Tag: Hamas

United against antisemitism

Among those on stage as Irwin Cotler received a lifetime achievement award from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs last month were, left to right, Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Quebecois leader), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ariela and Irwin Cotler, David Posluns (one of the event co-chairs), Steven Kroft (one of the event co-chairs), Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Party leader) and Shimon Koffler Fogel (head of CIJA). (photo by Dave Gordon)

It was a conference months in the making, but Antisemitism: Face It, Fight It took on heightened poignancy in light of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel and the subsequent spike in Jew-hatred globally.

Produced by Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the conference took place in Ottawa Oct. 16 and 17. Speakers included activists, politicians, experts and analysts on antisemitism. In attendance were 250 student leaders and some 600 others, Jews and non-Jews, according to organizers.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, chief executive officer of CIJA, noted there was an outpouring of support from the major political party leaders, as well as from minority, faith and other groups – “a uniform conclusion about Hamas and their actions, and we should embrace that.”

This message was echoed throughout the two days of the conference.

“It can’t just be Jews who talk about the rise of antisemitism. It can’t just be Muslims that talk about anti-Muslim hate,” said Farah Pandith, senior advisor to the Anti-Defamation League. “It can’t be. Whether we are talking about LGBTQ or issues of heritage or gender, we’ve had to stand up for each other. As a Muslim, it’s what my religion tells me I must do for the other.”

Former premier of Alberta Jason Kenney, who was elected as an MP in 1997, said he became a supporter of the Jewish people after the “unravelling of the Oslo process,” and learning of the antisemitism coming from Palestinian mosques and leaders.

“Do not take for granted the positions being expressed here in Ottawa today,” said Kenney. “You must redouble your efforts intelligently to build coalitions across the pluralism of this country, and to be a voice of clarity and courage with our political leadership.” Citing examples of possible coalitions, he told the JI that “the Jewish community has to continue to reach out to Muslim and other communities, find allies.”

“I know we can best tackle what we are seeing when we work together, when we are not siloed,” said Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani, an Ismaili Muslim, in his speech. “Hatred and intolerance against any minority community is a risk to every minority community. That’s why groups promoting equity have to have each other’s backs.”

Emily Schrader, digital strategist and senior correspondent of Ynet News, observed, “We see now that all over the world there are Iranians organizing and participating in rallies to support Israel … despite knowing that the Iranian regime is the biggest supporter of Hamas. The Iranian people have a complete rejection of the regime.”

Canadian human rights advocate Irwin Cotler received a lifetime achievement award from CIJA “in recognition of his enduring commitment to the pursuit of justice” and “the advancement of human rights for the world’s most vulnerable and oppressed.”

In his acceptance speech, Cotler applauded the multi-partisan groups standing up against antisemitism, “who heed this call to action, where we act in concert on behalf of our common humanity.”

Cotler was a parliamentarian from 1999 to 2015 and is a former minister of justice. Over the course of his legal career, he represented clients such as Natan Sharansky and Nelson Mandela. Until recently, he was the government’s special envoy on antisemitism. He said “2023 is not 1943” and “there is a Jewish state as an antidote to Jewish powerlessness.”

“In 1943,” he said, “the Jews could not get a meeting with the president of the United States, and, in 2023, the president has been a leader in calling out this [Hamas’s] moral evil.”

Cotler told the JI that young Jews should bravely step forward to “call out antisemitism when they see it, unmask it, expose it.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out Hamas as a “terrorist organization that launched an attack of unspeakable brutality” and said “Canada supports Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law.” He said the only thing Hamas stands for is “more suffering for Israeli and Palestinian civilians.”

In addressing “scary rising antisemitism,” Trudeau said “families are worried about what they face if they go to synagogue, and I’m sure you are all seeing hateful rhetoric online.” He ended by saying, in Hebrew, “gam zu l’avor” – “this too shall pass.”

Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, head of the Conservative Party, vowed that his party would stand with Israel, and acknowledged the fears of many Jewish Canadians. About Oct. 7, he said, “the terrorists that carried out this attack did so as part of a deliberate agenda: to maximize bloodshed not only of the Jewish people, but actually to maximize the bloodshed of Palestinians and Muslims as well. These are the actions of sadistic, criminal terrorists who can only be defeated and not negotiated with.”

Poilievre added that, especially in light of Iran’s fingerprints being on the attacks, governments must “respond with crippling sanctions – the strongest legal action – and by criminalizing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, said, “These are horrific attacks and we strongly condemn them. There is no place in our world for terrorism. The international community must work together to ensure that there is an end to terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Singh acknowledged that Jews in Canada are “deeply afraid” and “worried about their safety.”

“It’s wrong and I’m deeply sorry it’s happening,” he said.

In noting pro-Hamas rallies around the world, Singh said, “We’ve seen horrible celebrations for the attacks on Israelis civilians. This is abhorrent. This is antisemitism. Violence against civilians is never justified.”

He concluded: “I know that not everyone will agree with our position on a ceasefire, but I believe the only way to peace is to talk to each other.”

Historian and author Gil Troy encouraged the audience to not forget the courage of “our citizen’s army, our plainclothes commandos, our kibbutzim Rambos and our army,” who saved innocents from much worse.

“When I heard these stories, I shift[ed] from the victim mentality to the Zionist mentality. The Zionist is one that says ‘yes, we sometimes suffer,’ but we are not passive and we are not victims. The Zionist story says we are not alone. We can’t let them win.”

Calgary-based communications consultant Emile Scheffel, who is not-Jewish, told the JI: “History shows that those who threaten the Jewish people are enemies of freedom and dignity for the rest of us as well. I stand with Israel because the Jewish state embodies the values of freedom, democracy and pluralism that are important to me.”

He added, “the conference was an important call to action for non-Jews to stand with our Jewish friends and neighbours in opposing hatred and discrimination. A united front is essential to making sure that antisemitism doesn’t gain any more ground in Canada, and that Jewish Canadians can live in peace and security.”

Attendee Nika Jabiyeva, member of the Network of Azerbaijani Canadians, said she was proud to “stand against hate, shoulder to shoulder with our friends in the Jewish community and many multifaith allies.”

“Our voices carry more weight when we speak up for one another,” she said, “especially during trying times.”

Dave Gordon is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications around the world. His website is davegordonwrites.com.

Identifying the victims

On Oct. 31, among the ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel Defence Forces personnel brief a delegation of Conservative rabbis and lay leaders from the United States, Canada and Britain, which was on a three-day solidarity mission organized by the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Centre. (photo by Boaz Pearlstein)

WARNING: Extremely graphic reporting.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 cross-border assault on multiple army bases, kibbutzim, cities and a music festival in the Gaza Strip periphery, staff at the Israel Defence Forces’ Shura base have been working around the clock to identify the remains of the 1,100 civilians and 315 IDF soldiers, reservists and police officers massacred by jihadi terrorists. With so many bodies, the victims were initially kept in refrigerated milk trucks in the morgue’s parking lot. Plain wooden coffins are stacked in the corridors, waiting for a positive identification so the remains may be released to their families for burial at a military or civilian cemetery. Only then can Judaism’s seven-day period of mourning begin.

A month on, the sickly smell of death lingers. Pathologists at this normally quiet IDF logistics centre and home base of the military rabbinate corps – located on the outskirts of Ramla, a mixed Jewish-Arab city not far from Ben-Gurion Airport – continue their painstaking, harrowing but holy forensic mission.

Dismembered limbs and badly decomposed bodies continue to be delivered. The human remains are sniffed out under the rubble of destroyed buildings by IDF canine units, staff told a 33-person Oct. 31 delegation of Conservative rabbis and lay leaders from the United States, Canada and Britain.

Initially, it is often impossible to determine if the remains are those of victims or perpetrators, Col. Rabbi Haim Weisberg, head of the IDF’s rabbinic division, told the religious leaders. Many are mutilated with limbs and heads dismembered, making the ghoulish jigsaw puzzle even more complex.

“We are in an abnormal situation and that is why it is taking so much time to identify the bodies. In most cases, we have had to identify people via deep tissue DNA or dental records because there is nothing left,” he explained.

The complex identification process has been compounded because so many of the victims were not Israeli residents.

Pathologists can take several hours to assess a body, photograph it and document the fatal wounds. Out of respect for the dead and their families, the IDF is not releasing those photos.

Weisberg spoke not only about whole bodies but also about charred and incomplete remains, including what in one case turned out to be a corpse so severely burned that only a CT scan revealed it was a mother and baby bound together in a final embrace.

The grisly job is complicated by uncertainty over the tally of victims. According to constantly updated data from the IDF, more than 1,400 Israelis and foreigners were murdered. Some 238 people are believed to be held hostage by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip and the fate of dozens of others is unknown. Some may be held inside Gaza by other terrorist groups, like Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or even by individuals. Others may still be among the dead, yet to be identified by the staff at Shura.

When drafted, all IDF recruits provide samples of their DNA and fingerprints, and have their teeth X-rayed. The army does not rely exclusively on identification made through a soldier’s twin dog tags kept in their combat boots and worn on a chain around the neck.

According to halachah (Jewish law), fallen soldiers are buried in a coffin in their blood-soaked uniform. They are not ritually washed in the tahara ceremony – the Jewish tradition of purification of the dead – nor are they wrapped in shrouds. The intention is that God should be angered by witnessing the fallen defenders among his Chosen People. Personal effects like a cellphone, watch or wallet are washed of blood and then returned to the family of the deceased. Artifacts that cannot be cleansed of blood are buried with the deceased.

By contrast, civilian dead are ritually washed and wrapped in shrouds. Generally, in Israel, they are interred directly in the ground without a coffin.

While dental records can allow straightforward identification of dead soldiers, that information is often unavailable for civilians. Many dental offices in the city of Sderot near Gaza were destroyed, and with them their files.

Ritual washing is tasked to male and female reservists who have volunteered for the mitzvah (commandment) of chesed shel emet (true kindness).

Women soldiers perform tahara for the hundreds of girls and women who were murdered. The team is working in shifts around the clock. Among them is Shari, an architect living in Jerusalem whose surname may not be released under IDF security regulations. She volunteered for the unit when it was established more than a decade ago to ensure that the modesty of female recruits killed in action was protected.

“We saw evidence of rape … and this was also among grandmothers down to small children,” she stated.

Shari said she and the other volunteers received specialized training from the IDF, which prepared them practically and mentally to care for the bodies of the dead. Until Oct. 7, she had not been called for active duty.

“I’ve seen things with my own eyes that no one should ever see,” she said, describing how she took care of the dead women. Many were still dressed in their pajamas. Their bodies had been booby-trapped with grenades, and the remains bore evidence of extreme brutality.

Shari’s duties begin with opening the body bags to remove the dead person’s clothes, jewelry and any other personal possessions in order to return them to the families.

“The only colour among the blood and dirt was their nails, beautiful manicures, painted the brightest colours,” Shari said, adding, “Their nails made me weep.”

“We gathered this group of 33 Jewish communal leaders from across North America to witness the horrors our brothers and sisters have suffered,” said Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff, chief executive officer of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Centre – a home for Conservative and Masorti Judaism in Israel, which organized the three-day solidarity mission. Located in Jerusalem, the centre offers opportunities to study, pray and explore within an egalitarian and inclusive setting, creating multiple pathways for finding personal and communal meaning.

The solidarity group included the first civilians to tour the devastated remains of Kibbutz Be’eri, where terrorists went house to house slaughtering the inhabitants. Wearing flak vests and helmets, the clergy and communal leaders recited the El Male Rachamim and Kaddish prayers for the dead as soldiers continued their search for human remains.

“We literally saw the blood of our people crying out to us from the ground,” said Arnoff.

“It is our moral obligation to make sure that the world knows what happened there.”

Gil Zohar is a writer and tour guide in Jerusalem.

We are not here, there

These past weeks have been nothing we diaspora Jews have known for generations. We feel pain, anguish and horror. If our hearts are not just broken, but shattered, how can we begin to imagine theirs, in Israel, when we are here and not there?

As citizens of the world, we fail to comprehend how human beings can be filled with a type of venom so potent to allow themselves to commit acts of such savagery. We want to turn our eyes away from the pictures that serve as testament to the Hamas terrorists’ brutality, but we are forced to look, we must look.

We try to capture in our minds snapshots of the land we love; the rich and wonderful places we have visited on times spent there and the vitality of the strong, diverse and beautiful people that crowd Israel’s usually bustling streets.

We WhatsApp, email and call family and friends to check on their safety. We are without words. We don’t have the vocabulary. It is hard to put together sentences or know what to ask. We type and erase, erase and then type again. Of course, they are not OK, we know they are not, but grasping the depth of their despair we cannot know for we are here: we are not there.

We turn to the media to tell us what they know, or what they think they know. We scroll at an accelerated pace through social media and, if brave enough, we post our thoughts and then we wait; we wait for response.

We try not to judge, but we do judge those people we thought could understand our anguish. Why haven’t they reached out? Why haven’t they written? Do they find it harder to find the words than we do?

We go to gatherings and rallies thinking how can we even begin to feel afraid? We are not in harm’s way, for we are here and not there, and, yet, we catch glimpses of the helicopter hovering above and the uniformed police and security guards stationed outside our community institutions. Some debate going to classes on university campuses, sending precious children to school and attending synagogue services. We measure the size of the protests that take place on the streets of our home.

As the days go by, we try to go back to some sort of normal, feeling guilty that we actually can, because we are here and not there. This time, however, something feels eerily different. Things are not the same. Until now, perhaps we lived under the illusion that we are safe, protected and fully accepted because we are here and not there. We have tricked ourselves into believing that double standards do not exist, that under-the-surface bias toward us cannot lurk. But we know better now that it can, and it does, and it is painful and lonely and real.

We must not be complacent, as we cannot fade into the masses. We must put on our own armour of pride, strength and morality and endure all that lies ahead. And, while we go on, we do so having to sit with the uncomfortable truth that, while we are not there, we are not really here either.

Danita Dubinsky Aziza is a member of the Winnipeg Jewish community and wrote a book about her experiences as a third-generation Canadian living in Israel from 2008 to 2012, Finding Home: A Journey of Life Lessons in the Land of Israel. This article was originally published in the Winnipeg Jewish Review.

המלחמה במזרח התיכון תשפיע לרעה על חיי יהודים וישראלים בכל רחבי העולם

בשלב זה ישראל מקבלת תמיכה ממרבית מדינות המערב. אך יש סיכוי שעם ההתקדמות של מבצע צבאי של צה”ל ברצועת עזה, התמיכה תלך ותרד עם עליית הנפגעים בצד הפלסטיני
(photo by Roni Rachmani)

המלחמה הקשה שמתנהלת בימים אלה בין ישראל לחאמס ויכולה להתפשט לחזיתות נוספות, צפוייה להשפיע לרעה על חיי יהודים וישראלים הגרים בקנדה, ארה”ב, אירופה ומקומות אחרים. הם צפויים לעמוד מול איומים שונים של פלסטינים ותומכיהם שמאשימים את ישראל גם במשבר הנוכחי. תומכי הפלסטינים קוראים להקמת מדינה לפלסטינים מהנהר ועד הים – שפירושה המעשי השמדת מדינת ישראל

העולם המערבי כולל צפון אמריקה מלא כיום מיליוני מוסלמים שהיגרו ממדינות ערב לאורך שנים רבות. חלק לא מבוטל מהם ממשיך לשמור נאמנות למוצאם ודתם בצורה פנאטית ורואה בישראל כמדינת אויב

עוד שגרתי בישראל טענתי שהסכסוך בינה ובין הפלסטינים וחלק ממדינות ערב יסכן גם את חיי היהודים והישראלים הגרים מחוץ למדינה. אמרתי אז שלישראל יש גם את האחריות לשמור על היהודים והישראלים, שבחרו לגור במקומות שונים בעולם ובעיקר במערב. ומוטל על ישראל לשקול בזהירות את צעדיה שכאמור יכולים להשפיע לרעה על היהודים והישראלים שגרים בחוץ לארץ

עובדה היא שאנטשימיות נגד יהודים וישראלים ברחבי העולם הולכת וגדלה, וכבר בסכסוך הקשה הנוכחי, נרשם גידול נוסף בשנה נגדם. וזו רק ההתחלה. אני צופה להרעה משמעותית עד סכנת חיים ליהודים והישראלים בצפון אמריקה, אירופה ומקומות אחרים. כבר עתה ידוע על הפגנות גדולות קשות נגד ישראל ותמיכה בפלסטינים. אלה עלולות להחמיר לעימותים פיזיים קשים עם יהודים וישראלים ואף יותר מכך. משטרות בערים רבות בעולם הדקו את ההגנה על מוסדות יהודים שונים ובהם בתי כנסת. נרשמו כבר לא מעט איומים נגד יהודים, ישראלים ומוסדות שונים בעולם ולכן השמירה מאוד חשובה במיוחד בימים טרופים אלה

בשלב זה ישראל מקבלת תמיכה ממרבית מדינות המערב. אך יש סיכוי שעם ההתקדמות של מבצע צבאי של צה”ל ברצועת עזה, התמיכה תלך ותרד עם עליית הנפגעים בצד הפלסטיני. במקביל צפויים היהודים והישראלים ברחבי העולם לסבול מגידול משמעותי באנטישמיות, התנכלויות, ואף מאיומים פיזיים

חברת אייר קנדה מהירה לפטר טייס מוסלמי שהתבטא נגד ישראל וכתב בחשבון הטוויטר שלו: “היטלר גאה בישראל”. מוסטפא איזו השתתף בהפגנה במונטריאול בעד הפלסטינים נגד ישראל והוא אף הצטלם עם צעיף בצבעי דגל פלסטין. זו לא הפעם הראשונה שאיזו מתבטא נגד ישראל ותומך בפלסטינים אך הפעם מתברר שהוא חצה את הגבול ובאייר קנדה מיהרו לפטרו

ראש ממשלת קנדה, ג’סטין טרודו, גינה את מתקפות הטרור נגד ישראל בהתייחסו להתקפה של חמאס על עשרות ישובי עוטף עזה בה נרצחו למעלה מאלף שלוש מאות ישראלים, נפצעו למעלה מארבעת אלפים ונלקחו בשבי קרוב לוודאי כמאה וחמישים אזרחים, חיילים, ועובדים זרים. בהודעה שפרסם בטוויטר אמר טרודו כי פעולות אלימות אלה בלתי מקובלות באופן מוחלט. אנו עומדים לימין ישראל ותומכים באופן מלא בזכות להגן על עצמה.  מחשבות שלנו תמיד עם כל אדם שנפגע. חייבים להגן על חיי אזרחים, חתם טרודו את הודעתו. מנהיג האופוזיציה והמפלגה הקונסרבטיבית, פייק פוליוויר, גינה באופן חד משמעי את הפלישה של טרוריסטים של חמאס לישראל ואת האלימות האכזרית שהם הפעילו נגד אזרחים חפים מפשע. לדבריו לישראל הזכות להגן על עצמה בפני התקפות אלה ולפעול נגד התוקפים. מנהיג מפלגת השמאל אן.די.פי ג’גמיט סינג כתב בחשבון הטוויטר כי הוא מגנה את ההתקפות הנוראיות שביצע החמאס בישראל. אסור לעולם לפגוע באזרחים וכל החטופים צריכים להיות מחשוררים באופן מיידי. לדברי סינג יש חשש מההתפתחויות עתה. טרור ואלימות לא יפתרו דבר

Open letter – Jewish media outlets worldwide call for combating the surge in antisemitism

The following piece, an initiative of the Jewish News in London and the Jerusalem Post, is being published simultaneously in Jewish media outlets around the world.

Two decades ago, the former British Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, astutely likened antisemitism to a constantly evolving virus. One that, in the modern era, specifically targets the Jewish nation-state.

He aptly described this prejudice as a deeply ingrained malignancy, perpetually lingering beneath the surface of society. For many of us in the global Jewish community, the great man’s words were not merely a statement of truth but also a stark reminder. Until recent days, the extent and intensity of this virulent strain of hatred were tragically underestimated.

While the need for stringent security measures at schools and synagogues has long been a familiar reality, the realization that such profound levels of hatred and indifference to the threat exist on a global scale has been a devastating shock.

We dared to hope such malevolence had been relegated to the annals of history.

Today, in an unprecedented moment in Jewish history, we unite as Jewish news outlets spanning borders, continents, and religious affiliations to issue this open letter – something we never envisioned as necessary or even conceivable.

The events of recent weeks have surpassed even the somber portrayal offered by Rabbi Sacks all those years ago. Some of those who propagate hatred, concealing their prejudice under the veneer of being ‘anti-Israel,’ no longer find it necessary to obscure their malice.

We’ve witnessed raw hatred against Jews in cities across the globe.

In Dagestan, a mob ran towards planes on a runway to check passengers’ passports, hunting for disembarking Jews.

In Sydney, when authorities lit the famous Opera House in Israel’s colors, a crowd sang ‘Gas the Jews’.

In Lyon France, a woman was stabbed at her home, and a Swastika was spraypainted on her front door.

In London, red paint was daubed on Jewish school doors and the Wiener Holocaust Library.

In Berlin, Magen Davids have been spray painted on homes, a haunting echo of scenes in that German city 90 years ago.

On campuses across the United States, ‘martyrs’ who butchered Jewish children in their beds on October 7 are being celebrated, while a student at Cornell University was arrested for posting death threats against Jews.

This is not a call for two states living side by side in peace. This is not legitimate opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

How could we have been so blind to this malignancy in our midst?

And yet, all that we have seen so far isn’t even our worst fear. Our gravest concerns lie in what the future may hold.

Meanwhile, some world leaders act as cheerleaders, sometimes inadvertently but at other times, not. Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro said: “If I had lived in Germany of 1933, I would have fought on the side of the Jewish people, and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948, I would have fought on the Palestinian side”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “Hamas is not a terrorist organization”.

The head of the UN Antonio Guterres said 7/10 “didn’t happen in a vacuum”.

No, it didn’t, Mr Guterres. It required decades of indoctrination, years of holding up terrorists as heroes to be lionized, a sure way to fame and, often, fortune, and the presence of a terrorist organization whose central aim is to wipe Israel – and every one of our a Jewish family and friends – off the face of the earth.

Have no doubt, that Hamas is cheering those ‘from the river to the sea’ chants because a Palestine between the river to the sea leaves not a single inch for Israel.

Why do so many still seek to deny what’s in Hamas’ own charter?

And why are so many good people still silent when cheerleaders for terrorists decide the worst massacre of our co-religionists since the Holocaust is a good moment to open up a second, global front targeting Jews on campus, at work, on the streets, and at home?

Clearly not everyone marching under the Palestinian flag fantasizes about our deaths or the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state.

But please, try to understand that whether it’s one person, 100 people, or 10,000, the chilling impact of seeing so many people echo and excuse hateful chants is profound.

It’s not easy to speak on behalf of Jews in one country, never mind the world, nor do we purport to. As journalists, we report, opine, and comment. But the level of fear among our readers is like nothing in memory. It feels like those two equilateral triangles that combine to form our beloved Star of David represent a six-pointed target.

This is heightened by the fact there will be those who dismiss every word in this piece as having been written in bad faith, part no doubt of our supposed control of power and the media that has manipulated their warped minds. There will also be Jews who tell you this article doesn’t speak for them. Before those in the media feel the urge to put them on the airwaves in an attempt at ‘balance’, please first ask for an ounce of proof that they represent more than a tiny band of misfits. Some are more likely to stand alongside the Iranian regime that is so despised by much of the Muslim world than they would with most Jews.

Please don’t, however, mistake this growing fear for a lack of determination to fight our corner as citizens deserving of support and protection in our home nations, or doubt our solidarity as a people numbering just 16 million. In fact, we’ve never been so determined, so energized, so united and so proud, as highlighted by the huge uptick in sales of Stars of David. The incredible response in holding rallies, supporting charities, and fighting running battles on social media is something that will remain a source of pride for as long as those horrific images from Kibbutz Beeri and the peace rave.

This unity has been a light in the darkness. Another has been the support, publicly and sometimes not, of our real friends in all communities. Again, we will never ever forget this.

Our collective Jewish heart bleeds for the families of those who lost relatives in the Hamas atrocities and those facing agonizing waits for news of the kidnapped men, women, and children. Whether directly or not directly, many of our readers will be connected to these innocents. But our hearts bleed too for the innocents killed in Gaza as a result of this entirely unnecessary war launched by Hamas.

Over the unbearably painful days ahead, we – as providers of news for secular or religious Jews, those who frequently critique Israeli policy and those who don’t, those who see Israel are central to their identity, and those who are drawn nearer by crises such as this – call on the world to listen and treat us as you would want to be treated.

It shouldn’t be too much to ask.

המלחמה של ישראל

המלחמה הנוכחית שנכפתה על ישראל מציגה שני מראות עיקריים: אסון וזוועה על מה שעשו מחבלי חמאס וכישלון גדול של הממשלה בראשות בנימין נתניהו, הצבא, מערך המודיעין, השב”כ ואולי גם המוסד

החמאס הוכיח שהוא ארגון טרור רצחני ולא אנושי תוך שהוא מותיר מאות הרוגים ופצועים. אחרים נלקחו בשבי. לא מדובר רק בחיילי צה”ל אלה בעיקר באזרחים, נשים וילדים, גברים וזקנים. חלקם נטבחו, חלקם עונו וחלקם כך סתם נרצחו. החלק האחר הוא אולי במצב הקשה ביותר: נלקח בשבי על מנהרות החמאס בעזה הצפופה. מאז קום המדינה לא היה אירוע כזה בו נהרגו ביום אחד מאות רבות של אזרחים וחיילים. הפוגרום הנורא ביותר בתולדות הישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל. התמונות בערוצי הטלוויזיה ואתרי החדשות באינטרנט על הנרצחים, הפצועים ואלו שנשבו, הם קשות מנשוא. חיות אדם בסגנון דאעש אחראים לדבר הנורא הזה

במקביל הכישלון של ישראל שנתפסה מופתעת לחלוטין מתקפת הפתע של חמאס, ולאחר מכן לקח זמן רב מדי לכוחות צה”ל ומערך הביטחון להגיע אל ישובי חבל עזה, ולהציל את אלה שהמחבלים לא הספיקו להרוג. נתניהו קיבל מידע ואזהרה מהמצרים ממה שחמאס עומד לעשות והתעלם מכך. היה לו הרבה יותר חשבו לעבות את השמירה הצבאית על ההתנחלויות בשטחים הכבושים, שנציגיהם יושבים בממשלתו. נתניהו הזחוח והשחצן ייזכר לדראון עולם כראש הממשלה הגרוע ביותר בתולדות ישראל. זאת, כיוון שהוא לא מנע את האסון הגדול ביותר שקרה למדינה ולאזרחיה. “שותפים מלאים” לכשלונו של נתניהו חברי ממשלתו שאין להם מושג איך לנהל מדינה והם דואגים רק לאינטרסים האישיים שלהם. גם לצבא הגנה לישראל יש חלק גדול בכישלון הנוראי שגב המחיר קשה מנשוא. מערכת ההגנה על יישובי חבל עזה עם כל הטכנולוגיה שלה קרסה תוך דקות על ידי עשרות מחבלי חמאס שנהרו אל הישובים החשופים. מערך המודיעין של צה”ל, השב”כ ואולי גם המוסד לא ידע כלל על הכנות של החמאס לביצוע המבצע לכניסה לשטחי ישראל. לקיום מבצע שזה דרושים חודשים ארוכים תוך תיאום עם גורמים באיראן ואחרים. כל אלה הצליחו להערים על המודיעין הישראלי בקלות בלתי נתפסת

לאחר שהמלחמה תסתיים צפוי שבכירים בצבא, במערך המודיעין והרמטכ”ל, בכירים בשב”כ ובמוסד והעומדים בראשם יתפטרו עוד לפני שוועדת החקירה הממלכתית תדון בסוגיית האחריות והכישלון שאפשר לחמאס לבצע את פשעיו. לעומתם נתניהו כרגיל לא יקח שום אחריות למעשיו. בכל הקריירה הפוליטית הארוכה שלו הוא תמיד ידע להאשים אחרים. אבל שום אחריות אישית. נתניהו יעשה הכל כבעבר להמשיך ולשבת על כיסא המלך כי נתניהו דואג רק לנתניהו

נתניהו מינה חברי ממשלה חסרי יכולת לטפל בתיקים עליהם הם אחראים. לא כישוריהם הביאו אותם לשולחן הממשלה, אלא הנאמנות למנהיג נתניהו. לכן לא מפתיע לגלות את חוסר יכולתם של שרי הממשלה הנוכחית לטפל במצוקות הרבות של ישראל בימי המלחמה הקשים האלה. נשמעה ביקורת נוקבת על שרי ממשלת נתניהו שלא ביקרו פצועים בבתי החולים ולא השתתפו בהלוויות הקורבנות הרבים

בתור אחד שגר בישראל ארבעים וחמש שנים לא האמנתי שהמדינה תגיע למצב שכזה. החברה מפוררת מבפנים בעיקר לתודות הרפורמה המשפטית של נתניהו. הצבא לא ערוך לאתגרים האינסופיים שלו ואת ההנהגה תפסו פוליטיקאים קטנים שנכשלו בתפקידם. ישראל משלמת היום מחיר כבוד מאוד לאור מחדלי ההנהגה שלה. אני לא צופה עתיד ורוד בהמשך הדרך. על נתניהו מוטל לעשות רק דבר אחד: ללכת הביתה

“We are safe,” says Shanken

For safety reasons, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver is asking community members to avoid anti-Israel protests or events. (photo by Larry Barzelai)

“We are safe,” says Ezra Shanken. The chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver reassured local Jews that, in light of massively increased tensions globally, there are no specific increased threats to the Jewish community in British Columbia.

Despite fears, no serious attacks or incidents of vandalism have been reported, with the exception of an incident in Surrey. Someone threw eggs at the home of Rabbi Falik Schtroks, spiritual leader of the Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley, and a swastika was drawn in felt pen on a window of the home.

“One of the things that people who hurt the Jewish people … don’t realize, when that happens, we always come together,” the rabbi told CTV News.

“We’ve seen what happened to Rabbi Schtroks’ place,” Shanken said. “We take that very seriously. But, on the whole, we are safe.”

Jewish community organizations, under the leadership of the Jewish Federation in partnership with other agencies, especially those with physical spaces, like synagogues, schools and community centres, work year-round on security issues, ready for any possible local impacts that so frequently coincide with overseas conflicts.

Shanken credited Federation’s “very active” security committee and the professional security director, all of whom are coordinating among various Jewish agencies.

As he has at successive public events, Shanken heaped kavods on the Vancouver Police Department, the RCMP and other police agencies.

“The amount of resources they are expending on our community, to make sure that we are safe, is astronomical,” said Shanken. “I have just so much gratitude for them and for all they do for us, day in and day out.”

He encourages individuals who encounter police at the Jewish Community Centre, outside synagogues, schools or elsewhere, to take a moment to express gratitude.

“Go up, shake their hand, thank them, give them a hug, give them some cookies, give them some food, make them feel like they are being loved,” he urged.

In addition to simply being a kind thing to do, showing appreciation for the police, Shanken said, is a way to further demonstrate the moral divide between the Jewish community and those who are protesting Israel. Shanken said police working at anti-Israel rallies have been spat on and had things thrown at them.

“I want to make sure that there couldn’t be a clearer distinction in our community from those on the other side when it comes to how we treat our first responders and our law enforcement,” he said. “We are here to say thank you and to engage with them because they are keeping us safe.”

Although schools saw some understandable decline in turnout on the so-called “Day of Rage” called by Hamas against Jewish individuals and institutions worldwide for Oct. 13, Jewish British Columbians are going about their lives.

“People are coming into our JCC,” said Shanken. “They know they should come here and, if anything, they should be here so we’re sending a message that says we will not be dictated to on how it is that we can live within our community by others. We are going to come out and we are going to be strong, proud people within our communities, enjoying the things our community has to offer.”

In a message to the community in advance of the Hamas call for violence worldwide, Federation assured that “we will always act in a proactive, abundantly cautious manner when it comes to community security.”

The communication added that “we also recognize that these calls are also designed as a tool of intimidation and fear to harm our mental and emotional health. They are meant to stop us from going about our daily lives, regardless of whether there are specific security threats.”

The Vancouver Police Department, the RCMP and other security forces are maintaining a visible presence in front of high-profile organizations, including schools, synagogues and the JCC.

“Please note that there may not be a car present at all times and you may not see people in uniform,” the message noted.

Increased patrols are taking place around all Jewish institutions. In addition, Jewish organizations have been flagged by police as priority institutions, which means that any emergency call to law enforcement will result in an immediate and enhanced response, Federation said.

Federation is also working with partner organizations, as they do always, around security protocols.

For individuals and families, Federation is asking people to avoid anti-Israel protests or events. At Jewish community rallies or vigils, people are asked to not engage with protesters. At all times, people should stay aware of surroundings, and report anything suspicious to the police.

To ensure you are receiving all security updates and other communications from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, click the “Connect” button at jewishvancouver.com. The Federation website also includes resources for talking to children about the situation, and links to specific, up-to-the-minute news on events in Israel and elsewhere.

Hope amid the conflict

We are still reeling from what happened in Israel on Oct. 7 and the war that has ensued.

Hamas carried out a brutal terror attack on Israel that targeted civilians, murdering 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 200 Israeli hostages. Jews worldwide are grief-stricken, angry and scared. It is hard to see the hope, as images of dead Israelis mix with images of dead Palestinians.

There is no doubt in our minds that Hamas needs to be incapacitated – its covenant explicitly states their intention to eliminate Israel and kill Jews. On Oct. 7, they reasserted their intention with a vengeance that cannot be ignored. Their unambiguous goal is genocide.

Posters we see around Vancouver that simultaneously accuse Israel of genocide for defending itself and call for the genocide of Israelis – “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” – are abhorrent. People who support Hamas’s genocidal actions, implying, or outright stating, that Israelis deserve such cruelty do not care about humanity, do not believe in peace.

The people who are putting up the posters that ask, “Do you support indigenous rights? Then you support Palestine” are implying that Jews are colonizers and, therefore, deserve to be expelled, no matter how. But the Jewish connection to the land goes back thousands of years; we were dispossessed of it but never ceded it.

There are some two million Palestinians in Gaza, and they cannot be similarly dispossessed. More than half the population has been asked to leave their homes. Reports are that more than 4,500 have been killed from Israel’s bombing campaign.

Our hearts break at the type of war that fighting Hamas entails. The terror group uses civilians and civilian infrastructure as shields, ensuring that hundreds or thousands of innocent Palestinians die every time Israel defends itself militarily, even when it adheres to international law in its actions, including allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.

One way or another, the people who live between the river and sea must find a way to coexist. That is quite literally the only way forward. As simplistic as this sounds, it is nevertheless true. That is impossible with Hamas as the controlling force in Gaza. But, when they are removed, what then? Replacing the figures at the top – whether in Gaza or in the Israeli government, the latter of which is something that will certainly be discussed in the aftermath of this horror – will not automatically negate deep mutual distrust among populations.

There are so many complexities and no end of theories as to how we have arrived at this point. What will happen next is less discussed, though there is the all-too-real possibility that the conflict will become regional – already the 22,000 residents of Kiryat Shmona, the largest community in the Vancouver Jewish community’s partnership region of the Upper Galilee, are being evacuated because of terrorist attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon, which are expected to increase once Israel begins its ground offensive in the south. Some fear that the Hamas attack is less the main event than a distraction, a trap to lure Israel into an even more existential fight on multiple fronts.

Closer to home, there are security threats to Jews in the diaspora. Thankfully, Hamas’s call for a day of rage on Oct. 13 did not result in serious incidents. But the fear is real, and that is the purpose of terrorism. Jewish organizations and law enforcement agencies are working together to keep us safe. We must continue to live our lives as Jews, and not hide.

Some of our local community members have gone to Israel to fight. Other community members are rallying, marching and postering to make sure that the Israeli hostages being held captive in Gaza are returned home. More than $15 million was raised for Israel in just two weeks by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s emergency campaign.

And, there are Israelis (Jewish, Muslim, Christian and others) and Palestinians who, despite the terrorist attacks and the war, continue against so many odds to work for peace. Groups such as Standing Together, Women Wage Peace, the Parents Circle, and others are working to shore up hope for peace, equality and coexistence. These groups deserve our support, moral and financial.

At the same time as we support our family and friends in Israel and one another here, as we call for the immediate return of the hostages and as we raise funds for aid, we must also support those activists and dreamers on the ground who advocate for a better postwar world.

Rally and march for hostages

Hundreds marched on Oct. 22, calling for the release of the more than 200 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Erez, aged 12, and his sister Sahar, 16, had spent the night at their father’s house in Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas terrorists stormed the home. The kids jumped out the window and hid in the bushes while gunmen rampaged their community, shooting entire families in their beds and safe rooms. “Mom, be quiet, don’t move,” he texted his mom, Hadas. She texted back: “I love you forever. I hope you survive.”

Erez did not reply. For hours, Hadas called Erez’s cellphone repeatedly, even as she fought for her life, physically blocking terrorists from breaking down her safe room door. Then Erez’s older sister found an 18-second video circulating on social media. It showed Erez in a black T-shirt, being gripped by both arms and led into captivity.

In all, five members of the Kalderon family were taken: Erez, Sahar, their 50-year-old father, Ofer, their 80-year-old grandmother, Carmela, and 12-year-old cousin, Noya, were grabbed from another house in the community.

This was one of many individual stories shared at a vigil and march in Vancouver Sunday, Oct. 22, where hundreds of Vancouverites chanted “Bring them home!” and “Let our people go!” as they marched from the Vancouver Art Gallery, protected by a large police presence, along Georgia Street, over to Robson and back to the original site. The steps of the art gallery’s north side were packed with people holding posters of the hostages – and these posters represented only half of the total number of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.

The faces are also seen on thousands of posters around Metro Vancouver and elsewhere. Activists in communities worldwide have downloaded and printed the sheets, plastering them around city streets. The Vancouver efforts – which have seen probably 20,000 posters distributed so far – are led by Daphna Kedem, who also initiated the Sunday afternoon event and an earlier vigil two days after the Oct. 7 terror attacks.

photo - About 20,000 posters – the cost of which was covered by two anonymous non-Jewish donors – have been put up by volunteers all around Metro Vancouver
About 20,000 posters – the cost of which was covered by two anonymous non-Jewish donors – have been put up by volunteers all around Metro Vancouver. (photo from Daphna Kedem)

Kedem is also a lead organizer of the local branch of UnXeptable, which, until the current crisis, was agitating against proposed Israeli government efforts to undermine responsible government there. Her current activism, she stressed, is done in her capacity as an individual, but she expressed gratitude to Rabbi Dan Moscovitz of Temple Sholom for helping organize, and to other synagogues, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and others for unhesitatingly jumping in to help.

Putting a human face to the hostages is the right thing to do, Kedem said.

“We have to bring it out to the public because it’s a humanitarian crisis,” she told the Independent. “Once you personalize it and you see that it’s an innocent baby or a child, you care more.”

photo - Left to right: Flavia Markman, Ezra Shanken, Anet Bernadette and William Wolff. The four are among the many volunteers who have put up around the city approximately 20,000 posters with the faces, names and ages of Israelis taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas. For more on the Bring Them Home Now effort
Left to right: Flavia Markman, Ezra Shanken, Anet Bernadette and William Wolff. The four are among the many volunteers who have put up around the city approximately 20,000 posters with the faces, names and ages of Israelis taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas. For more on the Bring Them Home effort. (photo by Flavia Markman)

Kedem said the cost of printing the thousands of posters was covered by two anonymous non-Jewish donors and, at the rally this past Sunday, Christian clergy spoke, including a Catholic representative and two evangelical ministers.

Nevertheless, frustration over the silence of so many others was evident in the words of Moskovitz to the rally.

“Once again, Jews are being slaughtered and violently attacked and the world is silent,” he told hundreds of attendees, many carrying Israeli or Canadian flags. “Or they say, ‘Yes, but.’ There is no ‘but’ to murder. There can be no ‘but’ to hate. There can be no ‘but’ to the kidnapping of civilians, of children, of grandparents, of pregnant mothers, of disabled people. There can be no ‘but’ to that. There can be no justification for that. This is 2023, not 1943. And yet ‘Never again’ is happening again right now. The Jewish people will not be silent. You must not be silent.”

Moskovitz slammed the moral equivocation heard in commentary and seen in street rallies worldwide.

“This was not an act of resistance,” he said. “This was not a military campaign. This was not a popular uprising. This was cold, calculated and barbaric murder and rape and kidnapping of innocent civilians, the vast majority of them Jews.”

Motioning to the posters of the hostages, he added: “We call on those in our own city who cheer and celebrate what Hamas has done to these people and thousands of others on that horrible day to stop. Stop cheering the terrorists. Stop denying our grief, our human value. Stop your whataboutism. Stop tearing down pictures of children who have been kidnapped. Stop helping the terrorists. Stop justifying their brutality. Simply, stop.… Find your moral compass. Find the compassion you have for everyone and everything except Jews. Join us in this most basic of human cries: return our children to their parents, return our families to their homes.”

A WhatsApp group, “BTH – Vancouver,” is coordinating the postering activities: to join, visit bit.ly/BTH-Vancouver. Posters are downloadable by anyone at kidnappedfromisrael.com.

Celebrating defiance – Shira Herzog Symposium

The 13th annual Shira Herzog Symposium, hosted by New Israel Fund of Canada, took place on Oct. 15. Originally intended to be a discussion about the challenges facing Israeli democracy, the topic was changed to Celebrating Defiance, in light of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

NIFC president Linda Hershkovitz said the new focus was an opportunity “to comfort each other, to grieve and to hear how our community in Israel is responding to this moment.”

She said, “Today, we still gather to celebrate defiance – defiance against terror and extremism, against giving up hope, and against allowing violence to drive Jews and Arabs further apart.”

Opening remarks underscored that among the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas was ivian Silver, a 74-year-old Canadian-Israeli activist for peace and women’s rights, known to many of those in the audience.

The main speakers at the symposium were Orly Erez-Likhovski, director of the Israel Religious Action Centre (IRAC); Eran Nissan, a peace activist and executive director of Mehazkim, a progressive digital group in Israel; and Amal Oraby, a Palestinian lawyer, human rights activist and member of the board of directors of Amnesty International Israel. Journalist Andrew Cohen was the moderator.

“I stand before you with a lot of fear, a fear that our lives will never be the same and a fear for the safety of my family, my friends in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. In Israel, there is no room for voices who seek to see the reality with open eyes and acknowledge the occupation, and to refuse making the same mistake and expecting different results,” said Oraby, who serves as NIF’s Arabic media coordinator and has written extensively for the Israeli media.

Nissan, who was a combat soldier in the special forces canine unit, said every time there is a flare-up of violence, it represents a setback for both Israeli and Palestinian societies which will, in turn, drive more anger, animosity and distrust.

“In the days since Oct. 7, we identified narratives that we needed to push through our social media platforms,” Nissan said when asked what his organization did immediately following the attacks. “We understood that the first days after such an event are a crucial time when the heroes and the villains are being chosen.”

The Israeli government, he said, was framing the narrative as a struggle between Jews and Arabs. His counter-narrative is to highlight stories of shared experiences and heroism, such as Bedouin truck drivers who risked their lives to rescue Jews from the Hamas attacks and paramedics in the Negev fighting to save lives while under fire.

“This not a popular time to talk about a shared society or about empathy,” said Nissan. “Civil society organizations have been under attack. The amount of hatred and incitement we see is horrific. What we are trying to do is boost our capacity to tackle the challenges that we have right now.”

“We are very concerned about the rise in racism and violence,” said Erez-Likhovski, whose organization aims to defend equality, social justice and religious pluralism in Israel and serves as the public advocacy arm of the Reform movement.

“It’s important to talk about the current feeling in Israel,” she added. “People feel they have been abandoned by the government and by the state. The feeling is that the state system is not functioning. It’s a direct result of this government bringing in incompetent people to any post possible. And it’s taken its toll over the past year.”

Since the attacks, IRAC has worked to help the people who were evacuated, assisting with food and clothing, and helping with pastoral care, among other services.

Oraby was not optimistic about the latest change in the Israeli cabinet: bringing in opposition leader Benny Gantz. He views it as a “war government,” not an “emergency government,” and pointed to a strong civil society as the way to deescalate the situation. “Where Israeli and Palestinian leadership have failed, the civil society is succeeding,” he said.

Nissan agreed that the current cabinet is only setting military objectives, adding that it is not considering what will happen following the conflict.

Erez-Likhovski also commented that the new coalition was not presenting any long-term vision of how to solve the conflict.

At the end of the discussion, Nissan acknowledged the gravity of what occurred on Oct. 7 in terms of Israeli history and its effects on the national psyche. His hope, he said, is that a new story for Israel can be written out of the pain, and the crisis the country is confronting.

The event was co-presented with ARZA Canada, Canadian Friends of Peace Now and JSpaceCanada. It was held at the Toronto Reference Library and on Zoom.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.