This week in Canadian Jewish Advocacy | November 12, 2023
This week, we asked you to make your voice heard with Canada’s elected officials, called on university leadership to ensure that our campuses are safe for Jewish students, applauded the B.C. and Alberta governments for their clear commitment to Holocaust education, and informed Canadians about Israel’s compliance with international law. Read on to learn more.
The CIJA Team
This week, there were two deeply troubling incidents in Montreal.
On Wednesday, while raising awareness about the 242 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, a group of Jewish Concordia University students were confronted by an angry crowd who verbally and physically accosted them. Federation CJA and CIJA issued a statement condemning the incident and called on university leadership to take concrete action and use every possible tool to ensure that our universities remain safe for Jewish students.
On Thursday, bullet holes were discovered at the front entrances of two Jewish schools, Azrieli Talmud Torah and Yeshiva Gedola. While no one was in either building and the damage was minimal, this discovery represents a worrying escalation in the violence Jewish Canadians have been experiencing. Federation CJA and CIJA issued a statement condemning the incident and demanding justice and swift action by law enforcement.
In addition to issuing a joint press release with Federation CJA, we also held a press conference the day after each incident. You can watch them on our Facebook page.
In an opinion piece in the National Post, CIJA’s Richard Marceau, Vice President and General Counsel, and Emmanuelle Amar, Director of Policy and Research (Quebec), clarify legal facts about Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself and how Israel is doing so in full compliance with international law. Read the full op-ed here.
In an opinion piece in the Daily Hive Vancouver, CIJA VP (Pacific Region) Nico Slobinsky and Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre ED Nina Krieger explore the importance of Holocaust education and the significance of British Columbia Premier David Eby's demonstrated commitment to combating antisemitism and other forms of hate in the province. Read the full op-ed here. 
Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced that Holocaust education will be included as a mandatory part of the province’s new social studies curriculum. We issued a joint statement with the Jewish Federation of Edmonton and Calgary Jewish Federation applauding the Alberta Government for this welcome decision, which makes Alberta the third province in Canada to mandate Holocaust education in the public school curriculum.
Want to do something to support the people of Israel?
Join others worldwide in sending messages to the International Committee of the Red Cross to demand they visit, comfort, care for, and act urgently to release the hostages!
All you need to do is:
- Go to the Red Cross link: https://www.icrc.org/en/contact
- Choose your location & fill in your name and email address
- Choose one of nine message options here, copy and paste it into the "message" field (or write a personal message of your own)
- Click on "submit"
This is a small thing each of us can do to help the efforts to bring them home!
Want to do something to support your local Jewish community?
Join our Legal Task Force
The dramatic rise in antisemitism isn’t just isolated to other parts of the world, it’s happening here in Canada too. Led by CIJA and UJA, a group of 150 lawyers are already hard at work to use the law to combat the Jew-hate we are seeing. And other legal groups are being created in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and around the country. With lawyers working in various areas of law – including human rights, labour and employment, and criminal law – they will focus especially on the education system because universities and schools have failed to keep our kids safe.
This has to change. If you are a lawyer, please volunteer. Email us at [email protected] .
Community Calendar
Communities are gathering in cities across Canada in response to the devastating war on Israel by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. Find an event near you.
November | Holocaust Education Month Events
December 7- 15 | Chanukah
CIJA in the News
Opinion: Why BC's mandatory Holocaust education curriculum is much-needed (Daily Hive)
A security expert says this isn’t the time to take your mezuzahs down (The CJN Daily)
Alberta to consult with Jewish groups on Holocaust education (Lethbridge News Now)
A generation gap in attitudes could be undermining support for Israel in the West (CBC News)
1 arrested, 3 injured in violent clashes between Concordia students over Israel-Hamas war (CTV News)
Two Montreal Jewish schools hit by gunshots overnight Wednesday, no injuries (CityNews)
Jewish community pleads for help after shots fired at two Montreal schools (Montreal Gazette)
Hundreds gather at Vancouver Art Gallery to mark one month since Hamas attack (Global News)
Community Careers
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