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Dear John, 

This week, we brought media attention to the Jewish community’s experience as a target of hate; applauded Quebec’s decision to open an office in Israel, its first in the Middle East; and celebrated the LGBTQ2+ communities in Montreal and Vancouver.  

Read on to learn more.  

The CIJA Team  

“Antisemitism isn’t just a real and present threat today, it’s a problem growing at a frightening rate. In Canada alone, anti-Jewish hate crime has increased 52 percent since 2020. That’s why we have a big choice to make about antisemitism – ignore its impact and walk away or come together to push back against it.”  - Shimon Koffler Fogel, CIJA’s President and CEO  

Statistics Canada has published their police-reported hate crime data for 2022 revealing, once again, that hate crimes targeting the Black and Jewish populations remained the most commonly reported to police, with the Jewish community being the only religious category to experience an increase in incidents last year.   

CIJA continues to lean full-throttle into the fight against antisemitism, undertaking two major initiatives to combat hate this year: becoming a founding member and Canada’s representative on the newly formed J7, The Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism and co-creating the two-day Antisemitism: Face It, Fight It conference taking place in Ottawa this fall. 

Read CIJA’s press release in response to the report's alarming results, bringing media attention to the Jewish community’s experience and reinforcing the need for all Canadians to stand up to hate.   

CIJA was pleased to celebrate the LGBTQ2+ community at Pride events in Vancouver and Montreal. In Montreal, CIJA collaborated with the Consulate of Israel on the annual Pride cocktail, which brought together LGBTQ2+ leaders, political figures from multiple parties, and members of the Jewish community to launch the start of Montreal’s Pride season. In Vancouver, more than 100 people attended a Pride Havdalah to celebrate the joy and diversity of Vancouver’s LGBTQ2+ Jewish community. 💗❤️💙💛💚♥️ 

This week, Quebec’s Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie Martine Biron announced the creation of a Quebec Government Bureau in Israel.  

For several years, CIJA has encouraged successive Quebec governments to open a formal diplomatic mission in Israel. Since its beginnings in the days of René Lévesque, who noted the similarities between the two people’s struggles for self-determination, the Quebec-Israel relationship has grown significantly. More recently, representatives of the Quebec government have made official visits to Israel. 

We join Federation CJA in celebrating this important step, which will bolster existing links and generate significant opportunities for international collaboration. 

Antisemitism hurts every one of us.  

It’s time to show up.  

It’s time to speak up.  

It’s time to step up.  

It’s time to fight it.  

CIJA in the News 

Community Calendar

August 7 | Civic Holiday (CIJA offices in Ontario and BC are closed)
September 15-17 | Rosh Hashanah
September 24-25 | Yom Kippur 
October 16-17 | Antisemitism: Face It, Fight It

Careers

Executive Director, Hamilton Jewish Family Services