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        July 12 - 16, 2010

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 News Feature
of the Week

“Saving Sakineh: Let’s get noisy”

By Heather Reisman in the Globe and Mail

I'm glad you had this meeting, but you know you got "snowed".  What about building a statistical summary & then laying a charge against the Star for some kind of unreasonable discrimination? Just imagine what a Muslim organization would do this same situation. Keep up the good work, but stop being such a good guy.  

Irving Green

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I read with interest your comments on the media coverage of Israel in the Toronto Star.  And I fully agree with your observations.  The Toronto Star has proven time and again that its reports on Israel are far from objective.

Salomon Benzimra, P.Eng.

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Open Letter to the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ) re your attack on the State of Israel ’s right to life

 By Avi Benlolo

 Chers Messieurs:

 I am writing to express my astonishment and outrage over a newspaper article concerning comments reportedly made in a recent issue of your in-house magazine, in which your vitriolic obsession with the State of Israel has lead to editorial support for the destruction of the world’s only sovereign Jewish state.

By pledging your support for a vigorous but largely discredited international movement to delegitimize Israel known as boycott, divestment and sanctions, and describing the creation of the state of Israel as the beginning of the “ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” and Israel itself as a “rogue state,” FNEEQ now finds itself in the questionable company of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad- all of whom have called for the destruction of Israel. Indeed Hamas claims Jews all over the world are legitimate targets – a declaration with which – if the article is correct - you apparently agree.

By identifying with and justifying the language of terror, you not only support the calls for Israel ’s destruction and violence against Jews around the world, but you harm the very people you purport to assist. Just as much of the Arab world has for the past 62 years assured the Palestinian people that if they wait just a little longer the Israelis will be driven to the sea, FNEEQ’s support for this ideology serves only to entrench the situation of the Palestinians. Why not counsel instead an acceptance of Israel and take steps toward peace?

Indeed, the union’s preoccupation with Israel – the only democratic country in the Middle East fighting for its survival amid hundreds of millions of hostile neighbours, to the exclusion of the heartbreaking and ongoing human rights abuses around the world (Darfur, the Congo, Nigeria, Uganda, etc.) and horrific bloodshed in other former British colonies partitioned in 1947, like India and Pakistan, where ethnic violence between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs continues unabated, leads to only one conclusion: Israel is targeted because it is a Jewish state.

True ethnic cleansing- in a 1929 massacre by Arabs of Jews who had lived in the cities of Jerusalem , Safed, Hebron and Motza for generations is well documented, but seemingly unremarked by your union and its members. The hateful cries of "Kill the Jews wherever you find them” shouted during the slaughter almost a century ago echo today in the words of Islamic terrorists around the world. I wonder if this is really the ideology you wish to encourage and support.

As the article noted “. . . a Quebec union being unfriendly to Israel may come as no surprise.” How sad that the entire Jewish community of this country accepts this as unremarkable.

I am unwilling to acknowledge the apparently blatant antisemitic tone of FNEEQ as fact, and look forward to hearing from you as to whether the media’s understanding of your magazine’s editorial slant, and the conclusions I have drawn based on that understanding, are in fact correct.

Antisemitism and racism of any kind have no place in the board rooms or in the union halls of Quebec and Canada . I sincerely hope my outrage is unwarranted.

      NEWS UPDATES

PLANS FOR A CANADIAN FLOTILLA TO GAZA WILL ENCOURAGE FURTHER BLOODSHED

FSWC is concerned that plans by the Canadian Arab Federation and activists to launch a flotilla to Gaza will encourage Hamas and promote violence in the region.

“Far from helping the cause of peace in the region, this Canadian flotilla will only serve to empower Hamas and encourage further bloodshed. Canadians should condemn the efforts to aid and abet a designated terror organization that has been both clear and vocal in its stated aim of destroying Israel ,” says FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “Flotilla supporters say the attempt to break the blockade will be ‘symbolic’. Clearly the situation of the Palestinians living in Gaza is not truly the concern of those who support terrorism; scoring PR points is notably easier than the work of making peace,” he adds.

CLICK HERE to read the full press release

OBERLANDER CASE STILL UNDER FEDERAL REVIEW

FSWC continues to follow the case of former Ukrainian native Helmut Oberlander, 85, who Ottawa has been trying to deport since 1995 because of his involvement with a Nazi death squad during the Second World War.

Although there is no direct evidence Oberlander participated in atrocities, he was an auxiliary member of a mobile killing unit and lied about this involvement when he immigrated to Canada in 1954. Oberlander contends he would have faced execution for desertion after being conscripted by the Nazis at the age of 17.

His Canadian citizenship was revoked twice, reinstated once, and the issue of whether it will once again be reinstated was sent back to cabinet for review in November 2009. The government had 60 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada but let the time period lapse. Ottawa has not yet said whether or not they will revoke his citizenship for a third time. Decisions like this can often take up to a year. FSWC will keep you posted once a decision has been rendered.

ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS IN RESPECTED MEDICAL JOURNAL REVEALED

FSWC’s Doctors4Wiesenthal is concerned that the respected medical journal Lancet has published a series of articles on Palestinian health written by Israeli boycotters that go beyond accepted medical norms and veer into the realm of bias and anti-Israel discrimination.

Research into the background of contributors to the Lancet series reveals many are active supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel , calling into question the content of their reports, and the medical objectivity and standards of the journal.

Antisemitism on the part of the international medical community is not new. Last fall, Doctors4Wiesenthal invited Dr. Yoram Blachar, the immediate past president of the World Medical Association and the Israel Medical Association (IMA) to speak to FSWC. In his address Dr. Blachar noted, “Although the IMA’s work in the international arena has commanded much respect from our colleagues, we have not escaped the consequences of the political environment.  We have seen colleagues subject to academic boycotts, most recently when two Israeli physicians were denied entrance to Egypt for an international conference on breast cancer”.

Anti-Israel Resolutions, Anti-Semitism Surges, Newsweek's Top Rabbis & more

The July issue of the Simon Wiesenthal Center ’s eResponse World Report describes the efforts to free Israeli Gilad Shalit, UC Irvine’s suspension of a Muslim student, and links to the Newsweek article listing SWC Founder Rabbi Marvin Hier as the third most influential Rabbi in America .

CLICK HERE to read the SWC eResponse World Report

Wiesenthal Center Condemns Trivialization of the Holocaust by Syrian President During Visit to Argentina

The Wiesenthal Center condemned comments made by the Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, to a group of journalists during a recent visit to Argentina: “you can say there were 6 million, or 10 million Jews murdered, I do not know because I do not have precise information (…) I do not deny the Jewish Holocaust, but it might be exaggerated”, said Al Assad.”

 CLICK HERE to read the full press release

     UPCOMING EVENTS

  Hillary Clinton, Rabbi Cooper and the struggle against antisemitism

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles is coming to Toronto to brief FSWC members on his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Rabbi Cooper is scheduled to speak with Secretary Clinton next week to discuss the effort to combat global antisemitism and the struggle against BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions).

He will speak in Toronto on Monday, August 16 at the FSWC office at 5075 Yonge Street in Toronto at 7:00 p.m.  Seating at the Briefing is free but limited. Please contact Elaine Martyn, Program Developer, to reserve your seat as soon as possible.

Ben Mulroney to host Freedom Day to honour Simon Wiesenthal

In tribute to Simon Wiesenthal’s legacy of tolerance, justice and human rights, Ben Mulroney will Host Freedom Day in Toronto on the afternoon of September 20, 2010.  The event will feature speakers including Iranian author Marina Nemat, former prisoner of the infamous Evin prison in Iran, Holocaust survivor Max Eisen, dancers from So You Think You Can Dance Canada, and more than 1,000 students and educators from across the Greater Toronto Area. Save the date and plan to celebrate with us! Details on location, timing and additional guests will be added soon. Please contact Melissa Mikel for further information.

AN INSIDE VIEW

 Making a Difference Key for FSWC Interns

FSWC has been fortunate to work with a hard-working, dedicated group of interns this summer.  Sarah Bregman, who graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in psychology and is currently studying sport and performance psychology at the University of Denver , felt FSWC would offer a great learning experience. Sarah plans to teach tolerance to children and hopes to help find a way to alleviate bullying in the classroom. She felt that working with the Center and learning about the education programs at FSWC would provide her with experience in promoting tolerance and teaching justice to today’s youth.

Brittany Baron, an Honours graduate of Sociology from Queen’s University, has always been interested in learning about and promoting tolerance and justice. She felt FSWC’s dedication to promoting values that she, herself, held strongly was a natural fit. “I am so lucky to be getting involved, and to be learning so much here.”

Tanenbaum Chat – Kimel Centre student Aryeh Green felt that the mission of FSWC hit close to home.  As a descendent of Holocaust survivors, Aryeh feels it is his obligation to share his grandparents’ stories in order to not only remember the Holocaust, but also to counter the Holocaust denial, racism, and antisemitism that is increasingly present today.  “FSWC gives me the education and tools to embark on a lifestyle that counters antisemitism, racism, prejudice, discrimination, hatred and intolerance in an effort to move toward a better future, without losing, forgetting, or denying the past.” 

Ari Forman attends Yeshiva Bnei Akiva Or Chaim and chose FSWC “so I could have a chance to give back to a community that has been so wonderful to me.”  Ari has found that his satisfaction has come not only through serving his community, but also in learning about the issues that are currently going on in our world.  He feels that he has learned things that will affect the rest of his life and that will forever change the ways in which he views the world.  

             ________________________________________________

            Media Contact
           Stacey Starkman, Communications Coordinator
           Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies
           416-864-9735 x 32
           sstarkman@fswc.ca