Nico Slobinsky

Samidoun on terrorist list

Samidoun was an organizer of an Oct. 7 rally celebrating Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel a year earlier. Protesters tried to burn the Canadian flag while shouting that Israel should burn. They also chanted “death to” Canada, the United States and Israel. (screenshot Global News)

Last week, the Government of Canada designated Samidoun, a not-for-profit corporation based in Canada, as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code. At the same time, the United States Department of the Treasury announced Samidoun is now a “specially designated global terrorist group.”

Also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Samidoun has close ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been designated by Canada and other countries as a terrorist group for many years.

At rallies in Vancouver and throughout Canada, Samidoun’s international coordinator, Charlotte Kates, has expressed open support for the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. On the one-year anniversary of the attacks, she led a rally where chants of “death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel” were heard. Videos show rally participants setting fire to the Canadian flag, while shouting “Israel, burn, burn,” among other things.

“We’re very thankful for today’s decision by the Government of Canada to designate Samidoun as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code,” said Nico Slobinsky, vice-president, Pacific Region, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). “For the past year, they’ve organized some of the most vicious protests in Canada, openly and explicitly celebrating the Oct. 7 attacks and, just last week, they were chanting ‘we are Hamas, we are Hezbollah’ at their rally.”

Kates was arrested after an April 26 rally, at which she called the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks “heroic and brave” and led chants of “Long live Oct. 7.” The conditions of her release order – which prohibited her participation or attendance at any protests, rallies or assemblies for a period of six months – expired Oct. 8 because the Crown had yet to file charges against her.

Slobinsky said CIJA called for the BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) to charge Kates under hate speech laws four months ago, so that she face the full consequences of her actions for glorifying terrorism. But just how long it will take for the BCPS to make a decision is unknown.

Damienne Darby, communications counsel for the BCPS, confirmed that the BCPS had received a Report to Crown Counsel in relation to Kates. “We are reviewing it for charge assessment, and I am unable to provide a timeline for completion,” she wrote in an email, declining to provide further comment.

In a statement, Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and chief executive officer of CIJA, said, “Listing the group as a terrorist entity means they will no longer be able to use our streets as a platform to incite hate and division against the Jewish community; this is a significant step toward ensuring the safety and security of Canada’s Jews.”

But, while the designation as a terrorist group will affect Samidoun’s ability to fundraise, recruit and travel, it is unclear whether it will affect their ability to hold rallies and further promulgate hatred.

CIJA has asked the federal government to re-examine whether Kates and her husband, Khaled Barakat, obtained Canadian citizenship fraudulently by failing to fully disclose their affiliation with the PFLP. The United States has put Barakat on a terrorism watch list for his connections with the PFLP.

Public Safety Canada notes that one of the consequences of being listed as a terrorist organization is that the entity’s property can be seized or forfeited. Banks and brokerages are required to report that entity’s property and cannot allow the entity to access their property. It’s an offence for people to knowingly participate in or contribute to the activity of a terrorist group. Including Samidoun, there are now 78 terrorist entities listed under the Criminal Code, according to Public Safety Canada.

This terrorist designation is long overdue, said Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, chair of the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver. “To have an organization that creates chaos, hatred and threatens the Jewish community operating freely in Vancouver and Canada was terrible,” he said. “When Samidoun burned the Canadian flag and called for the destruction of the US and Canada on Oct. 7, they demonstrated who they truly are. I hope this decision will give the Canadian government and the police the ability to prevent Samidoun from operating in the manner they have and to prosecute.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond.

(Editor’s Note: For the CJN Daily podcast host Ellin Bessner’s conversation with NGO Monitor’s Gerald Steinberg about Samidoun’s terror links and more, click here.)

Pondering your vote choice

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has developed an online “election hub” for navigating the issues.

Topics that might be considered “Jewish issues” in a political context are generally more federal in nature. Foreign affairs as they relate to Israel are top of mind for Jewish voters, as are things like hate crimes and discrimination, which fall under criminal law and national legislation.

Jewish advocacy organizations, of course, have generally stressed that all issues are Jewish issues in that they affect Jewish citizens. Jewish values of tikkun olam and social justice more broadly have often guided Jewish voters and their constituent agencies to emphasize initiatives like poverty reduction, housing and social welfare, as well as multicultural harmony.

The British Columbia election Oct. 19 has perhaps been imbued with added relevance for Jewish voters given events of the past months. Public security, which is a responsibility of all levels of government, has been front of mind for Jewish individuals and agencies because of the spike in antisemitic rhetoric, threats and incidents, especially since the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel of a year ago. Not unrelatedly, the removal of the Jewish community’s voice in government, former cabinet minister Selina Robinson, over remarks about the historic nature of the land on which Israel was reestablished, and her subsequent resignation from the BC New Democratic Party caucus, has to some extent undermined the relationship between the current government and many members of the Jewish community.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has developed an online “election hub” for navigating the issues.

“Jewish voters in BC have several things to consider when they cast their ballot,” Nico Slobinsky, vice-president for the Pacific region of CIJA, told the Independent in a statement. “This election season falls in the middle of the Jewish High Holy Days and the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks committed by Hamas. During this time, it is important that we consider policies that strengthen family, community and safety for all that are targeted by hate. I encourage community members to educate themselves on the party platforms and to get involved in the democratic process by voting and volunteering.”

CIJA’s online resource includes information on voting, links to the platforms of the political parties and detailed information on issues CIJA and its constituents have identified as priorities.

“Our community is stronger when we all practise our democratic duty and vote!” said Slobinsky.

Among the topics CIJA identifies is the implementation of mandatory Holocaust education in the province’s educational curriculum. A year ago, the province committed to making education about the Holocaust mandatory in Grade 10. Until now, it was theoretically possible for a BC student to graduate without learning anything about the Shoah. CIJA contends that Holocaust education “meaningfully reinforces ‘never again,’ and encourages responsible citizenship for all British Columbians.”

Relatedly, CIJA is calling on the next government to collect and publish data pertaining to hateful incidents or cases of discrimination reported in the province’s kindergarten to Grade 12 education system and to implement training programs for all staff in BC schools around various manifestations of hatred.

On hate crime and related incidents, CIJA is asking the government to mandate the public reporting of hate incidents by every police force across the province, a step they say would assist investigators in tracking offenders, as well as helping develop and implement strategies to keep communities safe. These data, CIJA suggests, should be disclosed in an annual report from the relevant government departments.

The government should also provide additional resources to strengthen existing police hate crime units and to fund the establishment of such units where they do not yet exist. Special emphasis should be placed on online hate, the resource hub recommends, as this is where individuals are often incited to carry out real-world hate crimes.

Crown prosecutors should be trained, and policy directives updated, to emphasize the public interest in addressing hate-motivated crimes, CIJA recommends. They also urge the government to increase support for safety and security at cultural and religious institutions where existing programs are not currently covering all expenses, including at places of worship, community centres, childcare facilities and summer camps.

On other issues, CIJA continues to press for continued and expanded government commitments to culturally appropriate long-term care, while also making life more affordable for seniors aging in place by reducing the costs of home care, renovations and health services not covered by the provincial health funding system. CIJA recommends more funding for culturally appropriate adult day centres and programming to prevent social isolation.

On the always relevant topic of real estate and affordability, CIJA calls on the future government to permanently exempt nonprofit housing societies from the obligation to pay the property transfer tax and to work with municipalities to adopt the provincial government’s housing income limits for units where a tenant’s rent is based on income.

Adopting a transparent standard for determining affordability, according to CIJA, would make it easier for not-for-profit affordable housing organizations to navigate municipal regulations. CIJA also recommends the government work with housing providers to ensure affordable housing options that accommodate ethnocultural communities, families, seniors, single parents, persons with disabilities and those with complex care needs.

Additional issues addressed in CIJA’s election hub include implementing a living wage strategy for frontline workers and ensuring adequate consultation with small employers and the not-for-profit sector.

“Whether they are single- or two-parent families, the government should ensure that these families earn enough to provide necessities including food, shelter, clothing, transportation and childcare,” the resource says. “Consultation will ensure that small employers and not-for-profits are adequately supported.”

CIJA calls for more affordable childcare spaces. More “culturally sensitive, high-quality, affordable childcare spaces would allow more parents to work outside the home and better support families financially,” says the guide.

The organization also calls for increased program funding and supports so families that have children with disabilities, children and youth with support needs and complex medical needs have timely, universal and portable access to care.

“This care includes early intervention assessments, family respite, medical and in-home support, and resources in schools,” says CIJA.

They recommend making the full amount of the $300 temporary income and disability assistance supplement permanent and to explore further increases, including to the annual earnings exemption. They urge the government to provide equitable and stable access to funding for ethnocultural service agencies that provide culturally appropriate food dignity programs, including for children and youth who do not have access to an affordable school lunch program.

In addition, CIJA calls on the government to lead a trade mission to Israel, inviting business leaders, policymakers, and provincial and municipal representatives to build relationships with Israel’s tech industry and learn best practices.

The election hub is online at www.cija.ca/bc_election_hub. Watch for more BC election coverage in upcoming issues of the Independent.

Argentina, 30 years later

Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver executive director Ezra Shanken, left, and Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Pacific region vice-president Nico Slobinsky were in Buenos Aires last month. (photo from Jewish Federation)

Nico Slobinsky was a 15-year-old high school student in Buenos Aires when, on July 18, 1994, the principal announced that their Jewish community centre and administrative hub had been blown up in an apparent terror attack.

The Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, or AMIA) building was attacked by a car laden with 275 kilograms of explosive ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil. The building collapsed, killing 85 and injuring more than 300.

The AMIA attack remains the most significant terrorist attack in Argentina’s history. Two years earlier, though, the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was the target of a suicide bombing, on March 17, 1992, in which 29 were killed and 242 wounded.

“I remember vividly the morning that the building was targeted and blown to pieces,” said Slobinsky, now the Pacific region vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). “I remember the pervasive feeling [that] we are no longer safe and what’s going to become of us. I remember the dinner that night at my family’s home, where the bombing, the targeting of the AMIA, was all that my parents were talking about and what was going to happen next. There was a lot of uncertainty at the time and, 30 years later, I can tell you that the same feeling of lack of justice and lack of safety persists.”

The perpetrators of the AMIA bombing have never been brought to justice, nor have the perpetrators of the earlier embassy attack. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the 1992 embassy bombing but it was only this year that an Argentine court ruled that Iran was behind the 1994 bombing, through their international terror subsidiary Hezbollah.

Two of Slobinsky’s friends were murdered in the attack and many in his circles of acquaintances were killed or injured. He attended and helped organize memorial events on the anniversaries of the AMIA bombing when he lived in Argentina, until 2000, and then joined with the Argentine community in Israel when he lived there.

Last month, Slobinsky traveled to Buenos Aires for ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of the atrocities. He was joined by a small delegation of other Vancouver Jewish community leaders, including Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, and his wife, Rachel Shanken, director of operations at Jewish Family Services Vancouver; Karen James, who is on the national board of CIJA and also on the board of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI); and Candace Kwinter, who is on the board of JAFI, as well as the board of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, and her husband, Alan Kwinter, who is on the board of Congregation Beth Israel.

The anniversary of the terror attack coincided with a meeting of the World Jewish Congress in Buenos Aires, which the Vancouverites attended.

It is widely believed that there was government complicity in the AMIA attack. Police who were routinely stationed in front of the building departed before the bombing. Rubble from the building, which should have been preserved for investigation, was dumped in a river. In 2015, Alberto Nisman, a prosecutor leading the AMIA investigation released a 300-page report accusing then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other political leaders of covering up Iranian involvement. Hours before Nisman was to present his findings to parliament, he was found dead in his apartment. The government declared it a suicide.

James was impressed with the panoply of world leaders who attended the AMIA commemoration and the WZO conference, particularly Javier Milei, the new president of Argentina, who has made justice for the AMIA terrorists a belated priority. The presidents of Uruguay and Paraguay were also in attendance, as were Jewish parliamentarians from around the world, including Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather, and special envoys for antisemitism from scores of countries, including Canada’s Deborah Lyons, Deborah Lipstadt of the United States and Michal Cotler-Wunsh of Israel.

Family members of the bombing victims spoke and time has not lessened the agony of the attack, said James.

“They were sobbing and some couldn’t finish speaking,” she said. “There’s never been closure for them. It was so emotional. I was in tears.”

Candace Kwinter said that standing shoulder to shoulder with the families affected 30 years ago was an act of bearing witness.

“We’ve all been to Israel since 10/7 and it just feels like another deep, dark, awful part of our history,” she said.

Supporting Slobinsky in the return to the time and place of the bombing was a motivator for those who joined the trip, according to Alan Kwinter.

“It was important certainly to support Nico and also, in this time when there is rising antisemitism and there are so many people that are turning their backs on the Jewish people, I feel that it’s important for us to come together as a community, a global community as well as the local community, and for us to be there with those families that lost their loved ones and have never had justice,” he said. “It was important for me that we show solidarity with them, that they feel that they’re not alone.”

Slobinsky acknowledged the emotional impacts of the commemoration and drew contemporary connections from lessons of the past.

“It was difficult to be there with thousands of Argentinians on the streets still asking for justice 30 years later,” he said, noting that this early life experience reinforced his commitment to taking a leadership role in Jewish life.

“For those who argue that Canada should embrace the Iranian regime by reestablishing diplomatic ties, the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing that we just attended is just another painful reminder that Iran and its proxies like Hezbollah must be held accountable not only for the horrific attack on the AMIA [but] for their export of terrorism around the world,” said Slobinsky. “In memory of my friends Viviana and Christian and to the victims, the survivors and their families – I will never forget.”

BCTF nixes antisemitism efforts

A group of public school teachers who are pressing for resources and supports to help educate about antisemitism and the Holocaust have been rejected by the provincial teachers’ union.

The recently formed Holocaust and Antisemitism Educators Association was informed earlier this month that their application for recognition as a provincial specialist association has been rejected by the relevant branch of the BC Teachers’ Federation.

Provincial specialist associations (PSAs) support the development of teaching resources and host professional development sessions on specific subject areas. They receive funding from the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) to do so.

The Holocaust and Antisemitism Educators Association (HAEA) was created in response to the Government of British Columbia’s decision last October to make Holocaust education a mandatory part of the BC curriculum.

Eyal Daniel, the president of the HAEA, said he is shocked by the decision and is hoping the BCTF executive will reverse it.

“The letter I received said that we should work with other PSAs – which is confusing because the formation of our group was specifically supported by the relevant PSA, the social studies group, as being important and necessary,” Daniel said in a media release.

Ginaya Peters, the founder of BC Teachers Against Antisemitism, expressed dismay.

“I am trying to comprehend this and am failing,” she said in the same release. “When the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre tells the BCTF that our PSA is needed in order to implement the mandatory Holocaust curriculum that they are helping to develop, they are literally ignoring the voices of experts in the field, and they are denying us the resources to teach the topic properly.”

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, said the decision seems to confirm reports heard by members of the Jewish community recently.

“We have heard a number of disturbing rumours in the past few weeks about people fighting against the formation of this teachers’ specialist association – including that people believe that antisemitism isn’t related to the Holocaust,” said Shanken. “If this is their rationale, it is a form of Holocaust denial and flies in the face of what we have been told by Premier David Eby and his minister of education.”

“The HAEA has told me that they met every single requirement to be recognized by their union, and that no one can remember a time when a PSA that met every requirement was turned down,” said Nico Slobinsky, vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

screenshot - A social media post shared by the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective, a provincial specialist association of the BC Teachers’ Federation, which mentions Samidoun, which is linked to a listed terror organization and has organized events that glorify the murders and rapes that took place on Oct. 7 — A social media post shared by the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective, a provincial specialist association of the BC Teachers’ Federation, which mentions Samidoun, which is linked to a listed terror organization and has organized events that glorify the murders and rapes that took place on Oct. 7. *(image from BCTAA)*

Jonathan Dyck, the chair of the BCTF Provincial Specialist Association Council, informed the HAEA of the decision last week, following a meeting of the council where the decision was taken June 4. According to the HAEA, he provided no rationale for the decision to recommend that resources and recognition not be provided to HAEA but was “strongly of the opinion that they would like to find ways to help members of your association feel valued and included.”

In a separate statement, BC Teachers Against Antisemitism lamented the absence of any explanation for the rejection.

“We are confused by the BCTF’s statement … as the statement fails to give any indication why a PSA dedicated to developing teaching resources and professional development around soon to be mandatory Holocaust education was rejected.

“As well, as of today there are no teaching resources available on the Holocaust or antisemitism available on the BCTF’s TeachBC site.”

In a series of social media posts on the BCTF’s X (Twitter) platform, the union outlined the standards aspiring PSAs must meet – but did not indicate any areas where the HAEA had fallen short.

“The tweets listed all the conditions which must be met for a PSA to be approved by the PSA council,” BC Teachers Against Antisemitism said in their statement. “The HAEA met these conditions, yet the council refused to recommend that the PSA be approved. The only condition not met was approval by the PSA council. This is surprising as no one can remember a PSA that met all the criteria ever being turned down before.”

The suggestion that the Holocaust and antisemitism educators instead work with existing PSAs is problematic and perplexing, they wrote, because the BC Social Studies Teachers Association recommended that the new PSA be approved, as did the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Moreover, antisemitism has not been addressed by any other PSA. In fact, BC Teachers Against Antisemitism accuses the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective of promoting antisemitism, including by sharing posts on social media that include mention of Samidoun, which is linked to a listed terror organization and has organized events that glorify the murders and rapes that took place on Oct. 7.

Confounding matters further, the statement on BCTF’s website regarding the PSA vote, and antisemitism and Holocaust education, says, “It is our understanding that the council determined that existing PSAs already can and do support the proposed work.” However, separate searches of BCTF’s website for classroom resources on antisemitism and the Holocaust yield the results: “No resources matching the current search criteria were found.”

“The arguments that the HAEA work with existing PSAs to create Holocaust and antisemitism materials seems to fly in the face of established BCTF practices,” the BCTAA statement states. “The BCTF cannot present a valid reason for denying the approval of our PSA dedicated to helping educators deliver critical lessons on the Holocaust and antisemitism. We ask the BCTF to reverse its decision so we can move forward like other established PSAs and work with likeminded colleagues on supporting educators in BC.”

– Information from Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, BC Teachers Against Antisemitism and BC Teachers Federation

Pushing back against antisemitism

With antisemitism rising in British Columbia, professionals from three sectors – health care, post-secondary education and K-12 schools – have started organizing so incidents of hatred in their workplace are challenged at every opportunity.

The Jewish Academic Alliance of British Columbia and the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia have launched in the past few months, while BC Teachers Against Antisemitism has grown more active since the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Antisemitism is reaching crisis levels in BC, and we are proud to be able to support the important work of these newly formed groups at this critical time for our community,” said Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.

“I am in awe of all of our community members and allies who are stepping up to address what is a clear crisis at workplaces across the province – particularly since employees are uniquely positioned to address workplace issues with their employers,” noted Nico Slobinsky, vice-president, Pacific Region, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

“We have seen an incredible increase in worrying activities – from terror-affiliated organizations like Samidoun setting up an encampment at UBC to teachers making inappropriate comments towards Jewish students in the classroom, to troubling behaviour in our healthcare system. Yet, we have seen little by way of new activity by government,” said Slobinsky.

“The rise of antisemitism inside health care has been chilling. In a profession dedicated to healing people, we’ve witnessed hateful words and actions that have some fearing for their safety,” said Sharon Gershony, clinical instructor, pediatric nuclear radiologist, BC Children’s Hospital. “The Jewish Medical Association of BC is a supportive community for Jewish physicians, trainees and allied healthcare professionals. Together, we will create safe workspaces by confronting antisemitism with engagement, education and promotion of respect and greater tolerance.”

“Post-secondary institutions across BC have been a focal point of antisemitic activities and actions, some of these threatening the safety of faculty, staff and students. There is no place for this in BC,” said David Silver, a University of British Columbia professor who is helping form the Jewish Academic Alliance of BC. “By bringing together Jewish professors, educators and staff from across campuses, the Jewish Academic Alliance of BC will work to ensure that hate is confronted and campuses are again a place where Jews can feel safe.”

“Since Oct. 7th, some horrible things have happened in classrooms and in schools – to teachers and students alike, who have been singled out because they are Jewish and only because they are Jewish,” said Ginaya Peters, founder of BC Teachers Against Antisemitism. “We have had to become more active and will continue to push back against the hatred and discrimination and create a safe learning environment for all.”

– Courtesy Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

Help vs antisemitism

The Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team’s hands-on guide can be found at jewishvancouver.com/toolkit.

Since Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver launched the Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team (AICRT) in November 2023, the team has been dedicated to helping Jewish community members navigate the challenges of a post-Oct. 7 world.

Last week, AICRT – co-chaired by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and Nico Slobinsky – launched a hands-on guide for community members. It covers everything from tips on engaging in social media, to reporting an antisemitic incident, to hosting neighbours at events so non-Jewish friends can connect with the Jews in their lives in positive ways.

On the day before Federation launched this guide, the Vancouver Police Department released a report that the Vancouver Jewish community experienced a 62% increase in police-reported antisemitic hate incidents in 2023 compared to 2022 – and 33 of 47 incidents occurred after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas. (See vpd.ca/news/2024/01/16/israel-hamas-war-fuels-increase-in-hate-crimes-protests-in-2023.)

Antisemitism is a real and present threat, and it’s a growing problem. That’s why Federation, the response team and the Jewish community are coming together to push back against it.

The toolkit is a guide to help people take meaningful actions – as well as advice on where to turn if you need help. All of it is based on two key factors – what the response team has heard from community members about what they need to navigate these dark times, and professional polling of the broader community.

The guide at jewishvancouver.com/toolkit is a living document and will be updated as the situation changes, and new resources are needed. Right now, the contents include:

• Information on well-being and mental health
• Key messages
• Engaging on social media
• How to be a grassroots organizer
• Dealing with antisemitism in K-12 schools
• University resources
• How to write a letter to the editor
• How to engage BC MLAs and MPs
• How to report an antisemitic incident
• How to have difficult conversations with family and friends

The toolkit is designed to help people stand up when needed, and to draw in those who are already inclined to support the community. Write to the Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team at AICRT@jewishvancouver.com with any ideas or comments.

Antisemitism Legal Helpline

The Antisemitism Legal Helpline aims to connect those facing antisemitism with legal information and resources. It is being hosted through Access Pro Bono, a nonprofit providing referrals and legal assistance. Their newly hired coordinator, Dan Rothwell, is a Vancouver lawyer with experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. He is keen to connect with community partners to help make this project a valuable tool in the fight against antisemitism, and he can be reached by email: drothwell@accessprobono.ca.

The helpline can be reached at 778-800-8917.

– Courtesy Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

Remembering the Holocaust

Grade 7 students at Vancouver Talmud Torah light memorial candles to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (screenshot)

Vancouver’s city hall, the Burrard Street Bridge and other landmarks around the city were lit in yellow light Jan. 27, as were buildings across the country, to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The commemoration coincided with the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Yellow was chosen, said Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, to reflect the colour of the candles of remembrance being lit globally to mark the day.

“Antisemitism is on the rise around the world,” the mayor said before reading a proclamation on behalf of city council. “Vancouver has the opportunity to join with the Jewish community and all of our residents and Canadians from all walks of life in demonstrating our commitment to stand against antisemitism, hate and genocide.”

Stewart was joined by councilors Sarah Kirby-Yung, Pete Fry and Adriane Carr.

Kirby-Yung spoke of calls from constituents who have had swastikas drawn on their sidewalks or who have come across antisemitic graffiti in local parks.

“I’ve seen firsthand, when you go to work out at the gym or community facility, the need to post security guards, to have them at schools and daycares, at synagogues during times of worship,” Kirby-Yung said. “It takes all of us individually to stand up to discrimination. We need to continue to work together, collectively with our Jewish community, to ensure safety and inclusion for everybody.”

The Vancouver event was sponsored by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.

Nico Slobinsky, Pacific regional director for CIJA, urged unity.

“Antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem, it affects us all,” he said. “Only by working together and standing up against antisemitism are we going to insulate all Canadians against the threat of hatred and racism in our society.”

Nina Krieger, executive director of the VHEC, noted that education about the Holocaust is at the heart of her agency’s mission.

“This mission is perhaps more urgent than ever as globally and in our own backyard we are encountering a rising tide of Holocaust denial and distortion,” Krieger said. “The latter includes actions or statements that seek to minimize, misrepresent or excuse the Holocaust. These assaults on the memory of the most well-documented genocide in history should raise alarms for all citizens of our diverse society. Online or offline, intentional or not, distortion of the Holocaust perpetuates antisemitism, conspiracy theories, hate speech and distrust of democratic institutions, all of which have reached new heights during the pandemic. Around the world, opponents of public health invoke Nazi policies to systematically persecute and murder Jews and others in order to depict themselves as victims and their governments as persecutors. Such outrageous comparisons are clearly inappropriate and deeply offensive to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.”

Dr. Claude Romney, a child survivor from France, spoke of her father’s survival during 34 months in Auschwitz – an unimaginable expanse of time in a place where the average life expectancy was measured in days. (Romney’s experiences, and those of her father, Jacques Lewin, were featured in the April 7, 2017, issue of the Independent: jewishindependent.ca/marking-yom-hashoah.)

photo - Dr. Claude Romney, a child survivor from France, spoke at the local commemoration marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27 — Dr. Claude Romney, a child survivor from France, spoke at the local commemoration marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27. *(photo from VHEC)*

Prior to the streamed event, Grade 7 students at Vancouver Talmud Torah elementary school lit candles of remembrance. King David High School students Liam Greenberg and Sara Bauman ended the ceremony with a musical presentation.

Earlier, another ceremony was livestreamed from the National Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa. Emceed by Lawrence Greenspon, co-chair of the National Holocaust Memorial Committee, the event featured ambassadors and Canadian elected officials and was presented by CIJA, the National Capital Commission, the embassy of Israel in Canada and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, chief executive officer of CIJA, said the day of remembrance is intended to be as much “prospective as it is retrospective.”

“As we remember, we also reaffirm our resolve to combat the hatred that still plagues our world today, perhaps more so than at any time since those dark days of the Shoah,” he said. “There is an urgent imperative to sound an alarm and refuse to let its ring be silenced. Hate is no longer simmering in dark corners, relegated to the discredited margins of civil society. It has, in many respects, increasingly asserted itself in the mainstream public square. It has become normalized.

“Countering hate speech is both a necessary and essential imperative to preventing hate crime,” he said. “So let us resolve, collectively here today and across this great country, to give special meaning to our remembrance by fulfilling the pledge, ‘never again.’”

Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Ronen Hoffman, told the audience that his grandmother’s entire family was murdered in the Shoah. He denounced the misuse of that history.

“Any claim, inference or comparison to the Holocaust that is not in fact the Holocaust only acts as a distortion to the truth of what happened to the victims,” he said. “Invoking any element of the Holocaust in order to advance one’s social or political agenda must be called out as a form of distortion and, indeed, denial.”

Germany’s ambassador to Canada, Sabine Sparwasser, noted that, in addition to the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, it was also recently the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, where the “Final Solution” was devised.

“No country has a greater responsibility to learn from the past and to protect the future than Germany,” she said. “Remembrance is the only option. This sacred duty is the legacy of those who were murdered and of those who survived the horrors of the Shoah and whose voices have gradually disappeared. The greatest danger of all begins with forgetting, of no longer remembering what we inflict upon one another when we tolerate antisemitism, racism and hatred in our midst.”

Other speakers included Ahmed Hussen, minister of housing and diversity and inclusion; the American ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen; Mayor Jim Watson of Ottawa; Andrea Freedman, president and executive director of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa; and Dr. Agnes Klein, a survivor of the Holocaust.

Hate not acceptable at SFU

“Antisemitism is hate, and it is not acceptable at SFU,” said Simon Fraser University president and vice-chancellor Joy Johnson. (photo by Jeff Hitchcock / flickr)

The president of Simon Fraser University met with Jewish students recently and issued a statement condemning antisemitism on campus and directing those who experience anti-Jewish racism to appropriate resources.

After meeting with Jewish students, Joy Johnson, Simon Fraser’s president and vice-chancellor, tweeted on July 12: “Their experiences were deeply upsetting.”

“Antisemitism is hate, and it is not acceptable at SFU,” she added. “If you are experiencing discrimination or hate, help is available. Please reach out.”

The university, in consultation with the SFU Multifaith Centre and Hillel BC, created a resource for those who have experienced antisemitism. This includes links to campus chaplains, confidential counseling and critical incident support for significant events.

Like many university campuses, SFU has a history of anti-Israel activism that can often veer into antisemitic imagery and tropes. The latest eruption occurred at the first council meeting of a newly elected Simon Fraser Students Society. Occurring around the time of the most recent conflict between Hamas and Israel, the council meeting passed a resolution endorsing the boycott, divestment and sanction movement against Israel (BDS) in what Jewish students view as a biased and unfair meeting.

The student society’s resolution – titled “SFSS Response to the Israeli Colonization of Palestine” – accused Israel of “disproportionate violence,” claiming “worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque were indiscriminately targeted by Israeli police forces” and condemning “the ongoing persecution of the Palestinian people by the government of Israel.” The resolution endorsed the BDS movement and expressed no parallel concerns about Palestinian terrorism, violence, incitement or human rights abuses. It also accused the United States and Canada of complicity in perceived Israeli misdeeds. The resolution passed unanimously.

The student society brought in Dalya Masri, a Palestinian activist, to provide “expert” testimony before the vote, said Katia Fermon, outreach coordinator for Hillel BC, the Jewish student organization.

“She gave a presentation, which was beyond hurtful for Jewish students,” said Fermon. Masri, she said, compared the First Intifada to the sort of peaceful rallies that happen on the streets of Vancouver.

“My students have family that died in the First and the Second Intifada,” Fermon said. “This is not a strange thing for us, and she just mentioned it like it was a rally.”

The presenter accused Israel of taking over territory in 1967, while eliding the larger facts around the Six Day War and other realities, she said.

Fermon said that, in preparation for the vote, the SFSS consulted with Independent Jewish Voices, but did not consult with Hillel.

“That fact is very hurtful,” she said. “Independent Jewish Voices is not a club on campus, however Hillel Jewish Students Association is. They pay their dues.… We are a part of that union. Those voices were not asked for or heard.”

Hillel BC issued a statement condemning the student society’s approach.

“Instead of supporting an open and extensive dialogue amongst students, the SFSS has chosen to perpetuate the agenda of a movement whose use of harmful terminology fails to address the root causes of the conflict, ignoring centuries of complex history in which power dynamics constantly shifted,” it reads. “This rhetoric further sows hate and division instead of helping work towards a peaceful two-state solution. The SFSS has decided to single out the state of Israel instead of opening a space for adequate dialogue between Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian students on campus wherein we may critique the policies of the state while being mindful of the hate that may result in endorsing certain statements, activists or movements.”

It added that BDS “openly traffics in antisemitic conspiracies and dog whistles” and noted that nearly two decades of BDS activism has not “freed Palestine from violence or oppression. Instead, it has been to stoke aggression and polarization online, in the streets and on campuses.”

In a statement to the Independent, Nico Slobinsky, director of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Pacific region, said: “The statement by SFU’s president is an important step in denouncing the rising tide of anti-Jewish hate on campus. CIJA thanks president Dr. Joy Johnson for recognizing that SFU is not immune from antisemitism. Combating anti-Jewish hatred is not only about protecting Jews but also about protecting the very fabric of our society, on and off campus.

“CIJA appreciates the strong friendship and commitment shown by Dr. Johnson to creating a campus that is inclusive, diverse, safe and open to all students,” Slobinsky added. “CIJA looks forward to working with SFU alongside our campus partner, Hillel BC, towards ensuring a healthy campus environment.”

Students have been studying remotely for more than a year and so most of the discussion, which has included a litany of offensive comments, has taken place on official and unofficial online platforms, including the primary undergraduate forum.

One Israeli student, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was one of a few who spoke up in opposition to the prevailing bias in the dialogue.

“I didn’t expect it to go smoothly,” she said. “There was a lot of backlash in the moment and it is still going on.… A lot of comments are being deleted and monitored but there are a lot of hateful comments.”

The statements frequently included slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and other comments promising the annihilation of Israel. Israel was compared with Nazi Germany, Rhodesia, apartheid-era South Africa and plantation-owning slaveholders. Concerns about the safety of Jewish people were dismissed as efforts to “stifle” legitimate criticism of Israel.

“As an Israeli, I don’t want to believe they said them personally to me,” the student said. “I try my best not to take all those comments personally, but sometimes it gets there.”

As she and other students prepare to return to campus this fall for the first time in more than a year, she said she is not concerned for her personal safety, but she is worried about some of her friends.

“I was born in Israel and I have a little bit of Israeli inside of me so, for myself, I’m not that worried,” she said. “Obviously, it’s not a nice experience.” Whether the online threats and vitriol turn into real-time incidents remains to be seen, she said, but some of her Jewish friends are already taking cover.

“They are not wearing their Star of David,” she said. “They never say out publicly that they are Jewish: to not get into a conflict, to avoid any debate on the matter, they just decided not to. I think it’s a shame…. It is a shame that we live in Canada in the 21st century and people are choosing to hide part of their identity. For myself, it’s a big chunk of my identity, so I’m not going to hide it, but I can’t blame people who choose to. I empathize with them.”

Stepping up to confront hate

Left to right: Jewish Federation’s Shelley Rivkin, CJPAC’s Kara Mintzberg and CIJA’s Nico Slobinsky spoke at an online event June 17 on topics including how individuals can help fight antisemitism in Canada. (PR photos)

Representatives from three Jewish communal agencies spoke at an online event June 17 on topics including online hate, adoption of the Working Definition of Antisemitism, strengthening supports for the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes, and how individuals can help fight antisemitism in Canada.

Shelley Rivkin, vice-president of local and global engagement at the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Kara Mintzberg, B.C. regional director for the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC), and Nico Slobinsky, director of the Pacific region of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), spoke about how their agencies are confronting the surge in antisemitism, as well as a range of other topics.

Dafna Silberstein, associate director of the Jewish Federation’s Israel and global engagement department, opened the evening.

“We are here tonight to understand the Canadian political process and learn how you can become more involved, how we can become engaged with a range of issues that matters to you and to our community, and to learn what our community organizations are doing to combat antisemitism,” she said.

Rivkin described Federation’s role as “our community’s primary convener.”

“We are an umbrella organization that represents over 25 organizations locally and an additional number of organizations, approximately 10, in our partnership region [in Israel’s Galil Panhandle] and globally,” said Rivkin.

Federation is the central fundraising arm of the community and runs programs and partners with other agencies to care for the most vulnerable. About one in six Jewish British Columbians lives in poverty, she said, including 13.4% of Jewish children. Federation is also critically involved in supporting Jewish day schools and ensuring continued provincial support for those institutions, she added.

Antisemitic incidents and threats have spiked in recent weeks, coincident with the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Rivkin said the relationships Federation has built with other ethnocultural agencies and communities have proven valuable.

“We have a long history of working side-by-side with other ethnocultural communities,” she said. “These relationships and the supports that we provide are very important so that, when we stand up and speak out on behalf of other ethnocultural organizations, we’re building the bridges and relationships so that they will stand up and speak out on our behalf. Especially this past month, we’ve been very proactive in reaching out to the Indigenous community and the Muslim communities, both of whom faced significant losses over this past month.”

Rivkin also noted Federation’s substantial investment – about $1 million annually – in community security.

“Hate crimes against our community remain one of the highest reported crimes in Canada,” she said. “That was why, in 2016, we made the decision to invest in a director of security that is available and responsive to all of our community organizations, in particular those organizations that have stand-alone facilities.”

Slobinsky explained that CIJA represents hundreds of thousands of voices affiliated with Jewish federations across the country.

“Combating antisemitism, educating Canadians about the central role that Israel plays in Jewish life, strengthening the ties between Canada and Israel and ensuring that Jewish voices are represented in the discussion on a range of issues is some of the long-term work that CIJA does,” he said.

Because of CIJA’s lobbying, he said, the federal government has announced an emergency summit on combating antisemitism, to be led by former justice minister Irwin Cotler.

CIJA also promotes the adoption by governments of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition on Antisemitism, which Slobinsky calls “the gold standard definition for antisemitism” and a vital tool in fighting antisemitism in Canada and around the world.

“For the first time in our history, we have a definition [of antisemitism] that we as a community champion, that the Canadian government has adopted and now Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec have adopted,” Slobinsky said. “It’s a very useful tool to work with our elected officials, law enforcement, our partners in other communities, when they ask us what is antisemitism, how do you experience antisemitism, how it manifests.… We are defining what our own discrimination, our own oppression, looks like.”

CIJA is also calling on federal and provincial governments to increase supports for existing hate crime teams in British Columbia and to initiate teams to investigate and prosecute hate crimes in jurisdictions where investigation teams do not yet exist.

Of CJPAC, Mintzberg said: “We are all about political engagement.”

“Our focus is on getting our community interested and involved in politics through volunteering and building relationships with elected officials,” she said. CJPAC, she emphasized, is not involved in lobbying or advocacy; that’s CIJA’s job. “We create programs that reflect the mandate of engagement and highlight the importance of getting involved in Canada’s political process.”

Jewish voters have a significant presence in only about 10 of the country’s 338 ridings. Especially during elections, Mintzberg said, CJPAC acts as a “political concierge,” connecting volunteers with candidates. As Canada is currently governed by a minority government, an election could come at any time. She calls on community members to step up now and be prepared when that call comes.

Mintzberg asked that people pledge to volunteer in the next election and participate in a free, one-hour online training course, which can be accessed via cjpac.ca. Slobinsky invited participants to visit cija.ca/takeaction to find ways to mobilize against antisemitism and support other topics on CIJA’s agenda.

Nazi auction called off

Under community pressure, a Richmond auction house backed down from selling a collection of Nazi memorabilia last weekend. Maynards Fine Art and Antiques was set to auction items including Nazi flags, military items and other war-era artifacts on Saturday. Two days before that, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs was made aware of the items by a member of the community.

“We spoke to the lead appraiser, the person in charge of auctioning this lot,” said Nico Slobinsky, CIJA’s Pacific region director. “We provided context and tried to explain why auctioning these items was morally reprehensible. I would love to be able to tell you that we got positive engagement and understanding at the time when we had those conversations on Thursday. We did not get that positive engagement. It was clear to us from the response from the auction house that they were going to go ahead with the auction as originally planned.”

Community members and elected officials quickly mobilized and media seized the story. Individuals messaged the auction company and politicians lined up in opposition to the sale. Two members of the legislature from Richmond, Jas Johal and John Yap, spoke out, as did Andrew Wilkinson, leader of the B.C. Liberals.

Mike Sachs, past president of the Richmond congregation the Bayit and a Jewish community activist in Richmond, mobilized his contacts – even while vacationing in Mexico. He said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie not only spoke out against this incident but promised to proclaim Holocaust Awareness Day in January 2020.

“People were just disgusted that Maynards would do such a thing,” said Sachs. “As a whole, we all agree enough of profiting off Jewish blood. Enough. We’re not going to accept it anymore.”

Sachs and Slobinsky praised community allies who spoke up. They both believe that historical artifacts like these should be in museums or educational institutions, where they can serve as educational tools in proper context.

CIJA is asking Maynards for an apology and a donation to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. The organization extended an offer to the undisclosed owner of the items to assist in placing them in an appropriate venue.