July 22, 2013: Academic collaborations and the arts are ways to find solutions

By Michael Regenstreif

In my May 20 column, I noted that Stephen Hawking, the renowned British physicist, cancelled his participation in the Israeli Presidential Conference and endorsed the anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement.

In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, BDS tactics are counter-productive to a search for peace and the achievement of the two-state solution. The BDS movement is aimed at the delegitimization of Israel and only serves to harden attitudes and drive the parties further apart.

Hawking’s was probably the highest profile endorsement the BDS movement has had since rock artist Elvis Costello cancelled a concert in Israel three years ago.

In fact, when I read Hawking’s announcement that he was cancelling his June trip to Israel, I was reminded of Costello’s announcement in 2010. Neither Hawking nor Costello had strong enough convictions that they rejected their invitations to go to Israel. Hawking, who has been to Israel several times before, had accepted Israeli President Shimon Peres’ invitation to the conference months before. Likewise, Costello had accepted the booking to play two concerts in Israel. But both cited implicit or explicit pressure to cancel their trips to Israel.

When Costello caved to that pressure, he said “merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung,” suggesting that performing in Israel might be interpreted as support for current Israeli government policy.

That’s a ridiculous leap of logic. If Costello wanted to advocate for peace, he should have gone to Israel and done that.

Virtually every major artist who accepts a booking in Israel faces the same pressure Costello did. Many of them, though, reject it. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Diana Krall – who is married to Costello – are just a few of the artists who have since stood up to the BDS movement and performed in Israel.

Likewise, many academics have rejected the pressure Hawking caved in to. This month, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, which represents 97 institutions of higher learning in this country, signed a major agreement with the Association of University Heads of Israel to “work together in order to facilitate, promote and support international research collaboration between Israeli and Canadian universities.”

Academic collaborations and the arts are ways forward to finding solutions.

Rabbi Bulka honoured

A hearty Mazel Tov to Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka, whose legendary volunteerism and leadership, in our community and beyond, was recognized in a June 28 announcement from the Governor General’s office that he had been named a member of the Order of Canada “for his dedicated service to the community, notably in promoting interfaith dialogue, health and humanitarian causes.”

As Jewish Federation of Ottawa Chair Steven Kimmel noted, “Rabbi Bulka’s enormous dedication, enthusiasm and hard work, not only as rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas, but also on behalf of the entire Ottawa Jewish community, Canada and Israel, have been tremendous. This special recognition is much deserved.”

KlezKanada

Another hearty Mazel Tov is due to KlezKanada, my favourite annual Jewish cultural event, which is celebrating its Chai anniversary from August 19 to 25.

Founded in 1996, KlezKanada is a wonderful, week-long celebration of Jewish culture that takes place every August at (Montreal’s) Camp B’nai Brith in the Laurentians near Ste. Agathe, about a two-hour drive from Ottawa.

Every year, hundreds of people of all ages attend KlezKanada in order to learn from a faculty composed of some of the best klezmer musicians in the world. Over the years, KlezKanada has expanded from its original vision to include many other forms of Jewish music as well as other Jewish cultural pursuits such as dance, theatre, visual arts, poetry, and film.

One of KlezKanada’s biggest success stories is Ottawa/Chelsea favourite son Josh Dolgin, who began performing Jewish music after attending KlezKanada. Known professionally as Socalled, Dolgin is now one of the world’s leading lights in Jewish music and is widely acclaimed for his highly original fusion of klezmer, funk and hip-hop music. The Socalled Band will be headlining the KlezKanada Groyser concert on the evening of Wednesday, August 21, an event that is open to the public.

I’ve attended several of the Groyser concerts in past years, and they are always a marvellous celebration of Jewish music. There are dinner-concert and concert-only tickets available.

Although most attend KlezKanada for the full week, this year, day passes are available for certain days.

Visit klezkanada.org for more information on KlezKanada and the possible ways you can participate.

May 20, 2013: Efforts underway to save the Canadian Jewish News

By Michael Regenstreif

In the last issue in this space, I wrote about the sad news that the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) would cease publication with its June 20 issue and noted the grassroots petition at savethecjn.com. The petition quickly blossomed into Project CJN 2.0, an online brainstorming session to come up with ideas that would keep the CJN alive and reposition it for the future.

Interestingly, the Toronto-based activists who organized the petition and Project CJN 2.0 are Alana Kayfetz and Rachel Singer, a pair of 29-year-olds from the heart of the under-40 demographic that studies tell us don’t read or care about newspapers. Many Bulletin readers will remember Kayfetz from her time working with students at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University as Hillel Ottawa’s executive director from 2008 to 2010.

Thanks to the quickly organized campaign, and to the response from shocked readers, the CJN board of directors has announced “an all-out effort to save the print edition of the newspaper” that would involve new financing, campaigns to increase subscriptions and advertising, building a financial cushion, and a streamlined operation. Marty Goldberg, who is leading the CJN board’s efforts, set a deadline of May 31 for the effort to succeed.

As I noted last issue, newspapers are an essential part of the glue that holds a community together, and Jewish communities, in particular, have a rich tradition of such newspapers. And I am reminded of the importance of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin as our community’s newspaper almost every time I speak to someone, whether it’s on the phone or in the hallways and locker room of the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, or when I attend a community event.

To be sure, the Bulletin faces some of the same challenges that led to the initial announcement the CJN would close – particularly in attracting young readers. So it’s heartening to see the groundswell of support for the CJN has been led by young people. Our own project to redesign our print edition, launch a dynamic online Bulletin and develop more content that speaks to the concerns of younger readers – while still serving our traditional readers as well as, or even better than, we have in the past – points to an exciting future for this newspaper.

As a Jewish community journalist, I’ve found it dismaying that Toronto and Montreal’s Jewish communities – which together number more than half of Canada’s Jewish community – would lose their community newspaper. Here’s hoping the CJN’s last-minute efforts will be successful.

Stephen Hawking

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has joined the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement and cancelled his participation in Facing Tomorrow 2013: The Human Factor in Shaping Tomorrow, the Israeli Presidential Conference taking place June 18 to 20 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Under the guidance of Israeli President Shimon Peres, the almost-annual conference founded in 2008 has become one of the world’s most important and prestigious conferences for the presentation and discussion of ideas for the future. The conference attracts academics, scientists, philosophers, statesmen and even royalty and celebrities from around the world.

Hawking, in a May 3 letter to the conference, wrote: “I have received a number of emails from Palestinian academics. They are unanimous that I should respect the boycott. In view of this, I must withdraw from the conference. Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster.”

In the case of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, academic and artistic boycotts are not a way forward to peace – they only serve to harden attitudes and alienate populations when, if anything, they need to be brought together in dialogue.

Hawking may well think Israeli policy toward the Palestinians “is likely to lead to disaster.” There are many Israelis who would agree. But he should go to Israel and say so, and say why. And he could offer advice or ideas that might help solve problems that have been intractable for far too long.

And perhaps Hawking could also offer some analysis of Palestinian policies that have been every bit as responsible – if not more so – in keeping the peace process from moving forward much faster and much more efficiently than it has.

Visionary events like the Israeli Presidential Conference help make the world a better place. Boycotts don’t help at all.