Tag: advocacy

More bridges to build

The entire Jewish community was shocked to witness a spike in antisemitic vandalism in November, with incidents reported in Montreal and Toronto, and at three synagogues and a Jewish community centre, as well as at non-Jewish sites, in our nation’s capital.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) worked closely with targeted institutions and local police to ensure effective measures were taken to protect the community in Ottawa, and the police arrested a suspect who now faces serious criminal charges.

While these ugly crimes remind us that antisemitism – the world’s oldest hatred – still exists, solidarity demonstrated by many proves we are not alone in this battle. Countless leaders, including the prime minister, various members of Parliament, the mayor of Ottawa, police officials, the United Way, and leaders in the Christian, Sikh and Muslim communities, have denounced these incidents. In so doing, they have reminded us of the value of our efforts to build bridges with non-Jewish leaders and communities. Our voices are stronger when united in common cause. From the many communities whose interests, values, and concerns we share, I highlight just three recent examples of CIJA partnerships making an impact.

In October, CIJA was honored to meet with His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Numbering some 10 to 20 million globally, Ahmadis face persecution in much of the Muslim world. In Pakistan, they are denounced as “non-Muslim,” face systemic discrimination and are the target of harassment and terrorist attacks.

CIJA has built a relationship with the Ahmadiyya community of Canada, with whom we have established dialogue and joined in calling on the Canadian government to prioritize religious freedom abroad. The caliph (a non-political position) recently commented on the thriving Ahmadi community near Haifa and underscored his community’s belief in the need to respect all faiths. Canadian Ahmadiyya leaders have shared both their appreciation for Israel as the freest country in the Middle East and their opposition to boycotts targeting the Jewish state.

CIJA continues to enjoy warm friendships with several major Christian organizations, including the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and various mainstream Protestant denominations.

Last November, CIJA and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus launched a partnership agreement with CCCB, including a shared commitment to join forces in countering antisemitism and hatred in all its forms. We’ve since worked with CCCB on issues as diverse as Holocaust commemoration, the persecution of Middle East Christians and – in a unique Jewish-Catholic-Evangelical-Muslim partnership – a campaign calling for a national, well-funded palliative care strategy. This latter issue is especially crucial given Canada’s aging population and evidence that far too many patients cannot access high-quality end-of-life care.

We have also mobilized the support of various Christian groups and others, including Sikhs and Muslims, in our effort to strengthen Canada’s hate crime laws. Currently, vandalism targeting places of worship is automatically treated as a hate crime with serious penalties, a designation not applied to incidents involving community centres and schools associated with an identifiable group. Working with our interfaith partners, we are urging MPs to support Bill C-305 to close this loophole in the Criminal Code.

And, while Canadian society has witnessed a generational shift regarding LGBTQ rights, many in this community continue to face bigotry. CIJA is proud to be part of the four-member executive committee overseeing Trans Equality Canada, a coalition leading the advocacy efforts for Bill C-16, which extends hate crime and anti-discrimination protections to the transgender community. This historic legislation passed the House of Commons in November and is now with the Senate.

CIJA’s role in this campaign is unique. We’re the only ethnic or religious community organization at the forefront of what is, arguably, the most important issue concerning the Canadian LGBTQ community today: the rights of transgender Canadians.

This work mirrors the efforts of local CIJA offices and grassroots Jewish groups across Canada building ties with their respective LGBTQ organizations and Pride festivals. For their work in Montreal, our team received an award from the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Quebec.

These relationships don’t just advance human rights. They help ensure we have allies within the LGBTQ community when anti-Zionists attempt to import their bigoted agenda into Pride, just as, in October, Halifax Pride voted down a resolution to ban any mention of Israel from its events.

This is just a sample of the partnership work we’re doing to build a better society for the Jewish community and all Canadians. But it’s a work in progress, and there are countless communities with whom we will seek opportunities to strengthen ties through issues of common cause. If you have suggestions or would like to get involved, connect with us at [email protected].

Shimon Koffler Fogel is chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

A call to community seniors

Recently, I met an old friend. During our conversation over coffee, he asked if I was still involved with the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver. “Of course,” I said. With a funny look on his face, he said, “You are putting a lot of time into this work.”

His remark and the look irritated me quite a bit, and I said, “Joe, you are probably 10 years younger than I am, you have your wife and children near you, you are a lucky man. You are also financially independent. It may be possible that you are not aware and possibly don’t care about what is happening around you – you are complacent.”

Let me bring Joe – and you – up to date.

There are several hundred elders in our community who are poor, lonely, marginalized or abused. JSA is making every possible effort to find these isolated individuals in order to help them.

In its outreach and advocacy programs, JSA is contributing to the well-being of countless elders with our educational programs. We reach out to these people through our two forums and four Empowerment Series sessions yearly; through our Senior Line magazine, which is published three times a year and contains current, relevant and well-research articles; and by means of our website, which not only informs but entertains.

And Joe, why should your indifferent attitude change? You are OK and you believe that JSA has nothing to offer you. But, there are hundreds of seniors giving of their time and wisdom to help other seniors. Something else you should know Joe – sooner or later, almost every senior needs help.

At our annual general meeting in September, JSA will be honoring a few individuals selected by their organizations for their extensive volunteer work for Vancouver’s seniors. And Joe, please note that JSA’s events are cost-free and are not fundraisers. Our outreach programs have a preventive focus, so that people like us remain functioning and enjoying a healthy life for as long as possible.

And Joe, if you think that this is all, let me tell you about our Peer Support Program, which JSA started almost four years ago.

Our two professionals have trained more than 100 senior volunteers to be peer counselors: to give emotional support, to conduct weekly visits at seniors’ homes and to make weekly phone calls. The peer counselor takes a 55-hour training course, and the callers and visitors take a 17.5-hour training course.

These trained volunteers come from every walk of life and different cultural backgrounds, and they speak many languages. They have a clean police record and they sign a confidentiality agreement. Their commitment to JSA is for at least one year. To date, we have more than 50 volunteers servicing more than 150 families.

JSA also provides referrals to seniors and their families, enabling them to access benefits and services offered by the municipal, provincial and federal governments. JSA’s bereavement support program helps seniors, either individually or in a group setting.

Last year, JSA trained 11 seniors to be ambassadors for creating awareness of senior abuse in homes and institutions. They talk to individuals or groups of seniors, and more than 300 seniors have benefited so far from this program.

Frankly, Joe, I shudder at the thought of what would happen if JSA were unable to provide these unique services in our community. We are in contact with 5,000 seniors, and we are doing our best to inform, educate and entertain them.

Seniors have the untapped power to help themselves politically. Unfortunately, this power is being wasted by either disinterest or failing to act. Only 650 to 700 seniors have chosen to be members of JSA, although it costs a mere $18 a year.

JSA must exist, grow and be able, with the support of the community, to provide these services. However, community involvement and financial support and interest are crucial. Without volunteers, nothing would be possible!

How about you Joe? You are not involved in anything right now – perhaps it is about time to start giving of yourself to our community?

Serge Haber is president emeritus of Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver. A version of this article was originally published in the June issue of the organization’s magazine, Senior Line.

Case for a positive rethink

When speaking to Jewish audiences about advocacy, I often refer to my own background as a Jewish convert in making the point that we sometimes have to apply a fresh perspective – and have a collective “out-of-body” experience – to understand the reality of our own circumstances. Sometimes, we are too close to the situation to evaluate it with clear eyes and objectivity.

Among the many things that make me proud of my father is the fact that, early in his career, he chose to serve the public as a police officer. I have heard it said that police disproportionately interact with the most challenging and marginal elements of society, perhaps just five percent of the public, on a regular basis. Just as one in such a role knows their daily encounters are not representative of broader society, we as Jews – who understandably take notice of antisemitism and anti-Zionism – must be cautious not to attribute these toxic manifestations to the majority of Canadians.

I could write an entire series of columns on how we as a community have far more allies in the non-Jewish world than we often appreciate. Instead, I’ll offer two factors internal to the Jewish world that suggest pro-Israel advocates should be optimistic.

1. There is far greater unity of purpose – and welcoming of diversity – in the Jewish world these days. In the past, there was significant disagreement between Jews on the best means to secure the future of the Jewish people in an often hostile world. The community was split along various lines: between Zionists and non-Zionists, assimilationists and Orthodox Jews, socialists and capitalists.

Today, post-Shoah and post-1948, the overwhelming majority of Jews are Zionists in that they believe the state of Israel should exist and thrive as a democratic Jewish homeland. Among Zionists, there is extraordinary diversity: we are Labor and Likud, religious and secular, social activist and academic alike.

There is ceaseless debate over how Israeli policies can best secure the ideals of Zionism and how Diaspora Jews can engage Israel in a meaningful way. This is all healthy. We wouldn’t be Jews if we didn’t subject these issues to serious thought and debate.

But this occurs within a strong consensus that Israel’s existence is fundamentally just, a blessing to the Jewish people and the entire world, and, ultimately, the centrepiece of our collective future just as it is our ancestral homeland. These aren’t just clichés; they are ideals brought to life every time a young Jewish Canadian boards a plane for Birthright, challenges anti-Zionism on Facebook, downloads the latest Israeli music, or volunteers for the Israel Defence Forces.

2. Despite facing serious challenges, Israelis are far more successful, happy and optimistic than we might think.

While Israelis have suffered in every generation from war and terrorism, none of this detracts from the fact that the IDF has proven its capacity to provide Israelis with secure borders and an astonishingly high level of public safety. This is no mean feat in the Middle East, let alone for a country smaller than Vancouver Island.

At the same time, Israel has seen remarkable economic and technological success. From 1992 to 2013, Israel-China trade skyrocketed from $50 million to $10 billion annually. Israeli exports to Europe have nearly doubled since the boycott-divestment-sanctions movement was launched in 2005. Trade with emerging markets like India has likewise increased. Outside Silicon Valley, Israel now has the highest concentration of high-tech firms on the planet.

Success at a macroeconomic level doesn’t mean there aren’t serious challenges. The cost-of-living, for example, continues to be a burden for many Israelis. But, with each passing generation, Israel grows stronger economically and Israelis are afforded greater opportunities to learn, work and engage the world.

Israelis also enjoy a remarkably high quality of life. Israelis have the same life expectancy as Canadians (81) and Israel boasts a universal health-care system that typically beats Canada in international performance rankings. According to the OECD’s 2015 Better Life Index, which measures various social and life factors, Israel is the fifth happiest country in the world – ahead of Canada, the United States and most of Europe.

What would early Zionist thinkers like Theodor Herzl and his contemporaries say if they could read these statistics and walk the streets of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv today? How often do we forget how far we have come as a people?

I had the honor this February of leading a group of Canadian master’s-level students on a public policy study trip to Israel, one of many fact-finding missions we organize. (CIJA annually takes some 200 Canadians to Israel.) The students, all of whom are non-Jewish, were amazed at the innovation, diversity and vitality shown by Israelis despite living in the world’s most unstable neighborhood. They saw what we should never lose sight of: a country and a people from whom we can learn so much.

Indeed, Israel embodies so much of what’s right in the world today – and it is on this basis that we should share all that Israel has to offer with the world around us.

Steve McDonald is the deputy director of communications and public affairs, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

A fresh look at Israel

David Decolongon participated in the first-ever mission organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs designed exclusively for young people who originate, or whose families came from, East Asia. (photo from David Decolongon)

A Vancouver student who recently returned from Israel says he has a better understanding of the nuances of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – and other realities of life in the region – after participating in a mission for young leaders of East Asian descent.

David Decolongon is a student at Regent College, on the University of British Columbia campus. He graduated from UBC last year in political science with a minor in philosophy, and is considering whether to pursue a full master’s degree or complete a graduate diploma in Christian studies.

He was chosen to participate in the first-ever mission organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish

Affairs designed exclusively for young people who originate, or whose families came from, East Asia. Decolongon, who was born in Vancouver, is of Filipino heritage.

“I connected with this trip in three major ways,” he said. “Number one, religiously. I’m a practising Christian and so being able to go to a place where a lot of this history took place was big enough for me. But also, over the summer, I was involved in a startup and so being able to connect with Israel through a startup team was big with me. But also to connect with it politically was big for me because I’m involved in politics, I work and volunteer for a political party right now.”

Though he said it is a “cop-out” to say the entire trip was a highlight in itself, he does identify a number of instances that stand out when he recalls the trip, which took place in February.

“Being able to go over to Ramallah and meet the Canadian attaché to the Palestinian Authority and to be able to go up north to see the Lebanese border and to learn the history of that area and to go to a lot of those places that you hear about a lot in the news is probably the significant highlight for me in this trip,” said Decolongon.

Though he had been to Israel before, on a church-organized trip, the variety of perspectives he witnessed on this occasion, combined with the diversity of fellow participants from across Canada, opened his eyes and mind, he said.

“When it comes to thinking about a hot topic such as Israel, people tend to use a lot of political rhetoric and they tend to take very pro- and anti-, very extreme, stances. I think when you’re on the ground and you see how these things affect people on a daily basis, whether they be Jewish-Israeli, Arab-Israeli, Palestinian, it becomes more real and, once you’re on the ground, the solutions that you bring to the table tend to be a lot more common sense, a lot more feasible and a lot more geared toward achieving peace for all groups,” he said.

Being pro-Israel, he added, does not mean being anti-Palestinian.

“You can take a pro-Israeli stance while at the same time wanting to push the well-being of Palestinians. People think it’s an either-or answer but when you’re on the ground and you get to see what really happens, you’re more interested in pushing forth the betterment of life for both groups,” he said.

People everywhere have the same desires for their children, said Decolongon.

“They want to make sure that their children can grow up in safety, that their young people have jobs coming out of college and university,” he said. “We come at it recognizing that both sides have common interest and it’s going to be messy and it’s going to be complex, but I think the solutions are attainable once you realize that both sides are human and that both sides can come to the table and either side may not get 100% of what they want but we can certainly make it livable for both sides.”

Decolongon was the only British Columbian among the eight participants, though the mission was led by Sarina Rehal, an employee in CIJA’s Toronto office who is from here and who graduated from UBC. The group met with a wide range of people, including an Arab-Israeli journalist, a leader in the region’s vibrant startup sector who thinks economic opportunity is the antidote to Islamic extremism, as well as political, military and academic experts.

The newly established East Asian Student Leaders program was created by CIJA as an experiential learning initiative for students of East Asian heritage or origin who demonstrate leadership in the areas of politics, journalism or campus activism.

Nico Slobinsky, director for the Pacific region of CIJA, said it is important to engage young leaders.

“It’s an ongoing dialogue and opportunity we are forging with these young leaders as they continue to engage in their communities, with our community, with civil society in Canada, in the years ahead,” said Slobinsky. “As they progress in their leadership, in their careers, into their life, they will continue to engage and that’s why we do this.

“In the case of this mission in particular, we were looking at emerging leaders in the pan-Asian communities,” he said.

Expanding outreach to Island

Left to right: Members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Dr. Moira Stilwell (Liberal), George Heyman (NDP) and Selina Robinson (NDP). (photo from Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee)

Israeli wines met Canadian cheese on March 8, when more than 100 people came together for a CJPAC (Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee), CIJA (Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs) and Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island reception in Victoria.

Attendance included four provincial government ministers – the Hon. Norm Letnick (agriculture), the Hon. Steve Thomson (forests, lands and natural resource operations), the Hon. Naomi Yamamoto (minister of state for emergency preparedness) and the Hon. Amrik Virk (technology, innovation and citizens’ services) – 28 members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, 39 staffers and many community members, some of whom came to the event from Vancouver. John Horgan, leader of the Official Opposition, attended as well.

Also present were Jason Murray (chair, Local Partner Council, CIJA Pacific Region), Gabe Garfinkel (CIJA Local Partner Council member and CJPAC Fellowship alumnus), Ed Fitch (CIJA national board member), Ezra Shanken (chief executive officer of Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver), Stephen Gaerber (JFGV board chair) and Chabad of Vancouver Island Rabbi Meir Kaplan.

While an annual wine and cheese event is held at the federal level in Ottawa, this is the first year that CJPAC and CIJA have held the joint reception in British Columbia.

“It is critical that our community get involved in the Canadian political process, and events such as these help facilitate that engagement,” said Kara Mintzberg, CJPAC’s B.C. regional director.

CJPAC’s mandate is focused on getting the Jewish and pro-Israel community involved in the democratic process. As the advocacy agent of the Jewish Federations of Canada, CIJA’s mandate is to build and nurture relationships with leaders across the country, including in government, civil society and other faith and ethnic communities, in order to advance issues of common cause for the benefit of all Canadians.

“Events like the wine and cheese in Victoria allow us to bring members of our community together with provincial officials in order to deepen the excellent relationships our community has with our elected representatives,” said Nico Slobinsky, director of CIJA Pacific Region.

Guests at the reception sampled a range of Israeli wines and many B.C.-produced cheeses.

“I was delighted that a number of members of the board of the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island were able to be there,” said JFVVI president Dr. Aaron Devor. “Both CIJA and CJPAC do tremendous work and it’s exciting to see them focus their outreach on communities on the Island.”

Mintzberg said that B.C. community members can expect more CIJA/CJPAC events in the future.

“Although our organizations have different mandates, we are both working toward a common goal and we think these joint events are a great way to show the community what we have to offer,” she said.

For more information about CIJA or CJPAC in the province, contact Slobinsky ([email protected] or 604-340-2437) or Mintzberg ([email protected] or 604-343-4126), respectively.