This week in Canadian Jewish Advocacy | January 29, 2023
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This Week in Canadian Jewish Advocacy

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Dear John, 

This week, we joined Jews around the globe in showing the world the extraordinary strength of the Jewish community. 

Read on to learn more. 

The CIJA Team  


On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, this year marking the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, Canadians stood united with the World Jewish Congress' global #WeRemember movement to honour the six million Jewish children, women, and men murdered in the Holocaust. 


In Ottawa, hundreds of Canadians gathered in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the National Holocaust Monument. Guests heard remarks from CIJA President and CEO Shimon Koffler Fogel, Holocaust Survivors, Jewish community leaders, and diplomatic and political representatives, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Leader of the Official Opposition Pierre Poilievre, which were followed by the laying of a commemorative wreath.

On January 26 and 27, 59 monuments, buildings, and well-known landmarks across Canada, including Ottawa’s National Holocaust Monument and Peace Tower, Niagara Falls, the Toronto sign and CN Tower, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium Tower and Champlain Bridge, and Vancouver’s Canada Place, were illuminated in yellow, evoking candlelight, in honour of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

'People aren’t born hating each other. It’s something we learn and it’s something we can unlearn.‘

CIJA Vice-President Eta Yudin spoke with CTV News about the significance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the critical role that education plays in the fight against rising antisemitism and all forms of hate.

Pinchas Gutter, Holocaust Survivor of six Nazi concentration camps, and co-president of the Canadian Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants, on the importance of educating youth about antisemitism and hate, as a way to honour the memory of those, including his family, who did not survive.

“CIJA is pleased that neo-Nazi Gabriel Sohier-Chaput has been found guilty of promoting hate. The verdict is a strong statement that hate, and antisemitism are not acceptable and perpetrators will be held accountable."

Gabriel Sohier-Chaput was found guilty of “wilful promotion of hatred” by the Court of Quebec. The court also upheld longstanding precedent that recognizes the Holocaust as historical fact under Canadian Jurisprudence, reaffirming that, as the most documented genocide in the world, its facts are well known and there is no room for denying or distorting them – whether in the public, online, in the media, or in court.

CIJA in the News 

The Holocaust offers lessons for a better tomorrow – Op-ed by Pinchas Gutter (Toronto Star, St. Catherines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribute)

How Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter builds connections with students (CBC News)

City landmarks to be lit up Friday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day (Winnipeg Sun, Ottawa Sun, Calgary Sun, Edmonton Sun)

Montreal to mark Holocaust remembrance (CTV News Montreal)

Fighting the rise in antisemitism through Holocaust Education (Global News Radio 980 CFPL, The Alex Pierson Show)

McGill observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day - McGill Reporter

Survivors' stories, contemporary connections inspire students on Holocaust Remembrance Day (CBC News)

International Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds... (The Morning Show with Devon Peacock, 980 CFPL)

La mémoire liée à l'Holocauste (Radio-Canada, Matins sans frontières)

Journée de commémoration en mémoire des victimes de l'Holocauste (Radio-Canada, Y a pas deux matins pareil)

Journée internationale dédiée à la mémoire des victimes de l’Holocauste (Radio-Canada, Le 6 à 9)

Israel envoy to Canada signals resignation over 'different policy' under Netanyahu (Canadian Press, National Post, Globe and Mail, Global News, CP24, +80 outlets)

L’ambassadeur israélien au Canada démissionne (Ici Radio-Canada Le Télé Journal)

BC launches K-12 action plan to combat racism (iHeart Radio)

Jewish groups are disappointed by the acquittal in a 2022 Israel Day assault in Montreal (The CJN)

Suspect in anti-Israel assault case acquitted due to lack of identification (The Suburban)

Montreal neo-Nazi found guilty of promoting hatred (CBC News)

Montreal man found guilty of wilfully promoting hatred against Jewish people (Canadian Press – Globe & Mail + 61 outlets)

Montrealer found guilty of hate against Jews after Daily Stormer post (Montreal Gazette)

Jewish groups elated by conviction in the Montreal antisemitic hate speech trial of Gabriel Chaput (The CJN)

Guilty of Promoting Hatred (CTV News Montreal, segment begins at 3:33)

Montreal Court Convicts Canadian Neo-Nazi of Antisemitic Incitement (The Algemeiner)

Montreal Man found guilty of promoting hatred toward Jews (Israel National News)

Sohier Chaput coupable d'avoir fomenté la haine contre les Juifs (La Presse Canadienne – Syndication, Le Devoir, Le Nouvelliste, La Tribune, La Voix de l’Est, +12 outlets )

Québec : Le militant néo-nazi Gabriel Sohier-Chaput jugé coupable d’antisémitisme (The Times of Israel)

«L'antisémitisme est la haine la plus ancienne» - Entrevue avec Eta Yudin (QUB Radio, Richard Martineau)

Morningstar, Jewish groups at loggerheads over commitments to fix anti-Israel bias (Jewish Insider)

Why it Seems that Western Criticism of Israel is Reaching a Fever Pitch: A Fireside Chat with David Weinberg, Director, Israel Office, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs & Columnist with The Jerusalem Post (Honest Reporting Canada)

Community Calendar

February 5-6 | Tu BiShvat
March 2 |
 The Abraham Accords: A Turning Point in the Legal World
October 16-17 | Democracy in Action 

Careers

CIJA is Hiring:

Chief Executive Officer, Jewish Federation of Winnipeg
Designer/Creative Coordinator: Jewish Federation of Winnipeg
Hillel Director, Jewish Federation of Edmonton