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Tag: Israel

Selina Robinson’s full speech – rally for Israeli hostages March 17/24

My friends,

I am sorry that I could not join you in person for safety reasons, but I thank the organizers for sharing a few words on my behalf.

My heart has been with all of you these past five months. I join you in seeking release of the hostages now. I join you in seeking peace – peace for the Palestinians – peace for Israelis – peace for us all.

I am told the theme for this week is resilience and so I have spent the last few days reflecting on my own resilience – as the lone voice in government speaking up for the Jewish community and how difficult it had become while others remained silent. I also focused on how much more difficult it became after I was forced to resign, feeling punished for speaking up about Jew-hatred.

I reflected on where the strength, the koach came from to persist, when it would have been so much easier to be silent, to fade into the background, to go along with the others and to pretend that everything was okay.

So, from where do I draw the strength?

It comes from different places:

  • A husband outraged that his wife is poorly treated by her colleagues, forced from a role she loves and who now keeps a baseball bat in the bedroom because others are threatening her life.
  • A son who stopped going to his gym shortly after the massacre on Oct. 7 because the Port Moody gym owner and city councillor decided that putting up a large Palestinian flag in her gym demonstrating to the world that she suddenly cares so deeply about a complex geopolitical conflict thousands of miles away is more important than the hurt this causes friends, colleagues, and customers.
  • A daughter who now must find significant financial resources to make sure the Jewish children in her care are safe this summer.

My strength has also come from:

  • The two Jewish professional women who, as a requirement of their jobs, came to hear the Throne Speech at the Legislature in February. They were forced to find a safe route into the building as there were dozens of protesters aggressively calling for a unilateral ceasefire and the destruction of Jews.
  • The physicians who refuse to train Jew-hating UBC medical students.
  • The teachers who organize to push back on the Jew-hatred we are seeing in the [BC Teachers’ Federation].
  • The people working in the public service who are telling their stories of intimidation like being told that their Jewish star necklace is a symbol of genocide.

Resilience for me comes from the countless stories from people who talk about being fearful at work, from Holocaust survivors who say, “It’s happening again.”

Resilience comes from Jewish community leaders and volunteers who are doing everything they can to keep programs running, to push government to do the right thing, to care for their congregants who are scared and worried, and who lead by example.

Resilience comes from the emails and letters from hundreds of people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, who remind me that even though I felt alone in my caucus and in government, I was not alone. I am not alone. We are not alone. Many were seeing what I was seeing, what we are seeing and are prepared to stand up to Jew-hatred.

Resilience comes from reaching out to others who are hurting too and finding out that they want to help heal our wounds together.

Resilience comes from seeing the Oct. 7 survivors of rape and torture pick up the pieces of their lives. It comes from seeing Israelis gather once again to protest their government. It comes from so many of you who have reached out with words of support, encouragement, and love.

Resilience comes from us gathering our collective strength as we lift each other up and remind ourselves that we are not alone – that together we will find the strength – the strength to bring peace.

Posted on March 22, 2024March 21, 2024Author Selina RobinsonCategories Op-EdTags British Columbia, geopolitics, hostages, Israel, Israel-Hamas war, Oct. 7, politics, resilience

הקלות לישראלים בהגירה לקנדה

קנדה מקילה באופן זמני על ישראלים המעוניינים להגר למדינה. זאת עקב מלחמת חרבות הברזל הארוכה המתנהלת כבר למעלה מארבעה חודשים בין ישראל לחמאס. המסלול הזמני והחדש יתקיים בשלב זה למשך כארבעה חודשים – עד לסוף חודש יוני

על פיו יוכלו ישראלים המעוניינים בכך לקבל ויזת עבודה בקנדה במשך שלוש שנים. מדובר בויזה פתוחה שתוכל לסייע בהמשך הדרך לקבלת אישור תושבות קבוע. ולאחר מכן אף לקבל אזרחות קנדית לכל דבר. מסלול זה שנפתח עתה עבור ישראלים כאמור בעקבות המלחמה, שימש בעבר כסיוע הומניטרי עבור אוקראינים ואוכלוסיית היזידים שנרדפת על ידי דאעש וכן גורמים איסלאמיים קיצונים

הקלות עבור ישראלים המעוניינים להגר לקנדה ניתנות עבור אלה שהם בעלי אשרת תייר המבקרים כאן (ללא קשר למועד הגעתם לקנדה). וכן לאלה שהם קרובי משפחה של אזרחים קנדיים, או אלה שמחזיקים בתעודות של תושבות קבע

עד תחילת מלחמת חרבות הברזל הקריטריונים להגירה לקנדה הקלו בעיקר על בעלי מקצועות מבוקשים וכן על בעלי השכלה גבוהה (בעלי תארים מתקדמים). אך בתנאי שכל אלה הם מתחת לגיל שלושים. וזאת, על פי שיטת הנקודות. מדי מספר חודשים משנה קנדה את גובה רף הניקוד אשר ממנו כל הבקשות מתקבלות

מסלולי ההגירה בקנדה מחולקים על פי הפרובינציות השונות. על פי השיטה על המבקש להגר לכאן מוטל להציג מספיק נקודות שנקבעות לפי מספר קריטריונים. ובהם: מקצוע, גיל ורמת האנגלית. מי מבקשים להגר לקנדה שהציג מספיק נקודות, יכול להגיש בקשה לתושבות קבע, לאחר מספר שנים לעבור מבחן (באזרחות) ואז להפוך לאזרח קבוע. כידוע אזרחים יכולים לבקש דרכון קנדי, נחשב לאחד הדרכונים המבוקשים ביותר בעולם במשך שנים

את הגשת המועמדות להגירה ניתן להגיש באופן עצמאי או להשתמש ביועצי הגירה המומחים לנושא, שיעזרו במילוי הטפסים הרבים. את הטפסים לבקשות הגירה ניתן להגיש מישראל, או מקנדה למי שנמצא כאן על פי ויזת עבודה או אלה שלומדים כאן

זמן ההמתנה לקבלת האישורים להגירה יכול להימשך כשנה ואף יותר מכך, בהתאם לרמת הנקודות של המבקש

באופן כללי מסלולי הגירה לקנדה נחלקים בגדול למסלולים זמנים ומסלולים לתושבות קבע. וזאת על פי קריטריונים שונים ובהם: הגירה לצעירים ומשכילים, הגירה על פי תוכניות של הפרובינציות השונות, מקצועות מבוקשים, הגירה לצורכי לימודים. וכן מסלולים למשקיעים פיננסים, קרובים מדרגה ראשונה ועוד

ניתן לקבל אשרות שהייה זמניות לצרכי לימודים גבוהים או עבודה. אם מעסיק קנדי מציע למועמד הצעת עבודה שעומדת בתנאים של משרד העבודה הקנדי, אפשר לקבל אשרת עבודה למשך מספר שנים. בדרך כלל אשרת עבודה מתקבלת מהר וניתן להאריכה בסך הכל עד שבע שנים. כמובן אם המשרה של העובד עדיין בתוקף. לאלה שעובדים בקנדה, העבודה תקנה להם נקודות כך שבתוך שנתיים הם יוכלו להגיש מועמדות של תושבות קבע במסלול המהיר. מי שקיבל שהתקבל ללימודים במוסד להשכלה גבוהה בקנדה (אוניברסיטהי או קולג’) למשך חצי שנה או יותר, יוכל לקבל ויזת לימודים. בתום סיום הלימודים המועמד יהיה זכאי לקבל ויזת עבודה בקנדה, למשך של שלוש שנים. זאת תלוי במסלול הלימודים ובאישור שהתקבל על ידי מוסד הלימודים. יש לזכור שעל מוסד הלימודים להיות מאושר על ידי מערכת ההגירה של קנדה. הלימודים או העבודה לאחריהם יכולים להקנות מספקי נקודות כדי להגיש מועמדות לקבלת תושבות קבע, במסלול המהיר

לפרובינציות השונות יש מסלולים מקוצרים ומהירים לקבלת תושבות קבע

Posted on March 6, 2024February 22, 2024Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Canada, immigration, Israel, Operation Iron Swords, permanent residency, temporary residence visas, work visa, אשרות שהייה זמניות, הגירה, ויזת עבודה, ישראל, מלחמת חרבות הברזל, קנדה, תושבות קבע
The choice to convert

The choice to convert

Adam is one of the potential converts interviewed in the documentary Converts: The Journey of Becoming Jewish, directed by Rebecca Shore and Oren Rosenfeld, which is part of this year’s Vancouver Jewish Film Festival. (photo from convertsmovie.com)

A religion that encourages questions, one in which people can speak directly with God. A religion that’s thousands of years old, which so many have attempted to wipe out, yet still flourishes. A religion that’s intellectual and communal, which involves both the head and the heart.

photo - Dana
Danya (photo from convertsmovie.com)

These are just some of the aspects of Judaism highlighted in Converts: The Journey of Becoming Jewish, directed by Rebecca Shore and Oren Rosenfeld. The 70-minute documentary is part of this year’s Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, which runs April 4-14 in theatres and April 15-19 online.

Converts follows Adam, Danya and Bianka as they go through the conversion process. Each have their own reasons for wanting to become Jewish.

Adam, a student at York University when we meet him, grew up in a violence-filled neighbourhood in Toronto. His father used the family’s savings – that could have gone into moving the family elsewhere – to establish a church, which failed. Adam was attracted to Judaism because, unlike the Christianity he grew up with, Judaism gave him the space to ask questions and to speak with God directly, though giving up belief in Jesus was hard, he admits.

Danya, a businesswoman from Costa Rica, found out in high school that she has Spanish-Portuguese Jewish roots, that her ancestors were forced to convert to Catholicism from Judaism centuries ago. She feels that ancestral pull and uproots her life, traveling to Israel with her daughter in the hope of converting and living there.

photo - Bianka
Bianka (photo from convertsmovie.com)

Bianka, a PhD student in chemistry at the University of Warsaw, lives in Radom, Poland. She immerses herself in a few other religions before finding comfort in what she considers Judaism’s scientific approach, but also in the warmth of the Jewish community, which she discovers by attending synagogue and holiday events.

Well-constructed and well-paced, Converts is a fascinating look at identity, family, community, religion, the search for meaning and the possibilities of change and self-actualization.

For tickets to the film festival, visit vjff.org.

Format ImagePosted on February 23, 2024February 22, 2024Author Cynthia RamsayCategories TV & FilmTags Canada, conversion, documentaries, Israel, Judaism, Poland
רילוקיישן לקנדה: מידע מעודכן לישראלים בימים קשים אלה

רילוקיישן לקנדה: מידע מעודכן לישראלים בימים קשים אלה

מרכז הקהילה היהודית והישראלית נמצא בטורונטו שהיא העיר הגדולה ביותר בקנדה
צילום Fabian Roudra Baroi

קנדה היא אחת מהמדינות האטרקטיביות ביותר להגירה: מדינה מבוססת כלכלית, יפה, רגועה ועם תנאים סוציאליים נדיבים לתשוביה. עם זאת, רילוקיישן לקנדה כרוך בקשיים ואתגרים

 בשנים האחרונות הפכה קנדה לאחד מהיעדים הנחשקים ביותר להגירה עבור ישראלים. בניגוד למדינות רבות אחרות, המדינה הקנדית דווקא מעודדת הגירה לתחומה. בהתאם לכך, מדי שנה מהגרים אליה בין שלוש מאות אלף לחצי מיליון איש. לקנדה מערכת בריאות אוניברסלית מהטובות בעולם (בניגוד לשכנתה מהדרום ארצות הברית), חקיקה סוציאלית נרחבת, יציבות פוליטית וכלכלית, נופי טבע מדהימים ועוד. היא מדורגת במקום השלישי במדד המדינות שהכי טוב לחיות בהן (ולעומת זאת: ישראל מדורגת במקום הארבעים ושלושה בלבד)

עם זאת, ישנם מספר דברים שכדאי לקחת בחשבון לפני שעושים את הצעד המשמעותי  להגר. כמו: הגשת בקשות ההגירה לקנדה כרוכה בעמלות של אלפי שקלים, החורף קר להפליא ויכול להגיע גם עד למינוס חמש עשרה מעלות צלזיוס. וכן שקנדה קנדה רחוקה משראל מרחק של לכל הפחות עשר שעות טיסה (והטיסות לרוב יקרות), מה שמקשה על ישראלים המהגרים אליה להגיע לביקורים תכופים בארץ

קהילות יהודיות וישראליות בקנדה: מרכז הקהילה היהודית והישראלית נמצא בטורונטו שהיא העיר הגדולה ביותר בקנדה. זו עיר רב-תרבותית ותכולו למצוא בה קהילות מהגרים מכל העולם כולל ישראל כמובן

ממשלת קנדה הקימה פורטל המפרט את סוגי הויזות השונים וכן את ההליכים הנדרשים על מנת לקבל כל אחת מהן. הוויזות השכיחות ביותר הן: איחוד בני משפחות עם אחד מבני המשפחה יש כבר אזחרות קנדית. ויזת סטארט אפ – ניוד של חברת סטארט אפ לקנדה או הקמתה כאן (אשרת עבודה וכן שהייה קבועה). יש גם ויזת עבודה לבעלי מקצועות מבוקשים. קנדה מעודדת הגירה לאנשי מקצוע העובדים במקצועות מבוקשים עליהם נמנים בין היתר: סיעוד, הנדסה, תכנות, פיננסים ופיזיותרפיה

ויזת עבודה לעצמאים: חלק מהפרובינציות בקנדה מציעות תוכניות קליטת הגירה משלהן, כחלק מתהליך בחינת הויזה על המועדמים לעבור מבחנים בידיעת השפה האנגלית (או הצרפתית למי שמעוניין להגר לקוובק). יש לשים לב שתהליך הגשת בקשת הויזה כרוך בעמלות שיכולות להגיע גם לאלפי דולרים קנדיים. ממולץ להתייעץ עם סוכני הגירה כדי לוודא את העמידה בתנאים, תקינות מסמכים ועוד

איך מוצאים עבודה בקנדה: אחד מהיתרונות הגדולים הטמונים בהגירה לקנדה הוא העובדה שהיא מדינה דוברת אנגלית (אלא אם עוברים לקוויבק ששם השפה המדוברת היא צרפתית). לפני ששולחים קורות חיים באנגלית מומלץ לוודא עם דובר אנגלית שפת אם, שאין בתרגום שגיאות ושהמונחים המקצועיים המצוינים כתובים נכון. עוד מומלץ לפתוח/לעדכן פרופיל ברשת החברתית-עסקית לינקדין, הנחשפת למרכזית בהליכי חיפוש עבודה בקנדה. מומלץ גם להעלות לפרופיל שלכם בה פוסט המבשר על המעבר המתוכנן ועל חיפוש עבודה מתאימה. מומלץ עוד לחפש ישראלים בלינקדין מתחום העיסוק הרלוונטי שגרים בעיר אליה מתכננים לעבור ולנסות להיעזר בהם

מערכת הבריאות הקנדית נחשבת לאחת מהטובות בעולם ומדורגת באופן קבוע בעשירון העליון בדירוגים שונים, כולל של ארגון הבריאות הנילאומי. בניגוד לשכנתה ארצות הברית ובדומה לרוב מדינות אירופה, בקנדה קיימת מערכת בריאות אוניברסלית הנגישה לכולם, ובנוייה על תשלום מס בריאות. כמו בישראל, ניתן להוסיף לכף ביטוח רפואי פרטי, שבכוחו להגדיל את הכיסוי, לקצר זמני המתנה לרופאים מומחים ועוד. ישנם מקומות עבודה המספקים ביטוח רפואי פרטי כהטבה לעובדיהם. כל הפרטים הללו רלוונטיים לאזרחים קנדיים. אם עדיין לא קיבלתם אזרחות של המדינה – מומלץ להצטייד בביטוח רפואי פרטי

Format ImagePosted on February 14, 2024February 7, 2024Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Canada, immigration, Israel, relocation to Canada, הגירה, ישראל, קנדה, רילוקיישן לקנדה

Anti-racism work at risk

Selina Robinson resigned Monday as British Columbia’s minister of post-secondary education and future skills. She also announced she would not seek reelection as the member of the Legislature for Coquitlam-Maillardville – though she said the latter was a decision she had made earlier.

The resignation Monday afternoon was the culmination of a remarkably speedy controversy that erupted late last week, after video circulated of Robinson, during a B’nai Brith Canada panel discussion, referring to pre-state Israel as a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.” That she qualified the statement immediately, saying “there were several hundred thousand people, but, other than that, it didn’t produce an economy, it couldn’t grow things, it didn’t have anything on it,” is cut off from almost all the video clips.

The language choice was problematic and careless, no question. The Zionist movement has often been criticized for consciously or unconsciously overlooking the presence of existing populations in the land that became the modern state of Israel. One of the original slogans was: “A land without a people for a people without a land.” Robinson certainly knows this history.

What she meant – as she clarified again after the controversy erupted – was that the land had few if any natural resources or economic development. There is nothing historically inaccurate about that. Not only did Palestine not have an abundance of natural resources but, for hundreds of years, it had been an ignored piece of a failing Ottoman Empire, then, for two decades, an abused outpost of British colonialism. Regardless, the way in which Robinson spoke is not a fair or productive way to talk about a land that clearly (so clearly) means so much to so many people. Resources, economic or otherwise, are not the markers of the inherent value of a land or its significance to Indigenous peoples or anyone with a close relationship to place. That said, the feverish response to her words has been out of proportion. There is a world in which her clarification and apology would have sufficed. But, of course, this is politics.

And it is more than just politics. It is Israel and Palestine politics – and that is a particularly vicious game, even here in peaceable Canada. Annamie Paul, former head of the Green Party of Canada, learned tragically what can happen to a Jewish political leader who dares to take a nuanced position (or, really, anything but a wildly anti-Israel approach) to Middle East affairs. Some of us feared Robinson’s principles on this front put a similar target on her back. We’ve been proved right.

Robinson has been an outspoken pro-Israel voice, never more than since Oct. 7. There is no doubt that some were looking for an opportunity to knock her down – and she stumbled in a bad way, leaving her open to precisely the sort of attack some people were no doubt itching for. 

Protesters, who, since Oct. 7, have been ready to mobilize about Israel with any provocation, moved into action. Social media erupted in such performative ferocity one would think British Columbians had suddenly discovered one of our leaders was a member of the Klan. 

A major New Democratic Party fundraising gala Sunday night was canceled, apparently because they feared a protest that would distract from the party’s message in an election year. A news conference on Monday on a completely unrelated issue was also canceled, presumably for the same reason.

Groups accused Robinson of “blatant bigotry.” Anjali Appadurai, who ran against the current Premier David Eby for party leader, accused Robinson of “racist views.” Protesters Monday and people on social media accused her of “white supremacy.” After the controversy arose but before she resigned, Robinson had agreed to take anti-Islamophobia training.

It is perhaps most remarkable that the people most loudly condemning Robinson probably intersect significantly with the demographic that contests the widely accepted definition of antisemitism, contending, in effect, that Jews make up false “smears” about bigotry for political gain. This, of course, is precisely what happened to Robinson: an offhand (and, yes, offensive) remark is recast as “Islamophobia” by activists who have been waiting to pounce on precisely this sort of slipup. Not incidentally, it sidelines one of Canada’s few Jewish, pro-Israel elected officials.

The rhetoric being used around whiteness, settler colonialism and vulnerable communities also reinforces narratives about Israel that are deeply troubling and rooted in antisemitism and ignorance. Robinson’s comments, heard through an already flawed lens, produced a result that was all but predetermined by entrenched narratives. This is a disturbing reality, one that hurts more than Jews and their allies. Such abuse of terms like racism and white supremacy offend the serious work we must do as a society to confront these problems. Mobilizing these terms for crude political gain, as they have been against Robinson, undermines the fight against racism. 

Robinson, and many in the Jewish community, no doubt feel heartbroken this week. In the long run, though, it is the people of British Columbia who are the losers. They have lost the services of a committed public servant.

More than this, our political culture and the fight against racism in all its forms have been debased. 

Posted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author The Editorial BoardCategories From the JITags British Columbia, Israel, Palestine, politics, Selina Robinson
A plea for the hostages

A plea for the hostages

A screenshot of former Israel Air Force pilot Uri Arad speaking at the Jan. 20 Bring Them Home rally in Jerusalem.

***

Weekly rallies have been held in “Hostages Square,” the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, since the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas, who killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 that day. Every week, thousands gather in the square and in other locations, calling for the release of the 136 hostages still being held in Gaza, at least 32 of whom are now believed to be dead. At the Jan. 20 Bring Them Home rally in Jerusalem, one of the speakers was Uri Arad, a former pilot who was held in captivity in Egypt for six weeks during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Arad is not related to Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force officer missing in action since 1986, who Arad mentions in his speech. The remarks below were translated into English by Rahel Halabe, a Vancouver translator and educator, who is a family friend.

***

I was asked to speak here today because I have been a prisoner of war. Until recently, I had avoided talking publicly about my captivity or even identifying as a past captive. The reason I stand here today and talk to you stems from my deep empathy with the hostages and their families, my fear for the hostages’ fate and the need to join the call for their immediate release.

Indeed, I can testify from my experience that captivity is a very difficult experience, physically and mentally. Still, it is important for me to emphasize that, as difficult as my experience was, it is not the same as what our hostages in Gaza are going through. As a pilot of the air force, I was totally aware of the possibility of falling into captivity and I was prepared physically and mentally to cope with the experience. This is not the same for innocent civilians who are kidnapped out of the blue, without any previous preparation. As time goes on, it shows that the hostages are indeed going through hell.

Moreover, being held captive by a state is not the same as being held captive by a murderous terrorist organization. Being held by a state, I did not feel the constant existential threat on my life – I knew that, eventually, I would return home. This is unlike the hostages in Gaza, who are in constant existential fear of being murdered by their captors, or even killed by our own forces. It is, therefore, a much more difficult experience than what I went through.

I shut my eyes and imagine Noa Argamani, the Bibas family, Amit Buskila, Elyakim Libman, Yusef and Hamza Alziadneh, Liri Elbag, and all the other hostages, and my heart is shattered. Here in Israel, there are so many tormented families who are suffering from uncertainty and worry for their loved ones, some of them after experiencing losses without the ability to properly mourn. It’s just horror. We have to say clearly and loudly: we have reached a stage in which every day that passes is like Russian roulette in the life of the hostages. Therefore, it is necessary to do everything, everything, to bring them home now!

When people ask what reassured me most and helped me get through my time in captivity, I answer without any hesitation: I knew that the state would do all that it could to bring me back home. The ability to cope with torture, difficult interrogations and the uncertainty of my fate mostly came from my belief in the contract between me and the state, from knowing that I would not be abandoned. This confidence is what accompanies all soldiers who are ready to give their life for the state. This is the Israeli ethos of solidarity, the most sublime expression of which is that those injured on the battlefield are never abandoned, even if their rescue may involve losses, and that the state goes above and beyond to bring its captives and hostages home.

This is why I came here today, to say in a clear voice: the return of the hostages is the most important mission, maybe the only one, that should guide decision-makers at this moment. This is the necessary condition for our ability as a nation to recuperate from the horrendous disaster that hit us on Black Saturday. All of us are tormented knowing that Ron Arad never came back. It is, therefore, important to say it is unthinkable that there will be tens more of “Ron Arads.” If we don’t regain our composure and immediately bring the hostages home, this will happen. Some of the hostages will return in coffins, others will be forever lost.

But, I am asked, how do we bring them back? Don’t they keep telling us that the objective of destroying Hamas is not less important, that there have been great attempts to bring them back, that both objectives are interconnected and that we must keep putting military pressure on Hamas to bring the hostages back? It must be said, at this point in time, as Gadi Eisenkot expressed so well two days ago, this is senseless. The truth is that, today, these two objectives contradict each other. And the evidence is that – except for one hostage – all the hostages who have come back were returned in the framework of a deal. The military operation not only did not help in the return of the hostages, but it even cost the life of a few of them, and every day that passes just increases the danger to their lives. The conclusion is clear and sharp: the only way to bring the hostages back alive is through a deal. Now!

There are those who object to stopping the war, claiming that it would be a repetition of the same mistake that brought Oct. 7 upon us, and that it will eventually bring upon us many more Black Shabbats and an existential danger to the state in the long run. They mistakenly think that the destruction of Hamas is just around the corner. This is a delusion! Today, it is clear to all who are reasonable that the destruction of Hamas is an extremely difficult goal, which will require years to achieve. It is important to understand that what really hides behind this claim is the willingness to give up on the hostages. In the clash between short-term and long-term interests, those who claim the above prefer the long-term. I say, first, we must bring back the hostages! In the long-run, we will be able to continue weakening the terrorists through both military pressure and political initiatives, while striving for comprehensive agreements that will bring an end to the conflict.

I know that the thought of being forced to stop the fighting and, on top of that, pay the heavy price of a mass release of terrorists, is difficult for many people. I, too, have found it hard to swallow and say this grudgingly, but there is no escape. It is necessary to internalize that the hostages are the major asset Hamas has in its hands, and that [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar will not give up this asset except in exchange for the end of fighting. The strategic failure of Black Shabbat puts us, after more than 100 days of fighting, in a position in which we are forced to clearly make a decision and pay the price. The Israeli government, therefore, should initiate a deal of “all for all,” including a stop to the fighting. Now!

Binyamin Netanyahu refused to take responsibility for what happened on Oct. 7, but has been “gracious” enough to declare that he is responsible for all that will happen. If so, it must be clearly said: Netanyahu is responsible for the fate of the hostages. From here, I would like to address the prime minister and say: Netanyahu, you have brought upon us the worst catastrophe in the history of the state. This will be your legacy; you will be inscribed in history with shameful disgrace. Still, you have a chance to somehow soften history’s judgment, if you bring the hostages back alive. This is the time to rise above the political considerations that have led you and initiate a deal for the return of the hostages. Now!

Finally, I would like to say: continuing the current policy will cause a rupture, impossible to repair, in Israeli society. Israel will lose its soul, one of its most significant elements. We will never again be able to say that we hold human life sacred. This is an unbearable price. Therefore, bring the hostages back in exchange for stopping the fighting. Now!

Thank you all. 

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Uri AradCategories IsraelTags Bring Them Home, hostages, Israel, Israel-Hamas war, Netanyahu
ICJ ruling ‘nonevent’: lawyer

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. 

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Pat JohnsonCategories IsraelTags Aviv Kohavi, genocide, HonestReporting Canada, ICJ, International Court of Justice, Israel, Natasha Hausdorff

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

Posted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Jewish FederationCategories LocalTags fundraising, Israel, Israel Emergency Campaign, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, philanthropy, Rachel Sachs
Games help ALUMA counseling centre

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

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author NCJWC VancouverCategories LocalTags ALUMA, counseling, fundraising, healthcare, Israel, Israel-Hamas war, mental health, National Council of Jewish Women, Oct. 7, trauma

Roots of Arab-Israeli conflict?

The historic milestones that led to the creation of the state of Israel are well known: Theodor Herzl’s Zionist congresses, the Balfour Declaration, the Partition Resolution, the War of Independence. Oren Kessler – who participates in the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival on Feb. 13 – believes that a significant chunk of history has been largely overlooked and he sets out to right that wrong in his new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. The Arab uprising of 1936 to 1939 in Palestine, he writes, “was the crucible in which Palestinian identity coalesced.” It also set in stone the intransigence toward Jewish self-determination in the region.

image - Palestine 1936 book coverAn Arab reaction to increased Jewish migration to Palestine – presaging both the potential for an eventual Jewish majority in the British-controlled Mandate and an even more alarming political outcome, a Jewish national homeland – inspired three years of Arab terror and British colonial repression, with the Jews inevitably caught between, argues Kessler.

Beginning with a series of strikes and protests in April 1936, the haphazard opposition to British rule and Jewish immigration was soon corralled and led by the notorious Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, into a mass movement of terror and anti-colonial (and anti-Jewish) violence.

While the British, on the one hand, hammered the Arab guerrillas – and plenty of civilians – they also rewarded that violence with policies such as those emerging from the 1937 Peel Commission report and the 1939 White Paper, both of which effectively caved to Arab demands by massively reducing Jewish immigration just as the Nazis were closing their fists across Europe. At the same time, the British left the Arabs unsatisfied by throwing tiny offerings to the Jews as a sign of compromise.

So unyielding was the mufti’s opposition to even considering Jewish migration that his Arab Higher Committee boycotted the various commissions’ hearings.

“Amid Hajj Amin’s boycott, no Arabs came forward,” writes Kessler. “Jerusalem Vice Mayor Hassan Sidqi Dajani, the mufti opponent who had once contemplated testifying, was found along the train tracks outside the city with two broken hands and two bullet holes in his forehead.”

In the end, the revolt was a disaster for everyone.

“The great revolt had exacted a withering toll on Palestine,” writes Kessler. “About 500 Jews had been killed and some 1,000 wounded. British troops and police suffered around 250 fatalities in their ranks. But the most onerous price of all was paid by the Arabs themselves: at least 5,000 – perhaps more than 8,000 – were dead, of whom at least 1,500 likely fell at Arab hands. More than 20,000 were seriously wounded.”

The Arab economy in Palestine was ruined, even as the Jewish economy hummed along.

Kessler’s thesis is that the events of 1936-1939 deserve to be recognized more as pivotal to the history of the region as a whole. There are also voluminous parallels and lessons for contemporary times in his review of that era.

The uprising did not, in the end, prevent Jewish national self-determination in Palestine. What it did prevent was a refuge for the Jews of Europe when they needed it most – and, for at least some of the players in this tragic drama, like the Hitler-allied mufti, perhaps that was a reward in itself. 

The Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival runs Feb. 10-15. For tickets, visit jccgv.com/jewish-book-festival.

Posted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Pat JohnsonCategories BooksTags history, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, JCC Jewish Book Festival, Oren Kessler, Palestine

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