{"id":44673,"date":"2024-07-12T01:53:24","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T08:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=44673"},"modified":"2024-07-10T09:54:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T16:54:55","slug":"vigil-marks-nine-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2024\/07\/12\/vigil-marks-nine-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigil marks nine months"},"content":{"rendered":"

The weekly rally at Vancouver Art Gallery marked nine months since the pogrom of Oct. 7. (photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal)<\/i><\/p>\n

Selina Robinson, the former BC cabinet minister whose planned speech at Vancouver\u2019s weekly rally for the hostages was canceled over security concerns earlier this year, was the surprise speaker Sunday at the vigil marking nine months since the pogrom of Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was out here nine months ago, representing government and the Jewish community \u2026 as we mourned together the slaughter of young people, the rape of women, the death of so many innocent people perpetrated by Hamas,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cI took it upon myself to make sure that we did right by the Jewish community and I took that honour with great reverence and commitment. I did so at the request of [then-premier] John Horgan and then I did it at the request of [current premier] David Eby and I did it diligently, as best I could. And we watched as a government what happens when hate goes unchecked. I never thought in my life, really, that I would see this level of hatred directed toward Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Selina Robinson speaks at the July 7 vigil. (photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She lauded fellow elected officials who stand with the Jewish community and said there should be unanimity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn this issue, we should not be divided,\u201d said Robinson, a former minister of finance who was minister of postsecondary education when Eby, the premier, demanded her resignation after comments she made on a webinar calling pre-state Israel a \u201ccrappy piece of land.\u201d<\/p>\n

She credited Jewish organizations and allies for the work they are doing, but warned of a steep road ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of work to do, my friends,\u201d she said. \u201cThe antisemitism that has been unleashed is going to be hard to put back in the bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congregation Beth Israel\u2019s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld had harsh words for Robinson\u2019s treatment at the hands of colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s tell the truth of why Selina was kicked out of cabinet,\u201d Infeld said. \u201cThe reason is because Selina was the one representative of the Jewish people in cabinet. Selina was the one person in cabinet, in our government, willing to stand up not for some<\/i> people\u2019s human rights but for all<\/i> of our human rights. Selina was kicked out of cabinet because she was a strong woman who stood for all that our province is supposed to stand for and she was kicked out of cabinet because she is a Jewish hero.\u201d<\/p>\n

BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad spoke, and was joined at the rally by fellow Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko and a number of Conservative candidates standing in October\u2019s provincial election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud to say that I stand here with you,\u201d said Rustad. \u201cI stand against terrorism. I stand against Hamas and what they have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government in British Columbia needs to do more to counter antisemitism, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who come to this province, to live here, come here with the expectation that they will live in peace,\u201d Rustad said. \u201cThey come with the expectation to be able to raise a family, to be able to build the future, and what we are seeing today, with the antisemitism that is happening throughout our communities, I just find completely wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, expressed pride in the community he serves. He urged elected officials to stand with the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe remember who was there on day one and we see who\u2019s there now and that\u2019s something that we have to stand up for here in our province and in our country,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need them side-by-side by us and you need to be the ones to continue to tell them at all levels of government that we need them now more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Approximately 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza, more than nine months after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. (photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lior Noyman, an Israeli-Canadian educator and filmmaker, expressed sorrow for victims of violence in Israel and Gaza. He warned the audience to be vigilant against expanding antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders, teachers, parents, Canadians, I am calling to you all,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t let them walk us back in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dov (David) Rosengarten, a Vancouverite who is chief of staff for donor communications at United Hatzalah, Israel\u2019s network of 7,000 volunteer first responders, brought greetings and gratitude from Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour display of unwavering solidarity every weekend here continues to give us strength through this difficult period,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Noting the nine-month period since Oct. 7, Rosengarten drew parallels with the human pregnancy term, except that these past 40 weeks have been a time of unprecedented trauma. He sees hope in news of a ceasefire plan and hopes that \u201cthese painful birth pangs will end and the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people at large, including here in Vancouver, will be reborn again. After these many painful months, these cries of sorrow will be transformed to jubilation and we will finally hold our beloved hostages and loved ones again and celebrate the victory of unity and, like with a newborn child, we will shape for ourselves a bright future full of new dreams and possibilities.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The weekly rally at Vancouver Art Gallery marked nine months since the pogrom of Oct. 7. (photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal) Selina Robinson, the former BC cabinet minister whose planned speech at Vancouver\u2019s weekly rally for the hostages was canceled over security concerns earlier this year, was the surprise speaker Sunday at the vigil marking nine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23377,4280,22700,22729,23053,1025,7133,22725,7008,8119,23376],"class_list":["post-44673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-dov-rosengarten","tag-ezra-shanken","tag-hostages","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-john-rustad","tag-jonathan-infeld","tag-lior-noyman","tag-oct-7","tag-selina-robinson","tag-solidarity","tag-weekly-rally"],"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\/44673","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=44673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}