Salome Henry, second from the right, in Jerusalem on her Ambassadors to Poland trip with, left to right, Deborah Stein, Ashley Solomon and Zahava Rothschild. (photo from Salome Henry)
The Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ) is trying to increase Jewish engagement among Conservative, Reform and non-denominational youth. A four-week summer program for public high school teens, TJJ takes participants on a Jewish heritage trip to historical and modern sites in Israel.
Participant Salome Henry, 16, was born in France and later made her way to Vancouver with her family, before recently moving again with her family to Boston. She went on TJJ – which is run by NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth, the international youth movement of the Orthodox Union) – two years ago. She stayed involved with NCSY after the trip, which she took while she was still living in Vancouver.
“I’m hoping to stay connected to the organization,” Henry told the Independent. “I ended up going on a second summer program after TJJ. I went on the Ambassadors to Poland trip, which was spending one week in Poland learning about Jewish history, followed by three weeks in Israel, which was really intensive.”
While Henry goes to public school, her school has a Jewish students union, which she helped get started this past year. “This is one way that I stay connected to the Jewish community, because it’s rather hard if you go to public school.”
Henry said, “Most of the friends I have at school who are Jewish don’t really associate with Judaism, or they don’t consider themselves Jewish, or they celebrate things in different degrees…. I thought to myself that it would be great to have something like this. I know I definitely wanted to be able to talk about Jewish issues that I usually discuss at NCSY, but I feel like a lot of other kids can benefit from it, too.’”
Henry’s school has a large Jewish population from Israeli, Russian and American backgrounds. “It’s a very diverse community,” said Henry. “I remember when I came to the school, I realized there were so many people who are Jewish.”
The Jewish student group is looking at planning a trip next year to Israel or a one-week trip to Poland. At board meetings, they talk about upcoming holidays and there is a rabbi on hand if people have any religious or spiritual questions.
“We just received a lot of funding for next year, so what we are going to be doing is getting speakers to come and speak on important subjects and people will be able to come after school and listen to them,” said Henry.
In addition to putting together the speakers program for next year, Henry is finding places where students can volunteer in conjunction with the local synagogues. “I think it would be nice to add that aspect to our club,” she said.
“I’m going to delegate some work to some younger kids, because I want the club to be able to grow afterwards,” she added. “If all the seniors in the club graduate and no one can take over, that would be unfortunate.”
Another thing weighing on Henry is to find ways to support Israel in the larger community. “When I was in Israel last summer, we talked a lot about what it means to be a Jew on a college campus and how to speak up for Israel, especially in terms of media,” she said. “It’s hard to really talk to people who are so against it.
“A lot of kids have these ideas – they see it [Israel] in the media, which is captured very differently from what the reality is, so they immediately assume that what Israel is doing is wrong. If they took the time to analyze, they’d see what Israel is doing is logical and is what any other country would do.
“If they knew more about the IDF [Israel Defence Forces], they’d know it’s one of the most moral armies out there. So, I think that’s really something that we … today, as American Jewish youth, if we have the resources to learn about it … we really have the duty to tell others around us who don’t know about it, because it’s for the good of the Jewish community. It’s also our reputation that is at stake. Hopefully, we can focus on that next year.”
Being from France, Henry is keeping a close watch on what is unfolding there, as well – and more so as of late, as she will be there this summer. “I’m so concerned, because I know that things in Europe are so much worse for Jews,” said Henry. “With current events, people are starting to realize the intensity of the situation.”
From conversations with her family, Henry has become more aware that this current situation is not a new one for French Jews – something she feels people need to be educated about. “It’s horrifying to think the Holocaust has already happened, but people are still saying the same things that they were in the in 1940s. There’s still so much hate out there.”
Henry’s parents are very proud and happy with her involvement. “Both my parents love my NCSY friends and they are happy that I have that community near me,” she said. “They are thankful, because they know how much they mean to me.”
Seeing her go to Israel last summer with TJJ while Israel was in the midst of a conflict did not overly concern her parents, as they knew she was in good hands with a great group of kids, said Henry. And, indeed, everyone returned home safe.
Positive TJJ stats
According to a recent study commissioned by NCSY, 92% of the Jerusalem Journey “alumni feel emotionally attached or very attached to Israel.”
“The results suggest that TJJ – the trip, the subsequent educational activities and other consequences of participation – played a major role in generating increased Jewish engagement in these areas, and undoubtedly many others as well,” said the report, called The Jewish Impact of the Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ): Increasing Jewish Engagement among Conservative, Reform and Non-Denominational Youth.
Conducted by Prof. Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Ezra Kopelowitz, chief executive officer of Research Success Technologies in Israel, the internet survey portion of the study took place last spring. Non-Orthodox alumni who had participated in summer programs since 2007 were contacted. Of the 1,784 alumni surveyed, more than 20% provided responses that could be used in the analysis.
Questions focused “on behaviors and attitudes considered to be important to Jewish leaders across the denominational spectrum” in an attempt to answer the question, “Does the Jerusalem Journey help make non-Orthodox-raised Jewish youngsters ‘more Jewish’?” Responses from the TJJ survey were compared with the Pew Research Centre survey of Jewish Americans (2013), the Jewish Community Study of New York 2011 and the Birthright survey of applicants for 2001-05 but who never participated (2010).
According to the report summary, “86% of TJJ alumni said it was very important to raise children as Jewish, compared with 69% of Birthright applicants; 80% of TJJ alumni fasted for the whole of Yom Kippur, compared with only 48% of the 18-to-29-year-olds in the statistically adjusted Pew survey; 75% said it was ‘very important to marry a Jew,’ compared with 55% of Birthright applicants; and 73% of TJJ alumni usually attended a Shabbat meal, compared with only 34% of Birthright applicants.”
As well, “94% of TJJ alumni said they attended a Passover seder last year, 61% said they participate in Jewish learning on a weekly or more frequent basis and 41% said they returned to Israel after attending TJJ…. In general, the survey found that TJJ attracts significant Jewish engagement and identity among young people who were not raised in Orthodox homes.”
Louis and Toby Rubinowitz and their son, Israel, are buried together in the Jewish section of Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery, while Toby’s sister Sarah is buried separately. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
“Like a bolt from the blue, and to my profound astonishment, I was on Tuesday afternoon set upon by a number of special constables and arrested,” Israel Rubinowitz wrote from his prison cell in Nanaimo.
It was autumn 1913 when the budding defence lawyer made a plea for his release, penning a letter to Judge Frederick Howay in the midst of a coal miners’ strike on Vancouver Island. Though a Conservative in politics, Rubinowitz offered a passionate, occasionally radical, perspective in British Columbian courtrooms. He grew up in Vancouver, studied at McGill University in Montreal and attended Oxford University in England on a Rhodes scholarship in 1905. He returned to Vancouver and had only practised law for a short time when he found himself in Nanaimo – as both counsel and accused.
His predicament began when he agreed to represent members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Conflict had been brewing in mining communities on Vancouver Island’s central east coast since miners set up pickets in 1912. The coal companies refused to bargain and hired strikebreakers to keep their mines operating. “Special” constables, untrained and inexperienced, patrolled the region to keep order. In the summer of 1913, clashes broke out between strikers and replacement workers, starting in Cumberland and Nanaimo and spreading to Extension, South Wellington and Ladysmith. The provincial government declared martial law and sent in a militia on Aug. 13 after one man was killed, several surface mine buildings were burned down and homes were damaged. More than 200 strikers were arrested and 166 charged. None were granted bail. Martial law remained in the area for the next year.
The union hired experienced Vancouver labor lawyers Joseph Edward Bird and John Wallace de Beque Farris to defend the accused members. A group of Nanaimo residents fundraised independently and hired Rubinowitz, despite being advised by union officials and their lawyers that he was too inexperienced.
On that fateful Tuesday afternoon in September, Rubinowitz met with strikers Walter Pryde and William Moore on a Nanaimo street to discuss his clients’ cases. Special Constable Maguire and five other constables were patrolling the neighborhood. Maguire spied Rubinowitz and his companions and told them to move along. The trio continued walking, and were engaged in discussion when a train appeared and came to a halt. Twelve replacement workers disembarked, walking past the three men and the constables.
According to the Nanaimo Free Press, Maguire told Rubinowitz, “You are arrested for picketing.”
“I dare you,” Rubinowitz answered. “You don’t know who I am.”
“I don’t care who you are,” Maguire replied.
“After being publicly paraded through the principal streets,” Rubinowitz wrote in his letter to Howay, “I was taken to the police station where I was ultimately informed after persistent demands, that I was being charged with besetting or watching and following and intimidating workmen.”
Rubinowitz further wrote he had been falsely arrested. “I solemnly declare it is a wicked and deliberate trick to prevent my appearing [in court] for the men.”
After spending a sleepless night in jail, Rubinowitz appeared before Magistrate J.H. Simpson. He denounced the charge against him as “preposterous and fantastic.”
The exchange was reported in the Free Press:
“You put yourself in a false position,” the judge told him.
“You are not entitled to make such a suggestion,” the young lawyer responded.
“I ask for no favors,” Rubinowitz also told the court. “If I do not get justice here, I shall get it elsewhere.”
As reported in the Daily Colonist on Sept. 26, 1913, Israel Rubinowitz was released from jail “on his surety of $500.”
Thomas Shoebotham, acting for the Crown, requested that the bail hearing be moved to Friday, and the judge consented. But Rubinowitz’s letter to Howay and telegrams to newspapers had an impact. His plight received sympathetic media coverage from Victoria to Toronto. After his second night in jail, Rubinowitz was granted bail, though the judge let him know his letter to him was “ill advised.”
Rubinowitz stood before a packed courtroom for a preliminary trial on the Friday. He objected to Simpson’s presence on the bench, arguing Simpson had implied his guilt at the bail hearing and criticized the selection of Shoebotham. The judge overruled both objections.
“I was going to No. 1 mine with Pryde to see the district,” Rubinowitz testified. “I asked Moore to join me.… I stood about a minute pointing north and south. That gesture was seen by police.” Rubinowitz said Special Constable Collison pushed him. “I turned round and may have stared at him indignantly.” As for the arrival of the replacement workers, he said, “I was absorbed by my guides and didn’t notice them.”
Sam Davis, a Crown witness, was one of the workers coming off the train. He testified that he had not been spoken to by any of the accused and had not known anything about the incident until after their arrest.
Simpson seemed determined the case should proceed. “The least can be said is that the three men were in a disturbed district,” he told the court, “and that permission could have been obtained if they cared to have applied for it.” He also defended the special constables’ actions, saying, “… if no notice had been taken of this incident, there was a chance of another outbreak in the district.”
Shoebotham argued that an impartial jury in Nanaimo would be difficult to obtain because public opinion was “inflamed” in favor of the strikers, and requested the trial be moved to the mainland. Rubinowitz agreed but added, “I desire to dissociate myself from the reflection cast upon the good name of the citizens of Nanaimo.” (NFP, Oct. 2)
A month later, dressed in lawyer’s robes, Rubinowitz stood before Judge Aulay Morrison in a Vancouver court. “I appear, my lord on behalf of Pryde and Moore,” he said, “and I ask that they, together with myself, be discharged.” Before the morning was over, a jury found the three men “not guilty.”
By this time, several of the 160 accused strikers had been sentenced, following “speedy trials” in Nanaimo. They pleaded guilty on the advice of lawyers Bird and Farris in the hope of appeasing the court.
The remaining accused, having pled “not guilty,” were being tried in New Westminister. Rubinowitz represented 23 clients, while Bird defended 34. Most were granted bail and, when their trials finally concluded in the spring of 1914, nine went to prison, while others received a suspended sentence or were released because of time already served. Twenty-two men were pardoned. The last union man was released from prison Sept. 25, 1914. The union had been broken and many striking miners were blacklisted and had to find jobs elsewhere.
Rubinowitz was still seeking vindication, despite his acquittal, suing the Nanaimo Herald publisher, J.R.H. Matson, and its editorial writer, R.R. Hindmarsh, for libel. Among the alleged statements was the suggestion Rubinowitz had been purposely “seeking notoriety” the day he was arrested in Nanaimo. The case was tried June 8, 1915, before Justice William Clement with Sidney Taylor, KC, representing Rubinowitz and Robert Reid defending the newspapermen. On the second day, a jury rendered a verdict in favor of Rubinowitz and the Herald was ordered to pay him $1,000 and legal costs.
* * *
Israel Isidore Rubinowitz was the only child of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, Louis and Toby Rubinowitz. The couple had been among thousands of Eastern European Jews emigrating to North America to seek better opportunities and escape the pogroms under Russian rule. Louis immigrated to New York City in 1879, at age 19, and traveled on to Pittsburgh, where many Lithuanian Jews had already settled. Two years later, he married Toby Rosenthal, and their son Israel was born in 1882. When Israel was 8, the family moved to Vancouver.
The couple were among the first Jews from Eastern Europe to settle in the city. David Oppenheimer, Vancouver’s second mayor, from 1888 to 1891, and a German Jew, represented the small population
of Western European Jews. Antisemitism does not appear to have been widely prevalent in the city’s early years. By the 1920s, this would change in Vancouver and elsewhere. Early tolerance of Jewish residents may be due in part to members of the dominant white population channeling their prejudicial treatment toward residents of Asian background. As well, only 83 Jewish people resided in Vancouver in 1891, increasing to 2,400 by 1931 – compared to 45,000 people in Toronto and 17,000 in Winnipeg.
Louis operated a grocery in Steveston with two partners. In 1894, his family lived in Gastown, the city’s first downtown core. In 1896, Louis opened a department store, Rubinowitz and Co., on the main floor of the five-storey Dominion Hotel, at the corner of Water and Abbott streets. He sold clothing, boots, shoes and other goods.
Sarah Rosenthal is buried separately from the Rubinowitzes, on the edge of the Jewish section of Mountain View Cemetery. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
That same year, Toby’s sister, Sarah, 23, arrived from New York, divorced, pregnant and severely depressed. She gave birth to a son, named Abraham, and they lived with the Rubinowitz family. Israel was 13 when his aunt took her life, drowning in Burrard Inlet. At the coroner’s inquest, which confirmed death was by suicide, it was discovered Sarah had been pregnant and had an abortion. The coroner attempted to discover who the man involved with Sarah could have been, but to no avail. Louis and Toby continued to care for Sarah’s son and gave him their surname.
While attending Vancouver High School and College, Rubinowitz helped his father in the store. He won academic awards in his senior year. He volunteered in the Duke of Connaught’s Own Rifles, a local militia that recruited from his high school. Following graduation with a bachelor of arts degree at McGill, Rubinowitz articled in two Vancouver law firms, his training temporarily postponed when he won a Rhodes scholarship – the second British Columbian to do so. He studied at Oxford University, then returned home to complete his articles. Attracted to England, Rubinowitz traveled overseas again to practise law for about two years before returning to Vancouver in 1911. He was admitted to the B.C. bar July 9, 1912.
Living with his parents, Rubinowitz had only a short distance to walk to his law office on Granville Street. He became a member of the Masonic order, continued his involvement with the Vancouver Zionist Society (of which he was a founding member) and, during the First World War, was active as secretary of the B.C. Red Cross.
When the First World War began in 1914, Sarah’s son, Abraham, was working as an electrician and carpenter. After the government implemented conscription in 1917, Abraham, 21, was drafted. Following his service, he moved to the United States.
* * *
Rubinowitz had only been practising for a short time when, in May 1913, he took on the defence of a female nurse arrested for murder. Mrs. Ida Ironmonger, 43, was accused of administering drugs to Mrs. H.O. Anderson to induce an abortion, resulting in her death. Rubinowitz’s attempt to have his client released on bail pending the murder trial was unsuccessful. In October – only four days before his own trial in connection to the Nanaimo arrest – Rubinowitz convinced the court to reduce Ironmonger’s charge to “giving noxious drugs and aiding and abetting a deceased woman to commit an illegal operation.” In the four-day trial, Rubinowitz made the case, which included medical testimony, that “the act might have been committed by the deceased herself.” Ironmonger was acquitted after the jury deliberated a mere five minutes.
Until 1968, abortion was illegal in Canada under the Criminal Code. “There is no place in Canada for the professional abortionist,” Judge Murphy told the court in reference to another Rubinowitz client, Joseph Kallenthe, who was found guilty by a jury in a Vancouver court in 1915. The judge also noted of the accused, “I have no doubt from the skill you displayed that you have had much practice.” Rubinowitz urged mercy, stating it was Kallethe’s wife and two children “on whom the brunt of the punishment will fall,” and Kallethe was sentenced to three years in prison.
In 1918, Rubinowitz represented a couple who had taken out a marriage licence without a religious or secular ceremony. They had two children before learning they were not legally married. Rubinowitz corresponded with the B.C. attorney general’s office, stating it was “only fair, particularly to the woman, that every effort should be made to make the marriage valid and to make the children legitmate.” The government responded that the issue could only be remedied with a private member’s bill, an action his clients could not afford. The couple’s dilemma was submitted by letter to a newspaper editor, signed by a “Vancouver barrister.” This led a reader of the newspaper in the same predicament to write the attorney general. Consequently, the Marriage Act was amended, providing for the legitimization of children to couples in this legal situation.
Rubinowitz was presented with his most challenging cases in the midst of Canada’s 1918-1919 “red scare” era. The federal government had suspended civil liberties, enacting the War Measures Act during the First World War in pursuit of “enemy aliens.” In the social turmoil after the war, fear of an uprising similar to the Russian Revolution in 1917 led to a government crackdown on left-wing activists. Panic – real and imagined – culminated in the spring of 1919 with the Winnipeg General Strike. By June, as the strike was nearing an end, the government amended the Immigration Act. A newcomer to Canada could not be legally landed if suspected of subversive activities, as determined before an immigration board. The verdict rendered – behind closed doors – could not be challenged in a civil court.
A month following the amendment, 27 Russians in British Columbia were charged with participating in an anarchist ring connected to the Union of Russian Workers. Rubinowitz defended several of the accused. Secret service agents working with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police provided most of the evidence for the prosecution. After the hearings, the board ordered the deportation of 14 of the 27 men.
Bird’s son, Henry, also a lawyer, acted for the local defence committee. He appealed the cases to the Ministry of the Interior. It was agreed that one of the accused would not be deported but had to report regularly to the police. In October, the other 13 Russians were sent to an internment camp at Vernon to await further arrangements.
Rubinowitz instigated a perjury charge against two of the secret agents, accusing them of giving false evidence to the immigration board against three of the accused. Rubinowitz pointed out that the immigration board had taken away rights guaranteed by the Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus Act, such as trial by jury and release on bail. He also criticized the board’s composition of appointees, stating they were not familiar with law. Judge Morrison and the Crown lawyer “severely” rapped him for saying fair play had not been done. The judge said the act “was really a war measure” and necessary “for the preservation of the nation.”
On Jan. 14, 1920, the case was moved to a higher court. Meantime, the detention camp in Vernon was closed. One of the 13 accused was released on parole and the others were transported to the B.C. penitentiary.
In May, the two secret agents were acquitted, the judge deciding the evidence had not been sufficient to sustain a charge. Rubinowitz was ordered to pay $2,000 in court costs.
The 12 imprisoned Russians were paroled that December but never deported because the government was unable to find a country willing to accept them. Considered a victory for left-wing activists, these detentions and those elsewhere in Canada had nevertheless served to send an intimidating message to politically active immigrants.
* * *
Rubinowitz was a 41-year-old bachelor when he developed acute bronchopneumonia in the spring of 1923. In the early morning of Aug. 15, he died in his parents’ home. The burial was held the following day.
Israel Rubinowitz died on Aug. 15, 1923, and is buried alongside his parents in Mountain View Cemetery. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
News of his death came as a “distinct shock” to members of the legal community, who responded with an “overflow of high esteem,” according to a newspaper account. He was described as a shrewd lawyer, quick to spot a weakness in an opponent’s argument, as well as considerate, courteous and kindly “even in the heat of battle.”
His parents carried on. Louis ran unsuccessfully for mayor three times and for alderman five times over the ensuing years. He “achieved a reputation as an eccentric and perhaps this is why he was not a recognized leader of the [Jewish] community,” observed a writer for the Jewish Independent’s predecessor, the Jewish Western Bulletin.
In 1939, Louis visited Vancouver archivist James Matthews to set down his stories.
* * *
The Rubinowitzes are buried together in the Jewish section of Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. Toby passed away in 1952, aged 90. Louis entered a provincial home for the aged in Coquitlam a few years after his wife died, passing on in 1958 at age 98. Sarah is buried separately on the edge of the Jewish section.
Janet Nicol is a history teacher at Killarney Secondary School in Vancouver and a freelance writer, with a special interest in local history. She blogs at janetnicol.wordpress.com. The writing of this history – which will be published in greater length in the 2016 edition of The Scribe – was inspired by the novel The Sacrifice by Adele Wiseman (1928-1992). In the words of its protagonist, the family patriarch, Abraham: “… and yet there was a time, I think, when I had everything … but now, when I look back, I had at least the beginning of everything.”
On July 21, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that negotiations toward an expanded and modernized Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) had concluded. “Israel is a priority market for Canada and holds great potential for Canadian companies in a variety of sectors. An expanded and modernized free trade agreement will lead to a strengthened bilateral relationship as well as an increase in jobs and opportunities for Canadians and Israelis alike,” said Harper.
The modernized CIFTA will notably provide expanded market access opportunities for agricultural, fish and seafood products through the reduction or elimination of Israeli tariffs on a large number of products, and duty-free access under tariff rate quotas for certain products.
Four existing areas of the current CIFTA have been amended, namely market access for goods, rules of origin, institutional provisions and dispute settlement. In addition, seven new chapters have been included in the areas of trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property, electronic commerce, labor and environment.
Israel is a priority market for Canada under the Global Markets Action Plan. Since CIFTA came into force in 1997, Canada’s two-way merchandise trade with Israel has tripled to $1.6 billion in 2014. Key opportunities for Canadian companies exist in sectors such as defence, information and communications technology, life sciences, sustainable technologies, agriculture and agri-food, and fish and seafood.
The modernized CIFTA will provide expanded market access opportunities for Canadian businesses through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and help in creating new sources of jobs, growth and prosperity for both countries in the years ahead. It will support Canadian businesses and investors, deepen trade and investment linkages, and further strengthen Canada’s bilateral relationship with Israel.
רצח מקומי: ישראלי נרצח בקנדה קרוב לוודאי על רקע רומנטי
גבר ישראלי נרצח בעיר קוקויטלם ביום חמישי לפני שבועיים, קרוב לוודאי על רקע רומנטי. גופתו של הישראלי ביחד עם גופתה של אישה מקומית בת חמישים ושש, נמצאו באותו בית ברחוב אלפין ליין, כאמור בשישה עשר ליולי. שמה של ההרוגה הוא אירנה גבליס (ילידת 1959) שהייתה גם בעלת הבית. גבליס היא קנדית ממוצא אוקראיני שהיגרה לקנדה לפני שמונה עשרה שנים. היא החזיקה בחברת הייעוץ ‘נביגייטור קונסלטינג‘ מוונקובר – לאספקת שירותי ראיית חשבון וניהול חשבונות ומיסוי.
המשטרה הפדרלית (האר.סי.אם.פי) בכוחות מתוגברים משלוש תחנות שונות פתחה במצוד נרחב אחר הרוצח, וביום רביעי (לפני כעשרה ימים) הוא נתפס סוף סוף. החשוד בן החמישים וארבע ושמו מוריו (“מו”) סהלי (ממוצא איראני) גר בריצ’מונד, ניהל בעבר מערכת יחסים רומנטית עם גבליס. סהלי הואשם כבר בשני סעיפים של רצח מדרגה ראשונה, והובא למחרת (חמישי) לבית המשפט המקומי לשם הארכת מעצרו.
ששמו של הישראלי ופרטים נוספים עליו טרם הותרו לפרסום והמשטרה רק ציינה, שהוא הגיע לקנדה בארבעה עשר ליולי שזה בדיוק יומיים לפני שנרצח.
רצח מההיסטוריה: באיחור של שישים ותשע שנים קנדי בן תשעים ואחד הודה ברצח אישה אנגליה ב-1946
פוענחה חקירת מקרה הרצח הארוכה ביותר בתולדות המשפט הפלילי באנגליה. תושב קנדי בן תשעים ואחד ממחוז אונטריו הודה לאחרונה ברצח אנגליה בשם מרגרט קוק, שבוצע לפני לא פחות משישים ותשע שנים. הקנדי שמצבו הבריאותי קשה והוא סובל מסרטן עור חשוך מרפא, שוהה במוסד רפואי לחולים סופניים. הקשיש החליט פתאם שהגיע הזמן להתוודות על מה שעשה בעבר השחור שלו. באחד הימים הוא נכנס לתחנת משטרה מקומית באונטריו והודיע לשוטרים הנדהמים, כי בעשרה בנובמבר 1946, רצח נערת ליווי אנגליה שעבדה בסוהו של לונדון, ושאת שמה הוא כבר לא זוכר. המידע הועבר ממשטרת קנדה למשטרה האנגלית. ולאחר שהחומר החקירה נבדק לעומק שני חוקרי הסקוטלנד יארד טסו לקנדה לחקור את החשוד הקשיש. הם הציגו בפניו מספר תמונות של נשים שנרצחו באותה עת בסוהו של לונדון, והוא הצביע במדויק על זו של מרגרט קוק שהייתה אז בת עשרים ושש. החשוד (שמו ומקום מגוריו המדוייק נאסרו לפרסום בשלב זה), סיפר לחוקריו כי ניהל וויכוח סוער וקולני עם קוק על כסף, לאחר שטען כי היא רימתה אותו. בשלב מסויים כשהוויכוח התלהט הוא החליט להוציא מכיסו אקדח רוסי (שיוצר בתקופת מלחמת העולם השנייה) ובמהירות ירה בה למוות. לאחר מכן הרוצח התערה בקהל הגדול שהסתובב ברחוב ונמלט ברכבת התחתית. הוא חי חמש שנים נוספות באנגליה ובשנת1951 החליט להגר לקנדה, התחיל חיים חדשים והקים משפחה.
לאור מספר מקרי רצח דומים של נערות ליווי שאירעו באותו זמן בסוהו, במשטרת לונדון חשבו שמדובר אולי באותו רוצח, אך לא הגיעו לחקירת האמת. אך בציבור הרחב נפוצו כבר שמועות משמועות שונות כי מסתובב בסוהו רוצח סידרתי אימתי, שדומה לג’ק המרטש. חברים של קוק סיפרו אז לעיתונאים כי הם מאוד חששו לחייה, כיוון שעבדה ברחובות החשוכים והמסוכנים. קוק הייתה אגב נשואה ובאופן רשמי עבדה כביכול כרקדנית אקזוטית באחד המועדונים.
הפרקליטות האנגלית פתחה בהליכי הסגרת האזרח הקנדי לאנגליה, תוך תקווה שתצליח להביא להרשעתו בדין. לעומתם גורמים בכירים במערכת המשפט המקומית מעריכים, שלאור גילו ומצב בריאותו הרופף של החשוד הקשיש, לא בטוח כלל שבית המשפט הקנדי יאשר את בקשת ההסגרה.
On June 14, the board and staff members of all the Jewish housing societies met to discuss the progress they have made, the issues they are facing both collectively and individually, and how they can work together to solve them. Attendees included members from societies for seniors (Louis Brier Home and Hospital and Weinberg Residence, Vancouver Jewish Building Society and Haro Park Centre), singles and families (Tikva Housing Society) and people suffering from mental illness (Vancouver Yaffa Housing). Though there have been discussions in the past, this Jewish Housing Forum was the first outlet that provided all the housing societies a medium to come together and voice their opinions, concerns and future goals.
There has been strong support from the housing societies, donors and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver for the societies to initiate an open dialogue and find a way to amalgamate all of their strengths to provide the best support possible for those who need it most.
“The forum was a successful, and necessary stepping stone for the future of housing in the Jewish community,” said Susana Cogan, Tikva Housing Society’s development director. “Based on the feedback we’ve received, the overall consensus is that it was very productive and we’re looking forward to meeting in the near future to exchange developments prompted by this forum.”
Some of the issues discussed included communication among housing organizations, issues residents are facing (i.e., transition from independent living to supported living), lack of awareness of the societies’ services in the community, and donor funding. Upon breaking into groups to discuss these issues, participants agreed on a number of suggested solutions, such as more communication among societies, holding regular meetings to exchange information, the sharing of resources, the need to access more units for community members and working together when dealing with acquisitions.
All of these housing societies are continuing to excel independently, so exploring the ways they can work together demonstrated how they can better serve and help support the community.
Hannah Konyvesis a volunteer with Tikva Housing Society.
Alon Bar-David, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Red Button. (photo from Red Button)
While cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon, bullying is as old as human history. From the playground to the office to cyberspace, it is remarkably transferable from one platform to another. But three young Israelis have developed a technology to reduce its progress on the latter front – the Red Button.
Winner of a “Stop Cyberbullying” competition held in Israel three years ago, the app’s red button, when pressed, sends a screen shot to one of the many volunteers who work with Red Button. If the content is deemed inappropriate, it is reported to the website – whether that is Facebook, YouTube, Google or JoeSchmoe.com – so that the content can be removed.
In some cases, the Red Button team has permission to remove the content; in other instances, the content is relayed to cyberbullying police, schools, business owners or even hospitals, if need be.
“When we published the Red Button and it went on air in December 2013, we saw for the first time just how cruel cyberbullying can be,” said Alon Bar-David, 27, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of the nonprofit.
In Boston, working with a business accelerator there to bring the app to North America, Bar-David told the Independent, “As soon as we published the Red Button, we received a lot of response, a lot of requests and we finally understood just how big the problem is and how big our solution needs to be.”
The app’s red button, when pressed, sends a screen shot to one of the many volunteers who work with Red Button.
When a user presses the button, an anonymous report is sent to the Red Button team. “They do not need to identify, they do not need to register,” explained Bar-David. “They only need to download it for free, press on the red button, and a screen print is sent to us.”
Currently, the app is available to Android users and it can be accessed via Google Chrome or Firefox. It can also be used as a web extension to the browsers. The company is working on an iPhone version.
Bar-David and the Red Button team receive hundreds of reports every day and there are dozens of volunteers who analyze them. When cyberbullying content is detected, the volunteers escalate the report to the appropriate place.
“Up until now, we’ve removed 95 percent of the [reported material] deemed to be cyberbullying,” said Bar-David. “We review the violence over the network in Israel. Before, no one was doing anything against the phenomena.
“We have access to many websites in Israel. We have a lot of power in our hands. We can really reduce cyberbullying.”
One of the most important ways Red Button is able to help is in suicide prevention. When the reports come in, they are directed to the suicide prevention police unit. “In 2014, we were able to help [prevent] more than 40 cases of attempted suicide and have a representative go to their home and save lives,” said Bar-David. “These are the only cases where an IP address is provided to police, so that they can get a location.”
Another big component is education. “We go to different schools every week and teach the kids what cyberbullying looks like, explaining what cyberbullying actually is,” said Bar-David. “Because most children, students, don’t know what cyberbullying is, they would not recognize it.”
The Red Button educators explain what it is. “More important than that,” he added, “they explain how to deal with the phenomena. They give them tools, the Red Button and a lot of other tools, and, every week, we go through different schools all over Israel.”
To find affordable, qualified staff, Red Button collaborates with Israeli universities. “The one that we have the biggest collaboration with is the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, Israel,” said Bar-David.
To generate interest from the general student population, the participating universities give school credits to the volunteers. There were more than 200 applicants last year to fill 50 spots.
“But the reason the students do it is because they think it’s important,” said Bar-David. “We only take students that really feel a connection to the issue we’re dealing with.”
As Red Button understands better than most, cyberbullying is a global problem. “We think that the Red Button should be all over the world because the cyberbullying phenomena isn’t just in Israel,” said Bar-David. “It’s a bigger issue all over the world, especially in the U.S. This is the reason we are here [in Boston]. We want to see the market here and see how to implement the Red Button here in the U.S.”
Bar-David is also interested in Red Button’s potential use in Canada. Noting that he just saw an article about cyberbullying on a Canadian news website, he said, “I understand if it gets to the news, that means the problem is very familiar in Canada. I hope we will be in Canada as soon as possible. Some people would like us there yesterday.”
For more information or to donate to Red Button, visit redbutton.org.il. While the site is only in Hebrew at the moment (the team is working on changing that), an English or Hebrew email can be sent to [email protected].
ידיד של ישראל: ג’ייסון קני מגיע לוונקובר באוגוסט לערב ראיונות של המרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים בקנדה
שר ההגנה והשר לענייני הרב-תרבותיות בממשלת השמרנים של סטיבן הרפר, ג’ייסון קני, יגיע בחודש הבא לערב ראיונות מטעם המרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים בקנדה. האירוע יתקיים ביום ראשון התשעה באוגוסט בבית הכנסת ‘טמפל שלום’, בשעה שבע בערב. זאת במסגרת ערבי ראיונות עם הראשים והמנהיגים של שלושת המפלגות הגדולות, לקראת הבחירות הפדרליות שיערכו ב-19 בחודש אוקטובר. קני ידבר בעיקר על החשיבות של קהילת היהודים באזור מטרו ונקובר והתמיכה הרחבה בישראל. לציבור הרחב תהיה אפשרות להעביר שאלות לשר קני, וניתן להזמין מקומות ישיבה לאירוע עד השישה באוגוסט.
שר ההגנה והשר לענייני הרב-תרבותיות ג’ייסון קני. (צילום: US Mission Canada Flickr)
השר קני נולד באוקוויל אונטריו ב-1968. הוא נכנס לחיים הפוליטיים ב-1997, ומכהן בתפקידי שר בשלושת הקנדציות האחרונות של הרפר.
כמו הרפר קני הוא ידיד קרוב מאוד לישראל והוא תומך במדינה לאורך כל הדרך. קני שנחשב למקורב של הרפר והוא גם שר בכיר בממשלתו, מועמד מוביל לתפקיד ראש מפלגת השמרנים ומועמדה לראשות הממשלה, לאחר פרישתו של הרפר. שר ההגנה ביקר בישראל מספר פעמים, והוא משתתף קבוע באירועים בקנדה של הקהילה היהודית והארגונים הישראלים. קני ביקר לאחרונה בישראל בראשית שנה שעברה, כחבר במשלחת של ממשלת קנדה בעת ביקורו הרשמי של הרפר. הוא ביקר אז במיזם של מיחזור מים אפורים שהוא פרוייקט של קק”ל, ואמר: “אנחנו גאים מאוד במה שקק”ל קנדה עושה. אין לכם מושג כמה זה מעודד לראות במו עייניי את המיזמים שאנחנו מקדמים עם קק”ל”.
בחודש יוני האחרון הגיע קני לביקור רשמי בפולין, אותו הוא פתח כנציג קנדה באירוע לזכר קורבנות גטו ורשה. השר ביקר גם במוזיאון להיסטוריה של היהודים בפולין.
נגמרה החגיגה: אחות שביזבזה שמונים ושישה אלף דולר שקיבלה בטעות הועמדה לדין
אחות מובטלת ממונטריאול שביזבזה אלפי דולרים שלא שלה, הועמדה לדין על גניבה ובית המשפט המקומי הרשיעה לאחרונה בדין. האחות בת הארבעים ושתיים ניגשה לסניף הבנק שלה במהלך שנת 2011, וביקשה מהטלר בסך הכל מאה דולר אמריקניים. בגלל טעות מביכה וחוסר עירנות מצד הפקיד בבנק קרדיט יוניון, הוא הפקיד בחשבונה לא פחות ממאה וחמישים אלף דולר.
האחות שקלטה מהר מאוד את דבר הטעות החליטה שלא לדיווח על כך לסניף בנק שלה. במקום זאת היא החלה לחגוג עם הכסף שלא שלה וביזבה בנדיבות שמונים ושישה אלף דולר. וזאת במהירות גדולה יחסית של תוך שלושים ושלושה ימים. היא הוציאה מחשבונה את הכסף בשטרות גדולים ובסכומים גבוהים, של בין מאתיים וחמישים דולר לאלפיים וחמש מאות דולר. וכל זאת עד קרידט יוניון שפתח בינתיים בחקירה ארוכה והבין שיש בעייה, החליט לקפיא את חשבונה. להלן רשימת ההוצאות החלקיות של האחות על חשבון הברון: טיול יוקרתי עם כל בני המשפחה בעלות של כששת אלפים דולר, שיפוצים נרחבים בדירה בעלות של כעשרים אלף דולר, תכשיטים ובגדים יקרים וארוחות שחיתות במסעדות.
אך מתברר של כל חגיגה יש סוף והבנק שכאמור פתח חקירה עלה על הטעות החמורה של הפקיד, ודרש בחזרה את מלוא הכסף. האחות סירבה להחזיר את הכסף והבנק הגיש תביעה נגדה לבית המשפט. לשאלת השופט העלתה הנתבעת טענה מגוחחת שקיבלה את הכסף כביכול מדוד שלא הכירה בספרד, לאחר שעורך דינו שלח לך מכתב בנושא. בית המשפט לא קנה את הגירסה הלא האמינה של האחות למקור הכסף שהגיע כביכול לידיה וכאמור הרשיעה.
Organizers estimate 180,000 people marched in the Tel Aviv Pride parade, June 12. (photo by Robin Perelle)
Alberto Lukacs-Böhm dabs a handful of birds onto the sunny sea-to-sky poster he’s painting for Tel Aviv Pride.
To live openly as a gay man in today’s Tel Aviv is to be free, he says. “It’s like to drink a fresh, clean water. That’s freedom.”
The 65-year-old is one of seven seniors gathered around a table at the Tel Aviv gay centre on June 11. The members of Golden Rainbow (Keshet Zahav) are chatting and painting as they finalize their plans to march together in the city’s 17th annual Pride parade the next day.
For Lukacs-Böhm, the path to freedom was somewhat complicated. Though he knew he was gay from a very young age, he married a woman in Hungary to avoid upsetting his mother, a circus illusionist who cried when he told her he’d kissed a boy at age 13.
He returned to Israel in 1988, the same year the country decriminalized homosexual sex. It was time, he says, “to take back my life in my hand.”
“From very young, everybody knows I’m a gay,” he explains, “[but] it was always complicated to be gay.”
“Is it still complicated to be gay?” I ask.
“Nooo,” he says, his face lighting up in an ear-to-ear smile.
“No whatsoever!”
“To speak about homosexuality or lesbian or transgender – it’s absolutely normal in Israel,” he says.
* * *
It’s day two of a five-day press trip to Israel, sponsored and entirely funded by the Israeli tourism ministry to show off Tel Aviv Pride to 43 journalists from around the world.
Day one began with an exuberant tour of gay Tel Aviv, led by Shai Doitsh, chair from 2012 to 2015 of the Aguda, Israel’s national LGBT task force. For the last decade, Doitsh has also been working with the tourism ministry and the municipality of Tel Aviv to market the city as a gay destination, a project he initiated in 2005, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Doitsh paints a rosy picture of Tel Aviv as one of the most accepting cities in the world, a year-round gay haven, where as much as 25 to 35 percent of the population may be gay, he claims.
Tel Aviv is a gay hub, both in Israel and throughout the region, he says, pausing repeatedly on Rothschild Boulevard and its surrounding streets to point out gay-friendly venues and the abundance of rainbow flags flying throughout the city for Pride.
Alberto Lukacs-Böhm, right, stands behind Golden Rainbow members Nitzan Aviv and David Goldstein, centre. (photo by Robin Perelle)
He lists the many rights and benefits enjoyed by gay Tel Avivim, such as protection from workplace discrimination (introduced throughout Israel in 1992); the right to serve equally in the military (considered deeply important in a culture that requires military duty and prioritizes serving one’s country); the right to adopt your same-sex partner’s children (though surrogacy and marriage remain off-limits under the purview of ultra-Orthodox rabbis who frown on gay families); and Tel Aviv’s gay centre and Pride parade, both supported and funded by the municipality.
The gay community has a strong presence in Tel Aviv and in the city’s secular politics, Doitsh says.
“Our movement and our fight for equality is definitely the most successful in Israel” among the country’s minority groups, he says.
* * *
Doitsh may have a vested interest in trumpeting Tel Aviv’s gay appeal, but every gay, lesbian and transgender Israeli I’ve interviewed in the last few weeks has echoed his assessment. The city genuinely welcomes and supports its LGBT community, they say, or at least those members who more closely match mainstream norms.
It’s also a bubble that bears little resemblance to the rest of Israel, they all agree.
“Being in Tel Aviv is a bit like being in New York and pretending you see the entire United States,” says Moshe Zvi who, with his partner Eyal Alon, has joined the crowd gathering in Meir Park for the city’s Pride parade June 12.
“It’s a state within a state,” Alon says.
“I call it a bubble of sanity,” Zvi says.
Organizers tell us that 180,000 people are expected to gather in Meir Park to march in this year’s parade, making it the largest Pride in the Middle East and Asia.
As the marchers begin to file out towards Bograshov Street, Alon and Zvi tell me about some of the tensions that simmer beneath Israel’s seemingly gay-friendly surface.
Though Tel Aviv is a more liberal, secular city, Israel’s relatively small ultra-Orthodox Jewish community wields a disproportionate amount of political power in the national legislature due to the nature of Israel’s coalition politics, which rely on small-party support to pass most initiatives.
The ultra-Orthodox hold “almost a monopoly on power concerning marriage, cemeteries, conversion,” David Goldstein says.
Goldstein, 73, moved to Tel Aviv five years ago from San Francisco, fulfilling a lifelong dream. Now a member of the Golden Rainbow group, he says he feels much safer here than in the United States. But Tel Aviv is a bubble, he readily agrees.
It’s a secular city founded by Jewish businessmen who wanted a city of their own, he explains. Jerusalem, in contrast, is a holy city. Tel Aviv is anything but, he says, though it’s holy to the gay community and others who encourage diversity and a cosmopolitan lifestyle – anathema to the ultra-Orthodox community’s strictly religious worldview.
“They’re a very closed community,” Zvi says.
Being gay is “illogical in their way of thinking,” Goldstein says. “They would say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re this way.’”
Though he doesn’t consider the ultra-Orthodox mean-spirited in their anti-gay views – it’s “not the hatred that I find among [the] American right-wing,” he says – their steadfast repudiation of gay families makes life outside Tel Aviv less hospitable.
In one of Israel’s few headline-grabbing anti-gay hate crimes, an ultra-Orthodox man notoriously stabbed three people in the Jerusalem Pride parade in 2005, as protesters, mostly religious Jews, lined the route. Jerusalem Pride persists, I’m told, but it’s both more political and more tense than Tel Aviv’s cheerful take on the event.
It is getting easier to come out in other parts of Israel, Alon says. But it’s still easiest in Tel Aviv, where the ultra-Orthodox community is smaller, wields less power and seems more resigned to surrender the secular city to its wicked ways.
* * *
Then there are the more obvious, if less willingly broached, tensions.
Of course, Tel Aviv is a bubble, says Tal Jarus-Hakak who, with her partner Avital, was a lesbian feminist in Israel long before their nine-year legal battle successfully set a precedent allowing gays and lesbians to adopt their partners’ children.
Tel Aviv may be a cheerful, colorful, tolerant city with beautiful beaches, clubs, an increasingly well-established gay community with more and more families and businesses, and “an amazing, vibrant” gay culture, they say, but 60 kilometres away there is war, violence and poverty in many areas of Israel.
I’m sitting with the Jarus-Hakaks on the deck of their Vancouver home a few days after my return from Israel, a country they left in 2006 because, despite all their attempts to change its policies through protest and democratic means, they found the pace of change too slow and life there too traumatic, especially raising three sons.
Staying inside the bubble of Tel Aviv is “a survival mode,” Tal says. But it can get uncomfortable, too.
“Is that why you moved here?” I ask.
It’s hard to live outside the bubble – with consciousness – but it’s hard to stay inside the bubble, too, she says. Many people would call us traitors for saying this, she adds, but we’re not speaking against Israel. We’re speaking for Israel, to try to do things differently, she says.
Hadar Namir says she doesn’t want to go back to Israel either. One of Israel’s pioneering lesbian activists, Namir has been on vacation in Vancouver since April.
“I’m not wishing to go back,” she says. “I’m not comfortable with the human rights situation in Israel. That, for example, Arab-Israeli citizens are remote from being equal – and this is authorized by the government for years.”
Namir, who spent 15 years working with Israel’s Association for Civil Rights, draws me a map of the country. She places Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast, adds Haifa further north and Jerusalem about 45 minutes east, inland. Then she adds the occupied territories.
Hadar Namir says she’s uncomfortable with the human rights situation in Israel. (photo by Robin Perelle)
The map, unlike anything I saw during our ministry-sponsored tours of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, fills with fences and checkpoints, until it’s a messy, convoluted ink-blot puzzle. She tells me stories of families divided, cut off from each other and their land or forced to take long detours to tend their olive trees, if they can tend them at all. She says there are different legal systems in the occupied territories: one for Jewish people accused of committing a crime and a different system for Arab people. She talks about inadequate government support for Arab cities, and difficulty accessing health care.
“Some gay men say, ‘let not interfere our fight for LGBT rights with other fights.’ Not me. I don’t believe it,” she says.
“I don’t want to simplify things,” she hastens to add. “It’s much more complicated” than good Israelis and Hamas terrorists. “And I do understand the desire for a Jewish state,” she says.
But different people have different narratives, she says: Independence Day for some is considered a disaster for others.
* * *
One commonly repeated narrative in Israel and around the world is that Arab communities kill gay people, further distinguishing Israel as a gay oasis.
Most of the Israelis I met in Tel Aviv hesitated when I asked them if gay Palestinians would be marching in the Pride parade.
There must be some gay Palestinians here, Zvi and Alon say, after a brief pause.
“I don’t think it’s easy being a gay Arab anywhere,” Zvi offers. “As in everything, I think life in Israel is easier than life in Palestine.”
Alon mentions a gay Palestinian party in Tel Aviv, and some gay-known coffee shops in Ramallah. But they’re discreet, he says.
Karl Walter, one of our tour guides, says there likely are Arabs participating in the parade, but quietly. They wouldn’t be able to go home, he tells me, “because the Arabs would kill them.”
Arabs “crush” gays in Gaza and in Ramallah, he asserts.
The reality, says Samira Saraya, is more complicated.
Saraya lives in Tel Aviv as an openly gay Palestinian woman. She is also an actress, an activist and a nurse who, in 2003, co-founded Aswat, a group for gay Palestinian women. She also attended the first monthly gay Palestinian parties in Tel Aviv.
“It’s complicated to live in Tel Aviv and be an Arab as well,” she tells me by phone, a week after my return from Israel. “Living in a kind of militaristic society…. On the other hand, I really love the people around me. But the moment we get into politics, it’s complicated.”
I ask her if Tel Aviv’s gay-friendly embrace extends to gay Palestinians.
“If you are willing to bargain your identity, if you are willing to be more Israeli, less Palestinian,” she says. “It depends.”
I ask if she has faced discrimination within the gay community.
“Of course,” she replies. She recalls one experience doing outreach to high school students with a mostly Jewish LGBT organization and hearing a fellow presenter say he wouldn’t date an Arab.
In the gay community, she says, “they don’t see that there is a connection between being oppressed for your sexual identity and your ethnic identity.”
As for the common refrain that Arabs kill gays, she says it’s too easy to paint Israel as democratic and gay-friendly against a backdrop of Arab homophobia. She says she enters the occupied territories as an openly gay Palestinian and no one has ever hurt her.
“I go as a lesbian to Ramallah, as well, and to Nazareth, and do not face homophobia or somebody cursing me because I’m a dyke.”
Palestinian society is “chauvinist and homophobic,” she says, but there are Palestinian people in the occupied territories living their lives as openly gay and nobody is killing them. Some of her friends are even out to their families, she adds.
Though Saraya says many Palestinians who live in Israel go to Tel Aviv Pride, it’s almost impossible for gay people from the occupied territories to get permission to attend. “Less and less people are permitted to come to Israel,” she says. “There are checkpoints and restrictions and protocols.”
* * *
I ask Namir what she thinks of the Israeli tourism ministry flying me and 42 other journalists from around the world to Tel Aviv for Pride.
Tel Aviv is a genuinely gay-friendly city, she says, and the municipality really does support the parade, the community centre and even a shelter for LGBT youth. “I do believe the credit is there,” she says. “I’m totally respectful that the minute that we decided to go out of the closet in 1993, they were opening the doors to us.” But it’s still “pinkwashing,” she says.
Tal Jarus-Hakak agrees. The ministry brought you over to show “the nice part of Israel, how tolerant we are,” she tells me.
It’s “part of their propaganda to show Israel as a gem in this area” – the only democratic country in this area, she says.
But Israel is the only democratic country in that area, Avital interjects.
“But even if that’s the case, it does not take off of Israel the responsibility for what it’s doing in the occupied territories,” Tal replies.
“There’s nothing wrong about the parade in Tel Aviv and nothing wrong about people coming to the parade,” Saraya says. “What’s wrong is trying to use the parade to cover the other violations that Israel do every day. This is pinkwashing.”
Zvi isn’t so sure. He doesn’t think showing off Pride necessarily detracts from the Palestinian situation. “I think mindfulness is in order,” he says, “but I’m glad people are coming to Tel Aviv. God knows Israel could use some good publicity. Should Tel Aviv not get this kind of feedback? I want tourists to come here.”
Walter, our guide, vehemently rejects any suggestion of pinkwashing.
“The thing to understand is that the gay parade and all that we’ve accomplished is for us,” he says, “not for tourism. It’s not for show. It’s not a PR stunt. It’s the most visible expression of freedom in the world – the only free gay community in the Middle East. People tend to forget that. We don’t.”
Gay rights in Israel have nothing to do with the Palestinian situation, he says. “If anyone uses the term pinkwashing, you immediately know that he’s a racist and a homophobe. He doesn’t have the decency to say that my foes – they did something good.”
Tourism ministries in other countries also show off their best traits to visitors, Goldstein points out.
He, too, finds the pinkwashing criticism unfair.
“I think the critics of Israel – they’re really against Israel to begin with,” he says. “People who have an axe to grind and [are] trying to besmirch Israel any way they can. So, any good points, they say they’re doing it to fool the people. I think it’s a bit antisemitic to say that.”
* * *
Back in the seniors’ room at the Tel Aviv gay centre, Lukacs-Böhm cheerfully cleans up his paints and prepares for another day in his gay paradise.
“For me, [to] be free is to drink cold, clean water when I want and how I want,” he says, with a smile.
Robin Perelleis the managing editor in Vancouver of Daily Xtra, Canada’s gay and lesbian news source. This story first ran on dailyxtra.com on July 2.
עומסי התנועה הכבדים במחוז אונטריו שהוא הגדול ביותר בקנדה הביאו לסלילת נתיבים מהירים באורך של למעלה מ-235 ק”מ, באוטוסטרדות המובילות לדאון טאון טורונטו. המגבלה היחידה אך המשמעותית של השימוש בנתיבים המהירים היא, שבכל רכב פרטי שנוסע בהם, חייבים לשבת לפחות שני נוסעים. בימים אלה בהם מתקיימים משחקי פאן אמריקה שנפתחו בסוף השבוע האחרון בטורונטו ויימשכו עד סוף החודש, עומסי התנועה גדולים עוד הרבה יותר, ניתן להשתמש בנתיבים המהירים בתנאי שבכל רכב ישבו לא פחות משלושה נוסעים.
נהגים רבים מבקשים להשתמש בנתיבים המהירים והאטרקטיביים, אך לא תמיד יש במכוניתם שני נוסעים נוספים. ומתברר שהם מנסים למצוא פתרונות יצירתיים ביותר לפתרון של מחסור בנוסעים. למשל להביא את הילדים מהבית שרק ישבו באוטו וישתקו והכל יהיה בסדר. נהגים אחרים בעיקר אלה שרכבם משמש לנסיעות עבודה מוכנים אפילו לשלם, למי שמוכן להצטרף לריכבם בנסיעה בנתיבים המהירים. הצורך בנוסעים נוספים בנתיבים המהירים הוליד לאחרונה תופעה חדשה של מי שמציעים את עצמם כנוסעים נלווים בנתיבים המהירים. “הנלווים” מפרסמים מודעות באתרי האינטרנט, וכצפוי דורשים תשלום. נהגים קריאטיביים במיוחד מצאו פתרון פשוט, נוח, זול וגם שקט. הם מצרפים לריכבם בובות בדמות אדם, שיושבות קשורות במושבים האחוריים. עם זאת נהגים אלה מסתכנים בקנס גבוה במידה והמשטרה תעצור אותם לבדיקה.
לדברי חוקר באוניברסיטה של טורונטו הפעלת נתיבים מהירים בכבישים עמוסים בערים גדולות בצפון אמריקה בהן למשל סן פרנסיסקו וושינגטון, הביאו את הנהגים לאמץ את המודל של ‘קאר פול’, שהוא שימוש של מספר נוסעים ברכב אחד (בהם כאלה שגם לא מכירים אחד את השני), תוך התחלקות בהוצאות הנסיעה.
באזור טורונטו למשל השימוש ‘בקאר פול’ נפוץ בעיקר במקומות העבודה, כאשר המעסיקים הם אלו שדווקא דוחפים את עובדיהם, לארגן נסיעות ברכב אחד לעבודה ובחזרה. למרות זאת בפועל עדיין רוב מוחלט של העובדים בטורונטו מעדיפים להגיע לעבודה ברכבם לבד. יש לקוות שמגמה זו תשתנה ורבים ילמדו לנסוע ברכב אחד לעבודה ולהשתתף בהוצאות נסיעה.
מכונאים קריאטיבים: חיל הים הקנדי רוכש חלקים לספינותיו הישנות באתר של ‘אי ביי’
חיל הים הקנדי עומד בפני בעייה קשה ביותר: מספר גדל והולך של כלי שייט שבצי מתיישן, והממשלה הפדרלית לא ממהרת לרכוש אוניות מלחמה חדשות, לאור העלויות הגבוהות שכרוכות בכך. באין מענה טכנאים ומכונאים של חיל הים שוקדים על תיקון ושיפוץ האוניות הישנות, שתחזוקתן הופכת להיות מטלה מורכבת ומסובכת מאוד. הדברים הגיעו עד כדי כך שלמספר אוניות לא נמצאו כלל חלקי חילוף במחסני חייל הים. ואנשי התחזוקה נאלצו לחפש מצוא פתרונות קריאטיביים עד כדי כמו חיפוש חלקי חילוף באינטרנט.
לשתי ספינות אספקה ממש “עתיקות” שנבנו לפני למעלה מארבעים וחמש שנים, וחלקים רבים שלהן כבר החלידו, לא נמצאו עוד חלקי חילוף מקוריים שיצורם כבר הופסק מזמן. שתי הספינות היו אמורות לצאת משימוש כבר לפני כשבע שנים, אך הן ממשיכות לשרת את החייל, כאמור בגלל מגבלות תקציביות קשות. כדי למנוע את השבתתן צוות התחזוקה החלו באיתור נואש חלקים חדשים במקומות שונים, ונאלצו אף להרחיב את החיפוש, על-ידי אתר המכירות הפומביות האמריקני ‘אי ביי’.
פרסום הידיעה על מצבן הרעוע של צי ספינות חיל הים מעורר ביקורת קשה מצד שתי מפלגות האופוזיציה, שמחפשות כל העת סיבות לנגוח בממשלה השמרנית בראשות סטיבן הרפר, לקראת הבחירות הכלליות שיערכו בחודש אוקטובר הקרוב.
Jewish community member Mira Oreck, director of public engagement for the Broadbent Institute, has announced that she will seek the federal NDP nomination in the riding of Vancouver Granville. She spoke with the Jewish Independent about that decision. For more information, readers can visit miraoreck.ca.
JI: Why have you chosen to seek a nomination for the NDP?
Mira Oreck (photo from Mira Oreck)
MO: I am seeking the NDP nomination in Vancouver Granville because I believe in Tom Mulcair, his vision for Canada and the impressive group of leaders he has assembled to turn that vision into reality. In particular, I am compelled by his commitment to address climate change, to create affordable and accessible childcare for $15 per day and the solutions he has put forward to address the growing rate of income inequality in Canada.
JI: Why now in your career path are you seeking this nomination?
MO: I spent a number of years living in New York City and watching from afar as the direction of our country began to change. Science and evidence-based policy were being ignored. The judicial system was under attack. The core of our democracy was being challenged. I moved back to Vancouver because I could no longer watch that happen to Canada. I’m seeking the NDP nomination because I believe Canadians are ready for a change, that Mulcair is the leader with the clearest values and most ready to govern, and I want to be part of that change.
JI: Foreign policy, in particular towards Israel, is a main issue for many in the Jewish community. What are your thoughts on the Canada-Israel relationship and how would you want that to change (or not) if you were to become an NDP MP?
MO: I grew up in this riding, in the heart of the Jewish community, and a deep relationship with Israel has always been part of my world. I have visited Israel over a half-dozen times and spent a year living in Jerusalem studying at
Hebrew University. In this sense, I relate to the Jewish community’s concerns, both in terms of domestic policy issues and foreign policy, with respect to Israel in particular.
I am proud to run for a political party that supports the state of Israel and, importantly, is working towards a two-state solution. As Canadians, we were once known for listening and hearing the various sides of a conflict. I know many people on every side of this conflict – and the vast majority, even the most frustrated among them, want trust-building efforts that can lead to solutions for Israelis and Palestinians. I believe we, as Canadians, have a responsibility to be bridge-builders. I trust that the NDP under Tom Mulcair would be just that.
JI: When is the nomination vote taking place; who else is running? What would make you a better candidate for the Jewish community, or in general?
MO: The nomination meeting date has not yet been set but will likely be the final week of July. There is another candidate in the race and the vote will be among current NDP members in Vancouver Granville.
It would be an honor to serve as a member of Parliament for a riding with a large concentration of Jewish community members, many of whom I grew up with. As a former director of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, I am acutely aware of the issues facing the community and have a track record of advocating for them. I know that, for many people in the community, issues of affordable child care, investments in public transit, an increase in the minimum wage and addressing climate change are at the core of their beliefs.
I know that members of the community are members of all political parties, and strongly support and encourage political engagement. I have been thrilled by the support I have received from members of the Jewish community who have joined the NDP to support me in this nomination race.
JI: If there is anything else you’d like to add, please do.
MO: The importance of civic and political engagement is a direct result of my family’s work within the Jewish community and my experience in USY and at summer camp. Recently, I have been inspired by a younger generation of leadership in Israel who believe in the political system making change. Watching them seek and hold office and shape their own country has shown me the importance of diving in!
