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Tag: peace

Gallup poll concerning

A Gallup poll released last week shows that, for the first time, Democratic voters in the United States sympathize more with Palestinians than with Israelis.

Among Democratic voters contacted, 49% sympathize more with the Palestinians and 38% with Israelis. Among Republicans, sympathy for Israel remains overwhelming, at 78%.

The poll should raise concerns – but not only for the most obvious reasons.

Halie Soifer, head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, hit the nail on the head when she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the question paints a false dichotomy. (First, though, she noted that the Democratic Party’s leadership is overwhelmingly pro-Israel, whether that is reflected across the grassroots or not.)

“Democrats – from President Biden on down – strongly support Israel’s safety and security,” she said. But, crucially, she added: “There is no contradiction between being pro-Israel and supporting Palestinian rights, which is why Democrats continue to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as security assistance for Israel and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a zero-sum game, and thus polling that presents it as a binary choice is inherently flawed.”

Calling people on the telephone at dinnertime to ask them how to solve an intransigent international conflict is not likely to advance the most constructive ideas for resolution. Simplistic formulations are inevitable, nuance flies out the door. Questions become self-reinforcing, a sort of unintentional “push poll.” (A push poll is an unethical strategy used sometimes in political campaigns intended not to gauge public opinion but to influence it: “If you knew that Candidate A had a history of drowning puppies and pulling wings off flies, would that make you more or less likely to vote for them?”)

This is not to blame Gallup, an established and respected polling firm. Their question unfortunately, reflects a common narrative, an either/or. That, as Soifer said, is a false dichotomy.

To be genuinely pro-Israel demands we be pro-Palestinian because finding a resolution to 75-plus years of conflict requires some sort of resolution to the statelessness of Palestinians. Equally, being pro-Palestinian demands we be pro-Israel, because compromise and coexistence is the only thing that will result in Palestinian self-determination.

Of course, acknowledging this is the easy part. How to behave in “pro-Israel” and “pro-Palestinian” ways is the muddy part. Those who call themselves “pro-Palestinian” often behave in ways that preclude the very thing they claim to advance. By denying Israel’s right to exist, for example, they ensure that compromise is taken off the table and, since that is the route to Palestinian self-determination, they betray the very definition of “pro-Palestinian.”

Those who are “pro-Israel” also need to temper their extremes. It is fair to say that, during the Oslo process, Israelis demonstrated a consensus toward coexistence that has understandably waned since the violence of the Second Intifada. But, for example, the common and senseless mantra we see from some commentators on social media that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people” is a fruitless – and racist – squabble. Deny their history, reject the legitimacy of their land claims – there are still people there whose present and future demands a serious form of address and dignity.

To be clear: the sometimes-stated idea that the status quo cannot hold is simply not true. It has, by and large, held since 1967 and it could continue for another generation or more unless mutual compromise emerges to change that. The status quo arguably harms Palestinians more than it harms Israelis, which has led to an assumption that Israel must be in favour of the status quo. As a consequence, overseas activists have blamed Israel for the situation on the assumption that, as the perceived powerful party, it is the only one that can break the impasse. This is partly, if not mostly, untrue. Compromise must come from both sides and chants like “From the river to the sea …” and “Intifada! Revolution! There is only one solution!” the latter of which echoes Nazi slogans, will not “free Palestine.” They will, however, influence public opinion.

We should be concerned by the results of the Gallup poll – it indicates that decades of building multilateral support for Israel’s security among Americans (and, by extension almost certainly Canadians and Europeans) is failing. But, we should be concerned for another reason. It reinforces a false belief that we can only call ourselves pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian. Until we can legitimately call ourselves both, none of us deserves to call ourselves “pro-peace.”

Posted on March 24, 2023March 22, 2023Author The Editorial BoardCategories From the JITags bias, Democrat, Gallup, Israel, Palestine, peace, polling, prejudice, Republican, surveys, United States
Peace is breaking out

Peace is breaking out

Avi Benlolo will screen a film at Beth Israel on Feb. 13. (PR photo)

There is a fundamental disconnect between what is happening in the Middle East and what observers in Europe and North America perceive, according to Avi Benlolo, founder and chairman of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative. He aims to close that gap, and will be in Vancouver next month to bring his message – and a new documentary film – to West Coast audiences.

“Peace is unfolding in the Middle East,” Benlolo told the Independent. “The Abraham Accords have completely revolutionized Israel’s relationship with some of the neighbouring countries like the [United Arab Emirates], Bahrain, Morocco and so on. This new development hasn’t yet registered here in the West.”

On university campuses and in the social movements of Europe and North America, he said, the narrative remains mired in the decades-old conflict and tired rhetoric of “apartheid,” “colonization” and BDS, the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction the state of Israel.

“The truth of the matter is that that rhetoric isn’t rhetoric in the Middle East,” Benlolo said. “In the Middle East, BDS is nonexistent. You now have trade in the billions of dollars between Israel and its Arab neighbours, so clearly BDS has lost.”

The film that Benlolo produced and directed, The Future of Israel and its Defenders, approaches the issues through the lenses of experts, military strategists, entrepreneurial leaders, journalists and current and former political leaders.

“The message I’m trying to transmit,” he said, “is one really of hope for change.… If we are reinforcing that message that this is happening, that will help build on the peace process.”

A growing global realization of Mideast peace will also help reduce antisemitism and empower Jews, especially young people, everywhere, Benlolo hopes.

The film will be screened, and Benlolo will participate in a question-and-answer session, at Congregation Beth Israel Feb. 13, 7 p.m., in a celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday.

Benlolo founded the Abraham Global Peace Initiative after many years of working in the Jewish communal sector, including as chief executive officer of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies. AGPI became a registered charity in late 2021.

While there are many Jewish and Zionist organizations in Canada, Benlolo said his is unique.

“There is no voice for Canadian Jews internationally,” he said. “We are taking the Canadian voice global and working with the United Nations, working with the [European Union], working with multiple leaders around the world. Antisemitism and defamation of Israel is a transnational phenomenon. The swastika that you see painted on a school wall is not just localized, it’s being motivated globally.

“We are also saying, we as Canadians can stand up for ourselves,” Benlolo continued. “Canada itself is an incredible brand globally…. What AGPI is doing is optimizing the Canadian brand and we’re doing it very successfully. Every two minutes – I’m not exaggerating – there is a subscriber onto our website from somewhere on the planet, Italy, Brazil. Every two minutes. That’s because people love the Canadian brand, they love everything that we are saying, so we can be, as Canadians, an international voice with quite tremendous strength.”

While Benlolo is hoping that the Abraham Accords mute some of the condemnation Israel experiences on the world stage, defending Israel’s rights internationally may be entering a new phase, he said. The old tropes are being replaced with the phrase “Israel’s most right-wing government ever,” including in mainstream media sources.

“It’s a challenge, I’m not going to kid you,” said Benlolo. “The thing is, the media is never a fan of Israel, particularly here in Canada, outside of the National Post and maybe the Jewish [community] media. They are using any opportunity to grab hold and to make Israel look bad. They love it.”

The characterization of Israel’s new government clouds the reality, he argued. Israelis who voted for right-wing parties did so mainly on security grounds, he said, because they are deeply concerned about terrorism.

“That has driven them to move to the right,” he said, adding that Israeli society in general “is fairly secular, is not right-wing and is very pro-human rights.” He noted that the new Knesset features the country’s first openly gay speaker.

“Just because you’ve got this government right now that’s made up of a coalition doesn’t mean that it represents Israeli society and it doesn’t mean that it’s everybody in Israel that believes in this. That needs to be articulated as well,” said Benlolo. “Finally, we’re going to put pressure to bear as a Jewish community and friends of Israel, we’re going to continue to pressure Israel to make sure that it stays the course and stays true to tikkun olam.”

More details, and tickets for the event, which is presented by Beth Israel and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, are available at bethisrael.ca.

Format ImagePosted on January 27, 2023January 26, 2023Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags Abraham Accords, Abraham Global Peace Initiative, Avi Benlolo, Beth Israel, Israel, Jewish Federation, Middle East, peace
ההגירה מישראל לקנדה צפויה לגדול

ההגירה מישראל לקנדה צפויה לגדול

(IDF Spokesperson’s Unit / CC BY-SA 3.0: צילום)

לאור תוצאות הבחירות הכלליות האחרונות שנערכו בישראל בראשית חודש נובמבר, צפוי שההגירה אל קנדה תגדל. יש ישראלים שיתייאשו מהמצב החדש בישראל, כאשר ממשלת ימין קמה בהשתתפות המפלגה הימנית קיצונית הציונות הדתית, והם מבקשים לעזוב את ישראל. כך ישראלים מתבטאים בפייסבוק

בשנים האחרונות ההגירה מישראל לקנדה נמצאת במגמת עלייה ועתה צפוי שיותר ישראלים יעברו אליה. לפי פייסבוק תומכי בנימין נתניהו, שקראו למתנגדיו “שמאלנים בוגדים” קוראים להם עכשיו “שמאלנים למטוסים”. ואכן יש סברה ישראלים לא מעטים יעזבו לחו”ל. אחד אנשי הימין כתב בפייסבוק: “לאור תוצאות הבחירות אנשי השמאל עוזבים את הארץ ולכן משבר הדיור מגיע לקיצו”. אחר מאלה שרוצים לעזוב שואל באמצעות פייסבוק: “איך עוזבים את ישראל ומהר?” התגובות: “מבקשים מקלט מדיני, משיגים דרכון פורטוגלי, זה הרבה יותר קל ממה שחושבים”. משפחה ישראלית שעברה להליפקס לפני חמש שנים כותבת בפייסבוק לאחר קיום הבחירות: “למדנו לאהוב את החיים כאן בקנדה. את השלווה, את הנופים, את האדיבות ואת השקט. אז נכון שלא הכל מושלם. ולא הכל קל. ולא הכל מרגישים שייכים. אבל בשורה התחתונה, מרגיש שכנראה עשינו את הדבר הנכון. ישראל עומדת היום בצומת דרכים, ואים להסתמך על הבחירות האחרונות, כנראה שאנחנו כבר אחרי הפניה”. תומך נתניהו שואל בפייסבוק היכן הם אלה שטענו כי אם ביבי חוזר הם יעזבו את הארץ?”

כאשר היאוש גבר ולא רואים אופטימיות בטווח הקצר או אפילו הרחוק יותר, וכאשר ערכי הדמוקרטיה של ישראל הולכים ונמסים ולעומתם ערכים ימניים קיצוניים שתופסים מקום מרכזי במדינה, יש כאלה החושבים שהגיע הזמן לעזוב. כאמור קנדה היא אחד היעדים החמים בעולם כיום עבור ישראלים, שלא רוצים לעבור לאירופה או לארצות הברית

חברת דיווידשילד המתמחה במתן שירותי ביטוח עבור ישראלים הגרים בחו”ל, מסבירה מי זו קנדה: מדובר במדינה הצפונית ביותר בצפון אמריקה, המעוררת אצל רבים אסוציאציות של קור ושלג, אבל במציאות מדובר באחת המדינות הנחשקות בעולם להגירה ולרילוקיישן עם אוכלוסייה רב תרבותית, כלכלה יציבה, טבע מרהיב, נופים עוצרי נשימה ואיכות חיים גבוהה. קנדה נחשבת לאחת ממדינות ההגירה הפופולריות ביותר בקרב ישראלים, אם זה בזכות הכלכלה החזקה שלה, אפשרויות התעסוקה הרבות, קשרי המסחר הטובים ואיכות החיים הגבוהה. קנדה נחשבה למדינה ליברלית בעלת חוקי הגירה נוחים מאוד, שמטרתם למשוך אליה כוח עבודה משכיל ומקצועי. במהלך השנים עברה מדיניות ההגירה הקנדית שינויים רבים וכיום היא מתבססת בעיקר על קריטריונים כמו השכלה, גיל, ניסיון מקצועי ושליטה בשפות. המקצועות המבוקשים בקנדה, שעבורם הסיכוי הגדול ביותר לקבל אישור עבודה, הם בתחומים הבאים: רפואה וסיעוד, מחשבים, הנדסה, חינוך לגיל הרך, מרצים באקדמיה, תרגום, פסיכולוגיה וניהול בכיר

קנדה היא מדינה ענקית, השנייה בגודלה בעולם, עם צפיפות אוכלוסייה קטנה יחסית לשטחה הגדול – מה שמהווה אטרקטיביות רבה עבור ישראלים המעוניינים ברילוקיישן. כלכלתה של קנדה נחשבת ליציבה מאוד, שוק העבודה מגוון ושכר העבודה נחשב גבוה ביחס לשעות העבודה

אפשרויות התעסוקה בקנדה עבור מהגרים ישראלים נעות בין עבודות של צעירים, כמו: עבודה בעגלות ובמכירות, עבודת שיפוצים, טיפול בילדים והדרכות נוער בקהילות היהודיות; ועד משרות בחברות ההייטק הגדולות, בתחומים כמו הנדסת תוכנה; כמו כן, משרות בתחומי הסיעוד והרפואה בבתי החולים המתקדמים ביותר בקנדה

ישראלים המעוניינים ברילוקיישן לקנדה צריכים קודם כל למצוא מעסיק חוקי שידאג עבורם לויזת עבודה. החברה המעסיקה צריכה להיות בעלת משרדים הנמצאים בקנדה ועליה לקבל היתר ממשרד העבודה הקנדי להעסקת עובד שאינו קנדי

עם איכות חיים גבוהה, שירותי בריאות טובים, חינוך איכותי, כלכלה יציבה, חברה מקבלת, קהילה יהודית ענפה, שיעור פשיעה נמוך יחסית וטבע מרהיב – החיים בקנדה נחשבים בהחלט לנוחים ומלאי הזדמנויות

מערכת הבריאות בקנדה נחשבת לאחת מהטובות בעולם ומורכבת בעיקרה ממערכת ציבורית, הממומנת על ידי הציבור (בקנדה אין כמעט בכלל רפואה פרטית, כולל בתי החולים). כל אזרח קנדי, מהגר או תושב קבע זכאי לכיסוי רפואי מלא, כלומר כל ביקור רפואי, אשפוז בבית חולים וביצוע בדיקות רפואיות ניתן בחינם ובאופן שוויוני (למעט תרופות וטיפולי שיניים). העובדה כי כל השירותים הרפואיים ניתנים בחינם, אינה גורעת מאיכותם – ההפך: תקציב הבריאות בקנדה הוא גבוה מאוד, מה שמבטיח שירותים רפואיים איכותיים ויחס אישי

הדבר הראשון שעליכם לחשוב עליו כאשר אתם מתכננים מעבר מגורים לקנדה הוא כמובן עניין המגורים. אם אתם נשלחים לרילוקיישן, סביר להניח שהחברה המעסיקה תדאג עבורכם למגורים מסובסדים על חשבונה באזור העבודה. אם אתם עצמאיים או שעליכם למצוא מקום מגורים בכוחות עצמכם, זכרו כי גובה שכר הדירה משתנה בהתאם לאזור המגורים, הביקוש וסוג הדירה. פעמים רבות משתלם יותר לבחור במקום מגורים מעט רחוק מהמרכז ולהשתמש בתחבורה הציבורית היעילה

עניין נוסף שיש לדאוג לגביו כאשר עוברים עם ילדים לקנדה הוא החינוך. קנדה נחשבת למדינה שמשקיעה רבות בחינוך ומערכת החינוך שלה נחשבת לאחת הטובות בעולם. בקנדה יש מבחר גדול של בתי ספר ציבוריים ולצדם בתי ספר פרטיים, חלקם הגדול הוא בתי ספר יהודיים. ההרשמה לבתי הספר נעשית ישירות דרך מוסד הלימודים

הבחירה בין חינוך ציבורי ופרטי תלוי בשיקולים אישיים וכלכליים, אך שתי האופציות יבטיחו לילדכם חינוך איכותי. הלימודים במערכת הציבורית הם ליברלים יותר ויחשפו את ילדיכם למפגשים עם תלמידים ממגוונים אתניים שונים. הלימודים במערכת החינוך היהודית הפרטית אינם זולים וכוללים לצד הלימודים במקצועות הכלליים גם לימודי עברית ויהדות. חשוב לדעת, כי כל תלמיד חדש הנכנס למערכת החינוך הקנדית צריך לעבור מבחן באנגלית ובמתמטיקה כדי לקבוע את רמתו. מומלץ לקבוע מועד לראיון עוד בטרם הגעתכם לקנדה

אם חשובה לכם הקהילתיות, השמירה על הצביון היהודי והקרבה לישראלים נוספים, בקנדה אתם בהחלט תרגישו בבית. יהדות קנדה היא הרביעית בגודלה בעולם (אחרי ארה”ב, צרפת וישראל) וכיום חיים בקנדה למעלה מארבע מאות אלף יהודים. הקהילות היהודיות במדינה נחשבות מפותחות מאוד, בעלות קשרי קהילה חזקים והן מעניקות תמיכה רבה וסיוע למהגרים חדשים. המוקד המרכזי של ישראלים בקנדה היא העיר טורנטו, העיר הגדולה בקנדה ובירת מחוז אונטריו, בה מתגוררת הקהילה היהודית כוללת כמאתיים אלף אלף יהודים. יעד נוסף מרכזי עבור מהגרים ישראלים היא העיר מונטריאול הנמצאת במחוז קוויבק, המחוז הגדול בקנדה. במונטריאול נמצאת הקהילה היהודית השניה בגודלה בקנדה שמונה קרוב לכמאה אלף איש. בערים נוספות שבהן תמצאו קהילות יהודיות הן: ונקובר, ויניפג, אוטווה וקלגרי

מעבר מגורים עם כל המשפחה הוא לא קל אף פעם, אבל כשמדובר במדינה כמו קנדה סביר כי לצד קשיי המעבר, תחוו קליטה נעימה בזכות החברה הקנדית המקבלת והקהילה היהודית והישראלית המחבקת. עם זאת, יש לקחת בחשבון את כל ההשלכות והאתגרים העומדים בפניכם בעת מעבר למדינה רחוקה וקרה כמו קנדה

קושי נוסף עמו אתם צפויים להתמודד הוא מזג האוויר. קנדה היא מדינה קרה מאוד, עם חורף סוער וטמפרטורות שצונחות אל מתחת לאפס, לישראלים המגיעים ממדינה חמה לוקח זמן להתרגל לקור הקנדי. היתרון כאן הוא שכל שנה תזכו לראות שלג, הילדים יוכלו לבנות בובות שלג וללמוד לגלוש

Format ImagePosted on December 14, 2022December 13, 2022Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Binyamin Netanyahu, Canada, economy, education, elections, Facebook, healthcare system, immigration, Israel, Jewish identity, peace, weather, בחירות, בנימין נתניהו, הגירה, הצביון היהודי, חינוך, ישראל, כלכלה, מזג האוויר, מערכת הבריאות, פייסבוק, קנדה, שלום

Extremism not helpful

Over the Labour Day weekend, while many Canadians were soaking up the declining rays of summer or doing last-minute back-to-school shopping, Middle East politics eclipsed everything else – well, for those of us who track these things closely, which, it turns out includes Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party.

In fairness, it is not clear when Singh hit send on an email that made the rounds over the holiday weekend. But the contents led the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs to send out not one but two urgent emails on the issue, both of which included the word “outraged” in the subject line.

And “outrage” is a fair reaction to the contents of Singh’s missive.

“We believe Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories is at the centre of the challenges facing the Palestinian and Israeli people,” wrote Singh. This essentialist view ignores the reality that the occupation continues due to a complex interplay between anti-Israel terrorism, a lack of political will, and intractability around a two-state solution or some other coexistence plan that would lead to greater peace, which includes a lack of willingness to coexist from factions on both sides of the conflict.

“We all want to see a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side, in peace,” Singh writes. But then he goes on to outline a list of grievances that places responsibility only on Israelis and which, therefore, is unlikely to do anything to realize such a future.

The demands include that the Canadian government increase funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, “which supports Palestinian refugees.” The letter makes no reference to the controversial nature of UNRWA’s definition of refugees, which has refugee status passing down generations, thereby continually increasing their number, perpetuating rather than ameliorating the problem. Nor does the NDP letter mention the organization’s Palestinian education curriculum, which contains antisemitic elements that directly impede any progress towards peace in the region; allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the agency; and even UNWRA’s witting or unwitting aid of the terrorist group Hamas, with tunnels reportedly being found under UNRWA schools and rockets stored on their premises. Instead, the letter calls on Canada to “condemn the Israeli government’s attacks on civil society in Israel and Palestine, including the recent designation of six Palestinian human rights groups as ‘terrorist.’”

There are wishes for “peace in Israel and Palestine” in the NDP letter, but the lack of peace is blamed solely on one side, without acknowledging the violence and harms inflicted on Israelis. The fundamental fact of the issue is that no blatantly one-sided position will make things better for either Palestinians or Israelis and any position that places all the blame on one side will not lead to a resolution. Such a stance will only perpetuate conflict. Peace and coexistence in that region will depend on compromise on both sides.

In the larger scheme of world events, an imbalanced missive from the leader of a Canadian political party is largely irrelevant. Singh’s catalogue of blame will move the dial in Israel and Palestine not an inch. What it does is inflame the issue here at home and reinforce the trend in Canadian politics that sees this issue as a political football. At the same time as there are legitimate and important critiques of Israel’s behaviour and treatment of Palestinians, particularly those under occupation, Jewish self-determination should not be anyone’s campaign talking point.

There is a lesson here for those who support Israel, too. There is a strain that sees Israel supporters as more moral, more fair and more realistic than the activists who march against “apartheid,” “genocide” and what Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas recently called “50 holocausts” against Palestinians. However, the incessant and dishonourable contesting of the very existence of Palestinian people – if you haven’t seen it, you’re not on Jewish social media – does nothing to advance the cause of Jewish self-determination or end the human suffering or move anyone towards peace.

Extremism is not a Canadian value, nor a Jewish one  – and it will not result in an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nor will it solve any of the countless challenges we are facing around the world. We need to resist the attraction of simplistic solutions to complex human problems. We need to do, think and behave better. And we need to demand that our leaders to do so, as well.

Posted on September 16, 2022September 14, 2022Author The Editorial BoardCategories From the JITags extremism, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Palestine, peace
Play tackles Israeli/Palestinian conflict

Play tackles Israeli/Palestinian conflict

Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue (photo from Bema Productions)

Bema Productions, directed by Zelda Dean, is bringing the play Peace Talks to the Victoria Fringe Festival, Aug. 25-Sept. 4. Performances will take place at Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue’s Black Box Theatre, 1461 Blanshard St., pictured above.

Written and performed by Izzy Salant and Ryan Dunn, this run will be a world première of the work that saw a virtual staged reading in early 2021. Since that time, the playwrights continued to develop their play and raise the necessary funds to meet their goal of touring the show to university and college campuses in both Canada and the United States.

Peace Talks addresses the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Noam watches helplessly as his best friend Andrew dies in an explosion right in front of him in a hookah bar in Israel. Noam believes he was responsible. After the catastrophe, Andrew’s bereaved American brother James sets out on a revenge plot against Israel and against Noam, as he also believes Noam is responsible for Andrew’s death. He puts his plan into action, actively sabotaging Israeli advocacy and promoting anti-Zionism to anyone who will listen, ultimately attempting to attain his true goal: to kill Noam.

James and Noam find themselves in a bitter internal and external struggle with Israel, Zionism, death, human rights, and Andrew’s memory. As they clash, they both discover some harsh realities of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and that it is a world that isn’t as clear-cut as they thought.

For tickets to Peace Talks, visit victoriafringe.com.

– Courtesy Bema Productions

Format ImagePosted on July 22, 2022July 20, 2022Author Bema ProductionsCategories Performing ArtsTags Bema Productions, Emanu-El, Fringe Festival, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, peace, terrorism
Diverse allies critical

Diverse allies critical

Imam Mohammed Tawhidi once preached hatred, but now is known as “the Imam of Peace.” (photo from imamtawhidi.com)

Imam Mohammad Tawhidi once preached hate towards Jews from the pulpit, and believed the very worst stereotypes about the Jewish people. He was indoctrinated by the Ayatollah’s preachers in Iran. But, today, Tawhidi is known as “the Imam of Peace” for a reason. He’s preaching coexistence and common ground for Jews and Muslims.

In late May, Tawhidi spoke at a United Grassroots Movement event at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda, a Toronto synagogue, on how people of all backgrounds can – and should – unite against antisemitism and extremism.

An Iranian Muslim of Iraqi origin, Tawhidi sees his former peers actively engaging in hate-filled rhetoric. For example, as in years past, the politics of division and derision were widespread at the Al Quds march in Toronto earlier this year – chants included slurs against Israel and Jews.

Government officials are either incapable of preventing hatred on city streets and property, or unwilling to do so, he said. To answer problems such as these, he encouraged talk attendees to find, and bring together, as many allies as possible, to speak out and even take legal action wherever warranted.

Tawhidi’s change from preaching hatred, to becoming a friend of Israel and the Jews, did not come overnight.

First, he spoke out against ISIS war crimes in the Middle East and Africa. When he was met with condemnation from his peers, he said it opened his eyes to the radical elements that existed within his circle.

“I was still a fundamentalist, an extremist and antisemite,” he said of his views until then. “I thought I was doing this on behalf of God.”

And yet, he began thinking of how he could reconcile the slaughter of innocents in the name of Islam.

The next significant moment for the imam was when he met a Jew. Needing roadside assistance one day in England, it was a visibly Jewish man who helped him.

Later, Tawhidi was invited to a synagogue for an interfaith dialogue. Although he was skeptical, initially, of the people he was communicating with, he left the event feeling a special connection.

His decision to criticize ISIS and radical Islam and preach for peace with Israel and Jewish people was met with a severe backlash.

“I knew I would lose my community, but I also knew I would be welcomed into a new one,” he said.

If he could turn a corner, so can others, Tawhidi maintained. But if they can’t do quite that, then it’s important, he said, to at least defend the truth in public, so that the people who are on the fence or ignorant of the issues can be exposed to all sides.

It’s hopeful for us to note, he said, that the kinds of beliefs he once held are no longer normative in many parts of the Arab world. He highlighted the signatories to the Abraham Accords with Israel, which is breathing new life into modern coexistence, he said.

Further proof of the power of allies, said Tawhidi, is that he received nearly three-quarters of the vote in favour of him winning the position of vice-president of the Global Imams Council, a transnational nongovernmental body of Muslim religious leaders.

Tawhidi stresses that Islam is not a religion that hates Jews, and anything to the contrary is a perversion of the Quran.

To defend against antisemitism, he insisted that Jews and non-Jews must call it out, take legal action when merited, and bring together many communities: “Do not underestimate the power of your allies!” he said.

A staunch supporter of Israel and what he sees as Israel’s right to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), Tawhidi said, in response to a question from the Jewish Independent, “There can be no circumstances where the Israeli government should give away any land that belongs to the Jewish people. The holy Quran has made it very clear that God, the God of Abraham, wants Jews to live in that region and for Jerusalem to be their capital. That is the teaching of my Quran, and it is clearly stated in Chapter 5, verse 20 onwards.”

As for developing allies out of those who do not support Israel, yet will speak out against antisemitism, Tawhidi said, “You can’t hate a people and you can’t hate a whole country, but I guess they have issues with certain policies of that government, so they need to provide productive and constructive criticism, so that the problems can be solved, and that solutions can be placed forward.”

However, he continued, “a blanket hate on a nation or a people does not come from a person that is worth making a friend, I don’t believe.”

Jon Wasserlauf is a freelance writer, and a political science major and law student based in Montreal.

Format ImagePosted on July 22, 2022July 20, 2022Author Jon WasserlaufCategories NationalTags antisemitism, education, hate speech, Israel, Jews, Mohammad Tawhidi, Muslims, peace, Quran, terrorism

Extremism will not win

The latest explosion of terrorism from Gaza, the reaction from Israel, the violence in and around Jerusalem and the international response to these events continues to reverberate. Things have calmed somewhat in Israel, although violence continues, but a second, related front continues to rage in the public dialogue.

Anti-Israel rallies worldwide have seen explicit antisemitic imagery and threats openly and prominently exhibited. Such expressions are now commonplace at protests, in online spaces and in public squares. Anyone who insists there is some sort of hermetically sealed wall between anti-Zionism and antisemitism needs to explain why bands of thugs in London drove through Jewish neighbourhoods screaming “F**k the Jews, rape their daughters.” Social media has logged millions of overtly Jew-hating statements and images, including thousands of instances of the phrase #Hitlerwasright.

These examples are obviously extreme. Far more common, even from ostensibly mainstream voices, including elected officials in Canada, the United States and Europe, is language employing the apartheid libel or that Israel is a “settler-colonial” regime.

The settler-colonial motif is particularly effective in the Americas because we, unlike Israel, are actual settler-colonial societies. The assertion that Jews are, basically, an invasive species in the Land of Israel meets fertile soil just as global attention again focuses on the situation of Palestinians.

While the antisemitic language and violence is deeply worrisome, it raises a secondary issue about the motivations of anti-Israel voices. Villainizing, isolating and denouncing Israel seems to fulfil some primal urge in a great number of people. What it does not do is hasten Palestinian self-determination.

Any resolution to the conflict and, therefore, Palestinian statelessness, will come from the rejection of this approach. Put plainly: one cannot be pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel at the same time. If you seek the destruction of Israel, you reject compromise, coexistence and peace – the only things that will ever bring about an independent Palestine.

The binary that defines the Israeli-Palestinian situation is a false one. Being pro-Israel demands being pro-Palestinian – seeking a compromise in which both peoples live in peaceful coexistence. Being pro-Palestinian requires being pro-Israeli because only when the Palestinians, the region and the world accept Israel’s right to exist will we have a scenario where coexistence and a Palestinian state will emerge.

People overseas, many with no personal stakes in the conflict, prolong the problem. Among self-defined “pro-Palestinians” are many who seem content to fight for Palestine to the last Palestinian. Evidence of this macabre attitude can be seen every time overseas “allies” revel in the supposed moral victory of Palestinian victims exceeding Jewish victims when conflict erupts.

Similarly, too common among our own folks are rantings on social media along the lines that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.” Call them what you will (decent people refer to others by the terms they prefer), there are people who call themselves Palestinians and semantic arguments will not change that. We win no awards or disagreements by proving that the people who call themselves Palestinian are something other than what they say – just as those who subscribe to the kooky Khazar conspiracy of Jewish origin to refute Jewish indigeneity to the Holy Land deflect from the issue at hand. In both cases, it does not negate the core issue: both peoples – and many more whose identity gets short shrift in the binary – exist and live there now. That will not change.

Israel is not going anywhere and Israelis are not going, as the late American political reporter Helen Thomas suggested, “back to Poland.” Neither are Palestinians. The first step – it seems ludicrous that it needs to be said – is acknowledging that both peoples (and others!) are there now and deserve to be.

There are countless complexities in the Israeli-Palestinian mess. But there is one certainty that is not the least bit complicated: Palestinian self-determination will come and Israel’s right to exist will be secured because of coexistence and compromise. Neither side’s extremists will ever win.

Posted on June 25, 2021June 25, 2021Author The Editorial BoardCategories From the JITags Gaza, Hamas, Helen Thomas, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, peace, politics, terrorism
Having the hard discussions

Having the hard discussions

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, above, and Noor A’wad of Roots Palestinian-Israeli Network were the featured speakers at Vancouver School of Theology’s Two Truths in One Heart; Two Peoples in One Land event May 27. (photo from friendsofroots.net)

Two Truths in One Heart; Two Peoples in One Land, a discussion on the Roots Palestinian-Israeli Network, with speakers Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Noor A’wad, took place on May 27 as part of the Religion and Thoughtful Activism conference organized by the Vancouver School of Theology (VST).

Formed in 2014 by peace activist Ali Abu Awwad and Schlesinger, Roots is a group based in the Gush Etzion settlements of the West Bank that believes the path towards peace between Palestinians and Israelis is through dialogue.

“In the West Bank, Jews and Arabs live completely separately with no connections at all,” said Schlesinger, an Orthodox rabbi, passionate Zionist settler and director of international relations for Roots. Everything, he explained – from legal systems to health systems, transportation to universities – is separate. The separation is so complete that Palestinians are forbidden from entering Israeli areas and vice versa.

“If I were to say that there is no common ground between Jews and Palestinians, I would not be exaggerating, and I would not be speaking metaphorically. There is literally no common ground as far as geography goes. If there had been a place for a crazy Israeli Jew and a Palestinian who wanted to meet for coffee, there would have been no place to do it,” he suggested.

At least, this was the case, he said, until seven years ago, when Roots was formed and when the Dignity Centre, a community centre where the two sides can meet with equality and mutual recognition, was created.

Schlesinger spoke of the great apprehension and trepidation each side has in coming together at such a place. Yet, often, at the end of an event at the centre, people come to Schlesinger, saying how wonderful the simple experience of conversing with a member of the other side is.

“People are amazed to discover that ‘the other’ is a lot like us. It’s hard to fathom after all the stereotypes and all we on both sides have been taught,” he said.

He likened the animosity each side has to a disease he called “the hubris of exclusivity,” which infects people with a “virus” that makes them believe that their people are the only legitimate people in the region.

Charting his own journey, Schlesinger recounted that, during his first encounters with Palestinians, he began learning that there were not one but two stories in the land where he lives. “For 33 years, I lived in my story and the Palestinians didn’t exist. They were part of the grey drab scenery that passes in the background of a movie but not part of the plot,” he recalled.

He spoke of his initial distrust of Palestinians and his profound reluctance to meet them – a distrust and reluctance shared by his Palestinian interlocutors during their first meetings. Implicit, too, in the unwillingness to meet was the fear that each side had of the other, Schlesinger said.

Noor A’wad, a licensed Palestinian tour guide based in Bethlehem, where he takes English speakers on geopolitical tours, spoke of his family’s long history in the land.

photo - Noor A’wad of Roots Palestinian-Israeli Network
Noor A’wad of Roots Palestinian-Israeli Network (photo from friendsofroots.net)

“I remember growing up during the Second Intifada – some of my family members were killed, others arrested – realizing that this is not a normal life and asking myself why am I living this abnormal life under occupation? The simple answer to the question is, because I am a Palestinian,” A’wad said.

He considered leaving the area, but that urge was outweighed by a sense of responsibility and a sense that there was no other option but to stay in order to best serve his people. Ultimately, he came to learn about nonviolent solutions to conflict.

A’wad described his change of heart upon getting involved with Roots: “When Rabbi Hanan spoke about his identity as a Jew and a settler, these are very loaded words and terminology that is connected to the conflict. For him, I was able to see how beautiful this terminology is because it is part of his identity.

For me, the same terminology is connected to the suffering my people have.”

For A’wad, as with Schlesinger, the acts of sitting and listening to the other were enormously challenging. Nonetheless, each persevered and, in the process, they discovered a partner in dialogue and perhaps the most effective way of understanding the humanity of the other – finding mutual empathy and thereby creating a means to achieve peace.

“What I discovered in Roots is the foundation for any peace process,” said A’wad.

The event was organized by Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan, VST’s director of inter-religious studies. “Our students – most but not all are Christian – are very interested in news about Israel and Palestine. They see Israel as their beloved Holy Land. So, we wanted to introduce them to one of the many NGOs there doing collaborative peace-building work,” she told the Independent.

“I’ve been a supporter of Roots for some years now. Rabbi Schlesinger is a colleague and friend from Clal’s Rabbis Without Borders fellowship program. Still, this event would not have happened without the help of Quebec psychotherapist Colleen MacDougall, another Roots supporter,” she added.

For more information on Roots, visit friendsofroots.net.

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

Format ImagePosted on June 25, 2021June 25, 2021Author Sam MargolisCategories Israel, LocalTags dialogue, Hanan Schlesinger, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Laura Duhan Kaplan, Noor A’wad, peace, Vancouver School of Theology, VST
R2R fest teaches, entertains

R2R fest teaches, entertains

Seu Jorge, left, and Noah Schnapp in a still from Abe. (image from Reel 2 Real)

The upcoming Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth is not just for youth, though younger viewers are its target audience. There are entertaining and engaging films for all ages among the 18 features and 45 shorts that will be available for streaming online April 14-23.

The focus of this year’s festival is “films that explore the impact of social media, racism and discrimination, with a focus on Germany.” While many of the offerings will interest Jewish community members, at least four cover topics of specific relevance.

The American feature Abe was part of the recent Vancouver Jewish Film Festival. It is carried by the impressive acting of Noah Schnapp as 12-year-old Abe and that of Seu Jorge as Chico, the Brazilian-American chef that Abe idolizes. The food, glorious food, is an added bonus.

While the writing of Abe’s family dynamics is clunky and without nuance – his father’s side is Muslim, his mother’s Jewish, and never the twain shall meet on religion or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – Abe himself is charming. He puts his heart into trying to bring everyone together, in part, by creating a fancy dinner that comprises several of his grandmothers’ traditional recipes. The grumpy but caring Chico helps, having reluctantly taken Abe in, first as a dishwasher then as one of his prep cooks.

Food doesn’t turn out to be the way to his family members’ hearts but the disastrous fusion meal, which ends in a big fight and Abe running away, does push his family to at least reconsider their priorities.

***

still - Mouize and Ranin become friends over popcorn and a shared love of cinema in Cinema Rex
Mouize and Ranin become friends over popcorn and a shared love of cinema in Cinema Rex. (image from Reel 2 Real)

In another charming film, the young also show the adults the possible way to some form of peace. In the Israeli animated short Cinema Rex, the Jewish boy Mouize and the Arab girl Ranin become friends over popcorn and a shared love of cinema.

Set in Jerusalem in 1938, a new movie theatre opens, “In the heart of the city, on the seam line between the Jewish side and the Arab side, and adjacent to the British police.” It is “co-owned by partners from both sides of [the] divided city” and Mouize’s dad is the projectionist. When Mouize catches a glimpse of someone peeking into the projection room, he follows the trail of popcorn to Ranin, who shares it with him in exchange for a seat beside him in the best seats in the house. The two imagine themselves as the heroes in Robin Hood, as actors in a Laurel and Hardy film, dancers in a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie, and more.

Ranin’s mother is non-plused to find her daughter hanging out with Mouize, and Mouize’s dad tries to tell him, “Someday, you’ll understand why you and she can’t be friends.” But the kids have none of it.

Beautifully drawn and a story simply told – in Arabic, English and Hebrew with English subtitles – this short is highly recommended viewing.

***

still - Alina is a tension-filled short film
Alina is a tension-filled short film. (image from Reel 2 Real)

A more serious and nerve-wracking short is the tension-filled American film Alina. For 25 minutes, breathing will be more difficult, as the fate of a three-month-old baby lies in the hands of Alina (played by Alia Shawkat). The non-Jewish woman is part of a group of women (and men, as her brother helps) who are smuggling Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.

Inspired by factual events, but fictional, the film opens as Nazi soldiers kick their way into a building and make their way up each floor, searching every room for children, with orders to seize them. Alina must escape from an upper-level apartment with the baby through the bathroom window, using a makeshift rope of tied sheets. She must then meet her brother, make it through a checkpoint and even face Nazi soldiers in her own home, as a Nazi captain accompanies her there from the checkpoint, so convinced is he that she is hiding something from him.

Alina is a multiple-award-winning film for many reasons. And it precedes the fascinating feature-length documentary The Lesson, which sees its Canadian première at Reel 2 Real.

photo - The Lesson director Elena Horn
The Lesson director Elena Horn. (image from Reel 2 Real)

Through the lens of German filmmaker Elena Horn, who herself grew up in Fröndenberg and went to Fröndenberg Comprehensive School, The Lesson is a personal look at how students in Germany are taught about the Holocaust. Over a five-year period, Horn followed a handful of students through their classes on the topic, their projects and field trips. She juxtaposes this perspective with archival footage from the 1930s, showing children doing paramilitary exercises, learning about what makes a good German and other propaganda. She also includes current-day nationalism and how some of the students deal with the differences between what they’re being taught in school about the Holocaust and what their families have told them about that period in time.

Horn frames the content in the context of overarching questions such as, could the Holocaust have been initiated by other countries just as easily as in Germany, or is there something inherent about Germany that allowed it to start there? She wonders if history is repeating itself, and she continues to struggle with the question, “What would I have done?” She highlights some of the efforts of those who refused to be bystanders to genocide, and she hopes to inspire some viewers to be courageous if, God forbid, they ever face such a choice.

***

For the full festival schedule and tickets, as well as information on Reel 2 Real’s several youth programs and workshops, visit r2rfestival.org.

Format ImagePosted on April 2, 2021March 31, 2021Author Cynthia RamsayCategories TV & FilmTags animation, anti-racism, Arab-Israeli conflct, courage, education, Elena Horn, entertainment, Holocaust, Israel, movies, Noah Schnapp, peace, Reel 2 Real, Seu Jorge, youth

Cautiously optimistic

The good diplomatic news keeps coming. Morocco and Israel have announced that they will begin normalizing bilateral relations. This comes on the heels of similar announcements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. There are rumours of more announcements to come.

More than 10% of Israel’s population has family roots in Morocco, adding to the emotional impact of the latest announcement.

In a year that has strained credulity in so many ways – few of them cheery – these diplomatic moves have been a bright spot. Even some longtime international observers and commentators are dumbfounded by the speed of the developments. For decades, the conventional wisdom of Middle East watchers has been that Arab recognition of and peace with Israel rests on a resolution of the Palestinian issue. Bypassing that step is a massive about-face for the countries that have made nice with Israel, and it is galling to the Palestinians and their representatives.

In most cases, the thaw in relations is a de jure recognition of de facto relations that have been in progress for years. Under-the-radar visits and economic ties have existed between Israel and some of these states long before they were officially acknowledged and celebrated. Bringing these relations out in the open was eased by a little self-interest, with a degree of cajoling and likely backroom dealing from the U.S. president and his administration.

The incentives for Arab and Muslim states to warm the cold shoulders they have given Israel include realities of geopolitics – countering the regional designs of Iran and Turkey – as well as the basket of inducements presented by the Americans. For example, the latest announcement – between Morocco and Israel – involves American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over disputed territories of Western Sahara and American promises of billions of dollars of investments in the Moroccan economy.

Similarly, the American-brokered relationship between Israel and Sudan hinged on Sudan’s removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism (contingent on Sudan’s provision of $335 million in compensation for victims of the Sudanese-related terrorist bombings against American interests and citizens).

The UAE and Bahrain agreements also had carrots attached. In exchange for their acquiescence, the UAE may obtain valuable American F-35 fighter jets.

All the states launching fresh relations with Israel open the opportunity for potentially lucrative deals with Israeli businesses and investors. In other words, the diplomatic thaw is not a consequence of a sudden awakening to the benign presence of what has been known by most of these states until recently as the “Zionist entity.” The trading of economic and military incentives – as well as the seemingly nonchalant abrogation of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara – suggest as much self-interest as affection for Israel.

The diplomatic isolation of Israel that began at the moment of its rebirth in 1948 was founded primarily on the rejection of the idea of Jewish self-determination – at least in the Jewish people’s ancient and modern homeland. The opposition to Israel’s existence was not premised on economic or diplomatic reasoning but, to a much greater extent, on anti-Jewish animus.

Israel’s isolation represented an abandonment of self-interest on the part of Arab and Muslim countries. Ghettoizing their own economies from the economic powerhouse of the region has been harmful to all people in the region. None have been harmed more than the Palestinians themselves, who have something to gain materially from good neighbourliness with Israel.

The series of announcements on diplomatic relations are not a result of any altruism. At least in part, they came about through old-fashioned horse-trading, including some morally questionable trade-offs, such as the forgiveness of terrorism and an internationally contentious occupation of a foreign territory, and weapons sales.

After 72 years of nearly universal rejection of Israel by its neighbours, a thaw motivated by self-interest is still a thaw. And it’s something about which to be cautiously optimistic. But it’s only a start, and there is much to be done to build the region into one that’s united in peace. It might be naive, but we still cling to the hope of Isaiah that all those weapons will eventually be exchanged for ploughshares and pruning hooks that, one day, the world over, “nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Posted on December 18, 2020December 16, 2020Author The Editorial BoardCategories From the JITags Bahrain, economics, Israel, military, Morocco, peace, politics, Sudan, trade, UAE, United Arab Emirates, United States

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