FSWC Emerging News

NEW FSWC CAMPUS FACEBOOK PAGE LAUNCHED

2012-02-29T14:04:00.004-08:00

In light of increasing hate and intolerance on university campuses, FSWC has launched a new Facebook page to act as an essential resource for concerned students and members of the community. Called 'FSWC Campus Central', the page will be updated regularly with information on upcoming programs and campus initiatives, as well as details on the current campus climate and how to react effectively to the challenges that lie ahead. CLICK HERE to like 'FSWC Campus Central' on Facebook

FSWC APP GOES VIRAL!

2012-02-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

From the United States and Canadato France, the Netherlands, China,Argentina and even SaudiArabia and Malawi,people are downloading and learning about Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center(FSWC) via our new mobile app. They are joined by mobile device users in Israel, the UK,Australia, Mexico and Italy as the app has helped extendFSWC's reach to nations around the world. In fact, people in more than 25countries have downloaded and are accessing our new app to stay informed and upto date with FSWC and breaking news as it happens.

Join the global movement to download theFSWC mobile app. It's so simple.

Apple and Android users: Download the appfrom Apple's App Store or Android's App Market by simply typing"FSWC" in the store search bar. Once the FSWC flame icon appears,simply click on the link and hit 'install'. The icon will then appear on yourhome screen

Blackberry phones: Access http://fswc.mobapp.at/ onyour mobile browser, click the Blackberry button and select 'save to homescreen'. Once the FSWC flame icon appears, simply click on the link andhit 'install'. The icon will then appear on your home screen.

The Jihad Next Door

2012-02-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

By Avi Benlolo

One would have anticipated a calming of the hysterical anti-Israel rhetoric and often antisemitic activities on university campuses following the scathing Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism report condemning the hate and intolerance on university campuses. The report was followed by the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Antisemitism to reinforce Canada's commitment to confront antisemitism here at home and around the world. We should all be satisfied.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather than heed the warnings of our parliamentarians and the government, it appears universities have entrenched their position, resulting in an increased assault on tolerance, justice, and human rights. The universities profess to be the guardians of free speech and, in so doing, are aiding and abetting the increasingly toxic environment on campuses by providing public space to speakers who are divisive and hateful.

BANGASH EXPOSED! The radical plan to import the Iranian revolution to the Canadian Muslim community

2012-01-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

In a follow-up to Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center's letter to the President of McMaster University in Hamilton, ON expressing alarm over radical Islamist Zafar Bangash's presentation on the university campus, Tarek Fatah spoke to SUN TV about Bangash's speech, and his outrageous advocacy of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's murderous regime in Iran.

CLICK HERE to view video

FSWC protests presentation at McMaster University by anti-Israel supporter of Iran-Style revolution in the Muslim world

2012-01-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Dr. Deane,

I am writing to draw yourattention to yet another anti-Israel speaker coming to McMaster Universitythis week – an occurrence which has regrettably become all too common at the McMastercampus. On January 26 the group ‘Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War’ (HCSW), -an organization with a decidedly anti-Israel stance, is hosting a rabidlyanti-Israel, pro-Iranian speaker, Zafar Bangash, who has repeatedly issuedcalls for the ‘liberation of Palestine’ as recently as this past summer at aQueens Park rally in Toronto (a rally in which he sneeringly referred to USPresident Barack Obama as, “… this black man in the white house...”)

Mr. Bangash has been quotedin the past advising Israelis to go “back where they came from: the U.S.,Canada, Europe, Russia, whoever is willing to take them in,” warning, “Thestruggle for the liberation of Palestine will not be easy; it will demand aneven greater price in blood than has already been paid. But nobody ever saidthat the Islamic movement will find anything easy.”

Despiteongoing threats by the Iranian regime to Israel, and Iran’s subjugation of itsown people, Mr. Bangash is committed to the Iranian theocratic model, stating,"Muslims must strive to overthrow the oppressive systems in theirsocieties through Islamic revolutions…;” he supports the imposition of shariahlaw and was captured on video shouting at the Queens Park rally, “Inshallah I see that day when we, the Muslims, willmarch on Palestine and liberate Palestine . . . under Islamic law.”

RESPONSE BY FRIENDS OF SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES RE: OBAMA ASSASSINATION COMMENT IN ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

2012-01-23T15:18:00.001-08:00

Toronto- January 23, 2012: “The suggestion made by the newly resigned owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times in the US concerning the assassination of President Obama by Israel over the handling of Iran is shockingly irresponsible and outrageous,” said Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “I am proud to note that, following the example of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, this repugnant statement has been rightly condemned by leaders of all mainstream Jewish communities in the United States. Violence is not a Jewish value,” he added.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies Commends Canadian Decision to Deport Alleged Rwandan War Criminal

2012-01-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

Toronto- January 23, 2012: Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies(FSWC) commends the decision by the Canada Border Services Agency to deportalleged Rwandan war criminal LéonMugesera. Mugesera, a former Rwandan government official, is implicated in thegenocide of at least 800,000 Rwandans in 1994 following a speech 18 monthsearlier in which he advocated the expulsion and murder of ethnic Tutsis andmoderate Hutus by his extremist Hutu followers.

“As we learned from theefforts of Nazi war criminals who hoped to find safe haven in Canada, there isand should never be a place in this country for people who are responsible forheinous crimes,” said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of FSWC. “The Canadiangovernment is to be commended on deporting Mugesera. Canada should not becomea haven for war criminals and mass murderers,” he emphasized.

READ MORE . . .

FOLLOWING WIESENTHAL PROTEST, ARGENTINIAN PAPER APOLOGIZES FOR CAUSING 'ANGUISH OR PAIN'

2012-01-23T06:41:00.000-08:00

Following a protest launched by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to the Argentine newspaper Pagina/12 regarding a comic strip mocking victims of the Holocaust, the paper has issued an apology.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center had expressed indignation at a comic strip titled “An Adventure of David Gueto (Ghetto),” in the weekly 'Young Culture" section of the Argentine daily Pagina/12, (http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/no/34-5779-2012-01-19.html).

Its author, Gustavo Sala apparently sought to parody DJ David Guetta with a character named “David Gueto (Ghetto),” who promotes a dancing party for the prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. When prisoners complain that “we are being gassed and exterminated,” a caricature of Adolf Hitler tells them that “some dancing won’t make you any worse,” adding that “if they are relaxed, you get a better soap.”

READ MORE . . .

Lemire's Right to Free Speech--and Ours

2012-01-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

By Avi Benlolo in the Huffington Post

The question of Section 13 of Canada's Human Rights Act (CHRA) dealing with hate speech has come to a head over the case of Marc Lemire, who was the last president of the neo-Nazi white supremacist group, Heritage Front, and is now a webmaster of a controversial site created in the name of free speech. Lemire is currently challenging the constitutionality of Section 13 after he was vindicated on an earlier Section 13 complaint regarding his website. Undoubtedly, Lemire wants to free cyberspace from restrictions posed by Section 13 to allow him to post freely any and all information.

Clearly there are problems with the operation of Section 13 that deals with intolerable expressions and protects against specific forms of hate speech. In its own words, Section 13 empowers the Canadian Human Rights Commission "to deal with complaints regarding the communication of hate messages by telephone or on the Internet."

READ MORE . . .

Antisemitism and the Presbyterian Church

2011-12-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

A one-sided, anti-Israel presentation by representatives of the Presbyterian Church of Canada occurred at St. Andrews Church in Toronto on Thursday December 15, 2011. It was the report of a few Presbyterian representatives who responded to the anti-Semitic KAIROS Palestine document (http://www.oikoumene.org/gr/resources/documents/other-ecumenical-bodies/kairos-palestine-document.html) that includes terminology such as “The West sought to make amends for what Jews had endured in the countries of Europe, but it made amends on our account and in our land. They tried to correct an injustice and the result was a new injustice.”

The KAIROS Palestine document seeks to delegitimize any biblical attachment between Jews and the land of Israel and explicitly calls for “resistance” against Israel while ignoring the causes of the middle east conflict, Israel’s need for security of the many and ongoing acts of terror by Palestinians and Arabs against Israelis.

The document is a disgrace, which wrong-headedly attempts to lend the ideology of Christianity to support for Palestinian renunciation of the peace process. One speaker, Rick Horst, the Minster of the Barrie, Ontario`s St. Andrews`s Church, in a common anti-Semitic canard, attributed ``injustices`` perpetrated against the Palestinians to ``Zionist and Jewish Lobbies in the west`. http://youtu.be/SOpvsddWLmg?t=8m1s

The Presbyterian Church of Canada’s allowing itself to be a vehicle of anti-Semitism and the enabling of terrorism is something to be condemned in the strongest terms.

http://www.presbyterian.ca/pcconnect/daily/6110

http://www.standrewstoronto.org/

Canada's State-Sponsored Fight Against State-Sponsored Anti-Semitism

2011-12-22T05:52:00.000-08:00

By Christine Williams in Hudson New York

A year ago Parliamentarians and Experts From 50 countries, and six continents assembled together for a conference on Combating Antisemitism in Ottawa, Canada, where the Ottawa Protocol was released. In it was the groundbreaking alarm against state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resurgence of anti-Jewish libels, including Holocaust denial. The conference was hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) and was the largest of its kind. Delegates explored data to learn about and discuss strategies to combat Antisemitism globally. Less than three months ago, these efforts culminated in the historic step of signing "The Ottawa Protocol to Combat Anti-Semitism," described in the Huffington Post article: Canada Gets Tough on anti-Semitism. Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, affirmed that "those who would hate and destroy the Jewish people would ultimately hate and destroy the rest of us as well."

READ MORE. . .

Happy Hanukkah Wishes from the Canadian & Ontario Governments

2011-12-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement to markChanukah

Ottawa, December 20, 2011 — “More than two thousand years ago, a small group ofJewish believers overcame the odds and courageously defeated and repelled theiroppressors, liberating Jerusalem and reclaiming the Holy Temple as their own.As they rededicated the Temple,a second miracle occurred: a small amount of oil that should have lasted onenight instead burned for eight. Since that time, Jewish people around the worldcelebrate the holy tradition of Chanukah, the yearly eight-day Festival ofLight, in commemoration of those miracles.

“Born out of the triumph of light over darkness, of freedom over oppressionand of tolerance over persecution, this celebration reminds us that miraclescan occur even in the darkest of moments, and that justice must always overcometyranny. Chanukah also reminds us that, here in Canada, we are truly blessed tolive in a free, just and tolerant society, one which has been enriched by theinnumerable contributions and achievements of the Jewish-Canadian community.

“On this first night of Chanukah, Laureen and I extend our most heartfeltgreetings and wishes of hope and peace to families and friends in communitiesacross Canadaand around the world who tonight light their Chanukah menorahs.”

Minister Kenney issues statement celebrating Chanukah

Ottawa, December 20, 2011 — The Honourable JasonKenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, issued thefollowing statement in celebration of Chanukah:

“In homes across the country, friends and families will gather togethertoday at sundown to light candles in celebration of the first night ofChanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.

“The eight-day holiday commemorates the triumph of the Maccabees in theirrevolt against the oppressive Seleucid Empire of Antiochus IV Epiphanes morethan two thousand years ago. The Maccabees’ victory resonates today as a greattriumph of religious freedom over subjugation, and – as signified by thelighting of the Menorah – of light over darkness.

“Chanukah is a joyous time of family gatherings, gift giving, traditionalceremonies, and the enjoyment of holiday songs, food and children’s games. Forall Canadians, the holiday represents an opportunity to reflect on theexceptional contribution of the Jewish community to our country.

“As Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, I wish ahappy Chanukah – Chanukah Sameach – to all those celebrating in Canada andaround the world.”

Jason Kenney wishes Jewish Community a Chag Sameach!

Pro-Palestinian Canadian journalist lecturing at UBC acknowledges that Palestinian solidarity activism buys time for and supports terrorists

2011-12-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

People will say all sorts of revealing things amongfriends and fellow travellers that they would never dream of uttering to anaudience where they know they would face some scrutiny. That’s why it isimportant to hear what anti-Israel activists say among themselves at what theyrefer to as Palestinian solidarity events. Within their own coterie, sometimesthe veil slips and they discuss the actual agenda of the movement to vilify

Israel

with thelabel, “apartheid state.” The purpose of the movement is not justice forPalestinians within

Israel

,something that they already have in a country that has universalenfranchisement and equality before the law. The purpose is to buy time forterrorists opposed to

Israel

’sexistence to regroup and launch more violent attacks against the Jewish state,which they hope not to make fairer, but to eliminate altogether.

That agenda was made clear by Palestinian solidarityactivist and journalist Jon Elmer at the University of British Columbiasponsored by that school’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and BoycottIsraeli Apartheid groups on December 2. It was one of many such talks thatElmer has given on Canadian campuses under the billing of “Ghetto Palestine: atalk with Jon Elmer.”

In his talk, Elmer made it tacitly clear thatapartheid is not something that Israelpractices, but is trying to avoid. Israeli leaders are cognisant of the factthat their country cannot remain democratic if Palestinians in the West Bankare absorbed into Israelwithout having voting rights. That is why Israel had not annexed theterritory and is working towards a two state solution with the Palestinians. Elmerovertly acknowledged that Israel’swithdrawal from Gazawas to avoid having a demographic conflict with the Palestinians.

Though Elmer’s talk was filled with typicalanti-Israel propaganda, such as referring to the Israeli “occupation” of Gaza although Israel evacuated all troops andleft it to self-government in 2006, much of what he said was startlingly frankand shocking.

He was explicit in his support for violence as atactic that the Palestinians should use to achieve their goals, saying, “Thereis a problem with sanctifying non-violence and privileging it above all otherelements of the national liberation struggle.”

After discussing how Israelhad effectively wiped out most of the terrorists or, as Elmer terms it,“resistance” leadership, he recognized that the Palestinian terrorinfrastructure was weakened and unable to launch effective armed struggleagainst Israel.

“The political context right now in the Palestinianmilieu is not strong enough at this point for there to be an Intifada,” hereported. Then in a remarkable confirmation of what supporters of Israel have alleged about the real motives ofwestern Palestinian activists, he admitted that the main purpose of theirpolitical activism was to support the violent attacks on Israel.

Said Elmer, “It’s important to understand that thesolidarity actions, the solidarity activism that happens during this period oftime is in effect buying political time and political space for the indigenousmovement to rebuild. So it’s possible, like with South Africa, for the Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions movement to work effectively hand in hand with theindigenous struggle and at times do some of the heavy lifting in theinternational arena while the local struggle takes time to redevelop.”

He also made a facile comparison between the Syriandictatorship of Assad and Gaddafi’s dictatorship in Libyato the situation between

Israel

and the Palestinians, saying that it was hypocritical to support the armedstruggle against undemocratic dictatorship to while not supporting Palestinianviolence. Elmer’s apparent moral relativism and anti-Israel bias may accountfor his inability to differentiate between brutal, undemocratic dictators benton preserving their own power at all costs and a democratic country thatrespects the rule-of-law, whose government’s main concern is the protection andsafety of its citizens. But the honesty of the Palestinian solidaritymovement’s promotion of violence, their not-so hidden agenda to eliminate

Israel

,and the acquiescence of The University of British Columbia and otheruniversities of events that lend support to terrorism is a reality thatCanadians need to recognize when understanding the discourse of theIsraeli/Palestinian conflict in our public institutions and media.

For more Information on this story go to:

http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/peoples-health-radio/2011/12/ghetto-palestine-challenges-and-possibilities-resistance

http://www.boycottisraeliapartheid.org/2011/ghetto-palestine-jon-elmer-brings-strategic-analysis-of-palestinian-resistance-to-ubc/

Top Ten Anti-Israel/Antisemitic Slurs of 2011

2011-12-13T08:45:00.001-08:00

SWC’s 2011 Top Ten Anti-Israel/Antisemitic Slurs documents bigotry from Mahmoud Abbas (#1) to US Rev. Jeremiah Wright (#10). Read it at http://tinyurl.com/c8zdut2

Palestine House Hides Immigration Frauds

2011-12-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

Canadian crackdown on immigration fraud finds Palestine House in Toronto shielding 300 people scamming the gov’t- CLICK HERE to watch the story on CTV

The Hate Continues at UBC

2011-11-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is hosting an anti-Israel event on Friday December 2 featuring a journalist sympathetic to the leaders of the terror organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Jon Elmer, a photojournalist, will be at UBC’s Woodward Building on Friday night to lead a discussion hosted by a so-called Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign. Elmer has described the PLFP prisoners responsible for the murder of Israeli Cabinet Minister Rehavam Ze'evi as “political prisoners” and the PFLP, a violent group devoted to the elimination of Israel and listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the Canadian and US governments, as “activists.”

http://www.facebook.com/events/305647632798778/

This event, called “Ghetto Palestine,” represents another occasion when radical fanatics whose interest is the elimination of Israel are attempting to insinuate themselves into mainstream Canadian universities.

Trouble in left-wing paradise

2011-11-28T12:54:00.001-08:00

An anti-Semitic British journalist has revealed a rift in the anti-Israel movement that is pitting anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers against traditional socialists who are opposed to Israel but uncomfortable with extreme Jew hatred.

The catalyst for the rift comes in the person of Holocaust denying anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon. A former Israeli Jew who now considers himself neither Israeli nor Jewish, Atzmon is the author of the recent book The Wandering Who. His book has been praised by anti-Semites such as Richard Falk, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Palestine, and anti-Israel conspiracy theorists such as John Mearsheimer.

Lauren Booth, half-sister of Tony Blair’s wife and a distant relative of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, reports in a lengthy, outraged diatribe that The Palestine Solidarity Campaign now refuses to be associated with Atzmon because of his anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Atzmon has a particular brand of Holocaust denial by which he does not dispute that the Nazi killed Jews but in the face of overwhelming documented evidence, suggests the numbers are vastly smaller than reported and that it was not part of a systematic attempt by Hitler’s forces to exterminate the Jewish people.

According to Booth,” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has revealed itself to be ethically compromised at the highest level…

This week, Sarah Colborne, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was quoted in the pro Israeli paper, the Jewish Chronicle, as supporting a boycott of the highly renowned musician and academic Gilad Atzmon”

Siding with Atzmon and other Holocaust deniers, Booth expresses outrage that such a prominent outspoken anti-Zionist would be shunned by their movement. This is in character for Booth, who according to her blog is an employee of the Holocaust denying regime of Mahmoud Ahamdinejad where she presents for PRESS TV, the Iranian state-controlled English language news service. Booth, who reports numerous failed attempts to stop drinking alcohol, attributes her recent conversion to Islam in Iran to her new found abstinence and has had a number of anti-Semitic outbursts of her own in recent years.

This recent rift demonstrates the extent to which the pro-Palestine movement is in many cases led and dominated by those whose primary motive is the hatred of Jews and the destruction of Israel, rather than merely disagreement with Israeli politics and policies.

Counter Antisemitism: Join FSWC's "Silence is NOT Golden" Campaign

2011-11-25T12:31:00.001-08:00

It's getting harder to ignore the headlines in the news. As antisemitic activity, whether in the guise of anti-Zionism or just plain Jew hatred becomes more prevalent, especially on university campuses, we have to realize the unthinkable is becoming more and more commonplace. From union support for anti-Israel flotillas to antisemitic speakers at universities and public spaces across the country, the time has come to admit the hard truth: antisemitism in Canada is once again rearing its ugly head.

UNESCO on the move. . .

2011-11-24T13:07:00.001-08:00

Once again Palestinians are attempting to whitewash Jewish history and declare the Hebron Cave of Patriarchs a Palestinian heritage site.

Read More

What stops the world from taking out Assad?

2011-11-17T15:01:00.001-08:00

By Avi Benlolo in the Huffington Post

Where is the international outrage against Syria? Where are the so-called activists who readily boycott Israel on university campuses or the hypocrites who mislabel it an apartheid state? Where are the fake humanitarian flotillas to Damascus? Neither a peep nor a whisper -- only a whimper.

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's days are numbered. As he continues to kill his own people, the pressure to bring him to justice will increase; his ruthless actions have
even convinced the violence-tolerant Arab League to fire a few warning shots across his
bow by suspending him from their midst. In an ominous sign of his growing isolation,
Turkey and Jordan have also jumped on the anti-Assad bandwagon and are offering their
own criticism and advice. But for now, he continues to rule Syria with an iron fist and a
bloodied conscience.
As Western countries congratulate themselves on their role in helping to end the
intractable and rapacious Gaddafi dictatorship (and keep their fingers crossed that
whoever follows will not be worse), many wonder why we don't employ the same Right
to Protect (R2P) reasoning used to end Libya's nightmare to help the Syrians as well.

READ MORE . . .

Hypocrisy at UNESCO - again.

2011-11-17T14:03:00.001-08:00

In an astonishing display of hypocrisy, UNESCO has chosen Syria to be the Arab representative on a committee dealing with the implementation of human rights. According to UN estimates, the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad has slaughtered 3,500 of its own people and arrested tens of thousands more in an effort to halt anti-government protests.

Avi Benlolo says the Holocaust is a 'moral compass for humanity' on SUN TV

2011-11-10T11:20:00.001-08:00

FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo spoke with Michael Coren, host of 'The Arena' on SUN TV, about the importance of Holocaust remembrance and the need for more education and tolerance.

CLICK HERE to watch interview

Academic antisemites support Holocaust Denial

2011-11-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, a book John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published in 2007 alleges hugely disproportionate and negative influence by the “Israel Lobby” in American foreign policy. The work and its authors have been criticized for vague definitions of what constitutes the “Israel Lobby” as well as distortions and errors in their reporting, just as the work has become a favourite of anti-Semites and neo-Nazis who see it as proof of a Jewish conspiracy.

Mearsheimer, a Political Science professor at the University of Chicago, and Walt, a Harvard professor of International Affairs, have both rejected claims that their work was motivated or influenced by anti-Semitism.

But the two authors of “The Israel Lobby” have raised new questions by Mearsheimer’s endorsement and Walt’s defence of his co-author when the former praised the work of Gilad Atzmon. Atzmon is a former Israeli Jew, whose anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial have alienated him from even many anti-Israel organizations. http://www.hudson-ny.org/2564/mearsheimer-falk-atzmon-anti-semitic-book

Mearsheimer has praised Atzmon’s new anti-Semitic tome, The Wandering Who, and was backed up by Walt in an article in Foreign Affairs. http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/25/mearsheimer_responds_to_goldbergs_latest_smear

Atzmon received another prominent endorsement from Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapoteur on Palestine, who has his own history of shameful behaviour in this area after he published an anti-Semitic cartoon on his blog. http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1316871&ct=10896001

Falk is the only Special Rapoteur in the history of the United Nations to be condemned by a UN General Secretary. Ban Ki Moon condemned Falk after comments he made which suggested that the United States government was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9-11.

Remembrance Day: Standing on Guard for Freedom

2011-11-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

On Nov. 11, Canadians will once again turn their attention to our fallen soldiers on Remembrance Day. Remembrance is one of the most sacred acts of humanity. Not only does it sanctify the dead, it also provides moral nourishment to the living. If the saying that those who forget the past are destined to repeat it is true, remembrance is integral to ensuring a better, more peaceful world for future generations.

In this day and age, when morality is defined by self need; when hypocrisy in the name of human rights has turned the world upside down, when individualism has overtaken community, and when the underpinnings of freedom and democracy have been eroded, Remembrance Day is an annual reminder of who we are and what we ought to stand for.

READ MORE . . .

United Church Minister on vilification of Israel tour

2011-11-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

A United Church of Canada (UCC) minister by the name of Chris Ferguson, (http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/global/ferguson) who is the UCC representative to the UN on Palestinian issues, is doing a cross country tour to vilify Israel. Ferguson puts all the blame for the occupation of the West Bank on Israel and is a proponent of the Kairos Palestine Document which demonizes Israel by saying the occupation is “a sin against God and humanity.”

http://www.oikoumene.org/gr/resources/documents/other-ecumenical-bodies/kairos-palestine-document.html

It refers to Israel as “the enemy” and in language worthy of medieval fanaticism, frames Israel’s actions in theological terms as “evil”

The Kairos document and Ferguson are not only one-sided, but extraordinarily offensive; the document completely devalues the need for Israeli self-defence, and Ferguson regurgitates the anti-Zionist canard that borders on anti-Semitism by suggesting that Christian support for Israel is based on Christian guilt for the Holocaust, rather than Israel’s legitimate self-defence requirements. Ferguson’s shallow argument is an insult to Christians and Jews who understand that Israel has not only the right but the duty to protect its citizens. Israel continues to press for a negotiated two-state solution, but has been met with intransigence from the Palestinian leadership combined with a lack of demonstrated capability (or desire) to prevent ongoing terrorist activities.

Ferguson continually refers to Israeli “human rights violations” without any mention of ongoing Palestinian support for terror, incitement to hate and the ongoing and public messages from Palestinian leaders stating that their true intent is to eliminate Israel. And of course, he makes no reference to the other Arab forces that are determined to annihilate Israel with whom Palestinian factions are aligned.

Ferguson can be heard discussing his tour and the anti-Israel propaganda he is purveying in this interview: http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/redeye/2011/10/exploring-reality-palestinian-christians

FSWC Baffled by U of T response re Muslim cleric

2011-11-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

FSWC continues to follow the story of the radical Muslim cleric, Abdullah Hakim Quick, who is presenting an 18-week seminar at the University of Toronto’s Muslim Student’s Association (Click here to read more in the Canadian Jewish News).

In response to FSWC’s letter of concern that the university is supporting hate speech by permitting him to lecture on campus, and despite Quick's previous statements concerning Jews, infidels and, especially his declaration that the "punishment for homosexuality is death," (Listen here) , University of Toronto Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity, Angela Hildyard responded, “. . . There is every expectation that Dr. Quick's teaching will be open and respectful. . ."

FSWC remains baffled by this statement and uncertain what this expectation is based on; his declaration that homosexuals deserve death seems clear. We will persist in following this story and will provide further updates as they become available.

No religious tolerance for exiled Jew in Libya

2011-10-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Despite statements from Libya's National Transitional Council that the country would practice "patience, honesty and tolerance," in the post Gadhafi era, this assurance does not seem to extend to the Jewish people. Tripoli native Dr. David Gerbi was exiled with his family at the age of 12, along with 38,000 other Libyan Jews, after Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. When Dr. Gerbi returned to Tripoli recently to try and clean a synagogue that had been left to decay and ruin, he was forced to flee from protesters chanting "No place for Jews or Zionists."

CLICK HERE to read the full story by Rabbi Abraham Cooper in the National Post

Protesters demonstrate against Jewish presence in Libya
Oct.7.2011 Marco Longari/AFP via National Post

Gilad Shalit's release strengthens Israeli social contract

2011-10-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

A concise and powerful explanation by Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren on how Gilad Shalit's release makes Israeli society stronger by reaffirming the country's unwritten social contract

GOOGLE EXPLAINS WHY ANTI-SEMITIC WEBSITE RANKS SO HIGH

2011-10-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

FSWC recently received an email petition asking Google to remove an antisemitic website (CLICK HERE to sign the petition). The website dates to the late 1990's and the petition has been around for a few years now. What's new is the Google ranking of the website: type in the word "Jew" and the hate site "Jew Watch" is at the top of the rankings. Google thinks this issue is serious enought to merit an explanation, which you can read by CLICKING HERE.

Avi Benlolo on Gilad Shalit's release on Sun News

2011-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

FSWC President & CEO Avi Benlolo speaks with David Akin on The Daily Brief on Sun News about the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and the implications of this historic prisoner exchange. Click on the image to go to the interview.

Concordia cancels radical Islamist conference - Ryerson, McMaster & York host hate preachers

2011-10-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

A conference featuring speakers with a history of anti-Semitic, anti-Gay hate speech set to take place at Concordia University this weekend has been cancelled by the campus Muslim Student Association (MSA). The Islamic Education and Research Academy’s (IERA) “Calling the World Back to Allah” conference was sponsored by the MSA and scheduled for Concordia on October 21. After conversations with representatives from the university’s administration, Concordia’s MSA withdrew its support and cancelled the event. The IREA website lists the Montreal event as still active but lists the location as TBA.

In reply to a letter of concern sent by FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo, Concordia’s President, Frederick Lowy, wrote “this event was cancelled on Friday, October 14th. It goes without saying that Concordia University does not espouse or support the attitudes ascribed to the speakers slated for that event.”

IERA speakers have called for the death of homosexuals and referred to Jews and other non-Muslims as “filth” as well as calling Jews specifically “cursed.” They also support the stoning of women. Regrettably, despite the attention drawn to the nature of the IREA speakers, the MSAs at McMaster University in Hamilton has and Ryerson University in Toronto will host Hamza Andreas Tzortzis, who has suggested on his website that homosexuality should be made a crime. Yesterday York University’s MSA welcomed IERA speaker Yusuf Chambers who has endorsed hate preacher Zakir Naik’s pronouncement that homosexuality should be punishable by death. Naik was been banned from Canada more than a year ago for his fundamentalist views.

Sheraton Hotels cancelled the IERA event scheduled to take place in Toronto on October 23 after the nature of the hate speech of the speakers was publicized. The IERA Facebook site lists the new conference venue as the Canadian headquarters of the North American Islamic Society in Mississauga.

Israel Shakes Hands With the Devil

2011-10-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Most Israelis are anxiously awaiting the release of Gilad Shalit, the young Israeli prisoner of war captured on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a cross-border raid near the Kerem Shalom crossing (in Israel). Shalit has been held in Gaza as a bargaining chip for five years and for the Hamas leadership, it's finally pay day.

The group effectively ransomed Shalit for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails -- many of them with blood on their hands. For instance, three members of the Hamas cell who in 2005 abducted and murdered Sasson Nuriel -- Ali Mohammed Ali Qadi, Abdullah Nasser Arar and Said Ibrahim Shalaldeh -- are reportedly on the list of prisoners to be freed.

Israeli families who have suffered from the loss of their loved ones are suffering yet again. Arnold and Frimet Roth are begging the Israeli government not to release Ahlam Tamimi, the woman who aided and abetted the Sbaro suicide bomber who killed 15 people including their 15-year-old-daughter Malka.

Read More. . .

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center alarmed at attempts by radical Islamic organization to establish roots in Canada

2011-10-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

FSWC is alarmed about an extremist British Islamic organization attempting to establish itself in

Canada

through a conference featuring anti-Semitic, anti-Gay speakers. The Islamic Education and Research Academy’s (IERA) “Calling the World Back to Allah” conference has scheduled speakers who called Jews “cursed,” and “filth,” have called for the death of homosexuals and support the stoning of women .

FSWC commends Sheraton Hotels for cancelling the use of their Toronto facilities for a gathering of hate-mongers on October 23. However, according to IERA’s Facebook site, the new venue the organization plans to use for the conference is the Canadian headquarters of the Islamic Society of North America in Mississauga.

FSWC has also discovered that IERA is making inroads at Canadian universities: the IERA conference is scheduled for October 21 at Concordia University in Montreal, while one of the IERA featured speakers, Abdullah Quick, is slated by the University of Toronto’s Muslim Student Association to present an 18-week series of seminars on Islam.

“We are extremely concerned that Concordia would allow such an event that insults Canadian values of tolerance and diversity to occur on its premises,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “We also call upon the University of Toronto to distance itself from the bigotry expressed by Mr. Quick and look forward to a statement to that effect by the University as soon as possible,” he added.

Despite the issue of an IERA press release which stated an “international team of speakers, staff and volunteers have never called for violence or hatred towards members of the Jewish or Homosexual communities,” the speakers can be seen and heard making exactly those types of statements at the following link.

IERA claims its condemnation and threats to the safety of homosexuals is in the context of “criminal law in an Islamic state.”

Anti-Zionist Conspiracy Theorist behind Toronto’s “Stop the Cuts” Protests

2011-10-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

The author of an anti-Semitic Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) thesis that claimed Holocaust education programs were part of a Zionist conspiracy to perpetuate Jewish victimhood has been exposed as a key individual behind the Toronto "Stop the Cuts" actions aimed at hampering attempts to restore fiscal responsibility at Toronto’s City Hall.

Jenny Peto, whose Masters' Thesis for the Sociology and Equity Studies in Education program at OISE alleged that the mainstream Jewish community "is dominated by racist...ideologies," was revealed by an anonymous reader of the blog Eye on a Crazy Planet to be the registrant of http://www.torontostopthecuts.com/, the website that is the central information repository for the activists. Peto's thesis, titled, "The Victimhood of the Powerful: White Jews, Zionism and the Racism of Hegemonic Holocaust Education" was condemned in Ontario's Legislature by both the Minister for Citizenship and Opposition MPPs as being a "hateful and poorly researched...piece of garbage."

Understanding who is behind the radicals who want to prevent the Mayor from managing the city's fiscal crisis is instructive in unraveling some of their motives.

A number of vociferous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic organizations and individuals still harbour a grudge against the Mayor for his efforts to keep the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid out of Toronto's Pride parade and his attempt to prevent anti-Semitic al Quds Day activities held by the Canadian Shia Muslim Organization (CASMO) from taking place on City property.

Until now the individuals organizing the anti-Ford actions remained mostly in the shadows; we have now learned the media contact number for “Stop The Cuts” is the same as the number for a woman whom anti-Semitic author Peto refers to in her thesis' acknowledgments as her "partner."

When told of Ms. Peto’s involvement in “Stop the Cuts” Adrienne Batra, the Mayor’s Press Secretary said, "It's not surprising that someone who is clearly misinformed on so many issues would be participating in spreading this type of hysteria. The Ford administration is going through a thoughtful process on how to fix our City's finances, something that will, ironically, even help out those involved with this website."

Tarek Fatah and Ayaan Hirsi Ali talk about anti-Semitism in the Arab world and the dangers of radical Islam

2011-10-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Watch this riveting discussion between author-activists Tarek Fatah and Ayaan Hirsi Ali at a recent FSWC event.

Jewish Resolve: Drawing strength from Yom Kippur

2011-10-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

By Avi Benlolo in the Huffington Post

October 7, 2011- As on Yom Kippur of 1973, Jewish communities around the world -- and Israel in particular, are facing an external threat of historic proportion.
It was 38 years ago that a consortium of Arab states launched a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jewish people. It was a sadistic attack, timed to happen when Jews in Israel would have their guard down -- in synagogue, with all communications closed (no electricity or fire is permissible) and likely weak and tired from fasting.
But Jewish resolve and the need for survival was greater than the hatred unleashed on the tiny state by Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq with troops and aid from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, Morocco, Cuba and Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. Many nations further participated in attempting to destroy Israel by funding and supplying this war effort -- including the former Soviet Union through its alliance with Egypt and Arab states.
Israel was victorious and for many Jews today, Yom Kippur is more than just a day of private reflection and atonement. It is a day of Jewish pride and strength, and an expression of our resolve and effort to survive in our ancestral homeland despite the incredible suffering our people have endured throughout the ages.
And because Yom Kippur is a holiday that brings Jews together and fills synagogues around the world to the rafters, it is a holiday that unifies us and recommits us and strengthens us for the coming year. This re-strengthening of our commitment to Israel and our culture and religion was indeed the secret weapon the Arabs missed in 1973 when they launched their attack.
The enemies of Israel and the Jewish people should know that our resolve today is greater than it was even on Yom Kippur in 1973. When we say that never again will there be a Holocaust and the gathering of millions of Jews into concentration camps where they will be gassed -- or annihilated by Gazan bombs or a nuclear Iran, we are serious. Israel does not stand alone -- not among Diaspora Jews and not among Western nations like Canada who rightly understand that Israel is the defender of freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

CLICK HERE to read the full article

Will Canada follow Germany's lead and open dormant Nazi war files?

2011-10-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

On the heels of a German decision to re-open hundreds of dormant investigations into Nazi war criminals, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's top Nazi-hunter, Efraim Zuroff is planning a campaign to track down any Nazis still alive. Read more about it here

Will the Canadian government follow suit? We've contacted the War Crimes department in Ottawa and will let you know when we receive a response.

Does CBC Radio think Israel has been occupied since 1948?

2011-10-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

In response to a recent CBC Radio interview in which a Palestinian representative to Canada made a number of questionable statements left unchallenged by the CBC interviewer, FSWC sent the following letter of concern to the CBC. Early Warning will let our readers know as soon as we receive a response.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) would like to register its concern about a recent interview on CBC Radio.
CBC Radio's 'The Current' broadcast an interview on Monday, September 26, 2011 of Linda Sobeh Ali, the Charge d'Affaires of the Palestinian delegation to Canada, in which she was allowed, unchallenged, to make a number of outrageous assertions, including that Israel has been "occupying" Palestinian land since 1948, the year of Israel's independence. In effect, that claim makes it clear that the Palestinian representative accords no legitimacy to Israel as a nation. Her comments belie the Palestinian leadership's stated aspirations for a two-state solution. This deception on the part of the Palestinian leadership is also revealed by its ongoing refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or to engage in peace talks unless conditions favourable to them are pre-arranged. We believe the lionization of suicide bombers, terrorists and child murderers and continued incitement to violence in the official Palestinian media provide further illustration of the actual intent of the Palestinian Authority's leadership.

CLICK HERE to read the full letter to the CBC