Rebecca Katzman is graduating from the School of Social Work at Ryerson University in Toronto this spring. Now that she is leaving the institution, she has decided to go public with an incident that happened when she applied for a field education placement at a Jewish agency.
The story emerged recently and Katzman shared the experience firsthand in the Canadian Jewish News last week.
For her third-year work experience placement, she asked the school’s coordinator to investigate possible opportunities at UJA Federation or the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre. The school official responsible, Heather Bain, denied Katzman’s request, telling her that her choices were incompatible with the values of the school.
“I did not follow up with Prosserman JCC or UJA because after looking into them, some of their values seem to be in opposition to the values of the school,” Bain wrote in an email to Katzman, adding that the agencies both appear to have a “strong anti-Palestinian lean.” Later, Katzman said, Bain suggested that Katzman could work with the Jewish organizations only if she came in with an agenda to “bring a critical awareness to the setting.”
“It seemed that she implied that I could only work at these agencies if I came in with an anti-Israel agenda,” Katzman wrote in CJN.
When pressed by Katzman, Bain acknowledged that she did not do her own investigation into the organizations, but relied on the advice of colleagues who are members of Jews Against Israeli Apartheid. She added that she might change her position if she discovered that “both agencies (were) supporters of Palestinian solidarity movements.”
It turns out Bain may have underestimated who she was dealing with. Katzman was not only active in student organizations supporting Israel and opposing antisemitism on campus, she was a StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, part of what is described as a “prestigious one-year fellowship program that recruits, trains, educates and inspires pro-Israel college students to become an elite cadre of leaders on college campuses across North America.”
StandWithUs provided Katzman with pro bono legal counsel. Even so, despite legal assistance and a history of involvement in Jewish activism, Katzman did not go public until her time at Ryerson was over. How many students in Canada have had similar experiences but lacked the resources or fortitude to stand up to it?
It is clear that Bain’s extraordinary decision was based on almost complete ignorance of the reality of the organizations she besmirched, having been arrived at on the advice of individuals who come from an extreme anti-Israel position. For a person in a position of power to set policies, this is disgraceful.
It takes courage to stand up to this sort of injustice. Those who choose – or who, like Katzman – are forced to confront it deserve our encouragement, support and gratitude.
גידול משמעותי נרשם באירועים אנטישמיים נגד יהודים בקנדה. לדברי ארגון בני ברית קנדה אשתקד אירעו 1,728 אירועים אנטישמיים במדינה וזהו גידול של 26% לעומת 2015. מדובר רק במקרים המדווחים וקרוב לוודאי שבפועל מספר האירועים האנטישמיים אף גבוה יותר.
בפועל מדי יום מתרחשים 4-5 אירועי שינאה נגד יהודים בקנדה שכוללים אלימות, הטרדות והשחתת ציוד (בהם ציורים של צלבי קרס וסיסמאות שינאה). ב-20% מהאירועים מעורבים מכחישי השואה בהם גורמים איסלמים קיצוניים, לעומת 5% ב-2015.
בבני ברית מציינים כי מעולם בקנדה לא אירעו כל כך הרבה אירועים אנטישמיים וזה מטריד במיוחד, לאור העובדה שהיא נחשבת לאחת מהמדינות הסובלניות ביותר בעולם. בארגון מוסיפים עוד כי לדעתם האנטישמיות בקנדה היא אינה יבוא מארה”ב, ולא קשורה לבחירתו לנשיא של דונלד טראמפ.
לדברי מומחה מקומי לנושא פשעי שינאה העלייה באינטישמיות בקנדה היא חלק ממגמה עולמית בעולם המערבי, במקביל לעליית כוחן של תנועות הימין הקיצוניות. יצויין כי בקנדה גרים כיום למעלה מ-400 אלף יהודים ומדובר בקהילת היהודית הרביעית בגדולה בעולם.
סקס ופוליטיקה: חברי מועצת העיר קיבלו אימייל עם תמונה של בחורה עירומה מחברם שמכחיש כי הוא השולח
כמאה חברת מועצת העיר סנט קטרין, ראשי מערך ביטחון של אוניברסיטת ברוק המקומית ותחנות הרדיו באזור שבמחוז אונטריו, קיבלו לפני מספר ימים אימייל יוצא דופן מחבר המועצה אנדי פטרובסקי. מדוע? כיוון שצורפה לו תמונה של בחורה בלונדינית בעירום מלא שיושבת על כיסא, ידיה שלובות מאחורי גבה ורגליה מפוסקות. זאת, בתגובה להחלטת מועצת העיר לסגור את אחד הנתיבים שעל גשר בורגויין שבעיר. לאימייל של פטרובסקי צורפו המילים: “צריכה להיות מכירה בשווי של מולטי מיליון דולר במימון הציבור של הקשתות הלא המתפקדות שעל הגשר. נחש מי השיג את המימון שלהן מהממשלה הפדרלית? נכון אתה צודק. אילו הם טפשים. איזה בדיחה”.
כמה חברי מועצה אומרים בתגובה שהאימייל של פטרובסקי הוא מגונה ומדובר בהתנהגות שאינה מקובלת עליהם, והם דורשים ממנו להתפטר מיידית. בתגובה שלח פטרובסקי אימייל עם התנצלות “על האימייל הלא מקובל והלא הולם”. לטענתו לא הוא שלח את האימייל, אלא מישהו אנונימי שניצל את העובדה שהאייפד שלו היה פתוח, והוא זה ששלח אותו עם תמונת העירום. פטרובסקי לא מקבל את הדין לגבי זהות כותב האימייל הטורדני, שנשלח לדבריו בטעות. ראש העירייה, וולטר סנזיק, אומר כי היה בהלם מהאימייל ולדבריו הוא תומך בקריאות להתפטרותו המיידית של פטרובסקי. ראש העירייה הוסיף: “כשאתה מסתכל על השפה בה נכתב האימייל זה מזכיר בברור את סגנון כתיבתו הידוע והמיוחד של פטרובסקי”.
אין זו בעצם הפעם הראשונה שפטרובסקי מסתבך בשליחת מסרים בעיתיים. בינואר 2016 הוא הואשם בשליחת הודעת טקסט מהטלפון שלו, למפקד משטרת מחוז ניאגרה פול, ג’ף מקווגיר, בה נכתב: “הלו ליצן. האם אתה עריץ?”. באותה עת פטרובסקי שימש חבר הנהלת מועצת המשטרה של ניאגרה. גם אז הוא עשה טען בתגובה הטלפון שלו נשאר פתוח, ומישהו אלמוני שלח את הטקסט הבעייתי למפקד המשטרה.
ועוד ממעללי פטרובסקי: הוא נחקר בימים אלה על פרסום שש הודעות פוגעניות בחשבון טוויטר שלו. לדברי הממונה על הנציבות בעיריית סנט קטרין, במעשיו פטרובסקי פגע בקודים של העירייה. הממונה ממליץ לחברי המועצה לקרוא לו להתנצל באופן פומבי על מעשיו, ולאסור עליו להשתתף בישיבות המועצה, עד שיקח חלק בקורס מקצועי מיוחד שבו ילמד על הבעיות בהתנהגותו.
Left to right, Larry Elder, Dennis Prager and Hugh Hewitt at the Unite Inland Empire Conservative Conference on April 30. (photo by Dave Gordon)
Eight hundred supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gathered in a Los Angeles-area venue recently – before the controversy this week over Trump’s sharing of classified information with Russia – to hear four major U.S. media figures discuss why, in their opinion, the president had thus far made impressive executive choices.
The April 30 event – the fourth annual Unite Inland Empire Conservative Conference – was entitled Trump’s First 100 Days.
Panelists were talk radio hosts Larry Elder, Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager and senior editor-at-large of Breitbart News, Joel Pollak.
Trump was praised by all speakers for his Supreme Court choice of Neil Gorsuch, his strike on Syria, his efforts to overturn Obamacare and the newest Iran sanctions. The two Jewish speakers – Prager and Pollak – told the Independent that the president has, in a very short time, done much for Israel.
Appointing a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who is critical of the world body’s treatment of the Jewish state should be seen as significant in itself, Prager said. “Why isn’t Nikki Haley enough for a Jew?” he asked.
The author of seven books, including the recently released Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code, Prager said Trump should divest the United States entirely from the UN, however.
“It is a morally bad organization. It does more harm than good,” he said. “You can have aid agencies without the UN. Think we need UN peacekeepers? You can talk about Rwanda. What good has the Security Council done? It is the most anti-Jewish institution in the world. What more do you need to know? My whole life I have understood Jew-hatred as the barometer of the world’s health.”
In terms of reported rising Jew-hatred in the United States, Prager said some of it is fabricated and some is an imminent threat.
“All of the Jewish centres’ bomb threats – this was hysteria – all because of a black radical and a disturbed Jewish kid in Israel. It wasn’t 40 antisemitic incidents; but maybe one or two.”
To those who accuse the president of attracting those who bear ill will towards the Jews, Prager added, “It’s a world of lies that Trump has increased antisemitism and that he is an antisemite and that he has let antisemites in his administration.”
The true menace, he said, was “the transformation of the university to the most Israel-hating institution in America. Jews don’t want to acknowledge this because they adore the university.”
Antisemitism might be among the reasons Trump has waffled on his promise to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, Prager said, adding, “I 100% excuse him on it.”
It is Prager’s belief that Israel may be reticent, at this point, to deal with the potential blowback.
“The Arab world is a passion-based, hate-filled world,” he said. “The hatred of Israel is the food of the Arab world. There’s no joy in saying this.”
However, it was important that Trump said that while campaigning, argued Prager. “I believe [the promise] didn’t say, ‘I am going to open an embassy in Israel.’ It said, ‘I care about Israel,’ unlike the previous president.”
Meanwhile, Pollak thinks that the president may follow through with moving the embassy to Jerusalem at some point in the future.
“I don’t see it as a back pedal,” said Pollak. “David Friedman [U.S. ambassador to Israel] is going to live in Jerusalem, even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv. It indicates which of the two cities the U.S. considers is Israel’s capital.”
In terms of the peace process, the new administration will not be mirroring that of Barack Obama, who “took the Palestinian side, and that was destabilizing,” said Pollak.
On the UN, Pollak said it was a forum for enemies to hash out their differences, but its Human Rights Council – where many dictatorships have representatives – should be dismantled.
In agreement with Prager, he said the pressing danger to U.S. Jews is the surge of university-based antisemitism.
“Students are being exposed to anti-Israel activities that they’re ill-equipped to counter,” said Pollak. “It has gotten so bad that now discrimination is happening on religion, not just for supporting Israel.”
Last year, U.S. campuses saw a 45% increase in anti-Jewish sentiments, according to Tel Aviv University researchers and the AMCHA Initiative, which investigates antisemitism on college campuses.
The issue will worsen, Pollak said, as more young people remain ignorant of the Holocaust – a tragedy all-too-often invoked and misused by those who compare the Final Solution to the Palestinian situation.
For attendee Evan Sayet, author of Kindergarten of Eden, the “single most important thing” for American Jews to do is to rebuke government-funded universities, “twisting the screws against the lies and antisemitism in the guise of academia.”
He said, “You might not think of American campuses, because it doesn’t seem like an existential threat. You might think academia is just a place of words. Obviously, this is the next generation who are infused with antisemitism. It bodes ill for the Jews. Antisemitism is an evil that is placated in the Arab world and, now, other places in the world, including Europe.”
Dave Gordonis a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications around the world.
נתוני הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה בישראל: 14.4 מיליון יהודים חיים בעולם ומהם כארבע מאות אלף נמצאים בקנדה. (צילום: Cynthia Ramsay)
הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה בישראל פירסמה בימים האחרונים דוח על מספר היהודים החיים כיום בעולם. הנתונים בנויים על הערכות בלבד של המדור לדמוגרפיה וסטטיסטיקה של היהודים באוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים, מתבססים על שנת 2015, ומתפרסמים כרגיל לרגל יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה.
אם כן כיום לפי הערכה של המדור לדמוגרפיה וסטטיסטיקה באוניברסיטה העברית, חיים בעולם כ-14.4 מיליון יהודים. זאת לעומת 16.6 מיליון יהודים שהיו בעולם ערב מלחמת העולם השנייה ומאורעות השואה הקשים. לפיכך העם היהודי למרות השנים שעברו שבעים ושתיים שנים, לא הצליח לחזור לגודלו לפני אירועי השואה, שהביאו להשמדת שישה מליון יהודים. יצויין כי גם בשנות העשרים של המאה הקודמת חיו בעולם כמו כיום כ-14.4 מיליון יהודים.
מטבע הדברים ריכוז היהודים הגדול בעולם (44 אחוז) נמצא בישראל ועומד על 6.33 מיליון. אחריה המדינה השנייה עם מספר היהודים הגדול ביותר כרגיל היא ארצות הברית, שבה גרים עם 5.7 מיליון יהודים. המדינות הנוספות בעולם בהן יש את הריכוז הגבוה ביותר של יהודים אחרי ארה”ב הן: במקום השלישי צרפת עם כ-460 אלף יהודים, במקום הרביעי קנדה עם כ-388 אלף יהודים, במקום החמישי בריטניה עם כ-290 אלף יהודים, במקום השישי ארגנטינה עם כ-181 אלף יהודים, במקום השביעי רוסיה עם כ-180 אלף יהודים, במקום השמיני ברזיל עם כ-120 אלף יהודים, במקום התשיעי גרמניה עם כ-117 אלף יהודים, במקום העשירי אוסטרליה עם כ-113 אלף יהודים. לפי הערכות לא מבוססות במקום האחד עשר נמצאת דרום אפריקה ובה חיים כ-80 אלף יהודים.
והיכן קיימות הקהילות הקטנות של יהודים בעולם: באיראן למשל חיים כעשרת אלפים יהודים, בבירוביג’ן חיים רק כחמשת אלפים יהודים, ביפאן חיים כאלף יהודים בלבד, בבהאמס חיים רק כשלוש מאות יהודים ואילו בקוריאה הדרומית יש כמאה יהודים בלבד.
על פי סקר של ההסתדרות הציונית העולמית שנעשה לאחרונה יש גידול משמעותי ביותר באנטישמיות ברחבי העולם, ואחד מכל שלושה יהודים חש את הצורך להסתיר את יהדותו. ועוד ממצאי הסקר: 85 אחוז מהיהודים היו עדים לאנטישמיות במהלך חייהם, 50 אחוז מיהודי המערב (מדובר על מדינות אירופה וצפון אמריקה) חוו אירוע אנטישמי במהלך השנה האחרונה, 73 אחוז היו עדים לאלימות פיזית ו-70 אחוז מיהודי אירופה חגגו לבד את החגים בשל הפחד מפעילות אנטישמית.
יש לזכור שיש גם כיום בישראל המפוצלת מאוד מבחינה חברתית כיום יהודים שונאים יהודים ובצורה גלויה. להלן סיפור מזעזע: יהודי תושב ירושלים בן 55 נחקר החודש במשטרת ירושלים לאחר שהביעה תמיכה ברורה בהשמדת יהודים אשכנזים. אותו ישראלי נחמד כתב בין היתר בדף הפייסבוק שלו: “אני מדמיין שיש לי את הכוח של היטלר, יושב על כסא עם בקבוק יין ומכניס אותם אחד אחד לתנור של אלף מעלות, ודואג שייצאו אפר. כמה שאני שונא אותם אלוהים”. האזרח הירושלמי לא התבייש להוסיף עוד מילות חמות על היהודים האשכנזים: “היטלר צדק שעשה מאימא שלכם סבון, והוא צדק שחיסל אתכם זבלים בני זבלים”. חברת פייסבוק חסמה מייד את הפרופיל של האזרח היקר. המשטרה המשיכה לחקור אותו והודיעה כי יוגש כתב אישום חמור נגדו.
ומהן תגובות הגולשים לאור הנתונים על מספר היהודים בעולם?: “הדת היהודית מזמן סיימה את דרכה. זה רק שאריות”. “בגלל ההתבוללות של היהודי בעולם. לולא זאת היה מספר היהודים כפול! ההתבוללות הגדולה ביותר באמריקה!”
Robert Singer, chief executive officer of World Jewish Congress, addressed more than 100 Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver donors at an event hosted by Gary Averbach and sponsored by Garry Zlotnik of ZLC Financial. (photo from WJC)
The professional head of World Jewish Congress says Diaspora Jews and Israelis are too wrapped up in their own worlds and need to strengthen the dialogue between the two components of the global Jewish community.
Speaking to the Independent during his first-ever visit to Vancouver, Robert Singer said relations remain strong in terms of Diaspora support for Israeli organizations. Programs like Birthright, through which young Jews experience Israel, and Masa, which offers young adults gap-year, study-abroad and other opportunities, also enhance connections. But there must be more person-to-person contacts like these, he said, which foster real conversations across the divide.
“I’m not sure that both sides are talking,” said Singer. “I think both sides are busy with their own stuff. Israelis are busy with stuff in Israel and Diaspora Jews are today busy with their survival, in many cases, both financial and community survival.”
World Jewish Congress is an organization that can facilitate dialogue, he added.
WJC was founded in Geneva in 1936 and now represents Jews in 100 countries, focusing on issues including protecting the memory of the Holocaust, advocating for the recognition of the experiences of Jews from Arab lands, combating antisemitism and encouraging interfaith dialogue. The Congress is headed by Ronald Lauder, president of the executive committee. Singer, who has been the chief executive officer of WJC since 2013, previously served 14 years as the director general and CEO of World ORT, one of the largest nongovernmental education and training providers in the world. Singer was born in Ukraine and made aliyah at age 15.
While in Vancouver, Singer met with rabbis, representatives of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and other communal organizations. He also met with Russian-speaking members of the community and said he was impressed with Vancouver’s flourishing Jewish life. He acknowledged that British Columbia’s Jewish community faces challenges common to many similar-sized communities.
“The main thing that struck me is the issue of assimilation and how to deal with this,” he said. “Being more inclusive, bringing more people of non-Jewish faith into the community, issues of education, issues of fighting BDS and antisemitism on campuses, and issues of relations between Israel and the Diaspora.”
Interviewed days after many young Jews blockaded the AIPAC conference in Washington, D.C., Singer rejected the idea that younger Jews are alienated from Zionism.
“It’s very different,” Singer said of the way young Jews relate to Israel. Previous generations, he said, were Holocaust survivors or their descendants who knew a world without Israel. “For somebody who is now 20 years old, all this is now either history or they just don’t remember the situation where there was a world without a Jewish state.” This generation cannot be expected to have the same visceral connection to Zionism, he said. “I think it’s just a different approach. Different technologies, different approach.”
He compared the suggestion of declining Zionism with the situation among young Israelis.
“In Israel all the time they say that the previous generation was much more patriotic,” he said. Yet, when young people are conscripted into the Israel Defence Forces today, more – not fewer – are requesting assignment to the most difficult combat and elite units, he said.
“It shows that this generation of young Israelis is at least as good as the people before them and I think it’s the same in the Diaspora,” Singer said, citing the Jewish Diplomatic Corps, a WJC program of about 200 young adults from 43 countries, including international lawyers, businesspeople, parliamentarians, professors and others who meet with government leaders and international agencies.
“They are outstanding young people,” said Singer. “I’m sure that, on an intellectual, Jewish and pro-Zionist level, they are at least as good as the leadership of the people who went before.”
On external threats, Singer said it is too soon to make a determination about long-range impacts of contemporary antisemitism. A new WJC study indicates an antisemitic comment is posted to social media every 82 seconds.
“It’s very bad,” he said. But, he added, it may be less a matter of growing antisemitism than attitudes that were already there merely finding expression.
The situation in Europe is concerning, he said. Antisemitic and neo-Nazi parties are seeing unprecedented public support in France, Germany, Hungary and Greece. “This is a real danger,” Singer said.
On the impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies, Singer said it is too soon to judge. He is impressed, however, that Trump’s appointee as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has adopted a very different approach from her recent predecessors.
While the United Nations General Assembly is a wasteland at present, Singer said, Canada and the United States should remain active there, “because there is a stage there and you can have some influence.”
Of the new Canadian government, Singer said he is pleased that relations between Israel and Canada remain close and that this is something that transcends politics.
The concept of intersectionality recognizes that multiple forms of oppression and discrimination can impact individuals at the same time. For example, African-Americans experience systemically and socially both economic disadvantage and racial discrimination. Black women face an addition layer of intersectional oppression and black LGBTQ people add homophobia to the mix.
Intersectionality can be problematic for the Jewish community. As we have discussed in this space previously and will again, despite historical realities, Jewish people are often perceived by others as an advantaged, rather than a disadvantaged, minority. It does not take long on the sort of online forums where the term intersectionality is commonly used before stereotypes of Jewish power show up. Similarly, Zionism is seen by some not as the realization of an indigenous rights movement for self-determination that it is, but rather as a form of colonialism.
In one of the most self-evident examples of intersectionality’s potential blind spots, the intersection of Palestinian rights and gay rights begets ludicrousness like Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, which makes common cause with extremists who throw homosexuals off roofs in order to condemn the perceived colonialism and myriad other “sins” of Zionism. Very frequently, in the discourse found in some far-left circles, antisemitism is dismissed because it does not fit the ideology of those who determine where the intersections are. Or, rather, it is made to not fit.
This is too bad, because selecting which humans are eligible for inclusion in a human rights movement based on immutable characteristic is, by definition, a human rights movement founded on false premises.
Of course, social theory and the real world are disparate points on a spectrum. A beautiful real-world example of something we might term intersectionality took place last week here in Vancouver.
Bernard Richard, British Columbia’s Representative for Children and Youth, spoke at the ceremony for the awarding of this year’s Janusz Korczak Medal for Children’s Rights Advocacy. He observed that it might be difficult for some people to see the parallels between a Jewish Pole who died in the Holocaust and a social worker and activist who is a Canadian First Nations woman. But the inspiring intersection of these two lives makes eminent sense.
Dr. Janusz Korczak, as regular readers know, was a hero of the Holocaust who chose to accompany the 200 children in the care of his orphanage to their deaths in Treblinka, despite the Nazis offering him a reprieve. But he is a hero not only for the way he died, but for the work of his life. Seen as the originator of the children’s rights movement, Korczak insisted on the recognition of children’s innate humanity – rather than merely their potential – and insisted on seeing children as individuals fully deserving of respect and self-determination.
Far away in time and place, Dr. Cindy Blackstock insisted on the rights of indigenous Canadian children. A human rights complaint she initiated, which took nine years to wend its way through the byzantine structures of federal institutions, resulted in a January 2016 decision that Canada has consistently discriminated against the 165,000 aboriginal children who live on reserves, and their families, by systemically underfunding services to those children and youth based solely on their identities.
Blackstock was awarded the annual Korczak medal for exemplifying the values of Korczak in advancing children’s rights.
In her acceptance speech, Blackstock spoke of walking in the footsteps of ancestors and others who came before. Korczak and Blackstock are both models for all who seek to advance the condition of children in the world. It is impossible to imagine what future greatness may be inspired by their examples. A Polish Jewish man, Korczak effectively invented a concept that is now entrenched in United Nations testaments to the rights of the child, affecting the lives of potentially every child on earth. An indigenous Canadian woman, Blackstock shepherded a human rights challenge that will improve the lives of every child living on reserves in Canada, and their families.
Someday, who knows when or where, these two examples will inspire some other individual to stand up where injustice and inequality intersect with some other group of people. Then that individual will themselves become a model for others.
Last week, the B.C. Supreme Court rejected a petition to stop the University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater Society from holding a referendum April 3-7. The question being posed in the referendum is the same one the AMS asked of students in 2015: “Do you support your student union (AMS) in boycotting products and divesting from companies that support Israeli war crimes, illegal occupation and the oppression of Palestinians?”
The question was brought to the AMS by the UBC branch of the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), which collected the required number of signatures to have a referendum that was initially scheduled to take place in March. It was postponed when UBC third-year commerce student Logan Presch filed a petition against it. He and his legal representation secured a court order that resulted in the referendum’s delay.
Presch’s petition stated the proposed question “is divisive, creates a toxic atmosphere for students supportive of the state of Israel, and is destructive of open and respectful debate on an important issue.” It also raised safety concerns, he said, noting the 2015 referendum “drove a wedge between religious groups on campus who had previously enjoyed interfaith outreach and collaboration. Students outwardly opposed to the [referendum] encountered a hostile reaction and there were reported acts of antisemitism on campus.”
In an affidavit, Rabbi Philip Bregman, executive director of Hillel BC, recalled that, at that time, anti-BDS lawn signs at UBC were pulled down. He also cited a climate of “a lack of personal security that many Jewish students experience on campus that is exacerbated by referenda such as the proposed question. There is an important line between robust political discourse and circumstances where I am compelled to deal with the personal security of students who study and live on campus who feel threatened by the consequences of this type of proposed question, which I believe foments the antisemitism and hostility I have described…. I believe that these students’ concerns for their personal safety are justified, as acts of violence have often followed hostility to Jews.”
While not Jewish, Presch is a member of the Jewish Students Association and the historically Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He declined requests to comment but, in an affidavit filed with his lawyer, Howard Mickelson, Presch recalled that the first referendum created a “toxic environment on campus.” He said the question being posed by the AMS was contrary to its mission statement, which is to “cultivate unity and goodwill among its members” and to “encourage free and open debate as well as respect for differing views.” Presch also noted that the AMS code of procedure requires referendum questions to be capable of a “yes” or “no” answer, but that this question is “so loaded with assumptions (which are themselves highly controversial), that it will not be clear what a yes or no vote by my student colleagues will actually mean.”
Mickelson said the court recognized that the question was loaded and that the intention of a “yes” vote could be unclear for the AMS to act on, but denied the petition because the court determined “the society’s bylaws do not require that a question be fair as long as it can be answered yes or no. The standard for a qualifying question is a low one.”
Mickelson said the court recognized the “concerns for student safety” and acknowledged “the responsibility of the AMS and UBC to ensure student safety and respectful debate by all means necessary.”
“Although this case involves the political hot potato issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of BDS on campus, we argued that this was about the interpretation of this society’s bylaws,” said Mickelson, who represented Presch’s petition pro bono. “One of the arguments made by proponents of the question was that, in the context of a referendum, one party that is ‘funded’ or has ‘connections’ may be able to shut down the question against those that may not have the same level of funding…. I thought it was important for the court to understand that I was doing this pro bono.”
Though “disappointed” about the ruling, Bregman said “we really won the battles because the judge didn’t disagree with any of our arguments. We lost because the judge felt he was bound by a very poorly written bylaw by the AMS. So, we go forward fighting this nefarious referendum aimed at marginalizing and demonizing not only Israel but, by extension, those who support Israel.”
Bregman recalled that, in the spring 2015 referendum, UBC had the largest “no” vote ever seen in Canada at that time. “We’re ready to fight the referendum,” he said, adding, “But really, what we’re all about is dialogue and this is something that the SPHR has never taken us up on. Whereas we have dialogue with all sorts of groups on campus, the SPHR has rebuffed all of our efforts.”
The referendum question was to be directed at students starting Monday, as the Jewish Independent was preparing to go to press.
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published by CJN.
Left to right are Kaila Kask (Mary Phagan), Emily Smith, Rachel Garnet and Alina Quarin with Riley Sandbeck (Leo Frank). (photo by Allyson Fournier)
On Aug. 17, 1915, 31-year-old Leo Frank was kidnapped from the Georgia State Penitentiary in Milledgeville by a Ku Klux Klan lynch mob and hanged by his neck until he was dead. His alleged crime: the rape and murder of 13-year-old factory worker Mary Phagan. His real crime: being Jewish, successful and a northerner in an impoverished Deep South still reeling from the humiliation of the Civil War and looking for retribution against its perceived oppressors.
The case has been the subject of novels, plays, movies and even a mini-series. But who would have thought that you could make a musical out of such a tragedy. Author Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) and Broadway producer Hal Prince (Cabaret) did. Thus Parade was born, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. It opened on Broadway in 1998, won two Tonys and went on to be produced across America to much acclaim.
Now, Fighting Chance Productions, a local amateur theatre company, is bringing this compelling story to Vancouver audiences for its Western Canadian première at the Rothstein Theatre April 14-29. Director Ryan Mooney and lead actor Advah Soudack (Lucille) spoke with the Jewish Independent about the upcoming production. But first, more background, because it is an incredible story.
Frank was a slight man – five feet, six inches tall, 120 pounds – with a nervous temperament. Born in Texas and raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering and was enticed to move to Atlanta in 1908 to run the factory owned by his uncle. There, he met and married Lucille, a 21-year-old woman from a prominent Jewish family. The newlyweds lived a life of privilege and wealth in a posh Atlanta neighbourhood, Frank became the president of the local B’nai B’rith chapter. However, having been brought up in the vibrant Yiddish milieu of New York, he always felt like an outsider amid the assimilated Southern Jewish community.
The journey to his tragic demise started the morning of Saturday, April 26, 1913, when little Mary put on her best clothes to attend the Confederate Memorial Day Parade in downtown Atlanta. On the way, she stopped at the National Pencil Factory, where Frank was the superintendent, to pick up her weekly pay packet from his office. That was the last time she was seen alive. Her body, half-naked and bloodied, was found in the basement of the factory later that day. Shortly after, Frank was arrested by the police and charged with the crime along with the African-American janitor, Jim Conley.
The trial was a media circus fueled by a zealous district attorney, Hugh Dorsey, who was looking for a conviction in a high-profile case to popularize his bid for the governorship of Georgia, and Tom Watson, a right-wing newspaper publisher who wrote virulent, racist editorials against Frank, casting him as a diabolical criminal and calling for a revival of the Klan “to do justice.” Frank was convicted by an all-white jury on the testimony of Conley – who had turned state’s evidence in exchange for immunity – and sentenced to death in a trial that can only be characterized as a miscarriage of justice replete with a botched police investigation, the withholding of crucial evidence, witness tampering and perjured testimony. This was America’s Dreyfus trial and Frank was the scapegoat.
The conviction appalled right-thinking people and mobilized Jewish communities across America into action. William Randolph Hearst and New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs campaigned on Frank’s behalf. The conviction and sentence were appealed. Georgia governor John Slaton was lobbied to review the case. For two years, Frank sat in jail not knowing his fate until, one day, he heard that Slaton had commuted his death sentence to life in prison. In response, frenzied mobs rioted in the streets and stormed the governor’s mansion. A state of martial law was declared and the National Guard called out to protect the city. Against this backdrop, Frank was transferred into protective custody at the state penitentiary but that did not stop the lynch mob, some of whom had been jurors at the trial.
It wasn’t until 1986 that Frank was (posthumously) pardoned by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Jewish Independent: What attracted you to this play?
Ryan Mooney: Parade has been a favourite musical of mine for as long as I can remember. I was drawn to it because it is such a fascinating story, it speaks so much to its time and continues to speak to us. When people see it, they will want to know more. It has beautiful soaring music, is very emotional, but also it is real, so relatable. It will take you on a journey that will touch you in many ways.
Advah Soudack: The songs, the music. When I was going through the script and getting used to the music, I could not get through some of the songs without choking up, it was so emotional, beautiful and real.
JI: How would you classify it as a theatrical piece?
RM: It is, in essence, a love story about a young man and a woman who learn through tragic circumstances to have a deeper love for each other and to appreciate each other’s kind of love.
AS: Leo sees love as a service, being a provider, while Lucille looks for love in spending quality time together and physical intimacy. Over time, their two loves unite.
JI: This isn’t your typical musical. It has a very dark side. It covers the kind of subject matter usually covered in narrative plays. Do you think people want to see this kind of musical theatre?
RM: Our company, as our name states, takes chances and we are taking a chance on this, but I think the risk is worthwhile and that audiences will appreciate the story. It seems to do very well wherever it plays – Broadway, London. We thought the Rothstein Theatre would be the perfect venue and we hope that the Jewish community will support us.
JI: Is this strictly a Jewish story?
RM: It is not necessarily just a Jewish story, it could be about anybody, anywhere. It is a fascinating look at a historic event through a musical lens. I don’t think Prince was trying to make a political statement when he produced the show but rather to educate people about the event. At the time of its first production, 1998, shows like Ragtime and Showboat were on Broadway alongside Parade. It seemed to be a time for examining how mainstream America treated those people it considered lesser citizens.
JI: What was it like to cast?
RM: The production requires a large cast: 25. I needed people who could sing and act. Lots of people auditioned and we ended up with a great cast, with the members spanning the ages of 18 to 60. What makes this show very relevant is that we have actors playing roles for their real ages, not trying to be someone younger or older, and that makes the production more realistic. I wanted at least one of the leads to be Jewish and Avdah was perfect for the role of Lucille.
AS: When I heard about this show, I jumped at the chance to apply. I had been out of theatre for about 10 years and I really wanted to get back into it. I was lucky enough to get a callback after my first audition and felt very proud of my performance the second time around. I was thrilled when I got the role.
JI: What is it like to deal with a true event as opposed to a fictional account?
RM: Because it is a real life story, there is so much more research you can do to make sure you get it right. I read Steve Oney’s And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank and gave it to members of the cast to read to get a feel for the characters and some background information. There is some material that did not make it into the musical but the play does essentially honour the accuracy of the event.
AS: I am reading the book right now and it is so fascinating to get the story behind the character and be able to use that as an actor.
JI: How are Leo and Lucille portrayed in the script?
RM: He is not portrayed that sympathetically. At the trial, he is really cold and does not look repentant but, ultimately, we see him break. If he were just shown as a martyr and everyone else a villain, that would not be interesting for the audience. Instead, the audience sees his flawed human character and that is why it is a great story to tell – [he’s] a person with faults that anyone can relate to.
AS: She is a Southern woman and a product of the American melting pot, more assimilated than Jewish, and that is how she survives. America wants you to become American first and everything else second. People like her thought like that and assimilated. Then, she is thrust into this case, where horrific things are being said against her husband on a daily basis in the newspapers and she has to deal with that. Yet, she stands by him and is one of his biggest supporters. She even went to the governor’s mansion to personally lobby him to intervene in the case. For a young Southern Jewish woman, that was a big step. So, you see her grow into this strong, independent woman.
She comes across very strong in the play, perhaps stronger than she really was in real life, but she was so committed to Leo’s cause and to him. She came every day to jail to visit him and bring him food. The circumstances of the tragedy allowed her the opportunity to become a heroine.
JI: What will the staging be like?
RM: The set is a long wall with platforms set at different levels. The lights will move through the different levels from scene to scene to create more of a cinematic flow, more like a movie than live theatre. We did not want the story’s flow to be interrupted by the audience clapping after every song. Of course, we do hope the audience will give a standing ovation at the end of the show.
JI: What do you expect audiences to take away from the musical?
RM: I want them to walk out with questions and want to look up more information about the case, but I also want them to leave with the understanding that all good art finds the grey in life and that everything is not black and white. One of the biggest issues in America today is the mentality that you are either with us or you are against us. The world is going in that direction and it is a hard place to be. You have to be able to see issues from all angles if you want to see any positive growth. There are some ambiguities in the show but there are also strong life lessons about the dangers of prejudice and ignorance.
A teenager was arrested last week in relation to the scores of bomb threats against Jewish institutions throughout North America and elsewhere. There was widespread relief over the arrest, on the assumption that most, if not all, of the threats had emanated from this one individual.
There was also astonishment and heartbreak, though, when the alleged perpetrator was identified as a Jew with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Very little is known beyond the basic facts of the arrest and that the young man, who lives in Ashdod, in southern Israel, has a brain tumour that affects his cognitive abilities.
The bomb and other threats, the graffiti, hate materials and cemetery desecrations experienced in various parts of the world recently have combined to create a sense of unease unprecedented in the memory of most North American Jews. If a young Jewish man was indeed the cause of much of this anxiety for so many, how are we supposed to respond to this news? Would we prefer it were a Ku Klux Klanner who did these deeds? Does it make a difference?
Certainly it makes a difference.
Rational or not, there is more of a sense of shame, betrayal and even fear. And, as a commentator wrote in the Forward, there is the question, “Will people take seriously future antisemitic threats, or will our concerns be dismissed if it’s another Jew who is responsible for them?” This idea – that future threats to our community could be dismissed because these repeated incidents emanated from a Jew – is threatening in itself.
The arrest brought confusion for many. How to respond? If these deeds were the doings of a Jew, is it antisemitism, or something else? The Anti-Defamation League was unequivocal.
“These were acts of antisemitism,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the ADL. “These threats targeted Jewish institutions, were calculated to sow fear and anxiety, and put the entire Jewish community on high alert.”
While it remains to be seen what personal, ideological or other motivations may have inspired these (and other) threats, their impacts are clear. The arrest does not erase the experiences of parents rushing their children out of swimming pools or seniors hurrying to evacuate buildings.
Beyond this, though, the sad circumstance is part of a larger narrative. Not only have current events given people with antisemitic ideas apparent permission to express these, we see the president of the United States hesitating and equivocating in condemning antisemitism and, worse, openly engaging in discriminatory statements and actions against Muslims and Mexicans.
Neither is the social disease of discrimination absent in Canada, as demonstrated by anti-Muslim comments and threats over – ironically – a parliamentary motion against Islamophobia, as well as the anti-Jewish remarks of some Muslim clerics in Ontario and Quebec.
But, Canadians can be proud of at least one thing. As British Columbia’s NDP leader John Horgan said in an interview with the Independent (see jewishindependent.ca/b-c-ndp-leader-talks-with-ji), these incidents have encouraged our elected leaders and ordinary citizens to stand together to reiterate our commitment to diversity and tolerance.
The best antidote to the bad things we see in the world is all of us standing up to do more of these good things.
A Jewish teenager with dual Israeli and American citizenship living in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon was arrested March 23 in connection to the more than 100 bomb threats against Jewish community centres and other Jewish institutions across North America since the beginning of 2017.
The suspect, 19, was arrested by Israel’s Lahav 433 police unit in the wake of a months-long investigation by Israeli authorities, who worked alongside the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies. Authorities did not release the suspect’s name. Additionally, police detained the suspect’s father on suspicion that he knew of his son’s activities.
Authorities believe the suspect was also behind a bomb threat against two Delta Airlines flights between New York and Tel Aviv in January 2015, the Times of Israel reported.
The JCC Association of North America said on March 23 that it is “gratified by the progress in this investigation” and praised law enforcement agencies’ “commitment and leadership.” But the umbrella organization for the community centres added that it is “troubled to learn that the individual suspected of making these threats … [is] Jewish.”
During a raid on the suspect’s home, authorities found an advanced computer lab with sophisticated equipment, including voice-altering technology, encryption methods and a large antenna that he likely used to phone and email bomb threats to Jewish institutions in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel.
It is believed the suspect has lived in Israel for several years, and that the Israel Defence Forces refused to draft him “on personal grounds after finding him unfit for service,” Haaretz reported.
Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said this arrest was part of a coordinated international operation. “This specific investigation was complex in terms of the suspect and its nature, and there was a significant breakthrough in the investigation, which led us to make the arrest of the suspect, who lives in southern Israel,” he told the Jerusalem Post.
Rosenfeld added that “he was the main suspect behind the numerous amount of threats which were made to different Jewish communities and organizations around the world.” Investigators, he said, will continue to “see if and how he was connected to the different Jewish communities in the U.S. That directs the investigation to the American connection. We are looking to see if there was an incident which triggered him to carry out threatening those communities.”
Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan congratulated police on the arrest and expressed his hope that it would bring an end to the threats against Jewish institutions.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, meanwhile, said the Department of Justice “is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs. I commend the FBI and Israeli National Police for their outstanding work on this case.”
Earlier this month, U.S. authorities arrested Juan Thompson, a 31-year-old former news reporter from St. Louis, in connection with eight bomb threats against Jewish institutions. At the time, law enforcement officials said Thompson was not believed to be the main suspect behind the threats, an assertion that is purportedly confirmed by the latest arrest.
Following the March 23 arrest in Israel, Anti-Defamation League chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said that, even though “it appears that the main culprit behind the majority of these attacks has allegedly been identified, antisemitism in the U.S. remains a very serious concern.”
He said, “No arrests have been made in three cemetery desecrations [that occurred in early 2017] or a series of other antsemitic incidents involving swastika graffiti and hate fliers. JCCs and other institutions should not relax security measures or become less vigilant.”
– for more international Jewish news and opinion, visit JNS.org
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Canadian reactions
“We are relieved and grateful that authorities have located the individual believed to be responsible for these false threats. At the same time, we are shocked and outraged to learn that the alleged perpetrator of these crimes, which terrorized our community, is a Jewish dual American-Israeli citizen. He appears to have acted alone, and we unequivocally condemn his behaviour.
“While Israeli authorities deserve credit for arresting this individual, he was apprehended following a lengthy and complex global investigation that included Canadian and other global law enforcement partners. We remain deeply appreciative of the work of Canadian government, police and security agencies in supporting our community.
“While these threats proved to be false, the Jewish community remains a target of hate. We encourage communal institutions to remain vigilant and follow their existing security protocols.”
– David J. Cape, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs
“If the allegations are true, it would prove to be shameful and disheartening.”
– Avi Benlolo, Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre