Janice Arnold CJN

Anti-Jewish remarks

Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr is captured in a YouTube video dated Dec. 23, 2016, addressing a prayer meeting at Dar Al-Arqam in Montreal East. (screenshot from cjnews.com)

More videos of anti-Jewish sermons being delivered in mosques in Canada have come to light, the latest from the Dar Al-Arqam mosque in Montreal and the Al-Hikmah mosque in Toronto.

Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr is captured in a 20-minute YouTube video dated Dec. 23, 2016, addressing a prayer meeting at Dar Al-Arqam in Montreal East.

According to a translation of the Arabic by the Toronto-based online publication CIJNews, he says Jews are “the most evil of mankind” and that Allah has ordained that they be killed by Muslims.

“At the end of time when the Muslims will triumph over the most evil of mankind [and] the human demons, the stone and the tree will say: O Muslim, O servant of Allah, O Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews,” the translation says.

Musa Al Nasr is identified as a visiting Jordanian cleric.

Similar messages have been delivered by Sheikh Abdulqani Mursal, an imam at Al-Hikmah in North York, reports CIJNews editor Jonathan Halevi, who is described as a reserve lieutenant-colonel in the Israel Defence Forces and a senior researcher of radical Islam at the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs.

Apparently drawing from Islamic scripture, Mursal taught that “the fate of the Jews is … to be killed by Muslims,” Halevi writes.

He read a hadith, or saying of Muhammad, that: “You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew [hiding himself behind me], kill him.”

Whatever the source of these sentiments, Jewish groups decry them as hateful, incitement, possibly hate crimes.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said the published excerpt of Musa Al Nasr’s talk “mirrors, word for word, a similar genocidal declaration” in the charter of Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada.

“We are deeply troubled and angered that yet another imam has dehumanized Jews and glorified violence against them,” stated CIJA Quebec co-chair Rabbi Reuben Poupko.

Even more disturbing, he said, is that the mosque would disseminate Musa Al Nasr’s “incitement to violence and hatred” on the internet.

CIJA has submitted the latest material to police to determine if it violates Canada’s Criminal Code.

“We condemn these appalling sermons which … are a dangerous rejection of Canada’s core values of tolerance, pluralism and non-violence,” he said. “In light of similar incidents recently exposed in Montreal and Toronto, there is a real concern that the airing of hateful rhetoric – including antisemitism – has become routine at some mosques.”

B’nai Brith Canada has filed a formal complaint with police because it believes that this is hate speech. Musa Al Nasr is a “prominent member of the hardline Salafist movement in Jordan, where he lectures at the al-Ahliyya University in Amman,” it asserts.

According to B’nai Brith’s research, he delivered lectures more than a dozen times at Al-Arqam, which were recorded and uploaded on YouTube.

B’nai Brith chief executive officer Michael Mostyn expressed frustration that police have yet to lay charges in connection with a complaint it made in February when a video was exposed of another imam at another Montreal mosque pleading for the death of Jews.

The 2014 sermon by Sayed AlGhitawi, a guest imam at the Al-Andalous Islamic Centre, called on Allah “to destroy the accursed Jews” and “kill them one by one.”

“When will Canada finally recognize that we are not immune to racism and antisemitism, and that it is this type of rhetoric that directly leads to radicalization all over the world?” Mostyn asked. “What will it take before charges are laid for criminal incitement in Canada?”

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com

Sadikov resigns SSMU post

Igor Sadikov, the McGill University student under fire for his “punch a Zionist today” tweet more than a month ago, resigned his remaining student government post, thereby preempting a vote by his peers on his removal.

On March 8, Sadikov stepped down from his position as arts representative on the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) legislative council, a day before that body was set to debate a motion to impeach him. The action was “for impropriety and for violation of the provisions of the [SSMU] constitution” related to the tweet.

Sadikov cited “personal reasons related to mental health” for his decision to go. On Feb. 23, when the council motion was tabled, the third-year mathematics and political science student resigned from the SSMU board of directors, claiming pressure was being exerted by the university administration. He has not elaborated on his departure, and even the McGill Daily, of which he is a former news editor and frequent contributor, could not reach him for comment. He also didn’t comment about the resignation on his social media accounts.

It was on his personal Twitter account on Feb. 6 that Sadikov posted the infamous tweet, for which he apologized, calling it an ill-considered joke. While he is anti-Zionist, Sadikov described himself as Jewish and noted that his parents are Zionists, and he vowed to gain a better understanding of differing views on the political philosophy.

Nevertheless, pro-Israel groups on and off campus continued to call for his ouster, decrying the tweet as hateful and an incitement to violence, and they were unconvinced Sadikov had shown true remorse.

Both the Daily and another student newspaper, the McGill Tribune, reported that Sadikov’s March 8 resignation came days after allegations that he had been psychologically abusive in a relationship with another McGill student.

The day following his resignation, SSMU president Ben Ger resigned, citing personal reasons. Two other directors have also left. At press time, the SSMU was in the midst of executive elections.

On Feb. 22, the Arts Undergraduate Society voted not to oust Sadikov, while, nine days prior, the board of directors defeated an impeachment motion, but did formally censure Sadikov. On Feb. 15, following a meeting convened by McGill principal Suzanne Fortier, the SSMU executive “recommended” that Sadikov stand down.

Meanwhile, names continue to be added to an online petition demanding that Sadikov be expelled from McGill for incitement to violence. It was launched last month by Montrealer Murray Levine, who identifies himself as an activist and fundraiser who attended McGill.

By March 10, there were more than 2,000 signatures. The majority appear to be from outside the McGill community. Levine said that, when 3,000 names are collected, the petition will be presented to Fortier.

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com

Montreal can be the model

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre at the Jan. 11, 2015, rally in Montreal in support of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. (photo by Gerry Lauzon via commons.wikimedia.org)

A hate crimes department within the city’s police force might be a good idea, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said following a meeting with Jewish community leaders from Quebec and France at Montreal’s city hall on June 25.

Coderre and members of his executive committee held a two-hour closed-door session to discuss what role cities can play in combating antisemitism in Montreal and globally. He underlined the frequent link between antisemitism and radicalization and its violent expression.

Unlike forces in many North American cities, the Service de Police de Montréal (SPVM) does not have a unit dedicated to investigating crimes suspected to be motivated by hatred of identifiable groups. Coderre said he will meet the SPVM to pursue the possibility.

“We have good people [in the police] who are doing a good job now, but we have to look into whether we can do things a better way and learn from best practices [elsewhere],” he said.

That was the most concrete suggestion coming out of the meeting.

The mayor’s main message after the meeting was that “we have to call a spade a spade.… Antisemitism exists, here and around the world. We have to denounce it, we have to talk about it, we have to understand that clearly something is going on and we must be there to fight it.”

The meeting was the fulfilment of a promise that Coderre had made to leaders of the French Jewish community when he visited Paris in February, shortly after the murderous terrorist attacks at the Charlie Hebdo magazine office and Hyper-Cacher kosher grocery store.

Present at the meeting, from France, were Serge Dahan, president of B’nai B’rith France, and Yonathan Arfi, vice-president of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France, as well as leaders of Federation CJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée du Québec and B’nai Brith Canada.

Julien Bauer, a Université du Québec à Montréal political science professor, and Mount Royal MP and human rights activist Irwin Cotler participated as experts on antisemitism.

Coderre hopes that Montreal and Paris can cooperate especially closely on strategies to combat antisemitism and make their cities safer.

Coderre called antisemitism “the oldest and most persistent” form of racism and warned against a tendency to “trivialize” it. He also recognized that anti-Zionism often cloaks contemporary antisemitism.

The meeting was also a followup to the June 10-11 Montreal Summit on Living Together, a gathering of 23 mayors from around the world convened by Coderre to examine how municipalities can prevent radicalism and ensure security, starting by promoting respect for diversity and harmony among the different cultural groups in their citizenry.

The City of Montreal, also in the wake of the Paris attacks, announced plans for a new centre aimed at preventing violent radicalism. So far, it consists of a telephone hotline to report information on suspected radical activity. Coderre said that the centre can play a role in preventing antisemitism. He wants to form partnerships with the schools, civil society and others in this endeavor.

Coderre said he plans to make the discussion on antisemitism an annual event, and believes that Montreal can serve as a model of how to combat racism and radicalism, while achieving “a balance between openness and vigilance.”

“The more we talk about it, the more it will have a positive effect,” he said.

CIJA Quebec vice-president Luciano Del Negro applauded Coderre’s commitment in taking on the “challenge” of combating antisemitism.

He especially appreciated that the mayor recognizes the distinctiveness of antisemitism among forms of racism, and that antisemitism is not only a phenomenon of the extreme right, but also the far left.

Similarly, Cotler applauded Coderre’s “exemplary leadership” and recognition that “municipalities not only have a role, but a responsibility, to combat antisemitism.”

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com.

MMFA exhibit portrays Jewish life

“Evening on the Terrace (Morocco)” by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant conveys a popular image of languid life of the Maghreb of the 19th century. (photo by Christine Guest from MMFA via cjnews.com)

Life in 19th-century southern Spain and Morocco, with its mixing of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures, is vividly recalled in the current main exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA).

Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism from Spain to Morocco, Benjamin-Constant in His Time, which continues in the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion until May 31, is organized with the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse, France, and co-sponsored by the embassy of Morocco and the Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec (CSUQ), among others.

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845-1902), a once-popular French painter on both sides of the Atlantic, is being rediscovered by the art world. This exhibition is one of the largest ever of his work and also features other artists of the era who were fascinated by the Maghreb.

Benjamin-Constant’s dazzling, sunlit, often huge canvases are considered prime examples of the art movement known as Orientalism. His capturing of this mysterious world of potentates’ sumptuous courts, sensuous harems and days whiled away in the Mediterranean’s languid warmth fed the imagination of his fellow Frenchmen.

Colonial France was enchanted by this foreign world seemingly untouched by time, yet relatively close at hand.

Benjamin-Constant did not rely solely on stereotypes; he spent a great deal of time in Andalusia and, across the Strait of Gibraltar, in Morocco, but he did not shrink from employing a little fantasy, some might say cliché, in his paintings.

The prolific Benjamin-Constant earlier on found numerous patrons in North America, as well as Europe, and his work is found in private collections in the United States and Canada, but he is little known today.

The MMFA possesses four of his paintings, which were acquired by Montrealers during his lifetime.

Almost 250 works are on view by Benjamin-Constant and several other Orientalists, as well as earlier artists who influenced them, notably Eugène Delacroix.

Seventy-one lenders contributed to the exhibition from North America, Europe and Morocco, bringing many of these works together for the first time. Some had been kept in storage for decades and required restoration.

A 400-page catalogue, with more than 500 illustrations, covering Benjamin-Constant’s entire career has been published by the MMFA, the product of research by an international team of experts.

Among the works of clearly Jewish themes in the exhibition are Alfred Dehodencq’s imposing 1861 “Execution of a Jewish Woman in Morocco,” inspired by the real-life public beheading of 17-year-old Sol Hachuel in Fez in 1834.

She was executed for alleged apostasy from Islam – even though the teen apparently never converted. Hachuel became a Jewish heroine, having purportedly declared, “A Jewess I was born, and a Jewess I wish to die.”

The painting depicts a surging mob around her as the executioner draws his sword toward the neck of the kneeling girl.

A small 1832 Délacroix oil depicts a languid street scene in the Jewish quarter of Meknes, while “A Jewish Woman of Morocco” is an 1868 portrait by Charles-Emile-Hippolyte Vernet-Lecomte of an apparently wealthy woman in the traditional frock and headdress worn on special occasions.

By Benjamin-Constant is “Judith,” his 1886 rendering of the brave and, in his imagination, sultry biblical heroine, swathed in clingy garb and sword in hand. It’s on loan from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The CSUQ and the company Buffalo David Bitton are supporting a number of activities related to the exhibition. Among them is a lecture on March 18 by Peggy Davis, an art history professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, on La harem dans la peinture: l’Orient fantasmé.

For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com.

Stotland plays Carlebach – in Yiddish!

“Montreal Jewgrass” musician Adam Stotland channeled one of his musical gods since childhood – Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach – in his acting debut last month.

Stotland, who has Vancouver family connections, landed the title role in the musical Soul Doctor: The Journey of a Rock Star Rabbi, which made its world première in Yiddish at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts in Montreal, with a June 8-29 run.

photo - Adam Stotland — Adam Stotland *(photo from cnjews.com)*

Stotland, 37, is not a rabbi or exactly a rock star, but he is a cantor and singer-guitarist known for his brand of music that blends klezmer and other Jewish folk music with the sounds of bluegrass. He is a huge fan of Carlebach, the charismatic, yet controversial, voice of the Jewish revival movement of the 1950s through ’70s. But, as Stotland pointed out to the Segal team when they invited him to audition, he had never acted before – and didn’t know Yiddish.

He also wasn’t sure if he could find the time between his duties as cantor, for the past two years, at Shaare Zion Congregation and his busy performing schedule. He and his wife also have a young child and are expecting another.

Besides, as always, the actors and singers in Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre productions are highly talented, but unpaid.

But the Segal insisted he would be ideal.

Stotland headed a cast of 30, which included Mark Bassel, Aron Gonshor, Burney Lieberman and Sam Stein. Co-directors were Bryna Wasserman, artistic director of New York’s Folksbiene Theatre, who convinced the Segal they had to do this show, and Rachelle Glait.

Written by Daniel S. Wise with lyrics by David Shechter, Soul Doctor had its Broadway debut in English last summer. It was hailed by the New York Times as “a joyous, leaping roar” and “unabashedly celebratory show.” The Montreal show featured English and French supertitles.

More than 30 of Carlebach’s greatest hits over his 40-year career are featured, backed by a live band. “He had the ability to compose simple tunes that touched you,” Stotland said.

There is a storyline, and Stotland spent “hours and hours” learning the dialogue. His knowledge of Yiddish had been limited to a few affectionate and sometimes colorful phrases he knew from his bubbie. “Having a musical ear, however, has helped me get the meter, the lilting melody of the language,” he said.

Soul Doctor recounts Carlebach’s life from his childhood escape from Nazi Germany and his early rabbinical career, to his discovery of gospel and soul music after meeting acclaimed jazz singer Nina Simone in 1957. An unlikely collaboration and friendship blossomed from there.

He moved away from his strict Orthodox upbringing, but brought the Chassidic love of song to mainstream Jews. He developed a signature sound that combined folk, pop and soul with traditional Jewish music and liturgy, and his popularity grew well beyond Jewish fans. He performed with the likes of Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.

But stardom had its price and Carlebach, who died 20 years ago, struggled with personal demons that strained his family life and shook his faith.

“The music and journey of Rabbi Carlebach is one that will resonate strongly with our community,” said Wasserman prior to the opening, adding that the production “captures the spiritual essence of his songwriting.”

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com.

Sense of relief after PQ defeat

There is a sense in the Montreal Jewish community that Quebec has entered a new era with the election of a majority Liberal government on April 7. Whether the defeat of the Parti Quebecois after 18 months in office was a rejection of its proposed Charter of Values or the possibility of another sovereignty referendum or, in fact, a show of support for Philippe Couillard’s offer of a more stable, focused government, Quebec has emerged from under the cloud of partisan strife.

Public opinions polls in the latter half of the 33-day campaign showed the Liberals were steadily gaining in popularity, yet few federalists dared count on the party’s capturing 70 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly and more than 41 percent of the popular vote.

photo - Philippe Couillard, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, will be the next premier of the province. — Philippe Couillard, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, will be the next premier of the province.

Immediately following the election, community leaders were already speaking of a more positive climate, in which Jews “view themselves as part and parcel of Quebec and see their future here,” said Luciano Del Negro, Quebec vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “The charter had broken a modus vivendi in Quebec in which we had acknowledged the French fact…. But all of a sudden, you not only had to speak French, but kowtow to the government in how you express your religious beliefs.”

The new government, Del Negro added, must move swiftly to repair the damage caused by the “toxic” debate over the launching of the charter last August by the PQ. Bill 60 was tabled in November.

The charter, said Del Negro, was not the major election issue. Rather, the result of the election was a clear rejection of what he saw as the PQ’s cynical ploy to stir up anxiety over the growth of religious minorities in order to get a majority and then create favorable conditions for a third referendum on sovereignty. “This is a resounding vote of confidence that we are all Quebecers, it’s the defeat of a divisive vision…. It’s not so much the end of the independence movement, but that the PQ is no longer seen as representing a force for progress, especially among the young.”

The strength of the third-party Coalition Avenir Québec, which gained four seats, is also indicative of the desire for a new way, he continued. “The PQ was the architect of its own demise. It threw away its principles. It sold its soul…. It’s a bit ironic that the party that was musing about firing workers [who might defy the charter’s ban on religious symbols among public employees] got fired themselves.”

The Jewish community’s tepid relations with Premier Pauline Marois soured during the campaign when she refused to repudiate comments by PQ candidate Louise Mailloux, who was accused of antisemitism for alleging that kashrut certification is, essentially, a religious racket in which Quebecers are victims. Mailloux, a college philosophy teacher, finished second, but almost 10,000 votes behind the incumbent, François David of Québec solidaire.

Del Negro said there is some history between the Liberal leader and the community from Couillard’s stint as health minister in Jean Charest’s government and since he became leader last year. “He has always been available to the community to discuss the charter and other matters,” Del Negro said. “We look forward to his being the premier of all Quebecers.”

Nevertheless, the possibility of some kind of new legislation reinforcing the principles of state neutrality and providing a framework for dealing with reasonable accommodation requests from religious groups can’t be ruled out. In January, the Liberal party issued its policy on the issue, which emphasized the necessity of public employees who represent state authority, such as police officers and prison guards, being permitted to wear religious symbols only after they have made the effort to “integrate.”

Couillard, a neurosurgeon who once practised in Saudi Arabia, stated at the time: “Our position hinges on respect for what we are and for what defines us collectively, historically and culturally. I understand and share concerns expressed by Quebecers regarding the rise of religious fundamentalism.”

The Liberal position is that the primacy of state religious neutrality be included in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (as Bill 60 proposed) and that any accommodation made for a person’s religious beliefs be in keeping with that tenet, as well as respect for gender equality. It was a Liberal government under Charest that a few years ago tabled Bill 94, which would have banned face coverings in the delivery or receipt of public services. It died on the order paper. Contrary to assumptions about the popularity of the charter, most recent polls found 63 percent in favor in Montreal and about 53 percent overall.

“I think the government should exercise extreme caution in re-opening the charter of rights,” said Del Negro. “There is a consensus in Quebec on state secularism, the need for a framework to resolve reasonable accommodation requests, and on the equality of men and women, but the charter of rights is there fundamentally to protect minorities…. The Jewish community has always been incredibly cautious in dealing with the charter of rights. It believes it is adequate. There is de facto recognition of state secularism and the human rights commission has jurisdiction to deal with reasonable accommodation.”

The sole Jewish MNA, Liberal David Birnbaum, took 92 percent of the vote in Montreal’s D’Arcy McGee, the only riding with a Jewish majority. There is speculation that the newcomer could be named to the cabinet, possibly to the education portfolio.

Birnbaum, 58, was director general of the Quebec English School Boards Association and is a past executive director of Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region. He replaces Lawrence Bergman, who resigned at the start of the campaign after 20 years in office.

Elsewhere, the fourth-party Québec solidaire (QS) elected a third member for the first time in its short history, Manon Massé in Ste. Marie-St. Jacques by a narrow 91 votes.

Massé, who has been a social justice activist for 30 years, was aboard the Canadian boat that was part of an international flotilla that attempted to reach Gaza in 2011. QS supported that unsuccessful effort to break the Israeli blockade and the left-wing sovereigntist party officially endorses the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel. Ste. Marie-St. Jacques is in the Plateau Mont-Royal, and encompasses the block on St. Denis Street where the Le Marcheur and Naot shoe stores are located, which have been targets of BDS demonstrators in the last few years. As well, QS MNA Amir Khadir, an outspoken critic of Israel, was reelected for a third term in the neighboring Mercier riding.

Nevertheless, CIJA said they want to keep the channels of communication open with all parties. “We have a fundamental disagreement with the QS … but as long as it is kept civil and honest, we can agree to disagree,” Del Negro said.

B’nai Brith Canada also believes this is a time to “mend fences” and hopes Couillard will reach out to all Quebecers to allow them to “feel at home in the province once more.”

Moise Moghrabi, Quebec chair of the organization’s League for Human Rights, said the new government has to begin to heal the rifts caused by “one of the most divisive campaigns in Quebec history.”

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com.