Op-Eds
- August 18, 2010 - The case against Whitton
10:08 AM EST - Via Ottawa Citizen
An anti-Semitic streak that caused the deaths of Jewish children should disqualify Ottawa's first female mayor from any modern honours.
- August 12, 2010 - Civility Is Not A Sign Of Weakness
1:10 PM EST - Via Shalom Life
In his 1961 Inaugural Address, President John F. Kennedy admonished both sides of the Cold War divide that “civility is not a sign of weakness”
- August 05, 2010 - Start Worrying - Details to Follow
9:31 AM EST - Via Shalom Life
This, according to one wag, is the quintessential Jewish telegram. I was reminded of this the other day by a cartoon in a book of Jewish humour showing a guy posting flyers with a picture of his dog, announcing that it was “not lost—yet.”
- July 13, 2010 - Taking the Measure of a Country
9:00 AM EST - Via Shalom Life
As the Children of Israel wandered through the desert, G-d commanded Moses on several occasions to take a headcount of the community, or some specific sub-group within it.
- July 09, 2010 - Taking the Measure of a Country
2:00 PM EST - Via The Shalom Life
As the Children of Israel wandered through the desert, G-d commanded Moses on several occasions to take a headcount of the community, or some specific sub-group within it. A couple of these census-takings occur in the Book of Bemidbar, AKA, appropriately, Numbers.
- July 07, 2010 - Marching with Pride
2:00 PM EST - Via The Shalom Life
Challenged by hateful anti-Israel protestors from QuAIA (Queers Against Israeli Apartheid) the Jewish community came out in force to defend not only Kulanu (Toronto’s Jewish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer organization), but also Israel and tolerance.
- June 27, 2010 - Pride organizers cave in to politically correct bullies
8:00 AM EST - The Toronto Star
You've got to hand it to the organizers of Toronto's annual gay pride parade. With their cowardly volte face in allowing Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) to march...
- June 11, 2010 - CJC Response to KAIROS Palestine's policy paper "A Moment of Truth"
Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) appreciates the opportunity to submit the following critique of KAIROS Palestine’s policy paper on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which we will call hereinafter, A Moment of Truth. The invitation for this review is in the best tradition of interfaith dialogue in general and the Canadian Christian-Jewish Consultation in particular.
- April 22, 2010 - Racism's sad staying power
Most Canadians reckon racial segregation -- at least when it comes to non-aboriginals -- is the stuff of sordid American and South African history...
- April 07, 2010 - Jean Vanier - wise humanitarian and all-round mensch; The founder of L'Arche deserves a Nobel Prize for his work
It has been said that one true measure of civilization is how well we treat the most vulnerable members of our society.
- March 16, 2010 - Crossing the line into hate speech
We wish that we could share Lorne Gunter's sanguine view that calling for the mass murder of Jews was merely "repulsive and hateful" rather than unlawful.
- February 16, 2010 - Painfully slow court system gives war criminals free pass
Joseph Conrad once observed that "the belief in a supernatural source of evil is unnecessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."
- January 27, 2010 - Auschwitz -- 65 years later
'ARBEIT MACHT FREI," reads the sign to the entrance of Auschwitz: "Work sets you free."
- January 15, 2010 - Why we remember Raoul Wallenberg
On Jan. 17, 1945, Raoul Wallenberg was arrested by the Red Army in Budapest, Hungary and disappeared, his fate unknown, into the Soviet gulag. What he was doing in Budapest in the first place is a tale of selfless heroism and extraordinary courage and underscores why in 1985 Canada bestowed upon Wallenberg its first honorary Canadian citizenship.
- December 16, 2009 - Wisdom and foresight
According to our Talmud, within every generation, God allowed for the existence of 36 just persons or tzadiks whose vision and foresight made the world a better place.
- December 14, 2009 - Worn out his Welcome
The Sun does its readers a disservice by presenting the case against Helmut Oberlander as a "witch hunt".
- December 11, 2009 - Crimes that must not be forgotten
It is comforting that there are authorities in the world who still pursue justice for Nazi war crimes.
- December 10, 2009 - Lawyer's strategy is 'shameful'
The implication that the trial of John Demjanjuk represents a form of persecution rather than
- December 04, 2009 - Age should not be a shield against justice
It is comforting that there are authorities in the world who still pursue justice for Nazi war crimes.
- November 22, 2009 - Letter to the Editor
As a human rights and anti-racism organization within the Jewish community, Canadian Jewish Congress – Pacific Region (CJC-PR) has long been concerned with the proliferation of hate and bias crimes in British Columbia.
- November 09, 2009 - Joe Levitt: Soldier, hero, historian
Joseph Levitt, a Montrealer by birth, was a product of both Montreal's famous Baron Byng High
- October 21, 2009 - Comedian not funny
I read with interest Janice Arnold’s article detailing the decision by Just for Laughs (JFL) to remove Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan from its October Canadian tour (“Comic dropped from show,” Toronto edition, Oct. 15).
- October 01, 2009 - Churchill showed there's hope for all
Letter-writer Orest Slepokura observes that Winston Churchill himself was infected by phobic Zelayonism ( "a lurid obsession with Israeli villainy").
- October 01, 2009 - You Have Our Word
Sir, - An important point of clarification re "Canadians launch 'Buycott' campaign against boycotters" (September 25): Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) led a delegation to the United Church of Canada's (UCC) General Council in August, and through our strong advocacy with friends from the UCC itself we were able to help defeat the anti-Israel boycott motions that came to the floor.
- September 22, 2009 - Jewish 'splinter group' lacks a 'credible voice'
The universe that letter-writer Philip Weiss inhabits clearly operates according to different rules. In this universe, however, the fact is that elements within the United Church of Canada (UCC) have made persistent attempts to drag the church into a non-productive and antagonistic position on the Middle East.
- September 15, 2009 - CUPE's Sid Ryan eyes
The Ontario Federation of Labour obviously has a perfect right to select whomever it wishes for president. As Daniel Dale's article makes clear, however, many Ontario labour leaders see Sid Ryan, currently president of Canadian Union of Public Employees-Ontario, as a loose cannon.
- September 03, 2009 - The United Church Conference: A First-Hand Account
There has been no shortage of reporting on last month's United Church convention (technically, General Council), much of it somewhat confusing - what happened, what resolutions passed, what resolutions were defeated, is it good for the Jews, for the United Church, etc.
- September 02, 2009 - Sweden and the blood libel
It's hardly surprising you endorse a robust press free of government interference. But supporting the notion that governments do not have the right to criticize something published in a newspaper is untenable.
- August 28, 2009 - Sweden's embrace of the blood libel
The "blood libel" against the Jews is back. Again. In the 12th century, an English monk declared that Jews had murdered a Christian boy to use his blood for ritual purposes, and the blood libel was born.
- August 26, 2009 - My Friend and Teacher Allen
From time to time in one's life, a memory is evoked that seems to have glued itself to our unconscious for its very power and intensity. Such a memory came vividly to life recently when a dear friend and teacher told me that this would be his last year teaching.
- August 17, 2009 - Why I went to the United Church conference
A famous mountain climber, when asked why he climbed Mt. Everest, gave the by now classic response -- because it was there. Why did I go to Kelowna? Because I was asked. But there is more to the story.
- August 11, 2009 - The anti-Semitism debate
Criticism of Israel crosses into anti-Semitism when it calls into question the legitimacy of Israel's identity as a Jewish state (The United Church And Israel - letters, Aug. 10; United Church Resolution Is Anti-Semitic, CJC Says - Aug. 8).
- August 07, 2009 - Is the United Church turning its back on the Jewish community?
When the United Church of Canada adopted the document Bearing Faithful Witness in 2003 as a blueprint for rapprochement with Canadian Jewry, it issued a collective mea culpa for its historical treatment of the Jews. The church stated: "We believe that our faith calls us to repent when the church has been unfaithful in its witness by not loving Jews as neighbours."
- August 05, 2009 - United Church's one-sided boycott
In defending the United Church's Middle East resolutions, Reverend David Giuliano notes the UCC's understanding of the impact of the Holocaust on Canadian Jews; the manifestations of contemporary anti-Semitism as anti-Zionism and the current existential threats to Israel posed by the unremitting terrorism of Israel's neighbours and the stated annihilationist objectives of Iran.
- July 10, 2009 - Not all 'Jewish groups' the same
First Antonia Zerbisias, then Haroon Siddiqui, now letter writer Elizabeth Pickett all speak of so-called "Jewish groups" or "Zionists" attempting to decide who or what Canadians can see or hear. There are numerous so-called "Jewish groups" in Canada, each with its own mandate and perspective on a variety of issues.
- July 03, 2009 - Zionists have speech rights, too
- July 02, 2009 - Jewish refugees from Arab countries
- June 01, 2009 - The Nazi threat in the '60s in Canada was real
- April 27, 2009 - Durban II: Same farce, different city
- April 24, 2009 - Debating boycott of Durban II
- April 21, 2009 - Durban II: Same farce, different city
- April 20, 2009 - Correct wording
- April 10, 2009 - Still Canadian
- April 08, 2009 - Galloway’s freedom of speech not impeded
- April 06, 2009 - A Message from CJC Co-President Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka
- March 22, 2009 - Failure to explain pertinent fact
- March 20, 2009 - Coming to Canada: a friend of terrorists
- March 07, 2009 - No money for hate
- March 07, 2009 - Shadows and terrors
- March 03, 2009 - How two hateful wrongs created something right
