Canadian Jews condemn suppression of criticism of Israel

Although I'm totally secular and atheist and know very little about Judaism, I'd sign the statement.  I'm Jewish.  If I said I was Italian people would laugh.  An Italian named Max Bialystok?  I think not.

Here's Bernie Farber's response to Siddiqui's article.

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/605945

Quote:

Haroon Siddiqui has applauded the extremely small number of Canadian Jews who have broken from the mainstream of our community to attack Israel and, more specifically, Zionism itself.

 

But while he apparently lauds this tiny group of Canadian Jews who relish their role as anti-Zionists, he fails to explain to his readers one pertinent fact. The "combative declaration" issued last week by 160 Jewish Canadians includes the ongoing calumny of an alleged Jewish conspiracy. According to this fringe group, "... B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress has led campaigns to silence criticism of Israel on university campuses, in labour unions and in other groups. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff unquestioningly echo the views of these particular Jewish organizations."

While Canadian Jewish Congress proudly wears its love and support for the Jewish state for all to see, the allegations that governments and society in general do our bidding is a stark reminder of historical poisons uttered in the past against Jews.

 

Bernie M. Farber, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Jewish Congress

Again, it's time for mainstream Jews to disassociate themselves with the ultrarightwing trio of CJC/Bnai Brith/JDL.   Thanks for clearing things up, Bernie.

Did you hear that Unionist? It seems you have a "hoary old siege mentality" for simply perceiving that Jews are still viewed as foreigners! Your kind of keen perception "simply has no place in Canada!"

Well, I don't know about that. It's a nice thought. But describing Jews in Canada as "foreign" is way of the mark. And even marginalized is pushing the envelope. The great majority of white Jewish Canadians live lives that are largely indistinguishable from other white Canadians. Jewish families are highly integrated and established, not just among the general populace but also as ranking members of the business class, in politics, and the media.

They are no more ethnically marginalized that Italian Catholics.

That said, I agree with Unionists general point about the attempt to subject Jewish-Canadians to social framework where they are associated with Israel is a form of prejudice that exists in Canadian society, and one that definitely connects at some level with traditional European anti-semetism. After all, one merely has to go to the nearest Nazi blog to find real anti-semites using the exact same set of definitions that are used by Zionist extremists.

Both Zionists, and their backers, and the right wing racists share the conviction that Israel and Jews are inextricably one and the same thing, and that Israel speaks for all Jews as the Jewish state.

Unionist wrote:

Cueball wrote:

They are no more ethnically marginalized that Italian Catholics.

And do you have any idea of how it felt, or what I faced on the street, growing up as a Jewish child of immigrants in a poor neighbourhood?

Yes. Some sense of that actually. I personally was never poor. However my father was the son of shoemaker from Chicago. He used to tell me vivid stories of how my grandmother beat his head against a radiator. A vicious and brutalized life.

That said, children are pretty mean. We were awful to the native kid in my neighborhood.

Quote:

And just exactly how "marginalized" do you think German and French and Dutch Jews were before they were rounded up, overnight, and slaughtered - with limited resistance from their communities?

My sources are as good as yours, I guess. Were you there?

They were far more marginalized than Jewish Canadians, today. For one thing, as far as I can remember every one of those countries had specific laws restricting Jewish rights at one level or another, prior to the appearance of the NSDAP on the political landscape. France in particular had a very sorry track record in this regard, when Hitler was still wetting his diapers. European anti-semetism of the 1930's is a completely different kettle of fish then what we see today.

Back then the Canadian prime minister openly expressed antisemitic ideas, and this was indeed common for politicians of all stripes of the era. That is very far from the reality of today.

I have no idea why you are making fun of my personal family history. Its ridiculous in the context of your marked proclivity to parade yours. Perhaps if I had said that my father was a poor Jewish kid and the son of immigrant family, whose mother was so angry and frustrated by the conditions of working class life in Chicago that she viciously beat his head against a radiator, you might have taken a different tack. 

That said, I will get back to you about your misinformation about 19th century and early 20 century Europe later. For one thing, descrimination continued in various forms throughout Europe despite the "emancipation". Franz Joseph repealed parts of the 1848 law by 1850 in Germany, as one example. Further, social attitudes and exclusion, are as much a part of official prejudice as the written law. One has to go no further than the Dreyfuss Affair to see this plainly.

We don't see any Jewish officers of the Canadian military being put up on phoney charges of collaborating with the Taliban, now do we? The idea of that is indeed a "chuckle", and a "hearty" one at that.

You know, the Olympics are still over a year away, and the running of the bull isn't one of the events.

Unionist wrote:

I won't call you the names you deserve. But I will note that there are assholes in the U.S. (such as Obama himself in his pathetic renunciation of Rev. Wright) that say that racism against POC isn't endemic in Amerika. Why, a person of colour could even become President some day!

If Mr. Obama wants me to provide the economic source data, and line up comparisons of job status, income, and ownership of corporations in the USA and cross-reference that with ethnicities, in order to show there is indeed evidence to show that white persons do indeed seem to have more access to power and wealth in American society, than non-white people, I will be happy to do so.

In the mean time, since it is just you and me, I was hoping you could provide similar evidence that establishes that Jewish Canadians are more marginalized than Italian Catholic Canadians.