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ICJ ruling ‘nonevent’: lawyer

Screenshot of the Jan. 30 HonestReporting Canada discussion on the International Court of Justice ruling on whether Israel is perpetrating genocide. Jonas Prince, chair of HonestReporting Canada, emceed and speakers were Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, former chief of general staff of the Israel Defence Forces, and Natasha Hausdorff, a British specialist in international law and a former clerk for the president of the Supreme Court of Israel.

The International Court of Justice ruling on whether Israel is perpetrating genocide means little, according to a legal academic speaking to Canadian audiences last week.

“This was a complete nonevent,” said Natasha Hausdorff, a British specialist in international law and a former clerk for the president of the Supreme Court of Israel. “There was nothing substantive found and nothing substantive required or ordered as part of the provisional measures because there is no evidence that Israel is engaged in genocide; quite the contrary.”

Hausdorff was speaking in a webinar Jan. 30 alongside Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, former chief of general staff of the Israel Defence Forces. The event was presented by HonestReporting Canada, which describes itself as “an independent grassroots organization promoting fairness and accuracy in Canadian media coverage of Israel and the Middle East.”

Jonas Prince, cofounder and chairman of HonestReporting Canada, emceed the event.

“The words war crimes, genocide, proportionality, siege, humanitarian crisis have been weaponized by the media, as well as Israel’s enemies,” said Prince. “The Iron Dome defence against these verbal missiles is knowledge.”

Where Hausdorff brought legal acumen to the discussion, Kohavi offered the perspective of a top military official who has been on the ground, making life-and-death decisions in some of the most ethically dicey situations.

World reaction to the international court’s judgment, which was released Jan. 26, has been mixed, if not confused. The court notably did not call on Israel to end the war and neither did it rule, ultimately, on whether genocide is happening or seems imminent.

The court handed down “provisional measures” that it said Israel was obligated to undertake, including that Israel should do everything possible to avoid killing Palestinians or causing serious bodily or mental harm, creating intolerable conditions, or deliberately preventing Palestinian births. The court also called on Israel to “prevent and punish” public incitement to genocide, citing comments from Israeli officials as examples.

Hausdorff dismissed the last item, contending it was clear that the statements made by Israeli government officials that the court cited were referring to Hamas terrorists and not to Palestinian civilians. With respect to the other aspects of the ruling, she and Kohavi both essentially argued that Israel is already doing what the court demanded.

The wide-ranging discussion focused on Israel’s rights under international law and attempted to correct what the speakers said were misunderstandings of legal terminology. The expression “proportionality” is an example, Hausdorff said, with many people believing that the greater Palestinian death toll is proof of “disproportionality.”

“That is grotesque,” she said, “not least because the corollary of that analysis is often that not enough Jews have died to justify Israel’s response.” It also encourages Hamas’s tactics of using civilians as human shields, she said, “driving up the civilian casualty count as a means of putting pressure on Israel to desist with its lawful military activities.”

Proportionality, she explained, involves military commanders making assessments on whether the military advantage sought by a strike is proportionate to the anticipated collateral damage.

Kohavi emphasized that disparities in death tolls are due to a significant extent to Israel’s defensive technologies – Iron Dome – as well as the secure rooms and bomb shelters constructed for decades in Israeli buildings.

“We have taken steps and measures in order to protect our citizens and that’s why the numbers on our side are relatively low,” he said. “Now, I do not expect Hamas to build their [own] Iron Dome, but they could build shelters. Instead, they have been building their tunnels for their perpetrators, not for civilians.”

For 15 years, Kohavi said, Hamas has embedded its military operations seamlessly throughout the Gaza Strip’s dense urban populations. Israel’s precision targeting technologies allow the military to destroy terrorist targets while harming as few civilians as possible, he said.

Despite a global outcry over the estimated 27,000-plus Palestinians killed, Hausdorff and Kohavi took exception to these figures on several fronts. It is in the interest of Hamas, which compiles the statistics, to maximize them, said Hausdorff. She cited the notorious example of an alleged Israeli bombing of a Palestinian hospital killing 500. Later evidence said it was a Palestinian missile that caused the explosion and that the death toll estimates were exaggerated, possibly by a magnitude of 10. The cumulative casualty tally kept by the Gaza Ministry of Health was never altered downward after initial reports in that case were debunked, Hausdorff said.

The figures also make no differentiation between combatants and civilians, both panelists said. While lamenting all civilian deaths, they said that even in the confined theatre of the highly urban Gaza Strip, civilian deaths tolls are probably significantly lower than in parallel military engagements.

Other data suggest 1.8 civilian deaths to every killed combatant in the current conflict, Hausdorff said, compared with the macabre accounting of the United Nations, which calculates that, in the context of urban warfare, civilian casualties average nine to every combatant death. American figures in wars Iraq and Afghanistan saw civilian death tolls of 3-to-1 and 5-to-1 respectively, she said.

In the circumstance, Hausdorff said, it is “utterly unparalleled” that Israel has kept civilian deaths to the numbers it has “despite every effort that Hamas has made to increase civilian casualties and inflate that toll.”

The court case, which was brought by the government of South Africa, is “extremely problematic,” Hausdorff said, “not just for Israel but for all law-abiding states, for those who uphold and prize the rule of law, that the International Court of Justice would be entertaining this.”

She accused the International Court of Justice of “essentially doing the bidding of a terrorist organization.”

South Africa likes to paint itself as a champion of Palestinian rights, Hausdorff said.

“South Africa is a champion of Hamas, an internationally proscribed terrorist organization,” she said. “No individual who cared about Palestinian rights would be seeking to prop up Hamas given that the Palestinian people have borne the brunt of their brutality and their corruption and their slaughter and torture over the blast 16, 17 years.”

Readers can watch the HonestReporting Canada event at youtube.com/watch?v=FwksgmYqXBs.

Journalists partly to blame

Journalist Tristin Hopper speaks with an audience member after his talk at Congregation Schara Tzedeck Jan. 14. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Canada has plenty of dark chapters in its history. But, in terms of sheer malice, nothing compares to the celebration of mass murder seen in this country after Oct. 7, according to National Post commentator Tristin Hopper – and he says the media bears part of the blame.

Hopper, who lives in Victoria, spoke at Congregation Schara Tzedeck Jan. 14. He said he massively misjudged Canadian reactions to the violence perpetrated by Hamas and its collaborators, sketching out how he says he thought things would play out.

“I thought there would be ‘Pray with Israel’ placards displayed conspicuously outside mosques and Muslim community centres,” said Hopper. “I thought there would be Israeli flags seamlessly hung next to Ukraine flags in windows of public buildings and public libraries. I thought that Arab and Palestinian Canadians would gather in impromptu ‘Not in our name’ rallies to condemn Hamas. And then, after about a week or two, I thought this whole thing would basically disappear from the headlines.

“You’ll forgive my startling naïveté because obviously very little of that happened and in many cases the exact opposite happened,” said Hopper. “Canada was instead greeted with the largest and most sustained outpouring of hate in our entire history.”

Hopper, who clarified that he was not speaking on behalf of the National Post, said he writes frequently about the darker moments in Canada’s past, such as Japanese-Canadian internment, race-specific land covenants, Indian residential schools and the pro-fascist and antisemitic sentiments that Canada’s longest-serving prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King shared in his diary.

“In all that, you never once, in all our 160 years, had what we saw in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7,” he said. “We’ve had KKK rallies, anti-Catholic rallies by the Orange Order, race riots, pro-terror demonstrations by extremist Khalistanis, but not like this. Coordinated rallies in every single time zone, whose sole motivating purpose was to celebrate the deaths of civilians.”

This surprised him, Hopper said, but it did not surprise his Jewish friends.

“They had been telling it to me for years,” he said. “Did I think that Canada had antisemites? Yes, lots of them. But if you had asked me three months ago, I would have told you that however large a constituency of antisemites, they were Canadians and a Canadian knows that this is a place where primal hatreds are repressed and prejudice is not welcome.”

Hopper chastised the media for failing to dig into the nature of the groups organizing rallies in Canada.

“You may have heard of these peace rallies that keep blockading roads, desecrating war memorials and [that] intimidated Christmas shoppers [and assumed] they are just concerned citizens who want an end to violence,” he said. Instead, the social media feeds of some of these groups are packed with celebrations of violence, antisemitism and calls for the destruction of Israel.

Among the problems, he contends, is that there are some Palestinian advocacy organizations that exaggerate or lie and media repeat their statements without challenge.

“You refer to terror detainees as political prisoners, you call Israel an apartheid state, you obfuscate or deny every Palestinian terror attack, you circulate faked photos, you launder terrorist propaganda,” he said of some Canadian activists. “You don’t merely misrepresent Israeli actions, you invent Israeli actions that never existed. You use the word ‘genocide’ so often that it’s basically punctuation. Any time someone is killed who had a minor communications role with Hamas, you refer to them as a journalist. This is a level of brazen mendacity that you just do not encounter from any other political movement. You’ll get exaggerations, you’ll get omissions, you’ll get disingenuousness, faulty premises, but you’re probably not going to encounter someone who just lies about everything.”

He is not without sympathy for the journalists.

“How are you going to cover that in a typical 500-word piece of he said/she said news story?” he asked.

He read from one news report: “City Hall today saw 100 people gathered for a ‘stop the genocide’ rally. Demonstrators at a counter-rally said they support Israel.”

“OK, you got both sides there,” he said. “But if you are looking to tell the truth here, you would need an extended essay on how the genocide accusation is utterly unhinged from reality and overlooks how the people who organize this rally handed out candy on Oct. 7.”

There is no context of the larger geopolitical situation or how this particular conflict started, he said.

“You’re not getting into the history of rejected peace offers, why Hamas is subject to repeated blockades, repeated rocket attacks, none of these are in these stories,” Hopper said, adding that voices supporting terrorism are given equal time with voices defending Israel. “The extremist line on this issue is either favoured or at least equated as being morally equivalent to Israel.”

In a country where the vast majority of Jews support Israel, he said, media will enthusiastically give platforms to those who don’t.

Hopper believes that Canadian journalism is experiencing a replica of what he sees as having happened in academia.

“An activist element took over and are now, in the words of one critic, wearing the institution like a skin suit and demanding respect,” he said.

He was speaking just after the PuSh Festival announced they were canceling The Runner, basically because it featured a Jewish Israeli protagonist. In the arts community, Hopper said, activists with an agenda have infiltrated different organizations and bodies in a way that he compares with interest groups who get themselves elected to school boards because few people pay attention to such things and then parents suddenly discover their children are being taught creationism instead of evolution.

Hopper’s appearance was sponsored by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Schara Tzedeck, whose Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt introduced the program. Shelley Rivkin and Raquel Hirsch had the idea to invite Hopper to speak after being encouraged by his columns in the aftermath of Oct. 7.

More aid sent to Israel

The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has made a new transfer of more than $1 million from its Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC). This is its fourth transfer of funds and brings the total transferred to Israel to approximately $7.5 million.

It has been 125 days since Oct. 7 and Israel is facing challenges that continue to evolve and deepen as time goes by and the war continues. The IEC allocations committee, chaired by Stephen Gaerber, has reviewed funding proposals with great care to ensure that this latest round of allocations addresses the developing needs on the ground.

To give local community members a sense of what Israelis are facing at this stage, Federation asked Rachel Sachs, director of its Israel office, to provide this summary:

“As the army continues to fight in Gaza, the loss of soldiers’ lives and the ongoing state of captivity of 136 Israelis in Gaza is a growing and unbearable burden that is taking its toll on Israelis across the country. In the last few weeks, many reservists have been released from duty, with the understanding that they may get called up again. Their return home, after months in the battlefield, has sparked a new set of challenges in their families, their professional paths, academic journeys, and more.

“The evacuation of approximately 130,000 Israelis from the north and the south continues. Some remain housed in hotel rooms across the country, often miles away from home. Some residents of these frontline communities remain determined to return home the minute they will be allowed to, some remain determined that they will never go back, and others are trying to determine what it will take for them to return, both in terms of their sense of security, and actual security itself.

“Many of the devastated communities of the Gaza Envelope have either found, or are seeking, sites to which they can relocate together. Until their home kibbutzim are rebuilt, that is. They have been taken in by communities across the country, where they are, hopefully, experiencing a small sense of home for the first time since they fled their real homes months ago.

“The mental and emotional toll of this extended situation is growing, as the need for ongoing care and therapy for survivors, bereaved families and evacuated communities continues in multiple locations across Israel.

“In our partnership region of the Upper Galilee, the state of emergency continues.

“There is great uncertainty and concern over when the ‘day after’ will be and what will it look like. There is ongoing outreach to evacuated residents, with the understanding that community resilience is a critical factor in bringing people back home and offering them a hopeful future, together, in the north.”

Funding for this round of allocations is focused in four areas: emergency and humanitarian needs, respite for evacuees, economic support, and targeted populations. The following organizations are recipients of this round of IEC allocations:

Adler Institute: support programs for returning reservists and their families to address the specific needs related to returning from service, as defined by the reservists themselves.

Haruv Institute: a leader in training professionals who treat children suffering from trauma, abuse, and neglect, the institute is providing training for Eshkol Region healthcare professionals who are treating children.

Yeelim Centre at Ein Yael: nature therapy for survivors of the Nova festival, families of soldiers, evacuees, and more.

Ziv Medical Centre: funding to expand the centre’s emergency mental health work, so the hospital – itself in the line of fire and operating in emergency mode – can respond to the evolving needs and growing numbers of patients.

Kiryat Shmona Psychiatric Unit: currently operating from a temporary location in Tiberias, funding is to build a safe room at the Kiryat Shmona facility to ensure they can keep up treatment with patients when they return home.

Upper Galilee Hospice: support for terminally ill evacuated patients and their caregivers.

Yozmot Atid: support for the growing number of businesswomen who have been evacuated, some of whom also have spouses who have been serving as reservists for the past three months.

Israel Diving Federation: therapeutics diving excursions for survivors and evacuees from both northern and southern Israel.

Taglit-Birthright Israel: week-long respites for residents of the Eastern Galilee.

Road to Recovery: transportation for evacuees from across the country to reach their treatment sessions in their home regions, which are now often miles away.

Hannaton Education Centre: support for Kibbutz Hannaton to continue to house families of asylum seekers from Sderot, who were evacuated and have nowhere else to go.

Beit Issie Shapiro: rehabilitation and therapy programs for displaced families of individuals with disabilities.

To donate to the Israel Emergency Campaign and for a full summary of the support given to date, visit jewishvancouver.com.

– Courtesy Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

Games help ALUMA counseling centre

Some 130 women came out to play mahjong, bridge or canasta at National Council of Jewish Women Canada, Vancouver section’s Games Day on Feb. 15, raising almost $8,000 for the Israeli nonprofit ALUMA Counseling Centre. (photo by Adele Lewin Photography)

Last month, 130 women gathered for a Games Day Fundraiser for Israel, hosted by National Council of Jewish Women Canada, Vancouver section. Almost $8,000 was raised for the Israeli nonprofit ALUMA Counseling Centre.

The afternoon event on Jan. 21 was held at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and featured mahjong, bridge and canasta, offering participants a chance to connect with one another, while raising funds for ALUMA, so that help can be provided to the many families who need to start the healing process from the Oct. 7 terror attacks.

ALUMA, also known as IFCA, Israel Family Counselling Association, was established in Tel Aviv in 1954 and joined forces with NCJWC in 1973, said NCJWC national president Linda Steinberg.

“Golda Meir had the idea of twinning Israeli organizations needing financial assistance with women’s organizations abroad,” explained Steinberg. Dorothy Reitman, as president of NCJWC at the time, was contacted and this twinning was arranged through Carol Slater, who then lived in Israel. Slater was the chair of NCJWC’s Israel project ALUMA for 15 years.

ALUMA is a centre for counseling and treatment of couples, families and individuals, regardless of their place of residence, origin, religion or economic circumstances. It was a pioneer institution, the first such centre in Israel, said Steinberg. Most people receiving therapy pay what they can, if anything, and the professional therapists are volunteers, receiving little if any remuneration.

Steinberg noted that ALUMA is dependent on donations and NCJWC is the only Canadian organization providing financial support for the nonprofit. National members have supported ALUMA through fundraising teas, brunches and other events, and by yearly contributions as NCJWC members.

Oct. 7 has increased the need for trauma support in Israel and ALUMA has developed several models to meet this growing need, said Steinberg. “Most recently, their therapists have been training and mentoring new volunteers to help.”

photo - Left to right are event co-chairs Lisa Boroditsky, Juleen Axler, Jordana Corenblum (NCJW Vancouver president) and Sandy Hazan. (Co-chair Jane Stoller is missing from photo) — Left to right are event co-chairs Lisa Boroditsky, Juleen Axler, Jordana Corenblum (NCJW Vancouver president) and Sandy Hazan. (Co-chair Jane Stoller is missing from photo.) *(photo by Adele Lewin Photography)*

Gadi Lifshitz, NCJWC’s contact and spokesperson for the staff at ALUMA, wrote a letter to Lisa Boroditsky, who was one of the chairs of the local games day event, along with Juleen Axler, Sandy Hazan, Lola Pawer and Jane Stoller. NCJWC Vancouver’s president is Jordana Corenblum.

“Dr. Orly Rubin, the director of the institute, and, on my own behalf, I want to thank your wonderful community for the continued contribution and support of ALUMA,” wrote Lifshitz. “First, I will tell you about a treatment process in which Dr. Rubin and I provided a group therapy to five friends in their 30s who, on that cursed Sabbath, simply decided to go to the kibbutzim that were under attack and help as much as they could,” wrote Lifshitz. “Without weapons and without orders from any official authority, they decided that they are going to help. During those hours, they witnessed terrible sights, helped evacuate the wounded and dead, and all this while helping each other and supporting each other.

“About two weeks after the events, they contacted us for help. We quickly developed for them a trauma intervention model for a group therapy. We accompanied them through several group and personal meetings until we felt that their emotional state had stabilized and that they could return to their day-to-day ‘life.’

“It was a very powerful process, which required a lot of commitment, sensitivity and thought from all of us,” wrote Lifshitz. “This is just one of the many examples of the effort we invest in ALUMA in supporting all the many trauma victims who contact us.

“We need your continued support in our journey to expand our services to those, the many, who need them and us today.”

To donate to the ALUMA Counseling Centre or other NCJWC projects, go to give-can.keela.co/NCJWCVAN.

– Courtesy NCJWC Vancouver

Law seminar on antisemitism

At the daylong legal seminar being held at Congregation Beth Israel on Feb. 15, Howard Mickelson, KC, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim discuss the legal implications of adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Mickelson, left, spearheaded the event.

Congregation Beth Israel will be holding a full-day seminar, titled The Legality of Combatting Antisemitism, on Feb. 15. Topics will include defining antisemitism, combatting and addressing antisemitism on campus and in the workplace, examining the Charter implications of fighting antisemitism and the constitutional implications.

“Attendees can expect a top-notch group of speakers providing legal insight on, and addressing, a critical issue of our current troubled times,” said Howard Mickelson, KC, of Gudmundseth Mickelson LLP, who is spearheading the seminar. Mickelson has been a lawyer for more than 30 years.

The daylong event takes place four months after the Hamas attacks on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people and saw about 240 people taken hostage. More than 130 hostages are still in captivity, with at least 32 believed dead. Since Oct. 7, there has been a dramatic rise in hate crimes in Vancouver, as well as the rest of Canada. A disproportionate number of these crimes have targeted Jews.

According to information released by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) on Jan. 16, tensions from the Israel-Hamas war have fueled increases in protest activity and hate crimes in the city. Of the 47 antisemitic hate incidents reported to VPD in 2023, 33 occurred after Oct.7. In all, antisemitic incidents increased 62% in 2023 compared to 2022, when there were 29 incidents reported.

“The topic of the seminar is a result of the rise after Oct. 7 of antisemitism,” Mickelson told the Independent.

Mickelson, along with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, will discuss the legal implications of adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Sim promised during his 2022 mayoral campaign to push for the adoption of the IHRA definition by the city and Vancouver city council voted for the definition shortly after he assumed office.

In 2016, the IHRA created a non-legally binding definition of antisemitism, which reads: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Jewish groups are hoping that other jurisdictions, such as the provincial government, will follow Vancouver’s lead. In June 2022, former British Columbia Premier John Horgan issued his support of the definition in a letter. His successor, David Eby, has made several statements confronting antisemitism but his government has yet to adopt the definition. The federal government has adopted it, as have the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Rob Phillip, executive director of Hillel BC, Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld and Dr. Jay Eidelman, PhD, who is a professor in the history department at University of British Columbia, will present the seminar’s opening session, What is Antisemitism?

Russell Brown, who served on the Supreme Court of Canada from 2015 to 2023, will focus on the Charter implications of combating antisemitism. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he was an associate professor and associate dean at the University of Alberta faculty of law and is the author or co-author of numerous legal works.

On the topic of Combating Antisemitism on Campus, one of the scheduled speakers is Prof. Cristie Ford of the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC. Colleges and universities across the province and the country have witnessed a sharp uptick in antisemitic incidents over the past four months. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe on several campuses due to anti-Israel rhetoric and hostile behaviour from other students, as well as faculty.

The session Addressing Antisemitism in the Workplace is a roundtable moderated by Claire E. Hunter, KC. It features Reut Amit of Southern Butler Price LLP, Erin Brandt of PortaLaw and Abigail Cheung of Harris & Co.

The final topic, Mooting the Constitutional Implications, will be taken on by Marshall Rothstein, CC, KC, Osler Russell Brown; S. David Frankel, KC; Geoffrey Cowper, KC, Fasken; and Greg Allen, Allen/McMillan.

About the seminar as a whole, Mickelson said attendees can expect “legal guidance in a variety of areas, such as employment, campus life and criminal law, to deal with the heightened levels of antisemitism post-Oct 7.

“It is, of course, highly distressing to our community and especially our children,” he added. “As a lawyer, this is the best way I and the others assisting me on this, particularly Claire Hunter, KC, can do something constructive and educational to feel less helpless.”

Mickelson noted that Congregation Beth Israel has put on other topical daylong continuing legal education seminars, with assistance and insight from Infeld, including two separate trips to Israel with members of the bench and bar.

The cost for the Feb. 15 seminar, which runs 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is $360 for professionals and $180 for students. Breakfast, snacks and lunch are included. The event is worth six continuing professional development (CPD) credits, including two ethics credits. For more information, visit bethisrael.ca or write info@bethisrael.ca.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

2024 public speaking contest

The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s Public Speaking Contest has been happening annually in Vancouver since 1989 and is open to students in grades 4 to 7. The registration deadline for this year’s event – which takes place March 7, 7 p.m., at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver – is Feb. 26.

For the contest, students are asked to prepare a speech of three minutes or less, choosing from a variety of topics connected to Judaism and Israel. Speeches are delivered on the evening of the contest in front of an audience, with two judges who assess the speeches based on content and presentation.

Prizes are awarded to the top three speeches in each age group. While there are winners in every section, participation is valued above everything else, and all participants receive a prize and a certificate.

Those students who are Hebrew-speaking or interested in the Hebrew language are encouraged to deliver their speech in Hebrew. Hebrew speeches have their own grouping and are judged on effort and content, not on their level of Hebrew fluency.

The contest is a great learning experience, good preparation for bar or bat mitzvah, and a skill increasingly needed in our present political climate. For a flavour of the contest, there is a film on YouTube, posted by Larry Barzelai, which was commissioned for the 13th anniversary of the contest in 2018. Barzelai established the contest in memory of his father, a few years after his brother established one in Hamilton, Ont. (See jewishindependent.ca/young-speakers-deliver.)

The topics for the Public Speaking Contest are:

1. Talk about one person from either Tanach or the Talmud and highlight one important life lesson we can learn from them.

2. What makes a piece of art or music Jewish? Is it Jewish just because the person who created it is Jewish or does it have to have something Jewish embedded into it (i.e. a Jewish symbol, tradition or value)?

3. If you were to create a TikTok highlighting the Vancouver Jewish community what would it be about?

4. There are many different ways for Israelis to serve their country. Select one way Israelis do this and discuss why it is important to the country.

5. What is in a name? Talk about your name, what it means and why your parents chose that name.

6. We all have experience where we are the only or one of the only Jewish people. Talk about what it is like to be the only or one of the only Jews in your school, in one of your afterschool activities or at camp.

7. You are planning a trip to Israel. Name one place in Israel that you would like to visit and explain why you would like to visit that place.

8. Rambam (Maimonides), in his eight levels of tzedakah, says the highest form of giving is to enable someone to support themselves. Why do you think this is the highest form of tzedakah?

9. We have a continuing concern about climate change and the environment. What does the Torah say about caring for the land and how can we integrate Jewish values with environmental protection?

10. Topic of your choice.

For more information about the contest, contact Lissa Weinberger at lweinberger@jewishvancouver.com. To register, visit jewishvancouver.com/psc2024.

– From jewishvancouver.com

Show Your Heart

Natalie Portman, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (photos from Variety)

On Feb. 25, 1-5:30 p.m., the 58th annual Variety Show of Hearts Telethon will be broadcast on Global BC. The fundraising event will feature celebrity guests, including appearances by Natalie Portman, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and others, as well as musical performances by renowned artists. Viewers will hear directly from the children and families that have been supported by Variety and the impacts the organization has had on their lives.

“Variety is committed to stepping in for families who need urgent support and specialized care when there is nowhere else to turn,” said Andrea Tang, chief executive officer of Variety BC. “The essential programs, services and resources made possible by our generous donors not only transform daily realities for children – they change the trajectory of their future and positively affect entire communities across the province.”

Every donation made during the Variety Show of Hearts campaign will be matched, allowing donors to make twice the impact in a child’s life. Donors who join Variety’s monthly giving program or make a one-time donation of $169 or more will receive a limited-edition poster of Robert Bateman’s “Northern Reflections – Loon Family.” This artwork was commissioned in 1981 by the Government of Canada as a gift for HRH the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) on his wedding.

To donate, visit variety.bc.ca or call 310-KIDS (5437) toll-free. To make an automatic $25 donation, text the word KIDS to 45678.

A full list of Variety Show of Hearts guests and performers can be found online at variety.bc.ca.

– Courtesy Variety

A way to support Israel

Raquel Benzacar Savatti, chief executive officer of Israel Bonds Canada. (photo from Israel Bonds Canada)

The phones at Israel Bonds Canada have been ringing off the hook since Oct. 7, according to Raquel Benzacar Savatti, chief executive officer of the organization that sells bonds for the Israeli Ministry of Finance in this country.

Canada has always shined in terms of its large base of retail purchasers of Israel Bonds, Savatti told the Independent earlier this month. That base has grown substantially.

“Jews to Israel are like firefighters to a burning building. When that building is on fire, they run towards it. When Israel is in trouble, Jews in the diaspora run towards it,” Savatti said.

Israel Bonds can be purchased online and Savatti noticed that many new accounts were opened in October.

“The volume was incredible – people I have not heard from in years, people I have never heard from before, young people. We always asked, how are we going to capture the next generation? This was it,” she said. “People understand it’s a very direct way to show their support of Israel.”

Savatti stressed that Israel Bonds is looking to engage as much as it can with the community in Vancouver and beyond. She praised the work of Ross Sadoff, executive director of the organization for British Columbia, noting that a lot of people in the province reinvested after their bonds reached maturity in recent months.

“We have to be together in our support of Israel and for each other. We have to have hope…. Israel has historically proven that after any conflict it has come out stronger and more innovative. I firmly believe we are going to see more of that when this is over,” she said.

Savatti underscored that the war has caused economic devastation in Israel, yet the country still has to operate and, ultimately, rebuild. The majority of Israel’s budget comes from taxpayers and there are a lot of people not working right now. Concurrently, there are challenges with sustaining the farming sector, the shuttering of businesses, the need to house evacuees and missing tourism dollars as a result of the war.

More than $50 billion has been invested through Israel Bonds by people from all over the world since its inception in 1951, creating a direct connection with Israel for many in the diaspora. In 2023, Israel Bonds had set a global goal of $1.5 billion US – by the end of the year, the amount exceeded $2.7 billion US, the bulk of which arrived after Oct.7. In Canada, more than $130 million US was sold last year and the goal for 2024 is $120 million US, though needs could change.

“I am so proud of us as a country,” Savatti said. “We punch so high above our weight given the size of our Jewish community. Per capita, we do better than any other country.”

The bonds are loans to the state of Israel to be used as it sees fit. When a particular bond – there are several to choose from – reaches maturity, the loan is repaid with interest. In the 73-year history of Israel Bonds, the country has never defaulted on the payment of the principal or interest of its debt.

In February 2021, with Savatti as CEO, Israel Bonds (officially Canada-Israel Securities) became a registered broker-dealer.

“This decision to become regulated came under the behest of the government of Israel,” Savatti said. As such, anyone who sells Israel Bonds must take the Canadian Securities Course, which would allow them to serve in an advisory capacity regarding investments as well.

“Whatever investments are being made by the purchaser, we, as the bonds organization, want to make sure they are suitable,” Savatti said. “We are not advising on a full portfolio, only on how Israel Bonds could work in that portfolio.”

For example, a person can invest in a given Israel Bond as part of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, a Registered Education Savings Plan, a Tax-Free Savings Account and even a First Home Savings Account, depending on the goals of their portfolio. A person can select a variety of bonds with different dates of maturity.

“They really suit everybody and still make very good bar and bat mitzvah gifts,” Savatti said.

Of the types of bonds on offer, there is, for example, the eMazel Savings Bond, which is only available online; it starts at $36, with a maturity of five years. The Jubilee and Maccabee Bonds last as long as 15 years, with a $25,000 Cdn and $5,000 Cdn minimum, respectively.

Savatti has been connected with Israel Bonds since 2001. Before becoming CEO in 2016, she was the director of women’s and synagogue positions, divisional director, human resources manager, and chief customer officer. She was also the executive director of Ezer Mizion, an Israel health support organization, in Canada for two years.

For more information, visit israelbonds.ca or call 1-866-543-3351. Questions can also be put to Sadoff in the BC office, at 604-266-7210 or ross.sadoff@israelbonds.ca.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Why pick segregated funds?

Segregated fund products can offer greater peace of mind for those looking to participate in the market but wanting the reassurance of insurance guarantees to help them sleep better at night. (photo from pxhere.com)

Looking for an investment option that can help you sleep at night? Segregated fund products can guarantee you’ll get back some or all of the money you invest.

Segregated fund products, available exclusively through insurance companies, provide the growth potential of market-based investments with the benefits of an insurance contract. They first came into popularity more than 25 years ago, when interest rates began to fall and conservative investors turned to them as a secure alternative to guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). They continue to provide a safe way to grow your assets while providing you with some protection from market downturns.

Are segregated funds a good investment?

Ninety-eight percent of Canadians surveyed as part of the 2015 Retirement Now report said it’s important to have some form of guaranteed income in retirement. At the same time, Canadians are living longer than ever before and many are underestimating their longevity and are underfunding their retirement.

Segregated fund products can offer greater peace of mind for those looking to participate in the market but wanting the reassurance of insurance guarantees to help them sleep better at night. They’re particularly suitable for those who are:

• Seeking enough return on their investments to reach savings goals.

• Looking for a broad range of quality investment options.

• Building their savings but looking for protection against market downturns.

• Seeking insurance benefits, including prompt estate settlement and guarantees.

• Looking for guaranteed income for life.

Segregated funds vs alternative investments such as mutual funds

Segregated fund products have some similar features to mutual funds in that they can hold a range of assets and enable you to benefit from holding a diverse mix of investments. They differ in that they offer the following unique benefits:

• Maturity guarantee: Even if the value of your investment declines, you are still guaranteed to get back 75% to 100% of the money you have deposited, less any withdrawals, in either 15 years or at age 100, depending on the type of product you have selected.

• Death benefit guarantee: Segregated fund products offer a 75% or 100% death benefit guarantee that can protect the value of your estate. The greater of your market value or death benefit will bypass probate and flow directly to your beneficiaries, depending on the type of product you have selected.

• Potential creditor protection: Small business owners and entrepreneurs can benefit from the fact that, under provincial insurance legislation, segregated fund products may offer protection against creditors in the event of a bankruptcy.

Segregated fund products also provide a variety of investment options to meet the needs of people in specific life stages:

• Competitive fees: In the past, segregated funds have typically been more expensive than mutual funds. But some of today’s segregated funds come with lower maturity and death benefit guarantees and carry management fees not much higher than standard mutual funds.

• Lock in market gains: Some segregated fund products provide the option of resetting the maturity guarantee up to several times a year. If your funds go up in value, you can lock in a higher guarantee.

• Guaranteed income options: Looking to fund your retirement? Some segregated fund products are designed to function like an annuity and provide you with a guaranteed income for life.

• Naming beneficiaries on non-registered accounts so that it bypasses the estate and goes straight to the beneficiaries. This is a good tool for estate planning and to avoid any wills variation issues.

• Designate an irrevocable beneficiary who needs to sign off on any account withdrawals or changes. Owner retains control while providing a gift to children or grandchildren.

Philip Levinson, CPA, CA, is an associate at ZLC Financial, a boutique financial services firm that has served the Vancouver community for more than 70 years. Each individual’s needs are unique and warrant a customized solution. Should you have any questions about the information in this article, visit zlc.net or call 604-688-7208.

Disclaimer: This information is not to be construed as investment, legal, taxation or account advice, nor as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. It is designed only to educate and inform you of strategies and products currently available. The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and are not necessarily those of ZLC Financial. As each situation is different, please seek advice based on your specific circumstance.

טרודו: יש להבטיח את שלומם של היהודים בקנדה לאור העלייה באנטישמיות

ראש ממשלת קנדה, ג’סטין טרודו, נועד עם מפקד משטרת טורונטו על רקע העליה החדה במספר האירועים האנטישמיים בקנדה. טרודו ציין כי הוא דן עם מפקד משטרה להבטיח את שלומם של היהודים בעיר ולפעול בכל דרך נדרשת כדי להתמודד עם השנאה על כל ביטוייה

בנוסף, נפגש טרודו עם מנהיגים בקהילה היהודית בטורונטו המודאגים מהעליה בהיקף האנטישמיות בעקבות מתקפת חמאס והג’יהאד האיסלאמי נגד ישראל בשבעה באוקטובר. ובעקבותיה המלחמה הקשה שישראל מנהלת בעזה שהביא למותם של עשרות אלפי אזרחים בהם נשים וילדים רבים. טרודו אמר לראשי קהילה היהודית כי הוא מודה להם על שהביעו בכנות את הכאב, הזעם והיגון שלהם. “אני מקשיב לכם. אני רוצה שתדעו שיש לנו מחויבות בלתי מעורערת לכם ולישראל כמדינה יהודית ודמוקרטית”

טרודו הוסיף: “אני רוצה שתדעו, כי אני נמשיך להיות ממוקדים במאבק באנטישמיות ולהבטיח שאתם וכל היהודים בקנדה יהיו בטוחים מפני אלימות אנטישמית. זו פעולה שכולנו, ובפרט קנדים שאינם יהודים, חייבים לעשות ביחד”

מאז אוקטובר נרשמה עליה חדה באנטישמיות בקנדה, ובכלל זה דווח על שני אירועי ירי ושני אירועי השלכת בקבוקי תבערה לעבר מוסדות יהודיים במונטריאול, חבלה וניסיון להצית סופרמרקט בבעלות יהודית בטורונטו, ונדליזם בחנות ספרים בבעלות יהודית בטורונטו, ניפוץ שמשות של מכונית שעליה דגל ישראל מצפון לטורונטו, התנכלות והשמעת ביטויים אנטישמיים כלפי יהודים שיצאו מבית כנסת מצפון לטורונטו

טרודו, ציין כי הוא אינו מביע תמיכה בתביעה שהגישה דרום אפריקה בבית הדין הבינלאומי נגד ישראל בטענה שהיא מבצעת רצח עם ברצועת עזה. בשיחה עם עיתונאים אמר טרודו, כי תמיכתה של קנדה בבית הדין הבינלאומי ובהליכים שהוא מנהל אין משמעותה שקנדה תומכת בהנחה שבתביעה שהוגשה על ידי דרום אפריקה

ואילו שרת החוץ של קנדה, מלאני ג’ולי, ציינה כי קנדה ממשיכה לגנות בחריפות ובאופן חד משמעי את מתקפת הטרור של חמאס על ישראל. לדבריה, חמאס היא ישות טרור מוכרזת שממשיכה לקרוא במפורש לחיסול יהודים ולהשמדת מדינת ישראל. לישראל הזכות להתקיים ולהגן על עצמה מפני התקפות טרור בהתאם לחוק הבינלאומי. בהגנה על עצמה, ועל ישראל לכבד את המשפט ההומניטרי הבינלאומי. ג’ולי: “קנדה נותרה מודאגת עמוקות מהיקף המשבר ההומניטרי בעזה ומהסיכונים המתמשכים לכל האזרחים הפלסטינים. יש להגביר ולשמור על גישה הומניטרית בטוחה וללא הפרעה. קנדה תומכת במאמצים בינלאומיים דחופים לקראת הפסקת אש בת קיימא. זה לא יכול להיות חד צדדי. על חמאס לשחרר את כל בני הערובה, להפסיק להשתמש באזרחים פלסטינים כמגנים אנושיים ולהניח את נשקו”

גם שרת החוץ ציינה כי התמיכה הבלתי מעורערת של קנדה במשפט הבינלאומי ובבית הדין הבינלאומי אין משמעותה שהיא מקבלת את הנחת היסוד של התביעה שהגישה דרום אפריקה. “אנו נעקוב מקרוב אחר ההליכים בתיק של דרום אפריקה בבית הדין הבינלאומי לצדק”, אמרה עוד ג’ולי

על פי אמנת רצח העם של האו”ם משנת אלף תשע מאות ארבעים ושמונה, הפשע של רצח עם דורש כוונה להרוס או להרוס חלקית קבוצה בגלל הלאום, האתניות, הגזע או הדת שלה. עמידה ברף הגבוה הזה דורשת ראיות משכנעות

שרת החוץ הקנדית הזהירה מפני סכנת האנטישמיות. “עלינו להבטיח שהצעדים הפרוצדורליים במקרה זה לא ישמשו לטפח אנטישמיות והטרדה של שכונות יהודיות, עסקים ואנשים פרטיים. במקביל, נמשיך לעמוד נגד האיסלאמופוביה והרגשות האנטי-ערביים. קנדה נותרה מחויבת בתוקף להילחם בדעות קדומות, שנאה וקיצוניות אלימה”