Witness to the Munich Massacre: A story we must never forget
September 5 marks 54 years since the Munich Massacre, when the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September murdered 11 members of Israel’s Olympic team during the 1972 Summer Games.
Next Wednesday, September 2, join us for a special virtual event with Canadian Olympic swimmer Karen James, who was there when the tragedy unfolded.
Also in this newsletter: A community advocacy win as another senior Iranian regime official is deported from Canada; alarming new data on discrimination against Jewish public servants; and three ways to take action — call on the federal government to get tough on terrorism, urge Toronto Metropolitan University to act before Jewish students return to campus, and stand with Boy George as he faces calls to cancel his upcoming Vancouver concert over his support for Israel.
Shabbat Shalom!
CIJA Team
British pop icon Boy George and Culture Club are coming to Vancouver on September 7 as part of the PNE’s Summer Night Concerts series.
Many in our community were moved by Boy George’s We Will Dance Again, an AI-assisted song expressing solidarity with Israel and remembering the victims of the October 7 terrorist attacks — people he said were murdered “for the crime of dancing.”
Now, ahead of his Vancouver appearance, the PNE has faced complaints, refund requests and calls to cancel the concert.
The PNE has rightly said the show will go on.
It reaffirmed its commitment to freedom of expression and artistic freedom, making clear that audiences — not pressure campaigns — should decide which artists they want to support.
Take a moment to thank the PNE for standing firm — and show Boy George that Canada welcomes him.
On September 5, 1972, the world watched in horror as members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September murdered members of Israel’s Olympic team at the Munich Games.
Canadian Olympic swimmer Karen James was there.
On September 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET, join CIJA and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame for a special virtual event featuring Karen’s firsthand account of what she witnessed.
Through a screening of a powerful documentary produced by the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and a live conversation with Karen, we will reflect on the victims, the lasting impact of the attack, and why — 54 years later — the world must never forget Munich.
A Community Advocacy Win – Now Keep Up the Pressure
Thousands of Canadians have repeatedly sent a clear message to the federal government: Canada cannot be a safe haven for senior officials of Iran’s Islamic regime.
Last week, that advocacy helped deliver another important result: Syed Salman Samani, Iran’s former deputy interior minister and official spokesperson, became the second senior regime official to be deported from Canada.
Through CIJA’s ActionHub, thousands of Canadians joined Iranian Canadians and others in calling for regime-linked individuals to be removed and barred from Canada.
This is a community advocacy win and an important step toward keeping Canadians safe. But two deportations are not enough.
The threat extends beyond regime officials living in Canada. We have watched terrorism celebrated on our streets. Our synagogues, community institutions and businesses have been shot at and firebombed. Canadian authorities have disrupted ISIS-inspired plots, while security services have warned about Iran’s Islamic regime directing attacks against the Iranian diaspora and Jewish community.
The federal government must use every tool available to prevent terrorist organizations, their supporters and their proxies from threatening our community and other Canadians.
Our advocacy is making a difference. Now we need to keep up the pressure.
As students prepare to return to campus, Justice Mary Lou Benotto’s independent review into two incidents at Toronto Metropolitan University should have been a wake-up call.
Justice Benotto found that TMU already has policies capable of addressing antisemitism, but has too often failed to enforce its own rules “consistently and decisively.” Without “decisive institutional action,” she warned, similar incidents are likely to recur.
Yet, rather than immediately implementing her recommendations, TMU administration appointed another Task Force that will not produce an “implementation blueprint” until March 2027.
Jewish students cannot wait another academic year for action.
In the Globe and Mail, Marie Woolf reports that Jewish public servants are experiencing disproportionately high levels of discrimination in the federal workplace.
For the first time, the annual federal employee survey tracked responses by religion. The results are alarming: 18 per cent of Jewish public servants reported experiencing discrimination — twice the public service average. At Global Affairs Canada, that number rises to 30 per cent. At Canadian Heritage, more than one in three Jewish public servants (34 per cent) reported experiencing discrimination.
CIJA CEO Noah Shack says the data confirms what we have been hearing from Jewish public servants in recent years, with reports escalating in recent months as antisemitism surges across society.
The Prime Minister has committed to a whole-of-government approach to combating antisemitism. These findings make clear that work must include confronting antisemitism within the federal government itself — with concrete measures to ensure Jewish public servants can work free from discrimination and harassment.
Jewish Canadians are left asking whether those sentiments have already shaped policy — eroding trust in the institutions meant to serve us all.
