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November 7, 2003
Big changes nationally
More cash for advocacy, less duplication, aim of CIJA.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
A major restructuring of Canada's national Jewish organizations
took place with an agreement between several groups last week. As
the practical impacts of the realignment become evident over the
coming months, the Bulletin will explore how these changes affect
Jews in Canada, British Columbia, Israel and elsewhere. This week,
an overview of the situation as it now exists.
Canada's national Jewish communal agencies are undergoing perhaps
the most significant bureaucratic shakeup in their history. National
responsibilities are being reassigned, with Canadian Jewish Congress
(CJC), the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC), campus organizations and
the federation system working together more closely in order to
counter what has been seen as a growing threat posed by anti-Israel
attitudes in Canada. At the same time, substantial sums of cash
are about to be injected into the process.
A new organization is being founded, adding to the already confusing
aleph-bet soup of acronyms that is a hallmark of the Canadian Jewish
community. The Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA)
is a new entity being created by United Israel Appeal (UIA)-Federations
Canada, with the support of CJC and CIC and a national Jewish students
group. The agreement was concluded Oct. 26 and follows about a year
of discussions.
In December 2002, UIA-Federations Canada, the national umbrella
body uniting local Jewish federations in Canada, formed an ad hoc
committee to address growing concerns about the pitch of debate
and criticism against Israel here in Canada. The committee is known
as the Israel Emergency Cabinet, which is now to be formalized as
an independent nonprofit organization. The members of the Israel
Emergency Cabinet will lead a steering committee to govern CIJA
until the registered nonprofit structure is in place and a board
is elected to build the new national body.
The deal amounts to CIJA taking some decision-making control away
from the CJC and CIC, by replacing overall strategic direction in
the hands of CIJA. Though some resistance to this arrangement was
predictable, UIA-Federations Canada was in a position of some strength
during negotiations, due to the fact that it provides almost the
entire annual budget for CJC and CIC.
The new organization will have four distinct components: Canadian
Jewish Congress and the Canada-Israel Committee will each continue
to advocate on matters of Jewish and Israeli affairs, under direction
from CIJA. A third arm is to co-ordinate campus activities across
the country, largely in conjunction with the network of Hillels.
(This is a responsibility that is currently operated by UIA-Federations
through its National Jewish Campus Life department.) A fourth section
will be a national grassroots movement which will welcome members
who seek democratic input in the new organization and who will organize
at localized levels across Canada.
Since the rise of violence in the latest round of anti-Israel terrorism,
there has been a blurring of the lines between advocacy done on
behalf of Israel and that done on behalf of Canadian Jewry. The
Mideast issue has become so entrenched in the Canadian Jewish community's
relations with the larger body politic that some people believe
that anti-Israel comments have frequently crossed boundaries into
anti-Semitic expressions. As such, Mideast debate becomes an issue
for national Jewish agencies whose explicit responsibilities may
not focus on Israel. While Canadian Jewish Congress has long been
a voice in support of the Zionist movement in Canada, specific actions,
advocacy and lobbying on Israel's behalf has been delegated to the
Canada-Israel Committee.
The new agency is the result of more than a year of informal and
formal negotiations between interested parties, including the Israel
Emergency Cabinet. The cabinet is made up of a number of prominent
Jewish Canadians, including Sen. Leo Kolber, power couple Heather
Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, the late Izzy Asper and several other
influential backers, who were moved to action by what they view
as an emergency situation in the Canadian atmosphere vis-a-vis Israel.
Though the creation of a new organization may seem like an invitation
for duplication of efforts, Maxyne Finkelstein, executive vice-president
of UIA-Federations Canada, said it is has been created to prevent
agencies from doing similar work by creating unified co-ordination
of resources.
Stressful transformation
While the agreement sets out some general guidelines for reassigned
responsibilities, many of the details remain to be ironed out. Individuals
close to the arrangement, however, acknowledge that the agreement
didn't come without stress and that there has been some arm-twisting.
Keith Landy, national president of Canadian Jewish Congress, who
was in Vancouver last week, told the Bulletin that the birth
of the new agency was not without its labor pains.
"There have been negotiations, at times difficult," said
Landy. "But I'm pleased that through the discussions there
has been a recognition of the importance of the role that Congress
has played, is playing and will continue to play."
Canadian Jewish Congress will continue to do its work on issues
of domestic concern and the Canada-Israel Committee will continue
to work on informing Canadians about Israel and increasing support
for the Zionist cause in this country. But the advocacy operations
of both CJC and CIC will come under closer administration by CIJA,
which will act as a separate but related overseer of both agencies.
Left out in the cold are B'nai Brith Canada and the Canadian Zionist
Federation, whose members can still have input as individuals, but
which will no longer be official member-groups the Canada-Israel
Committee, as has been the case until now.
New funding received
CIJA's creation comes from a belief that advocacy could be handled
more efficiently in Canada. A number of prominent Canadians were
prepared to invest new funds into agencies supporting Israel and
Jewish advocacy, but wanted assurances that the funds would be used
to their best potential.
There was consternation among some in the national Jewish leadership
after rumors emerged, including in a letter in last week's Bulletin,
that CJC, which has acted as a national representative body for
Canadian Jewry for close to a century, could effectively or actually
cease to exist.
Landy denied it would have come to that.
"I wasn't elected to preside over the breakup of Canadian Jewish
Congress," said Landy, who is in the last six months of a three-year
term at the helm of the national body. But some frustration is evident
in Landy's humorous observation that, after his term expires, he
plans to spend more time with his family and convert to Buddhism.
But if there were behind-the-scenes battles, both sides are now
heralding the good news side of this story, which is that the budget
for Jewish advocacy in Canada will apparently soar.
Finkelstein said UIA-Federations, with the support of a number of
major donors, are prepared to invest twice as much money in advocacy
through CIJA (and through CIJA to CJC, CIC and National Jewish Campus
Life) to advocacy in Canada.
Landy acknowledges more co-ordination is necessary. To view events
solely in a Canadian context is to miss the larger situation, Landy
and others have said. The reason the whole matter of advocacy has
come up is due to the atmosphere in North America, Europe and worldwide,
since the beginning of the latest orgy of terrorism against Israel.
The pitch of public discourse in Canada on the matter has raised
unease among Jews, civil libertarians and others, who feel the tone
of the discussion has become poisoned by extremism. Not just in
the Middle East, where words and violence too often intersect, but
in Canada and other countries, the debate has become extremely heated.
The deal means an influx of cash, though exact figures remain to
be divulged. According to some reports, it could mean an additional
$5 million a year to the combined advocacy budgets of Canadian Jewish
groups. Landy acknowledges that that the money may come with a quid
pro quo, but said the independence of Congress to speak out
independently has always been, to some extent, at the pleasure of
the federation system, which provides effectively the entire operating
budget of Canadian Jewish Congress, he said.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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