August 19, 2019: A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian

By Michael Regenstreif

No matter what one may feel about the policies of “The Squad,” four women of colour elected in 2018 to their first terms in the United States Congress, or even the antisemitic tropes that were tweeted by one of them, there was no denying the explicit racism employed by U.S. President Donald Trump in his attacks on them last month.

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” Trump tweeted on July 14.

And that was only the beginning of Trump’s tweet storm.

Just for the record, three of the four congresswomen Trump was attacking – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib – were born in the United States. The fourth, Ilhan Omar, was born in Somalia and was brought to the U.S. legally as a refugee when she was a child. Omar became an American citizen in 2000 when she was 17.

By the way, earlier this year when Jewish organizations and congressional colleagues came down hard on Omar for employing antisemitic tropes in criticizing Israeli government policies toward the Palestinians, she did apologize for them – even writing an op-ed in the Washington Post describing Israel as the “historical homeland” of the Jews and reiterating her support for a two-state solution to the conflict, calling for “internationally recognized borders, which allow for both Israelis and Palestinians to have their own sanctuaries and self-determination.”

So, while Omar did come to understand why Jewish people were hurt by her words, and apologized for them, Trump has shown no such understanding.

Even leaders of some of the U.S.’s closest allies took the unusual step of calling out the American president for remarks he made about domestic political opponents.

“The prime minister’s view is that the language used to refer to these women was completely unacceptable,” said the spokesperson for then-prime minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she rejects Trump’s racist comments and stands in solidarity with the congresswomen he targeted.

“That is not how we do things in Canada. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, and the diversity of our country is actually one of our greatest strengths and a source of tremendous resilience and pride for Canadians, and we will continue to defend that,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau’s comments were inspiring to hear at that time. Our Canadian Jewish community, and so many other ethnic and religious communities in Canada, have thrived in a country that takes justified pride in its multiculturalism.

But, and it’s a big but, “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” is not necessarily true when Quebec, our second-largest province, encompassing nearly a quarter of our population, uses the notwithstanding clause to override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to prevent people working in the public sector from wearing kippot, hijabs, turbans and other expressions of religious belief, including Stars of David, under its Bill 21.

For example, Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan is a Sikh whose religion mandates that he wear a turban – a turban that he wears in the House of Commons, a turban that he wore as a Canadian military officer serving on deployments to Bosnia and Herzegovina and three times to Afghanistan, and a turban he wore during an 11-year career as a Vancouver police officer and detective. Now, though, because of that turban, Sajjan cannot be a police officer in Quebec.

With a federal election two months away, are Trudeau and the other federal leaders and candidates willing to defend our diversity – in both official languages – and ensure that “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” is more than just a platitude?

August 26, 2013: ‘Shalom’ and ‘salaam’ mean the same thing: peace

By Michael Regenstreif

It was 20 years ago, but I remember being glued to the television on September 13, 1993 watching the scene unfold on the White House lawn.

There was Bill Clinton, the American president, standing between Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister of Israel, and Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as they shook hands with the whole world watching.

That day, two decades ago, heralded such hope. The end of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians seemed to be near – peace was at hand. Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, the PLO recognized Israel and renounced violence, and the Oslo Accord, signed by Rabin and Arafat that day in Washington, created the Palestinian Authority and established a framework for further negotiations and the move toward Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza.

Sadly, the hope and promises were shattered by a Jewish extremist so opposed to peace that he went to a huge peace rally in Tel Aviv and assassinated Rabin moments after the prime minister joined in the singing of “Shir LaShalom (Song of Peace).”

And they were shattered by a corrupt Arafat, who did not begin to live up to his promise of renouncing violence in favour of negotiations.

And they were shattered by so many other factors over the years.

In the two decades since, there were other efforts to move the peace process forward. From Camp David to Annapolis; from the Quartet (the U.S., the European Union, the UN and Russia) to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s unilateral evacuation of Israeli settlements from Gaza.

All of them, and others, failed.

Now, the first peace talks in three years between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have begun. These latest talks, brokered by the U.S. administration, are expected to take nine months.

Of course, that is assuming the talks don’t break down over any of the seemingly myriad issues that separate the two sides – and, given the history of the peace process over the past 20 years, it would be a major miracle if they don’t break down.

And, even if they do reach a peace deal and it is ratified in referendums both sides have said they would hold, there is still the impossible situation in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, which rejects both peace and the existence of Israel.

Despite the history of failed peace attempts, the Palestinians are not the worst enemy the Jewish people have faced over the past century. That, surely, was Nazi Germany, an antisemitic regime that murdered six million of our people in the Holocaust in their genocidal attempt to rid the world of Jews.

Yet, today, Germany is a friend of Israel. Five years ago, 63 years after the Holocaust came to end, and 60 years after the founding of the modern State of Israel, Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, addressed Israel’s Knesset.

Many commentators have pointed out that the chances of these latest talks leading to peace and to a two-state solution are remote. And they’re probably right. There are so many impediments to a resolution of the conflict. But, still, I am reminded that, as Jews, we hold the concept of tikkun olam – repairing the world – as a cherished ideal and, until there is peace, ours is far from a world in repair.

The most commonly spoken words in Hebrew and Arabic are shalom and salaam, and they mean the same thing: peace.

Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians pales in comparison to the Holocaust.

And, in a world where the nation that perpetrated the Holocaust is a friend of Israel, it’s not so hard to imagine Israelis and Palestinians living beside each other in peace and prosperity.

March 7, 2011: It’s that time of year again on campuses

By Michael Regenstreif

I wrote in this space last issue about the protests in Egypt that ended the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. International news in 2011 has been dominated by the human rights and pro-democracy protests and revolutions that have been sweeping through the tyrannical, repressive regimes that dominate most of the Middle East.

As I write – on February 25 – the whole world is watching for the imminent fall of Moammar Gadhafi, the dictator of Libya and self-declared “King of Kings,” who seized power 42 years ago.

Unlike Mubarak, who finally realized the jig was up, Gadhafi, in a bizarre speech, February 22, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel characterized as a declaration of war on his own people, vowed to fight to the death. It may well come to that (if it hasn’t already by the time you read this).

Libya is currently in a state of chaos, if not civil war. Gadhafi’s forces – and, reportedly, foreign mercenaries – have killed thousands of protesters. Meanwhile, protesters have gained control of parts of the country and Libyan officials, including much of its diplomatic corps, are deserting Gadhafi like rats from a sinking ship.

With the world’s attention lately focused on the grassroots demands for democracy and freedom sweeping through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Iran and other Middle Eastern and North African countries this year, campus true-believers in numerous cities around the world – including Ottawa – have been gearing up for their annual assault on what they regard as the real root of all evil in the Middle East.

Yes, it’s time again for Israel Apartheid Week (IAW).

Carleton University may have had a preview of IAW, February 17, when the CUSA (Carleton University Students Association) Council dealt with a motion in support of the international BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement attempting to delegitimize Israel. Specifically, the motion was a demand that the university divest from four companies involved in the Israeli economy.

According to various reports, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) at Carleton mobilized a group of about 100 supporters to demonstrate outside the meeting room, while the Israel Awareness Committee (IAC) sent a smaller group of about 40 students.

To make a long story short, the CUSA Council rejected the specifically anti-Israel motion in favour of another calling for the university to invest its funds ethically. When SAIA proposed an amendment calling for the divestment from firms doing business with Israel, it was ruled out of order.

That turn of events did not sit well with the SAIA demonstrators.

In a detailed account of the evening’s events posted on Facebook, IAC member Emile Scheffel wrote: “SAIA’s supporters began knocking with their fists on the doors and the walls, chanting ‘Shame’ and other indistinct slogans.

“The activists inside the room began berating CUSA executive and councillors, while those of us opposed to the SAIA motion remained relatively calm and collected … SAIA’s supporters in the hallway raised their volume and further escalated the situation.

“For a tense period of time, those who were there to oppose the SAIA motion did not feel safe leaving the room to face a screaming mob of anti-Israel activists.”

IAW is an obnoxious, wrong-headed event and is counter-productive to the efforts all people – on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian divide – who strive and work for a peaceful, two-state solution. It’s important to counter IAW propaganda with rational arguments and truth.

We should also bear in mind that, although SAIA and other IAW groups are loud, their supporters form a tiny minority on campus.

The SAIA website, for example, proclaimed last year’s IAW in Ottawa “a huge success with more than 80 people in attendance at each of our events.” Given the number of IAW events last year, those attendance figures account for just a fraction of one per cent of the students at uOttawa and Carleton. Well over 99 per cent of this city’s university students completely ignored IAW.

In a Huffington Post blog – tinyurl.com/dershowitz-IAW – last year at IAW time, Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz debunks the myths of Israeli apartheid and suggests a Middle East Apartheid Week on university campuses that would focus on the truly apartheid-like regimes that exist in places like Saudi Arabia, Gaza, and virtually every other Arab and Muslim country in the region.