{"id":3426,"date":"2014-05-16T01:11:29","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T08:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=3426"},"modified":"2014-05-14T10:16:21","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T17:16:21","slug":"david-matas-a-distinguished-alum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/05\/16\/david-matas-a-distinguished-alum\/","title":{"rendered":"David Matas \u2013 a distinguished alum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winnipeg lawyer David Matas received a distinguished alumni award from the University of Manitoba (U of M) at a gala on the evening of May 1. Matas joined four others \u2013 Chau Pham (young alumni), Scott Cairns (professional achievement), John Bockstael (service to U of M) and Bruce Miller (community leadership) \u2013 in receiving the award. The event featured performances by U of M alumni, including Juno-nominated performers Erin Propp, Larry Roy and Desiree Dorion.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
David Matas (photo by Ian McCausland)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On stage, Matas told attendees he is currently working on an autobiography, with the working title Why Did You Do That?<\/em> He said, \u201cThe book seeks to justify my human rights activism. Writing the manuscript has made me introspective, attempting to justify my behavior to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are pluses and minuses to receiving this award, said Matas, with a smile. \u201cTo be sure, it\u2019s a boost to my self-esteem … [though the] downside is the increased expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matas, who is a human rights lawyer in Winnipeg and senior legal counsel for B\u2019nai Brith Canada, said that after having received the Order of Canada, \u201cit didn\u2019t become any easier. To the contrary, afterwards, my court opponents continued as before \u2013 disagreeing with everything I had said and adding that my arguments weren\u2019t worthy of the Order of Canada. I hate to think what lies in store for me in court now that I\u2019ve won the distinguished alumni award,\u201d he joked, receiving warm applause.<\/p>\n

Outside the courtroom, Matas more seriously added that the award might add welcomed weight to his positions and opinions. \u201cI draw your attention to one particular position of mine: that the University of Manitoba should not be hosting Israel Apartheid Week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision this year to allow Israel Apartheid Week to go forward was particularly troubling in light of the fact that the University Student Union had stripped the sponsoring group of its student status and funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next year, as in past years, Matas said, he will be telling the university, \u201cDon\u2019t give this week a university forum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, he added, \u201cHuman rights advocacy, I realize, is often not one-dimensional \u2013 opposing rights against wrongs \u2013 but, rather, rights and against rights, and determining where the balance lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanking the Alumni Association, Matas said, \u201cIt gives me the incentive and reinforcement to engage in this debate in years to come. The debate about where the balance lies is one in which we must all take part.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never drop a human rights cause until it\u2019s resolved. I\u2019ll be at it until the problem disappears \u2013 or I disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa <\/strong>is a Winnipeg freelancer writer<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winnipeg lawyer David Matas received a distinguished alumni award from the University of Manitoba (U of M) at a gala on the evening of May 1. Matas joined four others \u2013 Chau Pham (young alumni), Scott Cairns (professional achievement), John Bockstael (service to U of M) and Bruce Miller (community leadership) \u2013 in receiving the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[755,1121,1122,1123],"class_list":["post-3426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-bnai-brith-canada","tag-david-matas","tag-human-rights","tag-university-of-manitoba"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}