Rabbi Susan Tendler, left, Lonnie Belfer and Lynne Fader were panelists at a dialogue on antisemitism in Richmond Jan. 26. <\/i>(photo by Pat Johnson)<\/i><\/p>\n
Communities need to be more proactive and less reactive toward antisemitism \u2013 to focus less on what to do after an anti-Jewish hate crime occurs and to prevent them from happening in the first place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That was one of the recommendations at a meeting on antisemitism convened by Richmond Multicultural Community Services Jan. 26. Panelists were Rabbi Susan Tendler of Beth Tikvah Congregation, Lynne Fader, co-executive director of the Kehila Society of Richmond, and Lonnie Belfer, a program manager in skills training for employment programs, experience and disability support services.<\/p>\n Panelists and participants noted that expressions of concern by officials in the community are not always backed up by actions.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the days in particular after Oct. 7, it meant a lot to many of us that the RCMP was there,\u201d said Tendler. However, during one instance when police were called, the response time proved not as immediate as the police had assured the congregation it would be.<\/p>\n Likewise, legislation and other steps \u201clook really great on paper,\u201d she said. The City of Richmond adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism and the provincial government is making Holocaust education mandatory in secondary schools across the province. But these are not silver bullets to the problem, she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the four-and-a-half years that I\u2019ve lived here, I\u2019ve noticed a change that\u2019s scary to see,\u201d said Tendler.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She tells clergy from other religions that Jewish congregations pay for private security and they acknowledge that such an expenditure would gut some of their budgets.<\/p>\n \u201cThe province has tried to offer some more grants and make them accessible to ensure that we all do feel safe but, again, it\u2019s a shame that that\u2019s the situation in which we all live,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fader\u2019s father was a cab driver in East Vancouver and taught his kids to \u201cnever roll over and never stay quiet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She recalled minor and more significant incidents of antisemitism across her career and was critical of elected officials who are visible for PR opportunities but absent when substantive action is needed.<\/p>\n \u201cI do hold our politicians accountable because in my opinion they\u2019ve done nothing and they\u2019ve allowed hatred in all our communities to grow because they are more worried about photo opportunities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fader endorses restorative justice, which was the approach taken when some young people were caught after spray-painting swastikas on Beth Tikvah\u2019s building. The perpetrators were brought to meet a family in the congregation and to hear the family\u2019s Holocaust survival experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are huge systemic issues, not just in Richmond, not just in BC, not just in Canada, but globally, on antisemitism, racism and all the rest,\u201d Belfer said. \u201cThat needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n However, he is hopeful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are issues, but there are wonderful people in this community who are doing wonderful things,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate when I look around the room that I see so few non-Jewish people in the room because we know the problem. We face the antisemitism.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Breakout groups developed tangible steps the community could take to address antisemitism and enhance multicultural well-being. These included having the City of Richmond hold a multicultural day at which cultural communities provide food and entertainment, and taking the show on the road, bringing cultural communities out of their own congregations and community centres and meeting in less familiar territory.<\/p>\n Community-building grants are available from the city, said one participant, \u201cbut there are too many hoops to jump through to get them.\u201d<\/p>\n Doors Open Richmond is an annual program where religious and cultural groups welcome non-members to their facilities, but participants said Jewish institutions are challenged both by the fact that the event takes place on Saturdays as well as Sundays, and because security concerns largely preclude Jewish participation.<\/p>\n One participant stressed that approaches to antisemitism are generally reactive.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve had hate speech thrown at you, what do you do?\u201d he asked. \u201cThe question isn\u2019t what do you do after, it\u2019s how do you prevent it from happening? There needs to be more forward motion in how to stop it from occurring versus what you do after you\u2019ve been beaten up on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n Alan Hill, inclusion coordinator at Richmond Multicultural Community Services, facilitated the event, which took place at City Centre Community Centre. He explained that the panel was part of a larger series funded by Heritage Canada to build bridges and connections. Other events have focused on Indigenous leaders, Ukrainian refugee groups, youth groups, the Filipino community, Islamophobia, gender perspectives, the experiences of women, and a Black History Month event. A symposium on anti-Asian hate is coming up. In March, all groups will come together to review experiences and consider next steps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rabbi Susan Tendler, left, Lonnie Belfer and Lynne Fader were panelists at a dialogue on antisemitism in Richmond Jan. 26. (photo by Pat Johnson) Communities need to be more proactive and less reactive toward antisemitism \u2013 to focus less on what to do after an anti-Jewish hate crime occurs and to prevent them from happening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[801,1976,3231,23823,3232,5178,23824,19750],"class_list":["post-45953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-antisemitism","tag-beth-tikvah","tag-kehila-society","tag-lonnie-belfer","tag-lynne-fader","tag-richmond","tag-richmond-multicultural-community-services","tag-susan-tendler"],"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\/45953","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=45953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}