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Dear John,
This week, we asked you to make your voice heard with Canada’s
elected officials, called on university leadership to ensure that our
campuses are safe for Jewish students, applauded the B.C. and Alberta
governments for their clear commitment to Holocaust education, and
informed Canadians about Israel’s compliance with international law.
Read on to learn more.
The CIJA Team
This week, there were two deeply troubling incidents in
Montreal.
On Wednesday, while raising awareness about the 242 hostages held
by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, a group of Jewish Concordia University
students were confronted by an angry crowd who verbally and physically
accosted them. Federation CJA and CIJA issued a statement
condemning the incident and called on university leadership to take
concrete action and use every possible tool to ensure that our
universities remain safe for Jewish students.
   
On
Thursday, bullet holes were discovered at the front entrances of two
Jewish schools, Azrieli Talmud Torah and Yeshiva Gedola. While no one
was in either building and the damage was minimal, this discovery
represents a worrying escalation in the violence Jewish Canadians have
been experiencing. Federation CJA and CIJA issued a statement
condemning the incident and demanding justice and swift
action by law enforcement.
In
addition to issuing a joint press release with Federation CJA, we also
held a press conference the day after each incident. You can watch
them on our Facebook page.
In an opinion piece in the
National Post, CIJA’s Richard Marceau, Vice President and General
Counsel, and Emmanuelle Amar, Director of Policy and Research
(Quebec), clarify legal facts about Israel’s legitimate right to
defend itself and how Israel is doing so in full compliance with
international law. Read
the full op-ed here.
In an
opinion piece in the Daily Hive Vancouver, CIJA VP (Pacific Region)
Nico Slobinsky and Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre ED Nina
Krieger explore the importance of Holocaust education and the
significance of British Columbia Premier David Eby's demonstrated
commitment to combating antisemitism and other forms of hate in the
province. Read
the full op-ed here.
Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced that
Holocaust education will be included as a mandatory part of the
province’s new social studies curriculum. We issued a joint
statement with the Jewish Federation of Edmonton and Calgary
Jewish Federation applauding the Alberta Government for this welcome
decision, which makes Alberta the third province in Canada to mandate
Holocaust education in the public school curriculum.
Want to do something to
support the people of Israel?
Join others worldwide in sending messages to the International
Committee of the Red Cross to demand they visit, comfort, care for,
and act urgently to release the hostages!
All you need to do is:
- Go to the Red Cross link: https://www.icrc.org/en/contact
- Choose your location & fill in your name and email
address
- Choose one of nine
message options here, copy and paste it into the "message" field
(or write a personal message of your own)
- Click on "submit"
This is a small thing each of us can do to help the efforts to
bring them home!
Want to do something to
support your local Jewish community?
Join our Legal Task Force
The dramatic rise in antisemitism isn’t just isolated to other
parts of the world, it’s happening here in Canada too. Led by CIJA and
UJA, a group of 150 lawyers are already hard at work to use the law to
combat the Jew-hate we are seeing. And other legal groups are being
created in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and around the country. With
lawyers working in various areas of law – including human rights,
labour and employment, and criminal law – they will focus especially
on the education system because universities and schools have failed
to keep our kids safe.
This has to change. If you are a lawyer, please volunteer.
Email us at [email protected]
.
Community Calendar
Communities are gathering in cities across Canada in response to
the devastating war on Israel by Hamas and other terror groups in
Gaza. Find
an event near you.
November | Holocaust Education
Month Events
December 7- 15 | Chanukah
CIJA in the News
Opinion:
Hamas has committed war crimes, but Israel is complying with
international law (National Post)
Opinion:
Why BC's mandatory Holocaust education curriculum is much-needed
(Daily Hive)
Ottawa
under pressure to publish online safety bill to tackle rising
antisemitism (The Globe and Mail)
What
is the kaffiyeh? The head covering seen at pro-Palestinian rallies has
become a charged political symbol (Toronto Star, +
Syndication)
A
security expert says this isn’t the time to take your mezuzahs down
(The CJN Daily)
Alberta
to consult with Jewish groups on Holocaust education (Lethbridge News
Now)
A
generation gap in attitudes could be undermining support for Israel in
the West (CBC News)
'How
dare this happen?': West Island synagogue, Jewish community centre
targeted by firebombs (Montreal Gazette)
'Jews
have always been the canary in the mines' says Jewish community leader
denouncing antisemitism (CBC News)
Quebec
leaders want hate speech investigation into imam calling for
extermination of 'Zionist aggressors' (Montreal Gazette)
1
arrested, 3 injured in violent clashes between Concordia students over
Israel-Hamas war (CTV News)
Two
Montreal Jewish schools hit by gunshots overnight Wednesday, no
injuries (CityNews)
A
conversation with Richard Marceau about International Law - Afternoons
With Rob Breakenridge (QR Calgary - Global News Radio)
Jewish
community pleads for help after shots fired at two Montreal schools
(Montreal Gazette)
Pablo
Rodriguez faces questions about whether he misled Commons committee on
Laith Marouf (The Globe and Mail)
Vancouver
rallies for Israeli hostages while also remembering those killed on
Oct. 7 by Hamas (The Canadian Jewish News)
Hundreds
gather at Vancouver Art Gallery to mark one month since Hamas attack
(Global News)
Israel,
Hamas conflict causes surge of discrimination, B.C. human rights
commissioner says (CBC News)
Community Careers
CEO, Ottawa Soloway Jewish Community
Centre
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