Jewish doctors consider fleeing Canada amid rising rates of antisemitism in their profession

2024/12/06 Leave a comment

Worrisome, even if consideration does not necessarily mean leaving. Likely similar worries in other professions:

Nearly one third of Jewish medical practitioners in Ontario are considering leaving the country in response to rising antisemitism, according to a new survey that found that doctors across Canada are worried about what’s happening to their profession.

The data released by the Jewish Medical Association of Ontario (JMAO) on Wednesday reveal widespread concerns of antisemitism among health-care practitioners across  Canada.

The survey of over 1,000 Jewish medical professionals across Canada found that while just one per cent of Canadian Jewish doctors experienced severe antisemitism in a community, hospital or academic setting prior to the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, now 29 per cent, 39 per cent and 43 per cent say they have experienced some antisemitism in each of those settings, respectively.

Over 400 Jewish physicians commented on the most difficult aspect of rising levels of antisemitism. “I feel I no longer belong in Canada and may need to flee,” one said.

Another said they no longer feel comfortable around their patients and colleagues: “I fear their reaction to my name and identity. Being uncomfortable with colleagues as I am aware many are unsupportive. Feeling that I cannot share, express or even admit my identity.”

The survey included 500 Jewish health-care professionals in Ontario and “more than 80 per cent of respondents in Ontario said they’ve faced antisemitism at work,” says a news release published on Wednesday ahead of a press conference at the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park.

Source: Jewish doctors consider fleeing Canada amid rising rates of antisemitism in their profession

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Manitoba teachers decry union’s decision to cancel antisemitism education

2024/12/04 Leave a comment

Cancel culture? Cowardice?

Jewish educators say they are alarmed after finding out that the Manitoba teachers’ union cancelled a professional development talk about antisemitism in schools.

“The PD (professional development) is very much needed. That’s the number one concern,” said Tamara Gottlieb, co-founder of the Jewish Educators and Families Association (FEFA).

In October, some Manitoba teachers had signed up for a professional development course on the subject of “bearing witness to October 7th” and fighting antisemitism in the classroom. The talk was to be delivered by Kelly Hiebert, a history teacher at Westwood Collegiate in Winnipeg who has been tasked by the provincial government with developing a mandatory Holocaust curriculum for students.

Yet, the event was cancelled. Concerned teachers reached out to Gottlieb’s group, and it, along with a number of other Jewish advocacy groups, wrote to the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and the provincial government to express concern.

“This approved and well thought PD session is needed now more than ever. Canceling it with so little notice before it was to take place leaves many educators without the resources they need,” says a letter, signed by JEFA and a number of other organizations.

Gottlieb received a response from the Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning ministry, which said that the event had been cancelled because of unspecified threats.

“The decision to cancel the session was made out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the presenters due to online comments related to this event and recent escalations in antisemitic incidents,” the letter says.

National Post reached out to the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, which said there were “unsettling comments on social media related to the event.

“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the presenters and those in attendance, MTS elected to cancel,” the union said in an email.

In a separate statement, Nathan Martindale, the president of the teachers’ union, acknowledged that “our decision was discouraging to members of the Jewish community, and to our Jewish members.”

“The point has been made that it would have been helpful for us to consult with the community prior to making the decision to cancel, and we appreciate this valuable feedback,” Martindale said. “As we said to our members in a recent email, this is difficult work, and we won’t always get it right. But we are committed to it, and to ongoing dialogue in our efforts to promote understanding and community within our organization.”…

Source: Manitoba teachers decry union’s decision to cancel antisemitism education

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ICYMI – Blum: Remembrance Day is a time to honour, not divide, Sherazi: Many students see Remembrance Day through their own experience of war

2024/11/28 Leave a comment

Interesting exchange of perspectives among two persons who often work together:

…Bringing contentious political symbols into a Remembrance Day ceremony is antithetical to these principles. It risks fueling division rather than fostering understanding and detracts from the lessons of sacrifice and freedom that Remembrance Day seeks to impart.

At its core, Remembrance Day is about Canadian values — freedom, respect, and unity. Those who fought for these ideals made unimaginable sacrifices, and it is our duty to honour their memory by upholding those values in our schools and communities.

To do so, we must ensure that Remembrance Day remains a day of solemn reflection and unity. It is not a platform for political statements or a time to import contemporary conflicts into our shared spaces. It is a time to remember those who gave their lives for the peace and freedoms we enjoy today and to ensure that their sacrifices are not forgotten.

By keeping politics out of the classroom and focusing on shared values, we can foster an environment where all students feel respected, included and united in their commitment to the ideals that Remembrance Day represents.

Rabbi Menachem M. Blum is the spiritual leader of the Ottawa Torah Centre. His community outreach work includes interfaith dialogue and workshops that he

Source: Blum: Remembrance Day is a time to honour, not divide

…In the last 20 years, some students have experienced war directly.  I have had the privilege to work in schools with students who have done gone through war; the horrors are unimaginable.  I think that Hobbs’s intentions were not misplaced.

If we cannot find ways to help students understand a broader message of honouring the dead — everyone’s dead — if we can’t help teach students about the freedoms we enjoy because some have sacrificed their lives to provide those freedoms, what common ground is there?

For educators, it is worth remembering that students are seeing modern warfare unfold in front of their eyes in real time on social media. In the most recent conflict in the Middle East, they have watched more than 16,000 children lose their lives. Many are buried under rubble. Others have suffered lifelong injuries, and won’t have access to medical treatment. Will students ponder the fact that 12,000 Palestinians also volunteered to serve in the British army and participated in battle in North Africa and Europe during the Second World War, and what those lives meant in the grand scheme of things?

U.S. historian Henry Glassie is quoted saying, “History is not the past but a map

Source: Sherazi: Many students see Remembrance Day through their own experience of war

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Freiman and Sandler: Samidoun has been banned. Now, it’s time to stamp it out

2024/11/27 Leave a comment

Given the government’s mixed record on implementation, legitimate call for action:

…We fully support the evidence-based designation of Samidoun as a terrorist entity. We now call on the authorities to use all available tools to confront this group and those involved in its illegal activities, whether covertly or otherwise.

The listing of Samidoun under the Canadian Criminal Code marks a crucial, albeit preliminary, step in the broader fight against hate and extremism. However, without decisive follow-up, this designation risks having a limited impact. Government agencies and law enforcement must work together to dismantle Samidoun’s operations and, to the extent possible, keep the public informed of the steps being taken. Only with meaningful action can we ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.

Source: Opinion: Samidoun has been banned. Now, it’s time to stamp it out

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John Ivison: It’s not ‘cancel culture’ to silence people who encourage terrorism

2024/11/21 Leave a comment

Poster child for when cancel culture warranted:

….Canada’s Online Harms Act, which is currently before Parliament, aims to hold the online platforms accountable for content that invites violence. It has many shortcomings: the parliamentary budget officer estimates the legislation could cost upward of $200 million over five years to establish the ranks of bureaucrats the government believes are necessary to police the online world. But at least it should make some of this content inaccessible.

But in the real world, it would not stop characters like Kathrada telling impressionable young Muslims that martyrs are “winners” who will be permitted to intercede on behalf of 70 of their relatives in the afterlife.

He is scheduled to deliver a lecture to the University of Victoria’s Muslim Students Association this Sunday and it is safe to say that he will not be arguing that diversity is our strength.

Should he be banned, or at least denounced by the university, or would doing so equate to the worst of the cancel culture that has dominated campuses in recent years?

Yes, he should. This is qualitatively different from the academic environment where there is only one righteous path — the equality of outcomes for “oppressed groups” — and where political diversity is a threat to social justice.

As John Stuart Mill asserted, individual freedom should only be infringed to prevent harm to others.

Kathrada’s history suggests his glorification of martyrdom could encourage those listening to emulate the acts of the martyr.

In a sermon last December, Kathrada prayed for the annihilation of “the plundering, transgressor Jew.” He has previously praised the October 7th terrorist attacks for humiliating Israel.

Hate speech, as defined by the Supreme Court, expresses detestation or vilification of an individual or group that goes beyond disdain or dislike. Incitement occurs when a person is actively encouraged to commit or threaten physical violence.

Section 319 of the Criminal Code bans both of those things.

However, Kathrada has a “stay out of jail” card in the form of an exemption included in the Criminal Code that says if the person bases his or her opinion on a religious subject or religious text, he cannot be prosecuted.

Jewish groups have called for new legislation that would outlaw the glorification of terror acts and symbols. But Kathrada’s exemption would likely still apply.

Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, said Parliament should clarify the limitations on the religious exemption under the Criminal Code.

However, what is clear is that Kathrada’s “kafir society” is passive, if not paralyzed, in the face of the exploitation and abuse of its good will.

Source: John Ivison: It’s not ‘cancel culture’ to silence people who encourage terrorism

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Farber | Canada must confront its shameful history of harbouring Nazi war criminals

2024/11/20 Leave a comment

Agree:

…Yet, instead of setting the truth free, the government has offered a long line of opaque justifications for withholding the Deschênes documents. Most recently, federal government departments have claimed that releasing these documents could somehow embolden Russia in its war against Ukraine. Such feeble excuses underestimate the intelligence of Canadians and erode public trust in the transparency, accountability, and integrity of our government.

It’s time for Canada to stop concealing the truth and release the Deschênes documents, fully and unconditionally. If the documents embarrass our country, so be it. These documents hold stories of atrocities committed in Europe, lives lost and justice denied. But they also hold the potential for education and healing — a way forward to confront uncomfortable truths about our nation’s past.

Only by revealing the past can we begin the work of reconciliation, educating future generations and building a more just and principled nation. It’s an imperative that Canada can no longer ignore.

Source: Opinion | Canada must confront its shameful history of harbouring Nazi war criminals

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Chris Selley: The perils of ‘defining’ bigotry

2024/11/16 Leave a comment

A valid dissenting view. Although I find illustrative examples are helpful improving understanding and can be the basis for conversation:

…This is the world we live in. If Holocaust denial is illegal (or sort of), then, the thinking goes, why shouldn’t denying the Nakba or the disastrous effects of the residential school system be illegal (or sort of) as well? A reasonable person could give a reasonable answer to that question. But governments aren’t reasonable people.

As I say, I totally understand Jewish groups’ concern. Some of the definitions of anti-Palestinian racism out there certainly seem studiously, deliberately vague. Citing the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East includes as examples “erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians,” which is meaningless; and “justifying violence against Palestinians,” which could easily include defending Israel’s right to retaliate against Hamas atrocities.

But it should also be noted that Elghawaby welcomed the prospect of a definition, not any specific definition. I see little point in such “definitions” if they’re not going to be enshrined in law. But it would have made much more sense for Canada to craft its own definition of antisemitism instead of signing on to an international one that, in my view, does activate freedom-of-speech concerns. Free speech in Canada is far more protected than in many of our peer nations, and that’s a good thing.

It probably would have made far more sense still to leave all of this alone. Canadian law sets an appropriately high bar for prosecuting hate speech against any group. We don’t need the added confusion and division of “defining” every single form of bigotry.

Source: Chris Selley: The perils of ‘defining’ bigotry

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Lederman: What happened in Amsterdam is antisemitism, Regg Cohn: There are no excuses for what happened to Jews in Amsterdam. Period

2024/11/14 Leave a comment

Indeed:

…Of course, the supposed justification for Kristallnacht was a pretext for a highly organized attack. Of course, what happened in Amsterdam was a dark night of extreme antisemitism, fuelled by anger over the war in Gaza. It has continued. On Monday night, rioters set a tram on fire, and yelled about cancerous Jews.

Here’s a hopeful thought: the people who did this are thugs, just as the Nazis were thugs. But on Kristallnacht, they were government-sponsored thugs, organized and supported by the men in charge.

The antisemites running rampant through Amsterdam have been condemned by the city’s mayor, the country’s prime minister and the king of the Netherlands. I’m taking some heart in that. But the gaslighting and victim-blaming – arguing that this was not antisemitism, that the Jews started it and deserved it – that is just heartbreaking.

Source: What happened in Amsterdam is antisemitism

…And so when protesters showed up earlier this year at the opening of the new Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam — home of Anne Frank — they claimed their demonstration was entirely anti-Israeli and utterly anti-Zionist, but couldn’t possibly be antisemitic. Which means the Holocaust is now fair game not merely for deniers but provocateurs.

During the Nazi occupation of Holland, three-quarters of the country’s Jews — 102,000 human beings — were deported to concentration camps. That’s history.

With an eye on that shared history, Dutch King Willem-Alexander publicly apologized for the latest antisemitic outburst: “Our history has taught us how intimidation goes from bad to worse.”

Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the violence as “unadulterated antisemitism,” but went one step further for the benefit of those trying to explain and excuse:

“Nothing is an excuse for hunting Jews.”

Nothing.

Source: Regg Cohn | There are no excuses for what happened to Jews in Amsterdam. Period

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Outrage over Sir Robert Borden High School playing of peace for Gaza song at Remembrance Day ceremony

2024/11/14 Leave a comment

Legitimate concern:

…Kaplan-Mirth said the musical decision also ran counter to the OCDSB policy to steer clear of taking political stances on any and all issues.

“There is no excuse for this, playing one song at a Remembrance Day ceremony and it’s a song about Gaza? How many times and how many ways can you hurt the Jewish community? Somebody made a choice and there’s no place where this is an appropriate choice for Remembrance Day,” she said. “What if there was a Russian peace song or a Chinese peace song or an Israel peace song? None of that would be OK.”The Jewish Federation of Ottawa said it was also “deeply concerned” about the ceremony.

Source: Outrage over Sir Robert Borden High School playing of peace for Gaza song at Remembrance Day ceremony

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Lyons, Cotler and Lew: To counter antisemitism, Canadians must first be able to recognize it

2024/11/13 Leave a comment

Op-ed promoting the antisemitism guidebook:

…Canadians should unite to combat antisemitism not only because it is an abhorrent, dangerous, and deadly prejudice, but because it is toxic to the very fabric of our democracy and society. Antisemitism is known as the “canary in the coal-mine” for all forms of hatred and intolerance – a weathervane for growing societal intolerance and prejudice – because what starts with the Jews does not end with the Jews.

Simply put, antisemitism is a threat not only to Jewish individuals and the Jewish community, but to Canadian society and democracy as a whole. Our hope is that the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Definition will be a valuable tool for Canadians seeking to combat this threat and address the rising tide of antisemitism.

Source: To counter antisemitism, Canadians must first be able to recognize it

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