This Week in Canadian Jewish Advocacy, September 25, 2022

Thousands and thousands of you recently took action against the outrageous letter from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh that demonizes everyone who identifies with and feels a connection to the Jewish state.

But it hasn’t worked...yet. It just hasn’t been enough...so far. We need to do more.

Policies like those we saw in the letter breed antisemitism here at home – they put Jews in danger.

We’re meeting his team again in the coming days, but they need to understand this isn’t just CIJA ringing the alarm bell – they need to hear that the alarm is ringing across the country. They need to hear directly from you.

Your voice has never been more needed than at this moment. Please take action before Rosh Hashanah.

5782 was a year of continued hard work by your team at CIJA on behalf of our entire community, advocating for our shared priorities and ensuring our partners, stakeholders, and political leaders understood our issues.

I want to thank each of you for your continued commitment to advancing our advocacy efforts. Together, the influence we can have on combating antisemitism, protecting the quality of Jewish life, and strengthening the Canada-Israel friendship is a force to be reckoned with.

I can’t stress enough the importance of your role in amplifying our efforts – we don’t work without you.

Almost 600 elected officials, diplomats, dignitaries, and Jewish community leaders attended our Annual Parliamentary Reception to mark the return of Parliament and to celebrate the historic positive developments in the Arab-Israeli friendship since the signing of the Abraham Accords. That evening we highlighted the strong and growing ties between Israel and Morocco.

Co-sponsored by the Canada-Morocco Parliamentary Group and Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group, the reception was an opportunity to develop and strengthen relationships between our communities and with decision-makers, helping us advance issues of common concern.

We are grateful to Honourary Patrons H.E. Souriya Otmani, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Canada, and H.E. Dr. Ronen Hoffman, Ambassador of the State of Israel in Canada. 

CIJA participated in the inaugural summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, co-chaired by Canadian Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather and US Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Founded in 2020, the Task Force is a coalition of multi-partisan parliamentarians from Canada, the US, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Members of the European Parliament dedicated to discussion and the sharing of best practices in combating online antisemitism.

Representatives from Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Google participated in Congressional-style hearings with Task Force members, where serious issues were raised and tech companies pledged to review policies regarding antisemitism on their platforms. While there, we asked elected officials and representatives from NGOs why the subject of online hate is important to them. Hear what they had to say. 

We look forward to continuing to work with the multi-partisan Canadian members of the Task Force to promote policies that protect Canada’s Jewish community and other minority groups online. 

Watch MP Anthony Housefather question representatives from Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Google about their policies related to antisemitism.

Please join UJA Federation of Greater Toronto for an important webinar about the upcoming municipal election, moderated by Noah Gano, UJA Genesis with panelists Noah Shack, CIJA and Rachel Chertkoff, CJPAC. Learn more about the issues at hand, the role of school board trustees, and the significance of Jewish and allied representation in local government and on school boards. Click here to register.

CIJA is Hiring
Associate Director, Partnerships and Community Engagement
Executive Director – Atlantic Jewish Council

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