March 22, 2010: The Passover message remains important in our own time

By Michael Regenstreif

Welcome to what we refer to as “the Passover edition” of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. Not because it’s the issue that comes out during Passover – that will be the next issue, which we’ll send to the printer before the first seder night – but because it’s the last issue that comes out before Passover. As it’s the Passover edition, we’ve included a number of feature articles that deal with the holiday – or, at least, holiday food. For some reason, the JTA Passover features this year were mostly food-oriented. As well, several of our columnists have focussed on Passover themes.

Passover has always been my favourite of all the Jewish holidays. It’s not the food – although I do actually like matzo – or even the enduring seder rituals that make this my favourite Jewish holiday; it’s because I find the Passover message of freedom from slavery and oppression to be so inspirational.

During Passover, we remember the slavery endured by the ancient Israelites in Egypt and celebrate their struggle for freedom and the exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The Passover Haggadah reminds us that we, like everyone in every generation in the thousands of years since the exodus, must view ourselves as personally moving to freedom from the bondage of slavery.

The remarkable thing about the message of every generation having this personal vision of the exodus from Egypt is that the tradition almost seems to be telling us explicitly to apply the Passover message to our own time.

Jews are not the only people to be inspired and galvanized by the Passover message. When African American slaves in the United States were struggling for their freedom from slavery, just 150 years ago, they took inspiration from the biblical story of the Jewish escape from slavery. The code name of Harriet Tubman, the leader of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape from slavery in the American South to freedom in Canada, was “Moses.” The code name for Canada was “the promised land.”

Today, thousands of years after Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, oppression and slavery still exist in our world. As Jews, we remember the six million murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, but we also remember that the Nazis turned millions of Jews, including so many who were murdered, into slave labourers. That was in the 20th century, just decades ago.

It’s estimated that there are 27 million slaves in today’s world. Clearly, the journey from slavery, begun by Moses, continues in our own time.

IAW resolution fails in Parliament

Last issue, I commented on the rare show of unanimity in the Ontario Legislature when MPPs passed a resolution condemning Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). That same unanimity was not to be found, March 11, when two resolutions in the House of Commons were defeated for lack of unanimous consent. Conservative MP Tim Uppal proposed a motion in the House that condemned IAW for seeking to delegitimize the State of Israel with the “apartheid” label and voiced ongoing support for a two-state solution; and Bloc Québécois MP Claude DeBellefeuille proposed a motion that denounced both the “apartheid” label for Israel and the labelling of critics of Israel as “antisemitic,” and that also expressed support for the right of both Israel and the Palestinians to their own states.

Because the resolutions needed unanimous voice votes in order to pass, Hansard doesn’t tell us how many MPs voted against either of these motions, only that they did not pass. However, I was forwarded an email that NDP MP Libby Davies sent to IAW supporters saying she voted against both resolutions.

Happy Passover

On behalf of the staff, advisory committee and contributing columnists and reporters at the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, I extend our best wishes to all for a joyous and happy Passover. Chag Sameach.

March 8, 2010: All Ontario MPPs come together in a rare show of unanimity

By Michael Regenstreif

You’re reading this column about a week or 10 days after I sat down to write it on Friday morning, February 26.

As I write, we’re three days away from the start of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) events aimed at delegitimizing the State of Israel on campuses – including Carleton and the University of Ottawa – in about 40 cities in Canada, the United States and western Europe. Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal campuses are among those in which IAW events have the highest profile.

The events will take place just as this issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin is being printed, mailed and delivered. So, I’m writing without knowing how IAW unfolded. Or, for that matter, how Size Doesn’t Matter turned out. Size Doesn’t Matter was a concurrent campaign carried out by pro-Israel student groups aimed at countering the demonization of the Jewish state, at showing the totality of what Israel is all about: from its roles as a cultural, scientific and high-tech giant despite the tiny size of its territory and population, to its being a centre of human rights and liberal democracy in the Middle East.

I wrote about IAW last issue in this space and don’t need to devote much space to reiterating what I said then about the motives of IAW organizers and supporters and about why the word ‘apartheid’ is false, offensive and counterproductive to efforts aimed at achieving a just peace and a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. I would, though, like to call your attention to a couple of things.

On February 25, the Ontario Legislature unanimously passed a resolution condemning IAW, which was introduced by Peter Shurman, the Progressive Conservative MPP for Thornhill, the Toronto-area riding with Ontario’s largest Jewish population.

In the debate, Liberal and NDP MPPs rose to support the resolution, which stated that, “in the opinion of this House, the term ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ is condemned as it serves to incite hatred against Israel, a democratic state that respects the rule of law and human rights, and the use of the word ‘apartheid’ in this context diminishes the suffering of those who were victims of a true apartheid regime in South Africa.”

Although the resolution was introduced by the MPP of a riding with a huge Jewish population, there is only a small handful of ridings in the province with substantial Jewish populations. So, with MPPs from all of the parties coming together in a rare showing of unanimity, it means a lot.

Let’s be clear.

The resolution is not, as some IAW supporters have claimed, an attempt to stifle either free speech or debate about Israel and the Palestinians. It simply recognizes and condemns the use of terminology meant solely to demonize Israel, to incite hatred against the country and to intimidate Israel’s supporters.

Ontario’s MPPs – from across the political spectrum and from all parties in the legislature – are to be congratulated for their leadership on this issue and for taking an unequivocal stand in support of democracy and human rights and against the incitement to hatred that is IAW.

Also, on February 25, Leonard Stern, the editorial pages editor of the Ottawa Citizen, published an excellent column he wrote about IAW. It was well worth reading.

My office is on the Jewish Community Campus and many of my daily interactions are with other Jewish community professionals, lay leaders and, of course, Bulletin readers.

I also pay close attention to the mainstream, alternative and specialized media and their coverage of issues of concern to our community.

IAW has been a major topic of concern for many people I’ve talked with over the past few weeks. But, a couple of conversations with (non-Jewish) Ottawa community leaders about IAW that I’ve been part of the past couple of days are making me wonder if the general population is paying any attention to IAW.

The conversations I’m talking about were with well-established, well-informed people who are highly active in public affairs in Ottawa and both were almost completely unaware of IAW.

Maybe, IAW is just about people on a certain fringe talking to other like-minded folks on the same fringe.

Maybe, IAW is justly falling on the deaf ears it deserves.

People who truly care about peace and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians recognize IAW for what it is.