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May 10, 2002
Diners open up wallets
World Jewry depends on Hebrew U, says Asper.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
About $800,000 was raised in a few hours among 350 people Sunday night
to help send British Columbia students to study at the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem. The fact that one of the people in attendance was media
magnate Israel Asper accounted for half the funds raised.
The gala banquet at the Four Seasons Hotel celebrated the launch
of the Vancouver Asper Scholarship Fund. A similar fund has been
operating in Asper's home province of Manitoba for 17 years and
has accounted for 150 alumni attending the Hebrew University and
returning to Manitoba to assume leadership positions in the Jewish
community. The enormously successful fund-raising effort was aided
by a draw for a Panama Canal cruise, with one chance at the cruise
for every $1,000 donated to the fledgling scholarship fund. (The
winners were Sidney and Marie Doduck.)
Asper, whose holdings include the National Post and Vancouver's
two English-language daily newspapers, earlier agreed to match dollar
for dollar all funds raised at the event. When the funds were tallied,
Asper told the crowd ruefully that he never thought it would cost
him so much. But he moved the crowd to further generosity with his
heartfelt plea, equating support for Hebrew U very literally to
the future of Israel and of the Jewish people at large.
Since 1925, he said, Hebrew University has been the training ground
for the leaders of Israel and the Diaspora. Maintaining the strength
of Hebrew U is directly connected to maintaining the strength of
the world's Jewish communities, he said. And such strength, he warned,
has never been more important since 1933, when Hitler came to power
in Germany. Asper painted a worrisome picture of world affairs,
citing growing anti-Semitism in Europe, the Middle East and also
in Canada.
Asper's comments had a particular relevance for the night's event.
As dinner guests were entering the Four Seasons Hotel earlier to
hear Asper speak, they were confronted by a large, though peaceful,
demonstration protesting against Israel. The group included burqa-wearing
women holding signs attacking Israel for infringing their freedom.
The funds raised through the Asper scholarship fund will aid Canadian
Jewish communities enormously, Asper said. Much is expected of recipients
after they return to Canada. They must share their experiences with
their home communities, through extensive volunteer work and the
assumption of senior leadership positions. He said Manitoba's Jewish
community has been greatly blessed by returning students.
Attendees at the banquet also heard an assessment of the Middle
East situation from keynote speaker Norman Spector, a former Canadian
ambassador to Israel and now one of this country's most prominent
and prolific media commentators.
Spector, who professed to be an admirer of the late Israeli prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin, nevertheless offered his own unorthodox
perspective on Rabin's legacy.
"I believe that if Yitzhak Rabin were alive today, he would
be doing precisely what Ariel Sharon is doing today," said
Spector. In fact, Rabin may have ended the Oslo process sooner,
Spector posited, because he would have felt a personal sense of
betrayal from Yasser Arafat, who Spector said has learned nothing
in the past 30 years.
Spector, whose responsibilities in Israel included diplomatic relations
with the Palestinian Authority, painted Arafat as an unabashed liar,
whose word means nothing.
"The man is delusional and a terrible liar," he said.
"The Americans have discovered this now." If Arafat views
blowing up young civilians in a pizzeria as valid political strategy,
he said, lying to world leaders is hardly a breach of Arafat's personal
ethics.
Spector, who is also a former publisher of the Jerusalem Post,
said the Palestinian leader has a knack for making his defeats look
like victories to his followers. For example, his declaration of
victory upon his release from Ramallah recently was a perfect example
of propaganda, Spector said. Spector's one point of optimism came
in speculating about a successor to the old terrorist. He went so
far as to suggest that if Arafat were replaced by a moderate leader,
there could be a Palestinian state within a year.
The successful banquet included comments from the national president
of Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, Stephen Victor, and from
the local chapter president, Dr. Josh Kleinman. Rose Marie Glassman,
who will receive the university's top honor at a ceremony in Jerusalem
later this year, offered a tribute to Morris J. Wosk, the late philanthropist
who was a strong supporter of the university. Dr. Menachem Magidor,
president of Hebrew University, addressed the audience through a
video presentation.
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