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| THE LOBBY IN CANADA
February 4, 2010 G&M - Conservatives cracking down on criticism of Israel, NGOs warn The Harper government is being accused of trying to gag legitimate criticism of Israel amid a bitter dispute over alleged Conservative interference with a government-funded rights agency. Dozens of foreign non-governmental organizations that work in the field of human rights have written an open letter denouncing actions by Tory appointees on the board of Montreal-based Rights and Democracy.
January 20, 2010 Embassy - The truth about KAIROS, NGO Monitor In an article in Embassy last week, Gerald Steinberg criticizes the work of NGOs like KAIROS that confront poverty by addressing its root causes. He claims this approach leads many such NGOs to send support to "fringe opposition leaders, rebels and anti-government insurgents." His accusations and name-calling ("radical," "strident" and "leftist") reveal his tactics. When did seeking positive change become strident or radical? Gerald Steinberg is chair of political studies at Bar Ilan University in Israel. He is president of NGO Monitor, an Israeli organization that monitors NGOs, the UN, and other organizations around the world that critique actions of the Israeli government. The list of organizations that NGO Monitor criticizes is a long one and includes Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders, Save the Children, World Vision Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Quebec, Christian Aid in the UK, Human Rights Watch in the US, and France's Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme, among many others.
May 23, 2009 Torstar - Has Jewish group forgotten its roots? Critics say Canadian Jewish Congress has clout in top circles, but not in community .... not many groups can attract a political lineup like the CJC has for its 90th anniversary plenary and celebration May 31, including Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and the NDP's Jack Layton. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is also expected to be there to collect a human rights award..... few politicians would dare ignore an organization like the CJC, which Farber says has more clout in the halls of power than most minority groups even though it represents only 360,000 people across the country. May 7, 2009 CJN - JDL objects to ‘Israel/Palestine’ conference at York TORONTO — The Jewish Defence League said it plans to hold weekly demonstrations at York University to protest an upcoming two-day conference called Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace.
March 3, 2009 Toronto Star - CUPE union votes for academic boycott of Israel University workers in the Canadian Union of Public Employees have passed a controversial motion calling for an academic boycott of Israel, and union members from at least one Toronto university are planning to pressure their school to cut any financial ties with the country. Liberal and Conservative condemn CUPE for its support of th academic boycott of Israel In the past month, we have seen the Israel-right-or-wrong lobby slander Canadians from all backgrounds for their participation in protests against the bombing of the imprisoned population of Gaza. We have seen students on our university campuses being harassed for using the term"apartheid" in relation to Israel, a term that Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter have used in the same manner. It is well known that the lobby targets journalists who expose the facts about Israel. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives had anything to say about this. We are losing our right to the very foundation of democracy - our right to freedom of expression and the both the government and the opposition are complicit. Toronto Star - CUPE union votes for academic boycott of Israel University workers in the Canadian Union of Public Employees have passed a controversial motion calling for an academic boycott of Israel, and union members from at least one Toronto university are planning to pressure their school to cut any financial ties with the country.
February 25, 2009 Since 2001, well-funded Israel Lobby groups have mobilized to discredit and derail the 2009 Durban Review Conference. These include the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, UN Watch, ICARE-Magenta Foundation, the American Jewish Committee, and the World Jewish Diplomatic Corp of the World Jewish Congress. In Canada, they include the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA), the Canadian Jewish Congress, and B’nai Brith. All of these groups choose to characterize as anti-Semitic legitimate criticism of racist Israeli policies and practices. January 30, 2009 FINALLY, CANADIAN CHURCHES AND NGO'S BLAST ISRAEL AND THE LOBBY !! NECEF letter to Canadian Jewish Congress regarding their slanderous accusations We therefore call on you to issue a strong public apology for these vile expressions of defamation and hatred, and against all forms of racism and incitement specifically including anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim propaganda. We furthermore expect that this slander will be removed immediately from your website. We have thus issued this as a public letter and will not hesitate to report this to the RCMP hate crimes division. Letter from Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and Moderator of The United Church of Canada to Stephen Harper requesting an investigation of Israeli bombing of Gaza Health Centre built with Canadian funds. [Readers please note that the Canadian media reports the opinions of the Canadian Jewish Congress on a daily basis but as of January 30th had not seen fit to report this statement by two of the largest churches in Canada.]
January 21, 2009 Larry Haiven - Chaff confusing Middle East issues So desperate has the Canadian Jewish Congress been to divert attention away from Israels murderous rampage that last week, it asked the police to investigate anti-Semitism. And they have demanded that all the unions and church groups, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian organizations that have been active in condemning the Israeli actions also denounce anti-Semitism. Of course, the Canadian Jewish Congress knows that the most effective chaff consists of accusations of anti-Semitism and hasnt hesitated to use it. But this time, Israels actions have been so outrageous that the CJC felt it had to be even more outrageous. December 23, 2008 Vancouver -- A campaign to defend free speech pushed media giant Canwest to drop its legal suit against Mordecai Briemberg over a parody of The Vancouver Sun. [Background]
As one battle ends another begins..... Radio Canada Ombudsman caves to calls for censorship On October 23, 2008 Radio Canada’s “Les Grands Reportages” aired Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land. This is an excellent documentary which exposes the disconnect between what is taking place on the ground in Palestine and the American media's reporting of these events. It can be viewed on google videos. A systematic pressure campaign was organized against Radio-Canada for airing this documentary and resulted in an investigation by the Ombudsman. In her report, it is clear that the Ombudsman has adopted all the pro-occupation arguments of the complainants. She comes to the conclusion that the documentary should never have been aired. Read Radio-Canada Ombudsman's report.
October 11, 2008 Stephane Dion - The Zionist lobby's puppet Click here to read the woefully inadequate response from Stephane Dion to people who wrote to him expressing their objections to Ken Dryden's statement advocating the complete cutting off of aid to the already half starved population of Gaza. It is well known that Dion is neither ignorant of nor unmoved by the plight of Palestinians. This incident just goes to further illustrate how the Israel first lobby controls who speaks, what they say and who gets elected in this country. As the Leslie Hughes firing earlier this month clearIy shows Dion neither has the moral fortitude nor the political savvy to mitigate the lobby's influence in any way. Whereas the CJC was immediately contacted when accusation of anti-Semitism were made against Winnipeg candidate Lesley Hughes, organizations representing Canadian Palestinians and Arabs were not contacted in any way when starvation of the Palestinian was advocated by Dryden. Read responses from Canadian Arab Federation and National Council on Canada Arab Relations to Dion's statement - it can in no way be called an apology. [See Now Toronto - Israel's party mixer below for background on this story below.] October 5, 2008 Now Toronto - Israel’s party mixer In front of a split audience in the sanctuary of the Beth Emeth synagogue on Wilmington (personal note: I had my bar mitzvah here), the ex-hockey guy’s eyes hardened as he advocated no truck or trade with the “terrorists” in the democratically elected Hamas government in Gaza. Ken Dryden's Letter to the Editor of NOW Magazine September 2008 B'nai Brith and Canadian Jewish Congress flex their muscles once again to demand that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion dump a candidate who they claim made anti-Semitic comments. CBC - Liberals ask candidate to step down over 9/11 comments Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has asked Winnipeg-area candidate Lesley Hughes to step down over an old column in which she suggested Israeli companies were given a heads-up about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. Hughes, who learned of Dion's request from CBC News in Winnipeg, said she was stunned. Click here to read what Lesley Hughes actually said. Article from Israeli newspaper stating that some employees were warned of attacks. Judging from the comments to this article on the CBC website, many Canadians are stunned as well. [Read comments]. And Ms Hughes is clearly not the only person to have questions about Israel. Fox News, a right wing broadcaster with a definite pro-Israel stance presents some very interesting information about Israel in this report. G&M - Green candidate accused of anti-Israel forum posts gets May's support OTTAWA -- Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is affirming her support for an Ottawa-area Green Party candidate accused of "Israel bashing," just one day after citing anti-Semitism as grounds for rejecting one of her B.C. candidates. [Dr. Qais Ghanem is the founder of the Arab-Jewish dialogue group, Potlucks for Peace and is highly regarded Arabs, Jews and "others" in Ottawa for his tireless work on peace, justice and human rights issues. Apparently his anti-semitic statement was "The Israeli point of view is voiced non-stop by the North American media which is controlled by a small oligarchy." This is a statement of fact and the media monopoly that we have in this country should never have been allowed to happen, whether the ownership is Jewish or any other national, religious or business group.]
August 2008 CJN - Canadian university presidents visit Jewish state [A 2007 Democracy Watch report indicates that even small gifts have an undue influence on the recipient. Imagine what expensive sponsored travel to Israel garners to the trip sponsors like the CJC and the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA)]. Cotler, working with a group of international human rights activists, lawyers and parliamentarians – including David Matas, senior legal counsel of B’nai Brith Canada – has prepared an application to the Security Council for severe sanctions against Iran, a state party to the Genocide Convention. They seek the arrest of Ahmadinejad for crimes against humanity, economic embargos and retributions against financial institutions that provide funds for atomic weapons. [Irwin Cotler is the Liberal Human Rights critic but he seems to have his own independent foreigh policy initiatives when it comes to the Middle East - the main one right now is beating the drums of war with Iran.]
January 2008 The Unholy Land by Rev. A.C. Forrest The Unholy Land by Rev. Dr. A.C. Forrest. In 1971, this book was withdrawn from Coles bookstores throughout Canada. This book was critical of Israeli policy towards Palestinian refugees, and Forrest accused the bookstore of "bowing" to pressure from the Jewish community. Coles claimed the book was removed because it had not been selling well; meanwhile, sales for this book increased at other stores. Coles then considered ordering more copies. [Mind War: Book Censorship in English Canada, p. 40] The Unholy Land written in 1971 by Rev. Dr. A.C. Forrest is truly an amazing book. In 175 pages, Dr. Forrest provides all the essential facts and analysis that is needed to understand the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Sadly it is still very relevant today. The current policies of the Israeli government were already very much in effect in the early 70s and the Israel Zionist Lobby just as vicious and controlling as it is today. READ THE UNHOLY LAND ON-LINE HERE. Excerpt: What happened when I criticized Israel In the months that followed the publication of my reports on the refugee situation in the Middle East I was subjected to a barrage of innuendo and invective. In thirty years of more or less public church life, fifteen of them editing the largest - and I like to think in some ways one of the most respected - church paper in the British Commonwealth, I had never known anything like it. One cannot take a place as a responsible editor in the free church press without angering some people. There is usually a way in which controversy can be carried on with decency. However, I have found no way to criticize the policies of the State of Israel, or question the philosophy of political Zionism, or tell my readers what the facts of the Middle East are, and escape slander and libel from the Zionist-Israeli community. Used copies can be purchased at Alibris or Bibliocom.
October 2007 CPNO - Jewish group condemns meeting by extremist Jewish Defence League The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians condemns a public meeting by the Jewish Defence League planned for tonight and calls on the Shaarei Tefillah Synagogue to cancel the event which features a speech by far-right Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin who has advocated the revocation of Israeli citizenship from non-Jews and the large scale deportation of Palestinians resident in Israel. Outlook Magazine- Fortress CJC: The CIJA take-over At the June 17 plenary of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) completed its corporate takeover of the (CJC), requiring it to jettison its democratic structure and abdicate any remaining independence from CIJA. July 23, 2007 CBC.ca - Jewish group wants Outremont Liberal pulled from byelection B'Nai Brith Canada has asked Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to remove new star candidate Jocelyn Coulon from an upcoming byelection in Montreal's Outremont riding because of his past stance on Israel. The Jewish organization says Coulon, a political scientist and former journalist, has a "well-documented anti-Israel bias," including sympathy for Hamas, that is "out of step with current Liberal policy," according to a statement released by the group. June 2007 Kim Peterson - When Monopolization of the Media Fails, Then Squash Freedom of Speech: Canadian Zionists Wage War against Independent Media January 10, 2007 Charlie Reese - Israel's Bad Influence Scott Ritter, a former U.N. arms inspector in Iraq, has written a book, "Target Iran," in which he accuses the Israeli government and its American lobby of pushing the U.S. into attacking Iran. Ritter writes, "Let there be no doubt: If there is an American war with Iran, it is a war that was made in Israel." December 17, 2006 Toronto Sun - Syd Ryan - You'll get an earful if you oppose Israel Despite the brouhaha from the Israeli lobby, the boycott and anti-apartheid campaign are picking up steam at home and around the world with such noteworthy supporters as Jimmy Carter. December 8, 2006 Felton - Bad news for The Lobby means good news for the rest of us March 16, 2006 Torstar - "On books, censorship and political pressure" The Toronto school board has joined those in York, Essex and Ottawa in restricting access to a book about the Arab-Israeli conflict.... the Canadian Jewish Congress argued that the book is not suitable for young children, and called for its removal from the popular program." The librarians stood by their choice, backed by the Association of Canadian Publishers, the Writers' Union, the Playwrights Guild, PEN Canada and the Freedom to Read Committee of the Book and Periodical Council. August 25, 2005 David Noble: Israel Lobby Loses York In the meantime, having been reinstated and having resumed his activism, Dan Freeman-Maloy has launched an $850,000 lawsuit against Lorna Marsden, which is now moving through the courts. Likewise, David Noble filed a ten-million dollar grievance against the university for violation of his academic freedom and defamation. June 2, 2005 March 2005 Letters to Prime Minister Paul Martin protesting event on March 5 held by Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel at the Liberal Convention in Ottawa. February 5, 2005 Torstar - Israeli lobby causes concern Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew begins a weeklong tour tomorrow of the Middle East, where he'll be accompanied at least part of the way by a Canadian group of pro-Israel lobbyists. December 11, 2004 When last I wrote about Daniel Freeman-Maloy on July 8, he had just been banned from the York University campus for three years for using a megaphone. You read that right.
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