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Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

July 6, 2018 | 23 Tammuz 5778 | Candlelighting at 9:00 p.m.

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While some organizations may experience a “summer lull,” our Federation is always busy in July and August as we prepare for the fall launch of the campaign. There are also initiatives and work with our partners that keep us steadily busy all year long. Take, for example, our advocacy partner, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).

Yesterday, CIJA led a delegation that included Karen James, our Board chair, to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau. Also in attendance were Leslie Gales (chair, JFC-UIA), Joel Reitman (vice chair, CIJA Board), Shimon Fogel (CIJA CEO), Jeff Rosenthal (vice chair, CIJA Board), Barbara Bank (chair, CIJA Toronto), M.P. Marco Mendocino, and M.P. Michael Levitt.

Here is the update that CIJA CEO, Shimon Fogel, shared with us this morning:

In May, CIJA reacted with profound concern to Prime Minister Trudeau’s statement on the Israel-Gaza border clashes. We mobilized nearly 10,000 Canadians to write the PM to express our objections to serious faults in the statement, including its failure to mention Hamas. 

Yesterday, CIJA led a delegation of senior leadership of JFC-UIA and Jewish Federations across Canada to meet with the Prime Minister. We directly voiced our concerns and shared the truth about Hamas and its central role in the border violence and humanitarian situation in Gaza. We stressed the importance of unequivocal Canadian support for Israel – a fellow democracy and close ally – when Israelis are under attack, whether from terrorists in Gaza or anti-Israel resolutions at the UN.

The discussion was frank, constructive, and encouraging. The Prime Minister was very receptive and responsive to the issues we raised. He absolutely recognized the destructive role played by Hamas. He expressed full confidence in Israel’s capacity and will to hold its troops to a high ethical standard, rather than be singled out for an inherently biased international investigation. And he reaffirmed Canada’s support for Israel, and committed to be more vigilant in countering anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. In short, this was a very positive and substantive discussion. The most important sign of progress, of course, is how this shapes Canadian policy moving forward – about which we are cautiously optimistic.

I know many readers have strong opinions about this issue and the Prime Minister’s statement. This is why CIJA called for a meeting with the PM. As a non-partisan organization, we maintain constructive relationships with all parties. This means giving credit where credit is due, as we have when the government worked to expand Canada-Israel free trade and took strong positions against BDS and the Iranian regime. It also means standing up, speaking out, and having challenging – but constructive – conversations when necessary.

Our goal is not just to be a strong voice for Jewish Canadians, but to prompt real, positive improvements in Canada’s policy toward Israel. Yesterday’s meeting was a key step in our continuing efforts to advance this objective.

Many thanks to CIJA for the extensive work that led to this productive meeting, which is part of ongoing efforts to make sure that Jewish communities maintain positive relationships with elected officials from all parties and at all levels of government. We can feel very proud that we literally had a seat at the table, which is part of our community’s continually increasing profile on the national stage.

Karen provided these insights from the meeting: “I was really honoured to represent our community at the meeting and to bring a Western Canadian voice. I’m deeply appreciative of the time the Prime Minister took to hear us, and I really do feel like he was listening to what we had to say.”

As the summer kicks off with important initiatives like this, and with the Annual Campaign just around the corner, we know that even though this season here at Jewish Federation may not be restful, it’s certainly productive.

Shabbat shalom,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

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