתולדות המשפט הפלילי באנגליה. תושב קנדי בן תשעים ואחד ממחוז אונטריו הודה לאחרונה ברצח אנגליה בשם מרגרט קוק, שבוצע לפני לא פחות משישים ותשע שנים. הקנדי שמצבו הבריאותי קשה והוא סובל מסרטן עור חשוך מרפא, שוהה במוסד רפואי לחולים סופניים. הקשיש החליט פתאם שהגיע הזמן להתוודות על מה שעשה בעבר השחור שלו. באחד הימים הוא נכנס לתחנת משטרה מקומית באונטריו והודיע לשוטרים הנדהמים, כי בעשרה בנובמבר 1946, רצח נערת ליווי אנגליה שעבדה בסוהו של לונדון, ושאת שמה הוא כבר לא זוכר. המידע הועבר ממשטרת קנדה למשטרה האנגלית. ולאחר שהחומר החקירה נבדק לעומק שני חוקרי הסקוטלנד יארד טסו לקנדה לחקור את החשוד הקשיש. הם הציגו בפניו מספר תמונות של נשים שנרצחו באותה עת בסוהו של לונדון, והוא הצביע במדויק על זו של מרגרט קוק שהייתה אז בת עשרים ושש. החשוד (שמו ומקום מגוריו המדוייק נאסרו לפרסום בשלב זה), סיפר לחוקריו כי ניהל וויכוח סוער וקולני עם קוק על כסף, לאחר שטען כי היא רימתה אותו. בשלב מסויים כשהוויכוח התלהט הוא החליט להוציא מכיסו אקדח רוסי (שיוצר בתקופת מלחמת העולם השנייה) ובמהירות ירה בה למוות. לאחר מכן הרוצח התערה בקהל הגדול שהסתובב ברחוב ונמלט ברכבת התחתית. הוא חי חמש שנים נוספות באנגליה ובשנת1951 החליט להגר לקנדה, התחיל חיים חדשים והקים משפחה.
לאור מספר מקרי רצח דומים של נערות ליווי שאירעו באותו זמן בסוהו, במשטרת לונדון חשבו שמדובר אולי באותו רוצח, אך לא הגיעו לחקירת האמת. אך בציבור הרחב נפוצו כבר שמועות משמועות שונות כי מסתובב בסוהו רוצח סידרתי אימתי, שדומה לג’ק המרטש. חברים של קוק סיפרו אז לעיתונאים כי הם מאוד חששו לחייה, כיוון שעבדה ברחובות החשוכים והמסוכנים. קוק הייתה אגב נשואה ובאופן רשמי עבדה כביכול כרקדנית אקזוטית באחד המועדונים.
הפרקליטות האנגלית פתחה בהליכי הסגרת האזרח הקנדי לאנגליה, תוך תקווה שתצליח להביא להרשעתו בדין. לעומתם גורמים בכירים במערכת המשפט המקומית מעריכים, שלאור גילו ומצב בריאותו הרופף של החשוד הקשיש, לא בטוח כלל שבית המשפט הקנדי יאשר את בקשת ההסגרה.
On June 14, the board and staff members of all the Jewish housing societies met to discuss the progress they have made, the issues they are facing both collectively and individually, and how they can work together to solve them. Attendees included members from societies for seniors (Louis Brier Home and Hospital and Weinberg Residence, Vancouver Jewish Building Society and Haro Park Centre), singles and families (Tikva Housing Society) and people suffering from mental illness (Vancouver Yaffa Housing). Though there have been discussions in the past, this Jewish Housing Forum was the first outlet that provided all the housing societies a medium to come together and voice their opinions, concerns and future goals.
There has been strong support from the housing societies, donors and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver for the societies to initiate an open dialogue and find a way to amalgamate all of their strengths to provide the best support possible for those who need it most.
“The forum was a successful, and necessary stepping stone for the future of housing in the Jewish community,” said Susana Cogan, Tikva Housing Society’s development director. “Based on the feedback we’ve received, the overall consensus is that it was very productive and we’re looking forward to meeting in the near future to exchange developments prompted by this forum.”
Some of the issues discussed included communication among housing organizations, issues residents are facing (i.e., transition from independent living to supported living), lack of awareness of the societies’ services in the community, and donor funding. Upon breaking into groups to discuss these issues, participants agreed on a number of suggested solutions, such as more communication among societies, holding regular meetings to exchange information, the sharing of resources, the need to access more units for community members and working together when dealing with acquisitions.
All of these housing societies are continuing to excel independently, so exploring the ways they can work together demonstrated how they can better serve and help support the community.
Hannah Konyvesis a volunteer with Tikva Housing Society.
