|
|
March 6, 2009
Silence not an option
Canada represents at anti-Semitism meeting.
ROSE MIKELBERG
Last month, more than 100 parliamentarians representing some 40 countries as diverse as Morocco and Australia met in the United Kingdom at the London Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism. Canada's delegation, representing both Liberal and Conservative MPs and senators, was by far the largest group.
The 12-person Canadian group was led by Jason Kenney, minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. The other Canadian members were Liberal MP and former justice minister Irwin Cotler and fellow Liberal MPs Anita Neville, Carolyn Bennett, Raymonde Folco, Hedy Fry, Joyce Murray and Bob Rae, as well as Conservative MPs Randy Hoback, James Lunney and Scott Reid and Liberal senator Jerry Grafstein.
In Cotler's keynote address, he stated: "Classical or traditional anti-Semitism is the discrimination against, the denial of, or assault upon, the rights of Jews to live as equal members of whatever host society they inhabit. The new anti-Semitism involves the discrimination against the right of the Jewish people to live as an equal member of the family of nations – the denial of, and assault upon, the Jewish people's right even to live – with Israel as the 'collective Jew among the nations.'"
Vancouver Quadra MP Murray, who participated in the conference, held a roundtable discussion on March 1 attended by about 30 members of the Vancouver Jewish community. She discussed the outcome of the conference, the London Declaration, and how to keep the momentum going when it comes to combating anti-Semitism both at home in Canada and abroad. The next Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism Conference is scheduled to be held in Canada in 2010.
Murray explained that she attended the recent conference to show support for the principle that Jews should not be left to fight anti-Semitism alone. Murray said she felt very proud and fortunate to have someone the calibre of Cotler – recognized as an international human rights expert – leading the Liberal caucus on this issue. Cotler is on the steering committee of the International Committee on Combating Anti-Semitism (organizers of the London conference).
Murray assured the group that gathered at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver that she and the Liberal caucus would continue to call for a funding increase for security measures in vulnerable communities across Canada. The fact that some Canadians justifiably feel unsafe in their schools and places of worship because of their religious beliefs, necessitates government support for increased security measures, she said. The current rise in anti-Semitic incidences only heightens the urgent need to improve domestic security in these domains. She added that while the numbers and nature of anti-Semitic incidents are recorded in Canada, this is an area that could be improved upon using the United Kingdom as a model.
Participating in the local roundtable were members of several local Jewish community organizations, including, Hillel Vancouver, Canadian Jewish Congress, National Council of Jewish Women and Temple Sholom. They thanked Joyce Murray for attending the London conference and taking the time to debrief and communicate her experience at this gathering. The atmosphere of the roundtable was nonpartisan, an example of how those fighting anti-Semitism should work.
In his closing remarks in London, Cotler said: "It is this global escalation and intensification of anti-Semitism that underpins – indeed necessitates – the establishment of an inter-parliamentary coalition to confront and combat this oldest and most enduring of hatreds. Silence is not an option. The time has come not only to sound the alarm – but to act. For, as history has taught us only too well: while it may begin with the Jews, it does not end with the Jews. Anti-Semitism is the canary in the mineshaft of evil, and it threatens us all."
Rose Mikelberg is a Vancouver Quadra resident. The full text of the London Declaration on Combating anti-Semitism can be found at ukinisrael.fco.gov.uk/en.
^TOP
|
|
