Cotler File #3

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SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A08

LENGTH: 657 words

HEADLINE: Cotler not afraid to speak his mind

BYLINE: Tonda Maccharles, Toronto Star ; Canadian Press

HIGHLIGHT:
Lawyer backed anti-terrorism bill Says he'll promote human rights

BODY:
The first thing you need to know about the new Justice Minister Irwin Cotler - renowned human rights scholar and advocate - is he will speak his mind.

The second thing you need to know about Cotler, the law professor, is that he loves lists.

So the first thing on his list yesterday was to meet with his new justice officials, but not before he spoke his mind about his new job. And that's where things got interesting.

Cotler, 63, told reporters he personally supports the marijuana decriminalization bill, a public inquiry into the Maher Arar case, and believes the same-sex marriage reference to the Supreme Court of Canada should be broadened to ask the high court to review all options including whether "civil unions" would meet the requirements of equality guaranteed in the Charter.

"As a law professor my view was that in the context of a reference, then the broadest possible options should be put before the court to allow for the broadest possible discussion and debate, and to allow for the most comprehensive and informed advisory opinion."

But as justice minister, he said, he could not respond directly. "That's not a copout, that's being a responsible minister who's about to meet his officials today, and we'll discuss it and then we'll then come forward with our position."

The press secretary to Prime Minister Paul Martin, sensing trouble, struggled to cut off reporters' persistent questions to Cotler only to give up.

Then hours later, the first question that confronted Martin at his first formal news conference as Prime Minister was whether he would expand the questions asked to the Supreme Court on the issue of gay marriage - a move almost certain to delay the high court hearing now scheduled for April.

"We will be discussing this in cabinet," said Martin, who repeated his ambiguous position that "we've got to support the Charter of Rights."

The appointment of Yale-educated Cotler, a Jewish Montrealer and a former head of the Canadian Jewish Congress, as the country's leading lawmaker is at once a thoughtful, daring move, yet perhaps a risky one.

John Asfour, past president of the Canadian Arab Federation, said Cotler's pro-Israel comments could get in the way of his job as justice minister, reported .

"Mr. Cotler and some of the Jewish lobby have supported (Israel) blindly," Asfour said in an interview.

Martin called Cotler, MP for Pierre Trudeau's old riding of Mount Royal, Thursday with the offer of a lifetime.

"He mentioned to me something to the effect that 'what do you do with a guy who has all kinds of ideas about human rights in terms of justice?'"

"I said, 'Well, I always thought human rights meant justice.' He said 'Congratulations, minister of justice,'" Cotler related with a broad grin. Cotler replaces Martin Cauchon who was dropped from cabinet.

"The protection and promotion of human rights, and amongst them minority rights, will be my guiding principle."

As a backbench MP, Cotler often issued stinging indictments of the Liberals' failure to articulate strong opposition to groups like Hezbollah - later outlawed as a terrorist organization - or to foreign regimes that abuse human rights.

He said at the time he regarded his political career as an "extended sabbatical from my career as an academic and human rights lawyer."

Cotler's credibility as a human rights expert was a trump card in the push to persuade a suspicious Canadian public of the merits of the controversial new Anti-Terrorism Act, C-36.

As a widely published law professor, now on leave from McGill, and onetime counsel to prisoners-of-conscience like Andrei Sakharov and Nelson Mandela, Cotler's backing gave the bill the boost it needed.

Cotler argued anti-terrorism laws and broader police powers are not an attack on civil liberty, but a bulwark protection against attacks on the ultimate human right to live in a secure society, free from terror.

GRAPHIC: New Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler, 63, is a former academic and human rights lawyer.

LOAD-DATE: December 13, 2003

SECTION: (660) O 28'02; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5497714

LENGTH: 529 words

HEADLINE: 'Most dramatic development in criminal law since WWII': Grit Irwin Cotler hosts Parliamentarians from around the globe on International Criminal Court

BYLINE: Ritter, Kathryn

BODY:
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler calls it "the most dramatic development in international humanitarian and criminal law since the end of World War II " and the "foundation stone for global justice in the 21st Century," and next week he and some 80 Parliamentarians from around the world will meet in Ottawa to make sure the newly-established International Criminal Court will be fully operational by next spring.

"We want a global international justice system, and you do that by not only having an International Criminal Court that brings war criminals to justice, but where each country takes the responsibility for bringing war criminals to justice," Mr. Cotler (Mount Royal, Que.), head of the Parliamentarians for Global Action National Group, told The Hill Times.

The United States does not support the ICC, but that isn't stopping Canada and countries from around the world from establishing the ICC. It should be "fully operational" by April or May, 2003, according to a statement released by Mr. Cotler.

In Ottawa, Mr. Cotler said the Parliamentarians will talk about the importance of creating a Parliamentary Assembly for the ICC to maintain and to coordinate the support of MPs for the ICC and appropriately follow its operations.

PGA is an association of legislators promoting the resolution of various global issues including peace and democracy. The event's discussion will address the challenges and future of the recently established ICC. While some 72 countries have ratified the ICC treaty, it is not yet operational, as judges and the prosecutors have yet to be chosen. The Parliamentarians attending the PGA conference will attempt to create procedures for the nomination and election of ICC officials that are as transparent as possible, said Mr. Cotler. They also hope to gain a greater diversity of ratification. While every country in Europe has grabbed onto the idea of the ICC, very few countries in the Middle East have expressed support. The PGA also stands behind the idea of implementing domestic legislation.

This year's PGA Forum is entitled "A Parliamentary Assembly for the ICC and the Promotion of the Rule of Law."

The title reflects the association's desire to create a support system for the ICC that will ensure that all countries (including the United States) are subject to the ICC.

The U.S. has not only refused ratification of the treaty, but has gone as far to enter into bilateral agreements with other nations asking for exemption for its nationals.

"One of the main objectives of our meeting is to ensure that there will be no immunity," said Mr. Cotler.

Finally the PGA will look at what kind of financial responsibility the United States will have to the Court.

In September, Mr. Cotler had the opportunity to address the United Nations on behalf of the PGA. He concluded, "It is our responsibility to make the ICC the first building block for the new system of global justice of the 21st century, while it serves as a wake-up call -- a warning to international criminals anywhere -- that there will be no havens, no sanctuaries, for these enemies of humankind."

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2003

SECTION: v.32(46) N 21'02 pg 5,15; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5510969

LENGTH: 925 words

HEADLINE: Israel not just a Jewish cause, says Irwin Cotler

BYLINE: Paquette, Jennifer M

BODY:
International human rights lawyer and Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler says he supports Israel ''not because it's a Jewish cause, but because it's a just cause.''

The McGill law professor was speaking at Toronto's Beth Tikvah Synagogue on the 64th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Nov. 9, during Holocaust Education Week.

Giving a talk called Echoes of Kristallnacht in Our Time, Cotler evoked unsettling parallels between that period and today.

Referring to the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, shortly before Sept. 11, Cotler compared participants' de-legitimization of Israel to Nazi strategies.

He said he had eagerly anticipated addressing human rights issues in a country celebrating its release from apartheid, but left the conference in South Africa appalled, after Israel was indicted as an ''apartheid state'' in a statement comparing Palestinian resistance to ''Nazitype occupation,'' and using the term ''holocaust'' to describe Israeli rule.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Quoting a colleague, Cotler said, ''If Sept. 11 was the Kristallnacht of terror, Durban was the Mein Kampf.''

The term Kristallnacht, meaning ''night of broken glass,'' is a euphemism that ''sanitizes'' the atrocities that occured on that day, including the death of almost 100 Jews, he said.

Sanitization of language is one of many danger signs, Cotler said, as well as ''crimes of silence.''

Cotler, who was the legal representative of former political prisoners Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky, said that today, as during the Nazi period, ''We are witnessing an appalling indifference in our day to the unthinkable -- ethnic cleansing -- and to the unspeakable -- genocide -- and, worst of all, to the preventable genocide in Rwanda.

''No one can say that we did not know, and so it becomes our responsibility to break down walls of indifference, to shatter conspiracies of silence.''

''Indifference,'' he said, quoting Elie Wiesel, ''always means coming down on the side of the victimizers, not the victims.''

For many, these dangers only became clear after Sept. 11. But, Cotler said, ''Sept. 11 overshadowed Durban, but Durban foreshadowed Sept. 11.''

Cotler said he believes the road to Durban was paved by Jewish silence. Jews, ''yearning for peace,'' were so deeply committed to the Oslo accords that they didn't debate these criticisms of Israel when they first began, resulting in the ''one-sided indictment'' at Durban.

Now, we must fight these views, even outside the Jewish community, he said: ''In the next six months... make 10 non-Jews better aware of the Jewish case.'' If we're uncertain whether we could make a case for Israel, we should ''go back and learn.''

We must first combat prevailing myths, Cotler said, adding that to claims justifying Palestinian ''resistance,'' we can counter that they were offered a state in 1947. Today's refugee problems are a consequence of the Arab refusal to coexist and the ensuing ''war of extermination,'' he said.

We can also educate those around us about the Arab ''teaching of contempt,'' through the education system, mosques and government, creating a cult of martyrdom and legalized hatred eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany, he said.

Finally, he said, we should proclaim publicly that ''Israel is the prototypical aboriginal people... speaking the same language... reading the same text... sharing a sense of peoplehood across space and time'' as ancient inhabitants of the land.

Cotler discussed the global increase in anti-Israel sentiment, pointing to the recent allegations against Israel accusing it of war crimes and of violating the Geneva Convention.

''Forty per cent of United Nations Human Rights Commission resolutions in the past year were against Israel,'' and overlooked ''real violators, like China, Syria and Iran,'' he said.

Cotler said the ''new'' anti-Semitism denies Israel's equality before the law. Modern anti-Semitism has shifted, ''from Jews as individuals to Jews as a nation.''

Quoting Martin Luther King, he spoke of ''the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right... freely accord[ed] all other nations of the globe.''

When an unidentified man began shouting accusations of hypocrisy barely five minutes into Cotler's speech, saying Cotler had ''lambasted'' Israel in the House of Commons for human rights violations, Cotler calmly said his intention had been merely to reiterate that ''Israel... has a responsibility for any violations under international law.''

''Israel is not above the law,'' Cotler later added. But ''if individual Israelis engage in excessive practices, Israel itself holds the perpetrators accountable.'' This ''remorse and selfrestraint'' contrast with the Palestinian glorification of homicide, leading to attacks which, per capita, he said, are ''the equivalent of more than two dozen 9/11s.''

''Every single word [I'm saying here],'' he said, ''I have also said in the House of Commons. I don't just speak about this to Jewish audiences.''

For Cotler, Durban proved that Jews are a long way from equality. Yet, ''whatever 2002 may be, it is not 1942,'' he said. ''There is a Jewish state today as an antidote to Jewish powerlessness.'' And there are many ''non-Jews... who will stand with us if we are prepared to make our case...

''Despair is not only a denial of our past, but a betrayal of our future. As long as they remain our abiding vision,'' he said, ''truth and justice will prevail - Am Yisrael Chai!''

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2003

LENGTH: 544 words

HEADLINE: How Canadians are responding to Middle East crisis

ANCHORS: PETER MANSBRIDGE

BODY:
PETER MANSBRIDGE: The crisis in the Middle East has struck a cord in this country, but many Canadians are responding in a way you might not expect. The CBC's Eric Sorensen has the story.

ERIC SORENSEN (Reporter): This is not the image the NDP wants to promote, MP Svend Robinson confronting Israeli soldiers and demonstrating his support for the Palestinians.

JUDY WASYLYSCIA-LEIS (Manitoba NDP MP): Any perception of the NDP siding with the Palestinians on this long-standing conflict is hurtful. It's wrong.

SORENSEN: The NDP is trying to avoid taking sides on the Middle East, but so are all the federal parties, not supporting Arafat and not supporting Ariel Sharon either. Canada's political tilt towards Israel not as evident as it once was.

BRIAN MULRONEY (Former Canadian Prime Minister): I'm known, as you know, as one of the great fans of Israel.

SORENSEN: Times have changed. Today, a pro-Israeli march in Montreal is counter-balanced by a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Ottawa three days earlier. Canada's Jewish population is long established. The growth of Canada's Arab community has been more recent and so has the Arab voice. And what with the images of Israeli tanks wreaking destruction on the one hand and Israeli civilians being killed by suicide bombings on the other, Ottawa now charts a more neutral course. Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham condemns suicide bombings...

BILL GRAHAM (Minister of Foreign Affairs): Take all necessary action to prevent further terrorist attacks.

SORENSEN: ...but also criticizes Israeli military actions.

GRAHAM: Are not justifiable.

SORENSEN: That approach appears to fit with Canadian views on the Middle East. An Ipsos-Reid poll found support for the Israeli side stands at seven percent of Canadians, for the Palestinian side, six percent. For not taking either side, 79 percent. Irwin Cotler, a law professor and Jewish Member of Parliament, believes Canadians have become more neutral.

IRWIN COTLER (Law Professor): I think what Canadians are doing is they're responding a lot to the kind of competing narratives that they see expressed in the pictorial images on television and therefore they move very much to the centre and then the intensified and partisan attitudes of both sides keeps them there.

JOHN REYNOLDS (Leader of the Opposition): More fog and confusion for this government.

SORENSEN: So, while the opposition criticizes the government, they have all largely promoted the same basic policy, that Canada should push the Palestinians and Israelis to stop the violence.

STEPHEN HARPER (Canadian Alliance Leader): The polling data I've seen today suggests, I think suggests, by and large, we're on the right track.

SORENSEN: Which brings us back to the NDP and Svend Robinson.

ALEXA MCDONOUGH (NDP Leader): I have nothing more to say on that subject at the moment.

SORENSEN: Svend Robinson has been a maverick for years, but the image of him appearing to take sides in the Middle East conflict has forced a showdown between him and his leader. Alexa McDonough is under pressure to dump Robinson from his post as Foreign Affairs critic and she has scheduled a news conference on the matter for tomorrow morning. Eric Sorensen, CBC News, Ottawa.

LOAD-DATE: April 18, 2002

SECTION: (679) Mr 24'03; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5580743

LENGTH: 2090 words

HEADLINE: BQ National Congress in Montreal on April 4-6 (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Rana, F Abbas, ED

BODY:
Canadian Alliance special caucus meeting in Stratford, Ont., on April 4

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2003

Governor General In Calgary -- Gov.-Gen. Adrienne Clarkson and her husband John Ralston Saul will be Calgary from March 23-27 kicking off their "urban focus" which is to engage citizens of Calgary in a series of dialogues and debates designed to bring people together to explore innovative approaches, initiatives and current projects that make Calgary a good place to live for all its citizens. Phone Lucie Brosseau or France Langlois at the Rideau Hall Press Office at (613) 998-0287 or (613) 993-8157.

House Sitting -- The House will remain in session until Friday, April 11 when it will take a two-week long break. For more information, please call the Government House Leader's Office at (613) 952-4930.

My Trudeau Years -- Former Trudeau official photographer Jean-Marc Carisse continues his exhibit at the National Archives in Ottawa until March 30. Located at 395 Wellington St., it's open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Go for a whirl.

Media Club Dinner with Jim Watson -- Jim Watson, former mayor of Ottawa and currently a journalist, will speak at this dinner organized by Media Club of Ottawa at National Press Club. Time: 6 p.m. Ticket price: members $25, others $30. For further information or reservations, please call (613) 232-1837.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2003

Senate Sitting -- The Senate is sitting this week. For more information, please contact the Senate Information Office at (613) 992-1149.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003

Canadian Alliance Caucus -- Alliance MPs will hold their national caucus meeting on March 26 at 9 a.m. in Room 308 West Block on Parliament Hill. For more information, please call Caucus Chair Werner Schmidt's office at (613) 992- 7381.

NDP Caucus -- The NDP will hold their national caucus meeting on March 26 at 9 a.m. in Room 307 West Block. For further information, please call NDP Caucus Chair Dick Proctor at (613) 992-9115.

Bloc Quebecois Caucus -- The Bloc will hold their caucus meeting on March 26 in Room 209, West Block today at 9:30 a.m. For further information, please call Bloc Caucus Chair Monique Guay at (613) 992-3257.

Liberal Caucus -- Liberals will hold their national caucus meeting on March 26 at 10 a.m. in Room 237-C, Centre Block. For more information, please call National Caucus chair Stan Keyes' office at (613) 995-1757.

PC Caucus -- The Progressive Conservatives will hold their national caucus meeting on March 26 at 10 a.m. in Room 256-S Centre Block. For further information, please call PC Caucus Chair, Norman Doyle at (613) 996-7269.

Canadian Bankers' Association Reception on the Hill -- Canadian Bankers Association's Robert W. Chisholm and Raymond J. Protti are hosting a reception on the Parliament Hill on March 26. Time: 5:30 p.m. -- 7:30 p.m. in Room 200, West Block. For RSVP please call (613) 234 - 4431 ext. 228. This event is by invitation only.

Newsmaker Breakfast-- Quebec Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, and Professor Errol Mendes will speak on the topic of "What does Bill C-36 (Anti Terrorism Act) mean to Canadians?" at this newsmaker breakfast at the National Press Club. For further information, please call (613) 233-5641.

Commemoration of the Famine/Genocide of 1932-33 in Ukraine -- The Embassy of Ukraine in Canada and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is organizing an event to the Commemorate the Famine/Genocide of the 1932-33 in Ukraine on Wednesday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the National Archives of Canada. For further information, please call Yurii Nykytiuk at (613) 230-2961.

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2003

Fundraiser for John Manley -- A fundraising event will be held for Minister of Finance John Manley on March 27 at $1,500 per person at Ottawa Congress Centre. For further information, please call Laura Johnson (613) 238-2022/270.

"The Sorcerer" by Gilbert & Sullivan -- The Sorcerer by Gilbert & Sullivan, will be presented at the Centrepointe Theatre from March 28-30 and April 2-5. Full of fast-paced dance, beautiful choral music, witty dialogue and spells and potions. This one is for all the family. Supporting the Children's Wish Foundation. Tickets: (613) 580-2700. For further information, please call Greg Cottingham (613) 237-3022.

2003 Spring Policy Conference -- The Ottawa Economics Association and the Canadian Association for Business Economics will hold their Spring Policy Conference on March 27-28 at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. For more information, call (613) 238-4831.

Seminar on Writing Well & With Precision -- Join Wendy Cherwinski and Barbara Campbell on March 27 for the art of writing well & presenting with precision. Sharpen your writing skills and learn to create persuasive presentations during a practical one-day workshop at ARC hotel located at 140 Slater St. For more information, please contact trainers Barbara Campbell and Wendy Cherwinski at [email protected]. or visit http://www.echeloncomm.ca

20th Annual Business Women's Achievement Award Gala -- The 20th Annual Business Woman's Achievement Award Gala will be held at Ottawa Congress Centre, 55 Colonel By Drive on March 27 at 5:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Ben Babelowsky, former Ottawa Citizen Promotions Director and Initiator of the WBN Business Achievement Award 20 years ago. Members $95, Non-Members $105, Corporate Table of 8-10 persons available. ($95 per person). Black Tie Optional. To register online, please visit http://www.kimkellyassociates.com or call Kim Kelly Associates (613) 521- 3910.

Dinner to Honour Dr. Michael Kaufman -- The Canadian Committee of the United Nations Development Fund for Women will host a dinner to honor Dr. Michael Kaufman nationally and internationally known for his work challenging gender stereotypes on Thursday, March 27, 2003. The dinner will be in Room 200 West Block, Parliament Hill. To reserve a ticket, call (613) 232-5751, ext. 235.

Ottawa Historical Association Event - The Ottawa Historical Association will hold its final talk in its annual series of historical presentations by some of Ottawa's best local talent. On March 27 at 8 p.m., Greg Donaghy of the Historical Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, will deliver the association's sixth and final lecture of the year. His talk is entitled "A Terrible Responsibility: Canada, the United States, and the Vietnam War, 1954-75." Where: The National Archives of Canada at 395 Wellington Street. For more information, contact Jo-Anne McCutcheon at (613) 244-9914 or Greg Donaghy at 992-6288.

MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2003

PC National Capital Region Fundraising Dinner -- PC Canada Fund will hold a fundraising dinner on March 31 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Cost of tickets is $400 each, $4,000 for a corporate table. For further information, please contact Anita McGuire at PCHQ (613) 238-6111 or [email protected] or [email protected].

TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2003

PC Calgary Fundraiser -- The Calgary Southeast PC Association is hosting an evening of food, fun and friendly competition. The event will be held at the Kilt and Caber Ale House, High Street in McKenzie Town at 7 p.m. Ticket price is $20. For further information, please call Claudia at (403) 225-2385 or Bob at (403) 257-4904.

FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2003

P.E.I. Liberal Leadership Convention -- The P.E.I. Liberal Leadership Convention will be held on Friday, April 4 and April 5 in Charlottetown, P.E.I. For more information, please contact Dawn Alan, executive director/chief organizer P.E.I. Liberal Association [email protected] or call (902)368-3449.

Bloc Quebecois National Congress -- Bloc Quebecois National Congress will take place on April 4-6 at Palais des Congres in Montreal, Que. This meeting will bring together delegates from across Quebec to debate the main areas of focus that will guide political actions in the coming months. For more information, please call Dominique Ollivier, assistant director communications, at (514) 526-3000 or e-mail [email protected].

SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2003

Annual Meeting of National Press Club -- Annual meeting of National Press Club will take place on Saturday, April 5. For further information, contact (613) 233-5641.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2003

Bacon And Eggheads Breakfast -- Next Bacon and Egghead Breakfast is on Tuesday April 8, 2003 from 7:30 am - 9:00 am at Room 200, West Block on the Parliament Hill.

COST: No charge to Members of the House of Commons, Senators and Parliamentary Press Gallery members. All others$10. Pre-Registration by Wednesday, April 2 is required. Please register by contacting Donna Boag, PAGSE Coordinator, email: [email protected], or call (613) 991-6369 or fax: (613) 991-6996.

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003

16th Annual Testimonial Dinner & Awards -- Each year, over 1,000 leaders from all sectors gather to pay tribute to Canadians who have made an important contribution to public policy and public management. Tickets cost $246.10 (GST included) for PPF members and $321.00 (GST included) for non-members. Tables of ten are available for $2461.00 (GST included) for PPF members and $3,210 (GST included) for non-members. For more information, contact Kelly Cyr at [email protected].

MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2003

Tory Sugar Shack Party -- L'Aile Quebecois is hosting a Sugar Shack Party, at Cabane Constantin, 1054 Arthur-Sauve Blvd. (Route 148), St-Eustache, Que. The event will feature special guests, animation, and much more! Bring a special and 'precious' object for an auction: all profits to benefit L'Aile Quebecois. Cost for tickets: adults, $50 (tax receipt); youth, $25; PC Youth, $12.50. For more information, please contact Joseph Pierre Rouleau (514) 856-1643 or (514) 349- 7411.

Nova Scotia Liberal Party Annual General Meeting -- Annual meeting of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party will take place on Friday, April 11-13 in Halifax, N.S. For further information, please send your e-mail to Anna Butland [email protected] or call (902) 429-1993.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 2003

Media Club of Ottawa Workshop -- The Media Club of Ottawa is organizing a workshop about how to get your book published on April 12 at NPC on Saturday, April 12. Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. For further information, please call NPC (613) 233-5641.

MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2003

Quebec Election -- Quebecers will go to the polls on April 14. Parti Quebecois Premier Bernard Landry, Liberal Leader Jean Charest and Action Democratique Mario Dumont are all in the running and trying to win government.

TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2003

Forum on Diversity and Culture -- Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps and Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) and (Status of Women) Jean Augustine will co-host the Forum on Diversity on April 22 and 23. For further information, please call (819) 997-7788 or (819) 997-9900.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2003

Mississauga Board of Trade Executive Luncheon Series -- Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper will attend this event on Wednesday, April, 23 in Mississauga, Ont. Time: 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Cost: $45 members/$65 non-members For further information, please email: [email protected]

SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2003

Access to Information Seminar -- The Canadian Association of Journalists will hold an access to information seminar with Dave McKie, CBC Radio News, and journalist Jim Bronskill. For further information, please send your e-mail [email protected].

MONDAY, APRIL 28 National Day of Mourning -- The National Day of Mourning is observed in remembrance of workers killed or injured in the workplace, or who have suffered from work-related illnesses. For further information, please call the Human Resources Development Canada Labour Program at (819) 994-2238 or visit http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca

TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2003

Maple Leaf Dinner --Prime Minister Jean Chretien will attend a fundraising dinner for the party today in Ottawa which will take place at Ottawa Congress Centre. Ticket Price: $500. For further information, please call Jocelyn Turner at (613) 783-8449 or [email protected].

The Parliamentary Calendar is edited by F. Abbas Rana who can be reached at (613) 232-5952, ext. 204. E-mail regarding political, governmental and cultural events should be sent toattention "Parliamentary Calendar," by Wednesdays at noon. Our fax number is (613) 232-9055. We can't guarantee every event will get in, but we'll do our best.

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

LENGTH: 8 words

HEADLINE: "We are witnessing an old-new, escalating, global and even lethal anti-Semitism."

BODY:
Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of Parliament

LOAD-DATE: November 6, 2003

SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 15

LENGTH: 1256 words

HEADLINE: And justice for all...

BYLINE: Melissa Radler

HIGHLIGHT:
Newsmaker

BODY:
Irwin Cotler has long been a man with many hats, with one always reserved for Israel. A law professor and chair of the Human Rights Program at McGill University in Montreal, Cotler entered politics four years ago as a member of the Liberal Party when he was elected to Parliament with 92 percent of the vote. A member of his government's committees on Justice and Human Rights and Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Cotler championed the passage of Canada's law of universal jurisdiction, yet publicly opposed the politicization of Belgium's more open- ended law, which last year targeted Ariel Sharon for prosecution.

On the Middle East, he has been an ardent defender of Israel, coining the phrase "genocide bombing" in the House of Commons last June after a particularly deadly bus bombing in Jerusalem, and criticizing his own party for its often tepid support for the Jewish homeland. In 2000, Cotler's stance on Israel was rumored to have cost him the Justice Ministry portfolio - a story he good-naturedly, and humbly, denies.

In the 1980s, Cotler was known for his involvement in anti-apartheid circles as counsel for Nelson Mandela, and in the Soviet Jewry movement as one of Natan Sharansky's staunchest defenders. More recently, Cotler, now 63, has been active in a variety of human right causes, including the defense of Egyptian democracy advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim and peace efforts in Sri Lanka; his efforts to facilitate the aliya of 18,000 Ethiopian Jews who have been denied entry into Israel for years resulted in a recent, as yet unimplemented, Israeli cabinet decision to welcome the entire community to the Jewish state.

As a Jew, Cotler has been active in identifying what he calls the "new anti-Semitism," which he defines as having a genocidal, Israel-centric strain. "We're witnessing a new, virulent, global and even lethal anti- Semitism," he warned at a recent conference, noting that Israel is targeted with the same virulence once reserved for stateless Jews.

A long-time advocate of a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, Cotler nonetheless argues that international justice falls on Israel's side.

"UN Secretary General Kofi Anan remarked that it cannot be that the entire world is against Israel, yet Israel is right," he remarked soon after the disastrous, 2001 UN Conference on Racism held in Durban, South Africa. "But history has shown that a minority of one can be right."

You were critical of the Bush administration's justification for the Iraq war in your March 21 Globe and Mail op-ed entitled, "Is the war in Iraq illegal? I hate Saddam Hussein as much as you do, but the law is the law." In the end, was the war justified under international law?

I have no division of opinion with the Bush administration or Tony Blair or others who see Saddam Hussein as the personification of evil - I advocated forcible humanitarian intervention in 1990 after the first genocide. The question is whether it was in conformity with international law. I think thus far the response of the Iraqi people greeting coalition soldiers as liberators and the discovery of the massive human rights violations that had been committed against them makes a case, retroactively, for humanitarian intervention, as opposed to self-defense, which is what the Bush administration argued.

What did you think of the anti-American sentiment coming out of Canada in the run-up to the war?

I think that there were a number of things that one could probably raise questions about in terms of the Canadian response. There were public and harmful utterances by members of my own party, and I think that was more problematic than the actual decision we took not to endorse the war . I think we have to more clearly reaffirm our alliance with America in the post-9-11 universe, and in the struggle against transnational terrorism, and I think we might not have made it clear that we supported the US as a matter of principle, that we regard Saddam Hussein as the personification of evil, and that the issues we had with the US were not on principle but on timing and approach.

In February, the Israeli cabinet voted to bring the Falash Mura to Israel, yet the community remains in Ethiopia. What now?

It's tragic that we have to continue to go to court to enforce the law against the government, particularly when, in this instance, the government itself has acknowledged that the Falash Mura are indeed eligible to come to Israel, as we had been arguing the entire time, under both the Law of Return and the Law of Entry.

What do you think is behind Israel's refusal to let them in, while at the same time seeking prospective immigrants from places like Russia and Argentina?

At times, it comes very close to borderline racism. I don't like to use that term, and I won't use it in the collective sense, but I think there are some people engaged in this effort who have to take a close look at their beliefs and their behavior in this regard. One is hard put to find how the situation with regard to Jews in the former Soviet Union can be validated - and I say this as someone who was very much involved in the struggle for Soviet Jewry - while the more compelling case of eligibility under the Law of Return and the Law of Entry with regard to Ethiopian Jews is disregarded.

In the end, the Falash Mura will be brought to Israel. The only question is whether they're going to be brought after a series of unnecessary deaths and suffering, or are we going to bring them to Israel with all deliberate speed, in accordance with domestic and international law. To me, this is an ongoing tragedy.

Why hasn't American Jewry taken up the issue?

Whenever you have a negotiating framework, the person who does not know their brief well tends to defer to the person who claims to know their brief well, lest protracted negotiations expose their ignorance. So I think what happened here is that they feel they don't know the dossier, and rely on what the Israeli authorities tell them is the dossier. The result is that the Ethiopian Jews continue to languish.

What are your thoughts on the road map?

I supported a two-state solution before it became fashionable to do so. Having said that, I'm somewhat concerned by the false symmetry. For example, in references made to combating incitement by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, this is a sham. You can't compare a government- sanctioned culture of hate on the one hand with individual expressions of hate in a democracy on the other. Where reference is made to the termination of violence on both sides, as a general principle that is correct, but again, it obfuscates the important moral distinction between acts of terror and civilian deaths resulting from acts of self- defense. Every death of every child, Palestinian or Israeli, is a tragedy, but we do not serve the cause of human rights by obfuscating the differences in intention.

So I have reasons for concern. At the same time - and I guess it's my eternal optimism, because a genuine peace is so important for both sides - maybe the dynamic of a return to negotiations will help bring about the cessation of incitement and terrorism on the part of the Palestinian Authority and the beginning of confidence-building measures by Israel.

Have you ever considered making aliya?

I've spent two sabbaticals in Israel and I have two children living in Israel. Aliya has always been an option for me, and I'd never foreclose that option.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Irwin Cotler, an ardent defender of Israel, coined the phrase genocide bombing in the Canadian House of Commons after a particularly deadly Jerusalem bus bombing.

LOAD-DATE: July 1, 2003

LENGTH: 278 words

HEADLINE: Government of Canada Provides Funding to Inroads Journal Publishing

BODY:
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament (Mount Royal), on behalf of Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps, today announced $29,757 in funding for Inroads Journal Publishing Inc. The funds will be used to help raise the profile of the company's magazine, Inroads: The Canadian Journal of Opinion, among potential new subscribers.

"Canadian magazines are a reflection of our communities," said Mr. Cotler. "Their articles address the day-to-day reality of Canadians. These funds will help Inroads increase its visibility and improve its finances by attracting new readers and advertisers."

Founded in 1992, Inroads is published twice a year, in May and November. The magazine provides an open forum where Canadians take part in the search for practical solutions to political, economic and social challenges.

Financial assistance is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Support for Business Development for Small Magazine Publishers, a component of the Canada Magazine Fund. The objective of this program is to support the establishment of small, dynamic and viable publishing houses, to ensure that Canadians have access to a variety of high quality Canadian magazines.

Funding for this project was provided for in the 2003 federal budget.

(This news release is available on the Internet at http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Sonya-Kim St-Julien
Press Secretary
(819) 997-7788

LOAD-DATE: July 17, 2003

LENGTH: 268 words

HEADLINE: Canadian Heritage: Government of Canada Announces Funding for The Black Coalition of Quebec

BODY:
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament (Mount-Royal), on behalf of Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) Jean Augustine, today announced funding of $38,583 for the Black Coalition of Quebec. This will help finance the creation of a three-year initiative to raise awareness in the corporate sector of the qualified labour pool from ethno-cultural communities, particularly Black communities.

"We are committed to help integrate Black community members into Quebec's economic life," said Mr. Cotler. "This initiative will help reduce unemployment in the Black community and increase its members' representation in the business world."

The initiative of the Black Coalition of Quebec will reach out to more than 20 companies, informing management of the wealth of human resources available within Black and other ethno-cultural communities.

Planned activities include training for managers, in addition to information and networking sessions for members of the Black community.

Financial assistance is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage through its Multiculturalism program. Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2003 federal Budget.

(This news release is available on the Internet at http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Office of the Secretary of State
(Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)
Catherine Gagnaire
Press Secretary
(819) 997-9900

LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2003

LENGTH: 348 words

HEADLINE: Canadian Heritage: Government of Canada Announces Funding for the Immigrant Worker's Centre

BODY:
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament (Mount Royal), on behalf of Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) Jean Augustine, today announced funding of $22,950 for the Immigrant Worker's Centre to continue to help ethnic minorities integrate into the work force.

"I am pleased to support the Immigrant Worker's Centre in its mission to improve both the integration of immigrants and the participation of the various cultural communities that make up our country," said Ms. Augustine.

"I would like to thank the members of the Immigrant Worker's Centre who have, for many years, made remarkable strides in helping ethnic community members with workplace information and training," added Mr. Cotler.

The goal of the Immigrant Worker's Centre is to inform new immigrants about the standards, laws, and practices that govern Canadian workplaces, to help them integrate quickly into their new environment. The Centre also seeks to improve the living conditions of new Canadians, particularly on the economic level.

This funding, provided through the Multiculturalism Program, will help create a series of workshops on the laws of the workplace and available resources, particularly for youth and women.

Canada's Multiculturalism Policy promotes full and equitable participation in Canadian society of people of all origins, as well as interaction between individuals and communities of different origins. It also encourages public institutions to be respectful and inclusive of Canada's multicultural character.

Funding for this project was provided for in the December 2001 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.

(This news release is available on the Internet at http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Office of the Secretary of State
(Multiculturalism) (Status of Women)
Catherine Gagnaire, Press Secretary
(819) 997-9900

LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2003

LENGTH: 295 words

HEADLINE: Canadian Heritage: The Government of Canada Announces Funding for the Fifth Artapalooza Festival

BODY:
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament (Mont-Royal), on behalf of Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps, today announced funding of $35,000 for Artapalooza, an art festival for children and teenagers.

"The Government of Canada is proud to support this bilingual, multi-disciplinary festival that combines music, dance, mime and theatre," said Mr. Cotler. "I would like to acknowledge the members and volunteers of Artapalooza, who, through their remarkable work, provide our youth with culturally enriching experiences and encourage their love of the arts."

The Artapalooza Arts Festival for Kids and Teens was created in 1999 at the Youth Institute of the Saidye Bronfman Arts Centre. Since 1996, the Institute has offered children, teens and young adults original creative and training programs to encourage openness to the arts.

Financial assistance is being provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage, through the Arts Presentation Canada program. This program seeks to give Canadians more access to direct experiences of the diversity and richness of Canada's culture through professional arts festivals, presentations of live professional performances and other artistic experiences provided by arts presenters.

Funding for this project was provided for in the December 2001 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.

(This news release is available on the Internet at http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under News Room.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Kerry Edmonds
Director of Communications
(819) 997-7788

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2002

LENGTH: 385 words

HEADLINE: Government of Canada Announces Funding for the Shield of Athena Family Services

BODY:
MOUNT ROYAL, QUEBEC--Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament (Mount Royal), on behalf of Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) Jean Augustine, today announced funding of $406,790 for Shield of Athena Family Services to support an ongoing public awareness program on family violence prevention.

"I am pleased that the Government of Canada continues to support this organization and its important programs," said Mr. Cotler. "This year, the Shield of Athena is adding new programs on the radio and in the ethnic print media to further reinforce the message that help is available."

"Family violence is something we must all strive to eliminate in every community across Canada," said Secretary of State Augustine. "Working in partnership with Canadian ethnic media, the Shield of Athena is providing a vital lifeline for many individuals and families so they can get the information and services they need to help solve problems."

The Shield of Athena has developed a four-year project to collaborate with ethnocultural communities and ethnic broadcasters to develop and air programs about family violence prevention. The objective is to raise awareness of the issue in communities where little English or French is spoken. This project is a continuation of previous years' work and forms part of the Multiculturalism Program's outreach strategy under the federal Family Violence Initiative.

Financial assistance is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage through its Multiculturalism Program. Canada's Multiculturalism Policy promotes full and equitable participation in Canadian society by people of all origins, as well as interaction between individuals and communities of different origins. It also encourages public institutions to be respectful and inclusive of Canada's multicultural character.

Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2003 federal Budget.

(This news release is available on the Internet at http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Office of the Secretary of State
(Multiculturalism) (Status of Women)
Adam Burns
Press Secretary
(819) 997-9900

LOAD-DATE: December 8, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 38Cabinet Briefs

LENGTH: 121 words

HEADLINE: MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

BYLINE: BY CP

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
Newly-minted Justice Minister Irwin Cotler wants the issue of gay marriage to get the broadest review by Canada's top court -- including whether civil unions for gays would satisfy equality rights.

"That is an approach to which I'm open," Cotler said yesterday after being sworn in. He was en route to a meeting with his new department to discuss the thorny issue of same-sex marriage.

It was the latest sign that Prime Minister Paul Martin's new government will broaden three questions before the Supreme Court of Canada asking whether draft legislation allowing gay marriage is constitutional.

The question of whether civil unions -- separate from marriage -- are constitutional, is not currently before the court.

LOAD-DATE: December 13, 2003

SECTION: v.33(22) My 29'03 pg 30; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5634778

LENGTH: 721 words

HEADLINE: UN body called a 'human rights charade'

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
[Graph Not Transcribed]

Irwin Cotler has been a keen observer of international human rights issues for decades and has often warned of the disturbing rise of Jew-hatred expressed through vilification of Israel. But even he was taken aback by the institutional anti-Israelism and lack of desire to tackle global human rights issues at the recent meetings of the 59th UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva.

''You have to be there to witness what is effectively an Alice in Wonderland human rights charade,'' said the Mount Royal Liberal MP, law professor and past legal counsel for Nelson Mandela and Andrei Sakharov.

Beyond the fact that Libya chairs the commission, the UN body's lack of commitment to human rights can be seen through its discriminatory treatment of Israel, the denial of international due process, the implicit acceptance of terrorism as a legitimate means of opposing Israel and its turning a blind eye to human rights violations around the world, Cotler said.

In addition, when Israel is in the dock, ''the conviction and sentence is pronounced before the hearing begins,'' he said.

Cotler, who spent about one week at the six week-long human rights forum, said, ''Israel was the only country that was the object of a country-specific indictment before the commission hearings began.''

The world's most egregious human rights violators - China, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Zimbabwe - ''enjoy exculpatory immunity. This is a double standard at its zenith,'' Cotler said.

Cotler's critiques were echoed in part by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which stated in a news release that ''an 'abusers club' of governments hostile to human rights has further consolidated its position and blocked several important country initiatives, while the United States and to a lesser extent, the European Union have not exerted positive leadership.''

Cotler said the Jewish state is subjected to ''a form of apartheid'' in which it is disenfranchised, not able to vote on members of the commission, not eligible to be nominated to it and not entitled to participate in the drafting of resolutions that are aimed at it.

''It's the classic demonstration of denial of international due process,'' he said.

Illustrating the world body's discriminatory treatment of Israel was the decision to maintain an openended mandate for a special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza Strip while terminating the mandate of a rapporteur for Sudan, where ''genocide by attrition'' is occurring, he said.

Even when the UN body addresses issues of international concern, such issues as the rights of women, the rights of children or homelessness, the issue is hijacked and ends up turning into an indictment for alleged Israeli violations, he said.

A particularly disturbing development at the forum, he said, was the UN body's sanctioning of ''the use of all available means'' - codewords used to justify terrorism - in the Palestinian struggle against Israel.

Cotler said Canada, which takes its international commitments seriously, ought to forcefully oppose this misuse of an international body.

''By its participation, Canada gives this charade a certain implied legitimacy. I recommend that Canada speak out about a process that singles out one state for differential treatment. Canada should no longer involves ourselves in a process that engages in this kind of delegitimization of a member state and brings international law into disrepute.''

Cotler said he is adding his name to a petition sponsored by the World Jewish Congress, of which he is a legal counsel, that is being circulated to Jewish institutions and to NGOs in the broader community. The petition calls on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to take the necessary initiatives to end ''this human rights charade, including anti-Semitic conduct being undertaken under the protective cover of the UN.''

Cotler said he is also asking his parliamentary colleagues to support urgent UN reform.

Canada can also push to include Israel as a full fledged member of one of the UN's regional blocs (opposition from Arab states has excluded Israel from the Asian bloc).

The situation as it now stands ''is not just prejudicial to Israel but it undermines the UN and international law,'' he said.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

SECTION: v.32(32) Ag 15'02 pg 26; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5447657

LENGTH: 663 words

HEADLINE: Cotler criticizes omissions in terrorist list

BYLINE: Lazarus, David

BODY:
MONTREAL -- Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler says his own government's unwillingness to list Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah as terrorist groups is ''an affront to the moral, juridical, diplomatic and political struggle against terrorism.''

In a recent statement, he said, ''Simply put, this 'list of terrorist entities' undermines our counter-terrorism law and policy, both domestically and internationally.''

Last month, Canada's solicitor-general, Lawrence MacAulay, announced ''further action against terrorism'' by listing seven ''entities'' that Canada now officially considers terrorist based on the criteria of Bill C-36, the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The list included Al Qaeda and other Islamic groups, but made no mention of equally notorious terrorist organizations responsible for most, if not all, of the suicide bombings in Israel.

''The list... is seriously flawed and deficient,'' Cotler said in a response statement issued the same day MacAulay's list was published.

''In particular, it does not include major terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, who have patented what I have referred to as 'genocidal bombing' -- terrorist suicide bombings that, by the terrorists' own covenant, call publicly for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews wherever they may be.''

Others joining in the criticism were the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) and Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC).

SWC founder Marvin Hier urged Prime Minister Jean Chretien to include Hamas in its listings of terrorist groups as have Germany and the United States.

Not doing so, Hier wrote, ''offers them undeserved legitimacy and weakens your country's commitment to the war on international terrorism.''

CJC president Keith Landy wrote to MacAulay to express his ''dismay'' over the omissions.

''What is particularly perplexing is that the list contained not one of the internationally known groups engaged in the longstanding concerted and murderous campaign of terrorism against Israel and its citizens,'' he wrote.

''We implore you to broaden the register of named terrorist organizations forthwith, and to ensure that the major anti-Israel terrorist groups are included in the first supplementary list.''

In an interview with The CJN, Cotler also said he hoped MacAulay would include the omitted terrorist names in the next list.

''It would be unacceptable otherwise,'' he said.

Cotler said the only possible reason he could think of for their exclusion was that they have some perceived ''generic connection'' with Al Qaeda.

Cotler said the list contradicted statements made previously by his government inside and outside the House of Commons over the years by former foreign minister John Manley and current Foreign Minister Bill Graham.

''It undercuts the government's own counter-terrorism law and policy which seeks to prohibit the preparation, financing, facilitating and perpetration of acts of terrorism - and the prohibiting of those terrorist entities engaged in such acts of terrorism,'' Cotler said.

In his statement, Cotler also referred to the omissions as a ''breach of our undertaking under UN Security Council Resolution 1373 to designate such terrorist groups on a list of terrorist entities, so as to prevent and prohibit any affiliation in Canada with them.''

Moreover, the failure to include the above-cited groups is also a ''breach of our commitments under international conventions against terrorist bombing and financing,'' Cotler said.

Cotler said even though Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the military wing of Hezbollah are listed in both UN and Canadian cabinet anti-terrorism regulations as organization whose assets can be frozen by virtue of their terrorist activities, ''they are disturbingly and conspicuously absent from this list.''

And the absence of the names on the list, he said, could lead people to conclude that Canada does not consider them terrorist entities.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2003

SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A4

LENGTH: 310 words

HEADLINE: Anti-terror bill still has flaws, MP says

SOURCE: Canadian Press

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
The government's latest draft of antiterrorism legislation is tainted by an alarming potential to curb civil liberties, says backbench Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.

He called yesterday in the Commons for review of the proposed bill by the all-party Commons justice committee.

Cotler, a counter-terrorism law expert, pushed for more study just a day after Prime Minister Jean Chretien told his caucus of plans to fast-track the bill through Parliament by the end of June.

Now called the Public Safety Act 2002, the new legislation has rekindled criticism within and beyond Liberal ranks.

It was introduced in the Commons on Monday after an earlier version, Bill C-42, was scrapped amid Liberal bickering about some of its more heavy-handed provisions.

The most controversial measures of the new bill would allow the defence minister to designate any part of the country a military exclusion zone for up to one year, allowing the Canadian Forces to forceably remove trespassers.

Police would have new powers to scan all domestic and international airline passenger lists, a power critics have said could lead to draconian travel checkpoints. Passengers could also be detained for outstanding warrants for offences punishable by five years or more in jail.

"We must ask whether these authorized powers, taken as a whole, maintain the equilibrium between the related needs of security and rights protection," Cotler said during debate on the bill in the Commons. He cited the bill's potential to give "undue" power to ministers while diluting Parliament's role.

The proposed act includes important public safety elements, Cotler concluded. "But there are also disconcerting features . . . that taint this bill and which need to be addressed and redressed so that we can promote human security without unnecessarily intruding on civil liberties."

LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2002

SECTION: F 26'02

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5316734

LENGTH: 332 words

HEADLINE: MPs twin with Zimbabwean political candidates to deter violence

BYLINE: Bueckert, Dennis

BODY:
OTTAWA (CP) Canadian MPs are twinning with opposition politicians in Zimbabwe in hope of deterring attacks on them during that country's tense election campaign.

Fourteen Canadian parliamentarians have volunteered to stay in close touch with Zimbabwean MPs who have been attacked or are considered at risk in pre-electoral violence by government thugs.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should know the whole world is watching the election, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said Tuesday.

''This is to put the Zimbabwe government and Mugabe on notice that the kind of intimidation and violence he's been engaged in, he will be accountable for,'' said Cotler.

He said his ''twin,'' Blessing Chebundo, has had his house destroyed, received death threats and narrowly avoided being set on fire after attackers doused him with gasoline.

New Democrat Bill Blaikie, another participant in the twinning program, said it can't guarantee candidates will be safe but should help deter attacks.

''We're doing what we can at this end.''

Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the Zimbabwean elections will be the main topic at the meeting of Commonwealth leaders on the weekend in Australia.

With less than two weeks go until the March 9 election, two leading opposition politicians have been charged with treason for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe.

There has been talk of suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth but Canada has withheld its decision pending further developments.

''The situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating every day,'' Chretien said after a cabinet meeting. ''The situation is complicated, Canada will be in the avant garde to protect democracy in Zimbabwe.''

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said he was checking into reports from Zimbabwe that all Canadian journalists will be refused permission to cover the elections.

Graham said he would be horrified if the reports in a Zimbabwean state-run newspaper prove accurate.

JOURNAL-CODE: 1418

LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2002

SECTION: Pg. 4

LENGTH: 396 words

HEADLINE: ISRAEL SHOULD CHAMPION JEWISH REFUGEE CLAIMS, URGES TOP LEGAL SCHOLAR

BYLINE: Haninah Levine

BODY:
Israel can back the compensation claims of Jewish refugees from Arab lands without fear of legitimizing Palestinian claims against Israel in the process, says international law expert and Canadian parliamentarian Irwin Cotler. Cotler - who asserts that the Palestinian claims rightly should be against Arab states, not Israel - is honorary chair of the recently founded Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), which estimates that 856,000 Jewish victims of "ethnic cleansing" at the hands of Arab governments after 1948 lost over $ 100 billion in confiscated assets.

Israel has so far pursued a split policy over restitution demands. The Ministry of Justice, along with the American Sephardi Federation, has been working since May 2002 to document claims of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. At the same time, there has been caution about setting official policy on the restitution issue, for fear of opening Israel up to claims from Palestinian refugees.

But Cotler insists that international law will find Palestinian refugees to have been "joint victims of the Arab war against Israel," and therefore not entitled to restitution from Israel. In rejecting the U.N. partition plan of 1947, the Arab states rejected the U.N.'s proposed Palestinian state as well, and thereby committed an act of "double aggression." Moreover, he argues, "the right of return (for Palestinian refugees and descendants) has no legal basis," since resettling so many millions of Palestinians from the Arab countries to Israel would constitute an illegal reward for the perpetrators of a crime - the Arab states.

Instead, Cotler is lobbying leading politicians worldwide to push for recognition of the "right of memory," involving an investigation of each side's historical narrative by all parties, rather than out-of-hand rejection by opposing sides. He suggests that this kind of mutual awareness, rather than just concentration on contemporary, pragmatic issues of territory and sovereignty, is increasingly recognized as prerequisite for reconciliation.

Israeli historian Benny Morris casts doubt on Cotler's legal argument. "At the end of a war, people who are pushed out of their homes... are allowed back," Morris says. Then he hedges a little. "I'm sure both sides have good legal arguments, and politically, certainly both sides have good arguments."

LOAD-DATE: July 28, 2003

SECTION: v.33(32) Ag 14'03 pg 28; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5830383

LENGTH: 1064 words

HEADLINE: New Supreme Court justice hailed for judicial brilliance

BYLINE: Arnold, Janice

BODY:
Canada's newest Supreme Court justice grew up on Montreal's storied St. Urbain Street, the heart of the old Jewish immigrant district, and graduated from Baron Byng High School, a Protestant school that had a high number of Jewish students who became very successful.

Morris Fish, 64, who took his seat on the highest court Aug. 5, is the younger son of the late Zlata Gruber and Aaron Fish, who came from an area in eastern Europe that has changed hands between Poland and Russia.

''He was an outstanding student and a good athlete, especially in basketball, but he was a normal boy,'' recalled his brother Abe Fish, a Toronto businessman.

''He made friends easily and always had a deep interest in people. And he always displayed very good judgment. That was an intrinsic quality he inherited from our parents.''

Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler has been friends with Fish since they were law students at McGill University in the early 1960s. Reached in Jerusalem, Cotler called Fish's appointment ''simply brilliant, an ideal appointment. He is an exemplary judge in every respect.

''He has all the qualities you could seek in a judge: a judicial temperament, integrity, fairness, a command of civil and criminal law.''

Cotler remembers Fish as a distinguished debater in his university days, as well as an outstanding editor-in-chief of the McGill Daily. Fish helped support himself through university as a staff reporter for the Montreal Star from 1959-63. After graduating in law, he continued to write editorials until 1970.

Fish's flair for writing judgments has been traced back to his early career in journalism.

''Although Morris's background is more secular or cultural than religious, he has a good knowledge of Jewish history and culture, and he speaks a good Yiddish,'' Cotler said.

Fish has been to Israel and once visited with Cotler as part of an exchange program between Canadian and Israeli appellate judges.

He is a friend of Aharon Barak, chief justice of Israel's highest court, and former deputy chief Menachem Elon, Cotler said.

Fish and his wife the former Judy Chinks are longtime members of the Reconstructionist synagogue. Shul president Bram Rubinger said Fish attends High Holy Day services. ''He usually has one of his grandchildren on his shoulders as they listen to the shofar being blown. He's a tall, imposing man with snow-white hair. He's hard to miss.

''He is committed to the synagogue as an institution, as a place to be affiliated with. He was supportive our our expansion [last year]. He does not look at us from a distance.''

Fish has two daughters, Amy Budman, a health consultant, and Laura Goldin, a lawyer, and four young grandchildren.

Avi Morrow, Judy Fish's uncle, said what he respects most about Fish are his strong values and principles.

''A few years ago when I got a new passport, I sent it over to him to authenticate it. He called me up and said, 'I can't do that if I don't witness you signing it.' ''

Morrow said Fish has a passion for language. ''On my birthday, he gives me dictionaries and other books about words, and on his, I give him books with Jewish content.''

Morrow plans to hold an exhibition of Fish's photography - another hobby - at an Old Montreal gallery this fall.

Fish was named to the Quebec Court of Appeal in 1989 by Brian Mulroney, after a criminal law career that included directing Montreal's legal aid bureau.

Ian Solloway, immediate past president of the Lord Reading Law Society, the association for Jewish lawyers and notaries in Quebec, hailed Fish's appointment as ''fantastic'' and ''long overdue.'' Fish is only the second Jew on the nine-member High Court. The first was the late Bora Laskin, who was appointed in 1970 and was chief justice from 1973-84. Fish is also the first anglophone Quebecer named since 1954.

Solloway said Fish, who is a member of the society, has a ''superb judicial intellect'' and is a humanitarian. ''His appointment has been universally acclaimed by the profession.''

He called Fish ''a well-spoken, well-rounded, remarkable human being.''

As for whether Fish will bring a Jewish sensibility to his decisions, Solloway said, ''He will bring all his life experiences to bear.''

The Supreme Court is due to soon hear a case of a very Jewish nature. In April, the Supreme Court granted leave to B'nai Brith Canada to appeal a Quebec Court of Appeal ruling that prevents residents of a high-end condominium from erecting sukkot on their balconies. The Quebec court upheld the side of the condo corporation. B'nai Brith says the permanent injunction infringes on religious freedom.

Canadian Jewish Congress president Keith Landy welcomed Fish's appointment as ''a great source of pride to our community'' and a benefit to Canada.

CJC Quebec region honorary vice-president Max Bernard, a lawyer who knows Fish personally, said he has ''the qualities of understanding, caring and fairness that are the benchmarks of someone who is able to dispense true justice, in the noblest sense of the word, to all who come before him.''

Bernard said Fish cannot help but be shaped by ''the moral foundation'' of Judaism. He sees those coming before him as ''people, not just facts and figures... He does not apply the law in a technical way, but rather looks at whether justice is being done.''

Fish, he said, is ''very warm, down-to-earth.''

Joseph Nuss, a colleague of Fish on the Court of Appeal since 1995, described Fish's decisions as exhibiting a ''penetrating analysis of the issues, and clear reasoning written in an eloquent and elegant manner.'' His written French is also impeccable, honed during post-graduate studies at the University of Paris.

Criminal lawyer Raphael Schachter, who has known Fish professionally and personally for more than 35 years, was thrilled by the appointment of his old friend - and adversary.

''Morris is responsible for my spending many a sleepless night during those days when I was a prosecutor and he was a prominent defence attorney.

''There was never the need for a raised voice when Morris was your adversary. His style as a litigator was low-key, his demeanour gentlemanly, but when it came to matching wits and achieving bottom-line results, there were very few the equal of Morris.''

Morris Fish takes seat on top court

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. D10

LENGTH: 373 words

HEADLINE: Holocaust hero's legacy; Conference pays homage to the courageous spirit of humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg

SOURCE: CANADIAN PRESS

DATELINE: MONTREAL

BODY:
A conference on the legacy of Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg was told yesterday the Swedish diplomat's fighting spirit and humanitarian outlook should be applied to more recent atrocities.

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said 1990s bloodbaths like the "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia or the genocide in Rwanda prove there's a crying need for courageous individuals to stand up against killing machines.

Those catastrophes showed the failure of large-scale international organizations such as the United Nations, but individuals can still play a big role, Cotler said.

He said Wallenberg, who was based in the 1940s in Hungary when he foiled Nazis targeting Jews for extermination, proved what a lone resister could do.

"One person can confront evil," said Cotler in the tribute to Wallenberg, who used diplomatic passports and other means to save more than 100,000 Jews and other people who were on the Nazis' fatal lists.

"He is a hero for our time."

The meeting, which drew about 150 people, paid homage to Wallenberg as a humanitarian who has been accorded the singular honour of being granted posthumous Canadian citizenship. Parliament has declared Jan. 17 as Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day.

The date matches the 1945 day when the 32-year-old Wallenberg, under military arrest, disappeared on his way to Soviet army barracks outside Budapest, Hungary.

Despite decades of efforts, Wallenberg's fate remains a mystery. Cotler said he was likely alive in the 1950s and 1960s but Russian authorities continue to block persistent inquiries.

Vera Parnes, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg International Movement for Humanity, said there were long-standing rumours that he was held in the Soviet gulag of prison camps.

The research continues, thanks to investigators in Stockholm and elsewhere determined to go beyond missing documents, fading memories and reports that proved false, such as a Russian statement about his 1947 execution.

The organization bearing Wallenberg's name has been instrumental in having a forest planted in the diplomat's memory in Israel, where many of those he rescued eventually found their homes.

As a non-Jew who risked his life for Jews, he is considered a fine example of humanity.

GRAPHIC: Colour Photo: CANADIAN PRESS; Vera Parnes, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg International Movement for Humanity, places flowers at the feet of a bust of Raoul Wallenberg in Montreal yesterday.

LOAD-DATE: January 21, 2002

SECTION: v.33(19) My 8'03 pg 2; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5615285

LENGTH: 59 words

HEADLINE: Anti-hate March

BODY:
TORONTO -- The grassroots group Canadians Against Anti-Semitism will be holding its second annual Canadian March for Humanity in Toronto on June 8 at 3 p.m. International human rights lawyer and MP Irwin Cotler, and Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry will lead the march, which will begin at Avenue Road and Bloor Street and head to Queen's Park.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

SECTION: Ja 20'02

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5292881

LENGTH: 451 words

HEADLINE: [A conference on the legacy of Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg was told Sunday the Swedish diplomat's fighting spirit and humanitarian outlook should be applied to more recent atrocities] (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Daly, Conway

BODY:
MONTREAL (CP) A conference on the legacy of Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg was told Sunday the Swedish diplomat's fighting spirit and humanitarian outlook should be applied to more recent atrocities.

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said 1990s bloodbaths like the ''ethnic cleansing'' in Bosnia or the genocide in Rwanda prove there's a crying need for courageous individuals to stand up against killing machines.

Those catastrophes showed the failure of large-scale international organizations such as the United Nations, but individuals can still play a big role, Cotler said.

He said Wallenberg, who was based in the 1940s in Hungary when he foiled Nazis targeting Jews for extermination, proved what a lone resister could do.

''One person can confront evil,'' said Cotler in the tribute to Wallenberg, who used diplomatic passports and other means to save more than 100,000 Jews and other people who were on the Nazis' fatal lists.

''He is a hero for our time.''

The meeting, which drew about 150 people, paid homage to Wallenberg as a humanitarian who has been accorded the singular honour of being granted posthumous Canadian citizenship.

Last year, Parliament declared Jan. 17 as Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day.

The date matches the 1945 day when the 32-year-old Wallenberg, under military arrest, disappeared on his way to Soviet army barracks outside Budapest, Hungary.

Despite decades of efforts, Wallenberg's fate remains a mystery. Cotler said he was likely alive in the 1950s and 1960s but Russian authorities continue to block persistent inquiries.

Vera Parnes, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg International Movement for Humanity, said there were long-standing rumours that he was held in the Soviet gulag of prison camps.

The research continues, thanks to investigators in Stockholm and elsewhere determined to go beyond missing documents, fading memories and reports that proved false, such as a Russian statement about his 1947 execution.

The organization bearing Wallenberg's name has been instrumental in having a forest planted in the diplomat's memory in Israel, where many of those he rescued eventually found their homes.

As a non-Jew who risked his life for Jews, he is considered a fine example of humanity.

''We know so little about his life after 1945,'' said Dorothy Zalcman Howard, chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress national executive.

She said roadblocks first raised by Soviet and later Russian bureaucrats haven't discouraged the widespread research effort into Wallenberg's last days after he vanished in the gulag.

''We're still searching,'' she said. ''Each step takes us a little closer.''

JOURNAL-CODE: 1418

LOAD-DATE: February 20, 2002

SECTION: v.33(43) O 30'03 pg 37; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5877340

LENGTH: 832 words

HEADLINE: Canadian MPs find Muslim anger at Israel, U.S. (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
Canadian parliamentarians meeting the elite of Arab intellectual and political society in Jordan and the Palestinian territories were confronted last week with a virtually monolithic expression of anger at Israel's ''occupation'' and intense feelings of anti-Americanism, according to Montreal MP Irwin Cotler.

In meetings with ''top people'' during a 10-day Mideast tour, Cotler said he was taken aback at the intensity of the emotions and views expressed by his Arab interlocutors. Cotler, who first visited the Arab Middle East in 1975 and who has been to Jordan nine time and Egypt 13 times, said he never before experienced ''the intensification of the focus on the Israel and Palestinian conflict in general and the occupation in particular. It came up wherever we went.''

In meetings with politicians, intellectuals, journalists and NGO representatives, the parliamentarians heard that ''the occupation was the root of all evil. We heard that in every strand of the Jordanian meetings.''

Speakers brought up Israeli military checkpoints ''as a kind of metaphor. For the Palestinians, it's held out as a sense of humiliation and restrictions on their movements'' while ''they refer to suicide bombings as acts of resistance,'' he said.

Cotler, along with MPs Keith Martin (Canadian Alliance) and Bernard Patry (Liberal), were in the Middle East to research the world of Islam.

Three groups of MPs from Parliament's foreign affairs committee have recently visited different parts of the Muslim world. One group visited southeast Asia, including India and Malaysia, while another visited Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Cotler's group visited Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Israel and Egypt.

The foreign affairs committee is planning to compile its findings in a report to Parliament. The report, which will likely be published early in the new year, ''will reflect what we heard and where, in a modest way, Canada can play a role,'' Cotler said.

Although the report has yet to be written, Cotler said, ''The idea was that we have to have an approach that will not be adversarial as the West versus Islam. Our discourse is not that of a conflict of civilizations... it is one of a dialogue and what we can do to promote understanding.''

The foreign affairs committee has already held hearings on the issue and will hear from other presenters before the report is begun, Cotler added.

Speaking from the Middle East before the Cairo leg of the trip, Cotler said what was ''compelling was the intensity of the focus on the conflict and the occupation as the root of all evil.''

In addition, the United States, which is seen as supporting Israel's occupation and is now seen as an occupier itself in Iraq, came in for heated criticism, even ''hatred,'' he said.

''Israel is seen almost as an extension of America, not as a legitimate independent entity, but as its agent in the Middle East, which is a delegitmating feature.''

In Jordan, one of the group's contacts told him that ''98 per cent of Jordanians hate Americans. We felt an intense animus against the United States. It was palpable.''

The U.S. invasion of Iraq was seen as a prelude to further incursions in Mideastern states and the group heard the argument, presented by secular Jordanians and Palestinians, that the Israeli occupation has inflamed the Arab and Muslim world and ''made the Arab world more Islamic.''

Cotler said he often presented a counter-argument in an attempt to balance the discussion, but ''when you hear a case presented in a very powerful way and given the emotionalism that underpinned it, it's hard for people who don't know the whole situation not be affected by it.''

The ''sheer weight of exposure would get someone to have sympathy certainly for Palestinian suffering.''

While the group heard a unified and emotional voice from the Arab side, their Israeli contacts spoke in a calmer manner in an office setting, which did not lend itself to the same kind of impact achieved in a visit to Palestinian areas. What's more, there was disagreement among Israelis - as might be expected in a democracy - on a number of issues, including the Geneva agreement promoted by Meretz MK Yossi Beilin. Incredibly, Cotler said, even one Shinui member of the governing coalition supported the initiative while two other government members opposed it.

On another occasion, an Israeli journalist seemed to confirm the Palestinian characterization of Israel's security fence, also calling it an ''apartheid'' fence, Cotler said.

Meanwhile, on the Palestinian side, specific suggestions were advanced for Canadian policymakers to adopt while no such unified message was advanced by Israeli parliamentarians.

Arab contacts refused to condemn the speech by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, saying the entire speech should be examined and the comments on Jews were only a small part of the overall message, Cotler said.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: December 5, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A14

LENGTH: 424 words

HEADLINE: Musharraf to consider memorial to slain journalist

BYLINE: Valerie Lawton, Toronto Star

BODY:
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says his country already has "so much" to do, but he'll consider a request from the family of slain journalist Daniel Pearl to build a monument in his memory.

Montreal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler delivered the request on the family's behalf when Musharraf appeared before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee yesterday.

"Building a monument on him now could be seen, I've never thought of it, really. There's so much to be done in Pakistan. I could consider that," the president said.

Pearl, the Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped and murdered while researching a story on Islamic extremists last year. His killers videotaped themselves slitting the throat of the 38-year-old journalist, who was Jewish.

Pearl's father said he's pleased Musharraf didn't rule out a memorial.

Judea Pearl said it would be an important symbol for Pakistan as it tries to refute accusations it is doing too little to fight terrorism.

"It would be a tremendous opportunity for Pakistan to clear its name. Wherever he goes, people ask him embarrassing questions. That could be a vehicle for him to show Pakistan is indeed a moderate country where terrorists are a negligible minority," Judea Pearl said in an interview.

"It has a great symbolic value. Here you have a man who stretched his hand in friendship and was betrayed. We were all betrayed. Everyone in the West was betrayed," he said.

Four Islamic militants were convicted last year of involvement in Pearl's death. One of them, British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was sentenced to death, and the other three were given life sentences. All have filed appeals.

Cotler also questioned Musharraf during the committee meeting about accusations in a new book that argues Pearl may have been killed because he'd found out Pakistani intelligence agents were preparing to give nuclear weapons to Al Qaeda terrorists.

The president denied the link made in Who Killed Daniel Pearl by French writer Bernard-Henri Levy, and suggested the journalist put himself at risk by investigating extremists.

"Unfortunately, in his investigative capacity, Daniel Pearl came ... to Pakistan, stayed with a group that had contacts with all kinds of people and then he kept moving down into this world of extremism himself. And then whatever happened, happened."

Musharraf, who also had a private lunch with Prime Minister Jean Chretien, is one of the few international leaders ever to appear before the foreign affairs committee.

LOAD-DATE: September 27, 2003

SECTION: v.32(47) N 28'02 pg 5; ISSN: 0008-3941

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LENGTH: 767 words

HEADLINE: Sri Lankan peace process compared with Israel

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
While the world was focusing its attention on Palestinian-Israeli strife, a conflict that seemed just as intractable and emotion-laden has seen the adoption of a historic peace process with potential ramifications for the Middle East.

That's the assessment of Montreal-area Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, who was honoured recently by the Quebec Coalition for Peace in Sri Lanka for ''his extraordinary contribution to peace in Sri Lanka and in the world.'' Cotler was honoured in a ceremony at the Durkai Amman Koyil Temple in Montreal.

The Sri Lankan peace agreement ended one of the longest running disputes in Asia, a 19-year conflict that left 65,000 dead, 1.5 million displaced and 12,000 ''disappeared,'' the latter figure second only to the number of missing people in Iraq, Cotler said.

This ''untold human catastrophe'' was brought to an end by a process similar to the one adopted by Israelis and Palestinians at Oslo, but with one important difference, Cotler said.

While the Palestinian Authority (PA) reaped the benefits of the peace agreement without being compelled to do anything substantial in return, the Sri Lankan approach was based on reciprocity, he said.

In Sri Lanka, ''you had a situation with express undertakings organized around reciprocal obligations with a timeline.'' So when the Tamil Tigers renounced terrorism and said they would not seek an independent state, the government of Sri Lanka ''un-banned it'' and released prisoners, Cotler said.

Fulfillment of those terms led to a next set of commitments, and in that way the peace process progressed with both sides making concessions.

Under Oslo, ''the exact opposite occurred.'' The PA, he said, never complied with its commitment to cease and desist fomenting hatred of Jews. ''Not only was this obligation honoured in the breach, but the culture of hatred intensified,'' Cotler said.

Palestinians also violated the terms of Oslo by ignoring Israeli requests to extradite terrorism suspects and by refusing to bring them to justice within PA jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the limited police force contemplated by Oslo took ''a quantum leap in numbers and a veritable army was created,'' Cotler said.

''Not only was there a pattern of institutionalized breaches by one side, but on the Israeli side, regrettably, they didn't take these breaches seriously enough.''

Israelis, he continued, ''were psychologically and politically invested in the peace and so they engaged in wilful blindness to these violations.''

Cotler commended former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for demanding Palestinian compliance with the terms of Oslo before making concessions. Commenting on the proposal by newly-crowned Labour leader Amram Mitzna to unilaterally dismantle Gaza settlements, Cotler said ''I think that approach will not work, because it will end up rewarding terror.''

On a related issue, Cotler said the newly-constituted organization, ''Justice for Jews from Arab Countries,'' is more than ''a crie de coeur of survivors. It dovetails with the emerging norms of international humanitarian law.''

In an address to a meeting of the organization last week, Cotler said 900,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands in the postwar period in an early example of ''ethnic cleansing.''

This ''forgotten exodus'' is absent from the ''Mideast narrative, from which it has been utterly expunged,'' similar to the assault on Jewish memory undertaken by revisionists who deny the Holocaust, he said.

Cotler said a satisfactory resolution of the claims of Jewish refugees must be ''part of the reconciliation process'' between Arabs and Jews, along the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa.

''As long as the Arab ethnic cleansing of Jews is replaced with the myth of Jews creating Arab refugees,'' there can be no peace or reconciliation, he said.

* * *

Last week, Cotler rose in the House of Commons to memorialize former Israeli foreign minister and UN ambassador Abba Eban as ''one of the greatest statesmen and diplomats of the 20th century.''

Cotler characterized Eban as ''a distinguished academic, a prolific scholar, the unparalleled chronicler of his people and his country and of civilization itself.''

Eban had emerged not only as the voice of Israel ''resonating with its unique combination of Churchillian rhetoric and Shakespearian literacy...[but as] the voice of humanity, and his entire being was suffused with the commitment to peace between Jews, Arabs and Palestinians,'' Cotler stated.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: May 5, 2003

SECTION: Section A; Page 7; Column 1; Foreign Desk

LENGTH: 566 words

HEADLINE: In Austria, an International Conference Examines a New Kind of Anti-Semitism

BYLINE: By RICHARD BERNSTEIN

DATELINE: VIENNA, June 20

BODY:
In 1938, after Germany annexed Austria, Hitler addressed a cheering crowd from a balcony at the Hofburg royal palace here, a fact much noted by participants in the first major international conference devoted exclusively to the subject of anti-Semitism.

The two-day meeting, which ended today at the palace, brought together the 55 member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, including a delegation of members of Congress and Jewish leaders from the United States, led by the former mayor of New York, Rudolph W. Giuliani.

The overall theme of the meeting was a new kind of anti-Semitism -- a virulent hybrid derived from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and old anti-Jewish stereotypes that many believed had long faded into history.

"We are witnessing an old-new, escalating, global and even lethal anti-Semitism," Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of Parliament, said in a speech to the conference today.

Its chief characteristic, Mr. Cotler and other delegates argued, is that it singles out Israel for criticism and condemnation beyond any other nation, and asserts that a Jewish homeland, by its nature and the nature of its citizens, violates the rights of others. "It is anti-Semitism under the banner of human rights at a time when human rights is the new secular religion," Mr. Cotler said.

In recent years, European countries, in particular, have experienced new waves of anti-Jewish attacks, many of them carried out by young immigrants from North Africa against synagogues and cemeteries in France. The French government, in a move that was widely praised here, has passed new legislation giving greater powers to the police to crack down on hate crimes.

"We have seen a level of anxiety in Europe that we hadn't seen in a very long time," Andrew Baker, a rabbi and member of the American delegation, said in an interview.

The conference was initially suggested by members of the Parliamentary Commission, a group of legislators from several countries, which proposed it to the United States Department of State.

From that point, according to members of the American delegation, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell pressed the idea against considerable resistance from other states, which argued that anti-Semitism should be taken up in the context of racism and discrimination generally, rather than as a separate subject.

Controversial ideas were raised, but not debated. For example, several delegates said governments should control publications and Web sites that promote anti-Semitism. One delegate, Jean Kahn, president of the Union of French Jewish Communities, argued that Al Jazeera, the Arab television network, fomented anti-Semitism and its broadcasts should be suppressed.

Ultimately, the significance of the gathering, for many, was that it put recent violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, especially in Europe, on the international agenda.

In that sense, the signal event was the invitation from the German ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation, Dieter Boden, to hold a follow-up meeting in Berlin next year.

"It's truly historic," Mr. Giuliani said during the final session, referring to the prospect that the two most important centers of Jewish persecution in Europe will be where the group's member countries meet to combat the new anti-Semitism.

http://www.nytimes.com

LOAD-DATE: June 21, 2003

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 317 words

HEADLINE: MPs urge Ottawa to take the lead in restoring peace in DR Congo

DATELINE: OTTAWA, June 5

BODY:
Members of parliament from four parties, including the governing Liberal Party, urged the government Thursday to take a lead in stopping mass killing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At a joint press conference with members of three opposition parties, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said: "The prime minister (Jean Chretien) should now place wake-up calls to the international community."

Keith Martin, a doctor who has worked in conflict situations who is now with the opposition right-wing Canadian Alliance, said: "This is genocide ... We have done almost nothing to stop it."

The country's Ituri region has been a powderkeg of ethnic unrest, with more than 50,000 people killed there and some half a million displaced in the region since 1999.

Martin, whose party has been critical of the governing Liberal Party for allegedly having insufficient troops to carry out its current international obligations, said a new international "peace-making force" was required for the Democratic Republic of Congo -- and Canada should be part of it.

He also called for international pressure to be exerted on neighbouring countries in the region -- specifically Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe -- to end their involvement in helping the different warring factions.

Cotler and Martin were supported by MPs from the left-of-centre New Democratic Party and the left-of-centre regional Bloc Quebecois.

The United Nations has deployed 4,300 peacekeepers to monitor a fragile ceasefire in the DRC, and last week the UN Security Council authorized a more heavily armed, French-led international force to Ituri in the north-east.

Canada has agreed to supply two Hercules aircraft and about 50 military personnel to help the French-led international force being set up to restore peace in the region.

Cotler said Canada's contribution was "too little and very late."

hfw/sba/gs Canada-DRCongo

LOAD-DATE: June 6, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A03

LENGTH: 340 words

HEADLINE: Hamas put on Ottawa's terror list

BYLINE: Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star

HIGHLIGHT:
Failure to name Hezbollah slammed Aiding groups a criminal offence

BODY:
The federal government expanded its blacklist of terrorist groups yesterday, naming Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad among six more terrorist organizations whose activities and support are now criminalized in Canada.

But despite months of opposition pressure, Solicitor-General Wayne Easter did not name the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah (Party of God) to the list, a move that was immediately condemned as a "dangerous omission" by the Canadian Alliance.

"Perhaps it will take a horrific tragedy before this government finally cracks down on these terrorists," said Alliance foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day.

Easter said the list, which now names 13 organizations in total, is "a work-in-progress" and will be continuously updated as facts warrant.

But one influential Liberal MP, Irwin Cotler, also denounced yesterday's failure to name Hezbollah as "unconscionable."

Cotler said the solicitor-general indicated to him "they were moving in that direction."

But the Mount Royal MP remained critical of the delay, saying the file on Hezbollah "is so comprehensive and so compelling that the failure to name them remains inexplicable."

Fundraising for Hezbollah's military wing is already prohibited in Canada under federal financial regulations that incorporate a broader United Nations list.

"So it is, in fact, listed," Easter said.

He denounced as "shocking" Day's suggestion the government had "political reasons" for not putting Hezbollah on the list.

Government officials contend there is a distinct difference between Hezbollah's social-political wing, which has elected members to Lebanon's legislature and does social work in the country's southern region, and its military wing.

That branch has been blamed for terrorist attacks in its fight against Israel's former occupation of Lebanon.

Last month, Prime Minister Jean Chretien was criticized for being oblivious, during a francophone summit in Beirut, to the presence of the head of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

LOAD-DATE: November 28, 2002

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A17

LENGTH: 414 words

HEADLINE: MPs back motion to indict Zimbabwe's Mugabe

BYLINE: Graham Fraser, Toronto Star

BODY:
Members of Parliament from three parties announced yesterday they are supporting a move to indict Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, for crimes against humanity.

Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin has given notice of motion to the Commons foreign affairs committee to urge the Canadian government to make such an indictment, and he was supported yesterday by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler and - with qualifications - by Bloc Quebecois MP Yves Rocheleau.

"We have that indictment in hand today, and we will exercise that indictment against Mr. Mugabe if he sets foot in Canada," Martin said. "It will send a very clear message internationally that Canada is prepared to stand up and prosecute this individual ... for crimes against humanity within the context of our legal system."

He said that he hoped this would encourage other countries to do the same.

Cotler, who is an expert in international human rights law, noted that Mugabe could not be indicted by the International Criminal Court, because Zimbabwe is not a signatory to the international treaty that created the world court.

But Canada has passed war crimes and crimes against humanity legislation.

"When we enacted it, we stated that this legislation is an implementation of our obligations under the International Criminal Court treaty to bring perpetrators of international crimes to justice," Cotler said.

Similar legislation by Spain was used in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Martin said that Mugabe was guilty of crimes against humanity, extermination, enforced disappearance, torture, imprisonment and persecution.

"The World Food Program has said by December, 2003, 51/2million Zimbabweans will be needing food aid."

"This is a direct result of Mr. Mugabe's efforts to use food as a weapon, to prevent his people from planting, and to deprive them of the land they require to plant and grow food."

Cotler said that Zimbabwe, as a society is at serious risk because of the convergence of the pandemic of AIDS, the politics of famine, endemic poverty, repressive government, massive violation of human rights and the pillaging of resources.

"President Robert Mugabe is responsible for the perpetration of crimes against humanity, including state orchestrated murder, torture and massive sexual violence," he said. "In a country like Zimbabwe, which is ravaged by the AIDS pandemic, this is a virtual death sentence for women."

LOAD-DATE: October 9, 2003

SECTION: Opinion Pages; Pg. A9

LENGTH: 718 words

HEADLINE: LIBERALS' IDEAS ON TERROR GROUPS 'DISGUSTING'

BYLINE: RORY LEISHMAN, LONDON FREELANCE WRITER

BODY:
What will it take to persuade the Jean Chretien Liberals to get serious about the war on international terrorism? When will they finally get around to placing a total ban on Canadian support for Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah?

In a commendably forthright statement in the Commons on Thursday, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler pointed out that these three terrorist networks share a common purpose: "Each seeks, by its own acknowledgment and assertion, the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews everywhere. Each partakes of a culture of incitement, the teaching of contempt and the demonizing of the Jew, that is the most proximate cause of terror in the Middle East and beyond."

Cotler also pointed out that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has established that each of these terrorist organizations operates in Canada.

"Astonishingly enough," he concluded, "none has yet to be named to Canada's list of terrorist entities, while the political wing of Hezbollah terror is sanitized. It is past time for Canada to do the right thing, to name terrorist networks as terrorist entities, as mandated by our undertakings under UN Security Council resolutions and domestic law."

Cotler is a distinguished former professor of law at McGill University who is knowledgeable about the Middle East. Other conscientious Liberal MPs should join with him and like-minded members of the opposition who are pressing the government to ban all support for manifestly terrorist organizations within Canada.

As for Hezbollah, the Chretien government has cut off funding for its military arm, but still allows donations to its political and humanitarian operations. Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham explains: "We don't believe it would be appropriate to label as terrorists innocent doctors, teachers and other people who are seeking to do charitable and other good works in their communities."

What poppycock. By this reasoning, the Mackenzie King Liberals should have cut off support for Hitler's storm troopers in the 1930s, while allowing Nazi sympathizers to go on making donations to the Nazi Party in the hope some of the funds might be used to help German youngsters enjoy healthy outdoor exercise with the Hitler Youth.

Hezbollah is not a peace-loving organization. In a recent two-part series in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Goldberg has characterized this self-styled Party of Allah as, "the most successful terrorist organization in modern history."

Likewise, Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. State Department, recently denounced Hezbollah as the "A-team" of terrorism and al-Qaida as the "B-team."

Hezbollah has been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks over the last 20 years, including the 1994 bombing of a Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that killed 29 altogether innocent civilians. Yet Graham insists: "Our policy on Hezbollah is clear. We condemn its military wing as terrorists and we engage in dialogue with those with whom we wish to gain peace."

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is the secretary general of Hezbollah as a whole. He is hell bent on destroying Israel. He has no interest in peaceful dialogue with Graham or anyone else. He made that clear in a speech in Tehran last year, when he declaimed: "If some want to make use of the Intefadeh to strengthen their positions on the negotiating table, I say to them you are committing a big mistake. Our (Arab) nation has now a historic opportunity to wipe out the cancerous Israeli project."

After two murder bombers affiliated with Islamic Jihad blew up a civilian bus within Israel on Oct. 21, killing 16 people and severely wounding five others, including a two-year-old girl, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat affirmed in a statement that the Palestinian leadership, "is opposed to attacks against Palestinian and Israeli civilians. We reject such attacks against civilians."

In shocking contrast, Nasrallah lauded the atrocity. Despite the fact the murder bombing had occurred well within the 1948 borders of Israel, he said: "The martyrdom operation that happened yesterday in occupied Palestine is clear proof that the Palestinian people will not be defeated."

That Graham hopes to conduct a peaceful dialogue with such a terrorist is not just naive: It's disgusting.

NOTES:
Rory Leishman is a freelance writer based in London. His column appears Tuesdays.

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2002

SECTION: v.33(4) Ja 23'03 pg 5; ISSN: 0008-3941

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LENGTH: 887 words

HEADLINE: Ceremony marks first annual Wallenberg day

BYLINE: Csillag, Ron

BODY:
Swedish war hero Raoul Wallenberg, whose fate remains a mystery, has bequeathed a legacy of human rights and the need to bear witness to the horrors of the Holocaust, says a member of Parliament and Wallenberg expert.

Wallenberg, who is credited with rescuing 100,000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazis - ''more than any single government - was the embodiment of the Talmudic idiom that he who saves one life is as though he saved an entire universe,'' Liberal MP Irwin Cotler told a gathering in Toronto last week held to mark the inaugural Raoul Wallenberg Day.

Last June, Parliament proclaimed Jan. 17 - the anniversary of Wallenberg's disappearance - as Raoul Wallenberg Day to commemorate and pay tribute to the Swedish diplomat's daring and bravery in Budapest in the latter half of 1944.

In 1985, Wallenberg was named Canada's first honorary citizen.

The scion of a wealthy Swedish banking and industrial family, Wallenberg, a non-Jew, was dispatched to the Hungarian capital by the U.S. War Refugee Board to rescue as many Jews as he could.

He worked feverishly to spirit more than 30,000 Jews to 32 ''safe houses'' in Budapest, which flew the neutral Swedish flag, and to crank out thousands of false passports, called ''Schutzpasses,'' which placed their bearers under the protection of Sweden.

He also persuaded the Nazis to call of their destruction of Budapest's Jewish ghetto, with its 70,000 inhabitants.

Known for his bluff and bluster, Wallenberg would literally yank people out of death marches and lines for Auschwitz-bound trains to issue them the fake passports.

But the invading Red Army took Wallenberg into ''protective custody'' on Jan. 17, 1945, thus beginning one of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century. He was never seen again, save for alleged sightings by former prisoners of the Soviet gulag, and became the subject of several high-level investigations.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, the Soviets stuck to the same story for decades: that Wallenberg died of a heart attack in 1947 while in prison.

Cotler, who headed a commission of inquiry into Wallenberg's fate and whereabouts in the late 1980s, said the Swded must be considered ''disappeared, not deceased.''

Cotler's 1,200-page report, delivered in 1990 after years of research and interviews with dozens of witnesses, concluded there was ''compelling'' evidence that Wallenberg was alive during the '50s and '60s, and ''credible'' evidence he lived into the '70s and perhaps as late as 1981.

In 1991, Sweden and Russia announced they would conduct a joint inquiry into Wallenberg's fate. Their reports, delivered separately two years ago, conflicted.

The Swedes cited evidence that Wallenberg may have died in a psychiatric facility as late as 1989, but that in the absence of hard evidence, he must be considered a missing person.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

The Russian report stuck to the same line: That Wallenberg died in Soviet custody in 1947. Moscow said any further inquiry was pointless.

(However, only a month earlier, the Kremlin acknowledged for the first time that Wallenberg and his driver had been arrested as ''socially dangerous'' individuals, and said that Wallenberg had been shot in 1947 as an American spy.)

In 1998, another Canadian, Winnipeg-based human rights lawyer David Matas, released the findings of his own research, which charged the Soviets and Russians with conducting a massive coverup on the file.

Cotler said last week the evidence that Wallenberg did not die in 1947 is ''incontrovertible,'' and that the ''smoking gun'' in the case is still locked in secret KGB archives.

Also on hand at last week's commemoration were the consuls general of Sweden, Hungary and Israel, who brought greetings, and Yvonne Singer, a York University art teacher who found out in 1979 that Wallenberg was her godfather.

Singer recounted that her mother gave birth to her in Wallenberg's own bed because Budapest's hospitals were under siege. In gratitude, he agreed to be Singer's godfather.

Meantime, Wallenberg offers many lessons for today, Cotler told about 250 people at the program, held by UJA Federation's Holocaust Centre of Toronto.

''He showed us it is possible to confront, resist and unmask evil, and to overcome it. It's a call to bear witness.''

Quoting Elie Wiesel - that neutrality equals siding with the victimizer - Cotler warned of the dangers of turning away.

''Averting our eyes to evil is to become an accomplice to evil, which is to acquiesce to evil, which is complicity in evil.''

He slammed an ''indifferent and callous'' international community for ''waffling'' on mass murders in the Balkans, and the ''only too preventable'' genocide in Rwanda. ''This resulted in our being accomplices.''

Part of Wallenberg's legacy is ''the moral and juridical imperative'' to expose evil, Cotler said.

He also warned of ''new, global trafficking in hate and state-sanctioned anti-Semitism, the likes of which have not been seen since the end of World War II.''

As for Wallenberg, ''I'm not saying he's alive. I'm only saying that based on the evidence, the fairest thing to say, morally and legally, is that he remains the lost hero of the Holocaust.''

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

SECTION: Pg. 24

LENGTH: 3116 words

HEADLINE: THE REFUGEES' CHOICE?

BYLINE: Isabel Kershner

BODY:
The Refugees' Choice?

Critics accuse UNRWA of perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem and abetting terror. Israeli officials say everyone would be much worse off without it. Has the 50-year-old mission gone right or wrong?

Isabel Kershner

THE VANISHED BUILDINGS of the now-notorious 200 square meters at the center of the Jenin refugee camp, flattened to rubble by Israeli bulldozers at the end of a tough battle in April against dozens of Palestinian gunmen of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Fatah Tanzim, are set to rise again. Any day now Peter Hansen, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), will sign an agreement with the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society for $ 30 million in emergency aid to rebuild the 100 or so destroyed homes.

Along with UNRWA's obvious obligation to help the largely hapless refugee families who lost their decades-old "temporary dwellings," there's a double irony in the fact that the agency is busy with the reconstruction in the area Israeli officials have described as a "hornet's nest" of terror. For the U.N.-mandated agency, which has provided humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in the Near East for the past 52 years, primarily in the areas of education, health and social services, has been placed under unprecedented scrutiny of late.

Its critics in Israel, in Jewish and Zionist organizations and among an increasing number of lawmakers abroad, argue that UNRWA perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem by maintaining a "camp culture" and feeding refugees' expectation that one day they may return to their original homes. And they ask, incredulously, how civilian camps such as Jenin, which are being serviced by the agency, could have turned into nests of militancy and launching pads for terror under the nose of UNRWA's vast staff and without so much as a squeak from the U.N.

Irwin Cotler, a Canadian Jewish member of parliament and professor of international human rights law, has long had qualms about whether UNRWA hasn't become "part of the problem rather than the solution." Now, he tells The Jerusalem Report during a recent visit to Jerusalem, "the emerging allegations appear to suggest that UNRWA allows the camps to be used as a sanctuary for terror and for incitement."

Among other things, Cotler points to phenomena such as the "glorification of suicide martyrs as poster boys" in the schools and giving armed elements free rein of the camps. Those, he says, are clear violations of the U.N.'s own conventions regarding both the need to maintain the civilian nature of refugee camps and counterterrorism. The Security Council's 12-point anti-terror convention of last year, he notes, requires all U.N. parties to report back any relevant information.

UNRWA, he goes on, "has neither done anything to prevent, nor has reported any of the above. So one begins to infer that it may be complicit in incitement and terror."

Among Cotler's file of documents, Security Council resolutions and press cuttings about UNRWA is the letter sent to Secretary General Kofi Annan by U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, ranking Democratic member of the House International Relations Committee in May.

According to David Bedein, head of the Jerusalem-based Israel Resource News Agency and an anti-Olso lobbyist who has been researching UNRWA operations for the past 15 years, these letters constitute the first serious challenge to the agency's mandate since 1958. Then, Israeli ambassador Abba Eban made a statement at the U.N. on the Arab refugees in which he argued that the problem had been "artificially maintained for political motives against all the economic, social and cultural forces which, had they been allowed free play, would have brought about a solution."

Bedein and other lobbyists now hope that questions about UNRWA will be raised not only in Washington and Ottawa, but in every European capital as well.

Lantos's May 2002 letter echoes something of Eban's frustration. As well as addressing the "ongoing exploitation for terrorist purposes of Palestinian refugee camps administered by UNRWA," he also voices his "deep concern that UNRWA is perpetuating, rather than ameliorating, the situation of Palestinian refugees."

The Jenin camp alone, he notes, produced 23 suicide bombers that killed 57 Israelis. He cites a Security Council resolution that calls upon the secretary general to report to the Security Council situations where "camps are vulnerable to infiltration by armed elements." And he cites Kofi Annan's own report to the Council of April 1998 concerning violence in Africa, when the secretary general urged that refugee camps "be kept free of any military presence or equipment, including arms and ammunition."

Lantos states that he is "frankly baffled as to why, more than 50 years after the founding of the State of Israel, there continues to exist a U.N. agency focused solely on Palestinian refugees," while all other refugee situations have been adopted by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.

The Lantos letter came in the wake of lobbying by Avi Beker, secretary general of the World Jewish Congress and by the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the main Israel lobby in Washington. The battle in Jenin, and the extent of the terrorist infrastructure revealed in the camps by Israel's Operation Defensive Shield last spring, acted as the catalyst.

Although Israel has been taking a back seat in the campaign, Alan Baker, the Foreign Ministry's legal adviser, reportedly raised similar concerns to Lantos's with U.S. officials and members of Congress during a visit to Washington in June.

The Lantos letter contained a number of inaccuracies. It stated that UNRWA's mandate was up for renewal on June 30, though in fact it had been renewed last December through to June 2005. And it repeated AIPAC's figure of 23 suicide bombers from the Jenin camp. UNRWA officials counter that the 23 came from the Jenin governerate, which includes the camp, the town and the surrounding villages. The Israeli government speaks of 23 suicide bombers "from Jenin."

Nevertheless, with Lantos pressing for hearings in the House committee and with the allocation of U.S. funding to UNRWA coming up for annual approval, possibly in September, the stirrings in Congress are certainly not being dismissed. Senior UNRWA officials are concerned that funding could be cut or made conditional. UNRWA receives between a quarter and a third of its annual budget - which stood at $ 310 million in 2001 - from the U.S.

Annan's reply to Lantos explains that "the United Nations has no responsibility for security matters in refugee camps, or indeed anywhere else in the occupied territory." Rather, since the Oslo agreements, that responsibility lies with Israel or the Palestinian Authority. Of the 27 camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 20 sit in PA-controlled areas, and 7 in areas where Israel has overall security control.

Annan says the U.N. has frequently called on the PA to do more to fight terror. Furthermore, alarmed by the human toll on both sides, he writes, he suggested in April that an armed multinational force be established in the area - something that Israel would vehemently oppose.

Hansen, in his clarifications attached to Annan's letter, stresses that UNRWA, a humanitarian organization, has no mandate to administer or police the camps, and as such has no "police force, no intelligenceapparatus and no mandate to report on political and military activities."

And he takes strong issue with charges that UNRWA creates dependency. In normal times, he writes, only 5.7 percent of the refugees receive food or other direct assistance from the agency. And UNRWA has awarded over 49,000 loans to budding refugee entrepreneurs over the past 10 years, amounting to over $ 69 million. Today, less than one-third of the 3.9 million Palestinian UNRWA-registered refugees live in the camps around the Middle East, though all are entitled to use UNRWA's facilities.

UNRWA was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949 with a temporary mandate to provide basic humanitarian and social services to the refugees until a political solution could be found. Under UNRWA's operational definition, Palestinian refugees are people whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Their descendants are also classed as refugees, and as such, the register has grown from 914,000 refugees in 1950 to close to 4 million.

There are 59 recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. In Jordan, the government extended citizenship to all refugees in the country, who now number over 1.6 million. In the West Bank and Gaza, over 600,000 of the 1.5 million refugees live in camps.

The UNRWA tents of the early 1950s turned into cement-block dwellings. Some have now grown into rickety-looking three-story homes. With the arrival of the PA in the mid-1990s, Paltel, the Palestinian telecommunications company, introduced phone lines into the West Bank and Gaza camps for the first time. Foreign donor aid was used to modernize sewage systems.

UNRWA schools have a reputation for excellence. The UNRWA mandate stipulates that its schools teach the same curriculum as ordinary schools in the "host" areas or countries, so students can qualify to go on to university. UNRWA says it provides extracurricular enrichment that "focuses on peace education, human rights, tolerance and conflict resolution."

Along with its international staff, UNRWA employs some 18,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, making it the largest employer in the field after the PA.

ALL OF WHICH begs the question why many suicide bombers did come out of the Jenin camp - and why terrorists and armed militiamen have been able to turn other West Bank and Gaza camps into refuges of their own, where PA police often fear to tread.

Cotler acknowledges that UNRWA "may not be wrong in ascribing responsibility to the host countries." But it cannot exonerate itself, he says, as an agency of the U.N., which has set forth principles of conduct in its Security Council resolutions. All this, he fumes, is "taking place on UNRWA's watch. They may have no police, but they have a responsibility to report to the U.N. that 'we are unable to implement the mandate to which we are charged, or to fulfill international humanitarian law.' Instead," Cotler asserts, UNRWA is displaying a "willful blindness to what's going on. And that's being charitable, because this appears to be complicity."

UNRWA's Deputy Commissioner General Karen AbuZayd pleads innocent. "We just don't see anything like this," she tells The Report, speaking from UNRWA headquarters in Gaza. "These things are not visible to us." She says her staff files daily reports on events in the camps to the security office in New York - about a bomb that goes off here, or a casualty there - but what the security office does with that information she doesn't know.

What AbuZayd does know is that UNRWA staffers are operating within a very grim reality. Expelling armed men from the camps would be "difficult in this region," she says, with obvious understatement, though they are not allowed in the clinics and schools. When it comes to the posters and shrines to the suicide bombers that TV cameras have shown in the schools, she says, "We have to take the safety of our staff into account too. If we were to ask our staff to do certain things, we realize that would get them into big trouble. And if they didn't do them, would we take action against them?" As things stand, the local staff is not required to report on such activities.

She adds that U.N. resolutions about keeping armed elements out of the camps, haven't been applied elsewhere. "Think of the Somali or Afghan camps. People just look the other way." And here, she says, everything is "upside down. The refugees are the armed elements."

UNRWA did complain to the PA once when its police tried to use a school in Gaza after hours for meetings. "The PA police are not allowed in our facilities," she says.

In Minister Dani Naveh's March 2002 special report for the Israeli government on "Inciting and Educating Children Towards Hate, Anti-Semitism, and Violence in the Palestinian Authority," there is one documented case from July 2001 where Saheil Alhinadi, an UNRWA teachers' representative, praised suicide bombers at a Hamas rally at the Jabalya camp in Gaza. AbuZayd says this case was only recently brought to the agency's attention by AIPAC, and that UNRWA is investigating. According to AbuZayd, the agency still lacks evidence. For now, Alhinadi remains on staff.

But AbuZayd suggests that it is ridiculous to blame UNRWA for all the ills in the camps. Incitement, she argues, comes principally from TV and the mosque sermons that all Palestinians are exposed to.

"We certainly do our best. If we weren't there, things would be much, much worse. The children would not have access to the extracurricular activities we provide. It would be dreadful to think."

Surprisingly, perhaps, Israeli officials agree. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem say that "so long as UNRWA is here, Israel supports its mandate, its work and its goals. It is very important, specifically at this time, to have assistance for the Palestinian refugees whose situation is very difficult."

Still, Israel has complaints about the agency at the operational level, and protests against what it sees as an increasingly anti-Israeli flavor in the statements Peter Hansen has been making to the press. After the Jenin battle, sources say, he was quoted in the Scandinavian press accusing Israel of having carried out a "massacre." Moreover, Israeli diplomats say, in its annual reports to the General Assembly, UNRWA consistently ignores the fact that the camps are breeding grounds for terror and that the PA police do nothing to stop it.

Officials admit there is sometimes a problem providing UNRWA with evidence of claims against the organization's staff because much of it is classified. But they add that when they have offered material, the UNRWA staffers don't always want it.

Israeli diplomats feel that UNRWA, which has a budget problem, is "demonizing" Israel to garner donor sympathy. "We don't want countries not to donate," they say, "but it shouldn't be at our expense."

Israel seems to have little interest in Congress cutting UNRWA funds. "If UNRWA wasn't doing what it does, Israel would be in a worse situation, and the refugees would be worse off too," says an official in Jerusalem. "We agree with a lot of what Lantos wrote," he goes on. "On the one hand, we want to see reform in UNRWA. But we don't want the baby thrown out with the bath water. We have no interest in harming UNRWA's ability to work."

To Israeli anti-UNRWA campaigner David Bedein, that smacks of expediency over morality. Israel, he states cynically, has benefited for years from cheap labor, with workers subsidized by UNRWA willing to work for a third of the normal rate.

A Lantos staffer told The Report from Washington that the questioning of UNRWA is ongoing. "We are interested in holding hearings on the subject. Many questions remain unanswered," he went on. "The purpose of UNRWA in the camps, particularly in the Palestinian territories, is still something we want to look into."

It is still too early to say whether Lantos will seek a reduction in funding to UNRWA, or for funds to be made conditional, "but I wouldn't rule it out," said the staffer. Asked about Israel's desire to see UNRWA's work continue unhindered, the staffer said, "We're aware of that. That's why we aren't jumping to conclusions."

Nevertheless, on the international agenda for the first time is the very question of UNRWA's continued existence. Many critics argue that the Palestinian refugees should come under the aegis of the UNHCR, established in 1951 initially to deal with European refugees of World War II. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem call that "a whole other discussion" - one they don't seem overeager to engage in right now.

Some experts argue that Israel would be better off with the UNHCR, whose mandate is more oriented toward finding permanent solutions for refugees than pure maintenance. UNHCR aspires to offer refugees three options: resettlement in host countries, relocation to a third country or repatriation. UNRWA officials argue that in the Palestinian case, these options have not so far applied with the first two rejected by the refugees, and the third by Israel.

Some experts also argue that under the UNHCR terms of refugee status, the number of Palestinian refugees would significantly drop, since those living within PA areas, or those with Jordanian citizenship would be considered "resettled."

But Karen AbuZayd, who came to UNRWA after years at UNHCR, says nothing would change in the Palestinians' refugee status. On the contrary, she says, the numbers could even rise as the UNHCR doesn't have as strict a definition as UNRWA regarding the 1946-1948 place of residence. All refugees' children are refugees, she adds. Ironically, AbuZayd arrived in Gaza in August 2000 because her bosses thought that her UNHCR-acquired expertise in permanent settlement for refugees would be needed as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process progressed. "Now I'm doing emergency relief," she remarks wryly.

Whether the Palestinians fall under the aegis of UNRWA or the UNHCR, she says, there has to be a political solution to the root cause of the refugee problem before there can be moves to implement resettlement. The refugees in Jordan, she says, "have in a sense opted temporarily for local resettlement," by taking citizenship. And if local resettlement basically means becoming self-sufficient, then the majority of Palestinian refugees would fall in that category, she says. But eventually, once the root problem is solved, those refugees should have the choice, she suggests, whether to remain with local integration, or, say, to go to Canada.

Officials in Jerusalem, for their part, are split on whether it would be best to stick with UNRWA or opt for UNHCR, seeing advantages and disadvantages in both.

In the meantime, UNRWA will work to rebuild the destroyed houses of the Jenin camp. A roomier piece of land adjacent to the camp had been offered, says AbuZayd, but the refugees turned it down.

"Their families didn't want to move out of the camp," she says. For them, at least until further notice, it has become home.

LOAD-DATE: September 24, 2002

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A10

LENGTH: 648 words

HEADLINE: Canada backs trial for Saddam

BYLINE: Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star

HIGHLIGHT:
'Would welcome' U.N. prosecution Charges might speed ouster, MP says

BODY:
Canada will support calls for a special United Nations international criminal tribunal against Saddam Hussein to indict the Iraqi leader for war crimes, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said yesterday.

"We want to be active and make sure that we act within the traditions of this House and of Canada in ensuring that international criminal conduct is punished by international criminal courts," Graham said.

"I assure all members of the House that we will be acting in that respect."

The idea of a U.N.-sanctioned prosecution of Saddam is still in the planning stages, with most of the U.N.'s focus right now on the emerging humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

But it is receiving strong backing from the government even as the Liberals try to distance themselves from the American aim of forcibly ousting the Iraqi president.

"We would welcome the efforts to prosecute Saddam Hussein and other main regime members who would responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes," said Isabelle Savard, an aide to Graham.

"At this time, we're supportive of the efforts, but there is no procedural decision on exactly how that would be done."

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal), an international lawyer, suggested a war crimes indictment against Saddam could be a way to hasten a "regime change" in Iraq, not by force, but through moral suasion of its population.

Another Liberal cabinet minister, Stephen Owen, said it might also be "an issue around which the Security Council could demonstrate unity."

Graham told the Commons the Liberal government had agreed to an all-party motion brought by the Canadian Alliance that calls on Canada to pursue the Iraqi leader for war crimes - though, in fact, the wording of such a motion was still under review.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Jean Chretien said yesterday Canada believes "crimes against humanity must not go unpunished."

"Canada has been a leader in the past in establishing accountability mechanisms such as the Rwanda and Yugoslavia (war crimes) tribunals, the Sierra Leone special court, and the International Criminal Court that is now chaired by a Canadian lawyer," said Stephen Hogue, deputy PMO communications director. "And we will take an active role again this time."

Cotler said Canada should go further than simply endorsing the idea of prosecuting Saddam, and should draft or sponsor the resolution for the U.N. Security Council to consider.

"I think it's important that we take certain steps to make it clear we're not neutral or indifferent in terms of understanding who Saddam Hussein and his regime is - they are the personification of evil.

"He's committed more Nuremberg-type war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide than any other leader."

It would also show the United States that Canada supports an American victory in the war, Cotler said.

He said the establishment of an international criminal tribunal could undermine Saddam in the eyes of his fellow citizens, and bring about "regime change not by the use of force, but by ... morally symbolic and substantive initiative," as it did in the case of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Owen, also an international lawyer, noted a special U.N. criminal tribunal against Saddam could be empowered to retroactively prosecute alleged war crimes, while the International Criminal Court is not. Furthermore, the international court will not be up and running until July.

In another development, Prime Minister Jean Chretien confirmed a report in yesterday's Star that the Canadian government would provide an extra $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Iraq.

The money is intended to provide access to clean water, proper sanitation, food, shelter and primary health care, and comes on top of $5.6 million already committed to emergency humanitarian measures for Iraq.War crimes

LOAD-DATE: March 27, 2003

SECTION: F 25'02

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5316184

LENGTH: 398 words

HEADLINE: Canadian Falun Gong practitioner returns to Montreal after imprisonment

BODY:
MONTREAL (CP) Shenli Lin was met Monday with a huge hug and an enormous smile from the wife he hadn't seen for two years while he was detained in China for practising Falun Gong.

Lin, a Canadian accountant of Chinese origin, looked overjoyed as he was embraced by his wife Jinyu Li following his lengthy flight from China.

During his two years in a labour camp near Shanghai, Lin was denied a trial, visitors and letters from his wife. He was also threatened with life imprisonment before finally being released.

''I'm so happy to be able to be here, to finally obtain freedom,'' Lin said through interpreter Lucy Zhou.

''However, I'm just one of tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who have been jailed and tortured and they need help and support. We need to end this brutal persecution.''

Li, a Canadian citizen, last saw her husband for five minutes on Dec. 26, 1999 when he was allowed to stop at home on his way from the Shanghai police station to prison.

Several dozen Falun Gong supporters were on hand Monday for Lin's arrival. His release was due in part to efforts by the federal government, including Montreal MP Irwin Cotler, and Amnesty International.

The Beijing government says Falun Gong is a cult and blames it for more than 1,600 deaths, mostly followers it claims were driven insane or to murder, or encouraged to use meditation instead of medicine to treat illness.

Falun Gong accuses Chinese authorities of torturing and mistreating detainees. It says 370 have been killed and 20,000 detained in labour camps.

Cotler said Lin's case is a dramatic example of how China is shirking its obligations to human-rights conventions it has signed.

''While we're delighted with his release and reunification we should appreciate that he should never have been arrested and detained in the first place,'' Cotler said.

Cotler said there has been a dramatic increase in the persecution of practitioners of Falun Gong.

He said China uses propaganda to demonize practitioners in the eyes of their fellow citizens.

Li staged an Ottawa vigil, handed out petitions and sent letters to Prime Minister Jean Chretien in an effort to have her husband freed.

Supporters on hand at the airport reunion Monday called for greater international pressure on China to release the other detainees.

(CP-Montreal Gazette)

JOURNAL-CODE: 1418

LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2002

SECTION: (684) Ap 28'03; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5604456

LENGTH: 100 words

HEADLINE: MPs' and Senators' Birthdays (Record in progress)

*Liberal MP Charles Caccia, 73, April 28, 1930

*Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper, 44, April 30, 1959

*Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, 48, May 2, 1955

*Ind. Liberal MP Jean-Guy Carignan, 62, May 3, 1941

*Liberal MP Gar Knutson, 47, May 4, 1956

*International Cooperation Minister Susan Whelan, 40, May 5, 1963

*Alliance MP Diane Ablonczy, 54, May 6, 1949

*Liberal Sen. Maria Chaput, 61, May 7, 1942

*Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, 63, May 8, 1940

*Alliance MP Gary Lunn, 46, May 8, 1957

*Liberal Sen. George Furey, 55, May 12, 1948

*Liberal Sen. Bill Rompkey, 67, May 13, 1936

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: v.33(1) Ja 2'03 pg 1,20; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5535084

LENGTH: 701 words

HEADLINE: Cotler defends Egyptian activist: Saad Ibrahim facing 'trumped-up charges'

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
On Tuesday, Jan. 7, human rights advocates around the world will turn their attention to Cairo where Egypt's Cour de Cassation, an appellate court that also sits as a court of first instance, will hear evidence in a case that has become an international cause celebre.

Pro-democracy advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim will be in the dock, facing a host of ''trumped-up charges'' his Canadian lawyer says are a clumsy attempt by the Egyptian government to silence a fragile pro-democracy movement.

Mount Royal Liberal MP and human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler visited Ibrahim in Cairo recently and came away impressed with the Egyptian sociologist's ''moral courage'' and perseverance, even though he is in poor health and has spent much of the last 18 months years in jail.

The Jan. 7 trial will be Ibrahim's third since he was arrested in September 2000, but the first in a court in which he can expect a fair hearing based solely on the evidence, Cotler said. Earlier trials were held in the State Security Court, and on one occasion, he was convicted after the court deliberated for only 20 minutes and was sentenced to seven years hard labour. It was a decision of the Cour de Cassation that overturned his earlier convictions and ordered a new trial. He was released in early December pending the new trial.

Ibrahim, 64, is director and chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Development Studies, a Cairo-based research institute he founded in 1988. He is internationally recognized for the study of applied social sciences in Egypt and is a senior advisor to numerous international non-governmental organizations.

In June 2000, Ibrahim and 27 colleagues were arrested for training fellow Egyptians in voter registration and election monitoring. They were held 45 days without charge and the case was referred to the State Security Court after Ibrahim announced he intended to proceed with election monitoring despite his arrest.

Ibrahim was charged on a four-count indictment: conspiring to bribe public officials, receiving grant funds from the European Commission (EC) without permission, disseminating false information and malicious rumours to foreign organizations, and attempting to defraud the EC.

Cotler, who prepared much of the defence's legal briefs, said the case against Ibrahim was a sham from the start and was marked by ''one absurdity after another.''

Not only were international procedural norms of justice ignored, but the charges are without merit, Cotler said. ''There is absolutely not a shred of evidence of any of these charges,'' he said, adding that the law used against Ibrahim is also unconstitutional.

Cotler, who has defended former political prisoners such as Natan Sharansky, Andrei Sakharov and Nelson Mandela, believes Ibrahim has been persecuted for doing nothing more than advocating democracy. ''It's case of the old totalitarian mindset: give us the person and we'll find the crime.

''Ibrahim is a leader of the democracy movement and human rights in the Arab world,'' Cotler said, adding that his influence led the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, an organization Ibrahim founded, to publicly denounce Horseman Without A Horse, a recently aired Egyptian television series based on the Protocols of The Elders of Zion.

''I think that's an example of his courage,'' Cotler stated.

Ibrahim, who has visited Israel, has many supporters in the Jewish state and several Arab NGOs have rallied to his support, as have Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The government of Canada has also taken an interest in the case and the Canadian ambassador to Egypt visited Ibrahim three times in prison. Earlier, 61 members of the U.S. Congress wrote to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak protesting Ibrahim's conviction.

Cotler said the case may well ''strike a blow for the rule of law and the democratic movement... It will mean more democratic space for the budding and incipient human rights movement in Egypt.''

That could also prove important for the rest of the Arab world and even for the Arab-Israeli peace process, he added.

Mideast human rights case a cause celebre

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3

LENGTH: 871 words

HEADLINE: 55 countries address the spread of a 'new anti-Semitism'

BYLINE: Richard Bernstein

SOURCE: The New York Times

DATELINE: VIENNA:

BODY:
In 1938, after Germany annexed Austria, Adolph Hitler spoke to cheering multitudes on a balcony at the Royal Hofburg Palace in this city, a historical fact that was much noted by participants in the first-ever, large-scale international conference devoted exclusively to the subject of anti-Semitism.

The two-day meeting, which ended Friday at the palace where Hitler spoke, brought together the 55 member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, including a delegation, led by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, of members of Congress and Jewish leaders from the United States.

The overall theme of the meeting was that a new anti-Semitism is spreading in many regions of the world, spawned by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but drawing on many of the old anti-Jewish stereotypes that were supposed to have faded into insignificance years ago.

"We are witnessing an old-new, escalating, global and even lethal anti-Semitism," Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of Parliament, said in a speech to delegates Friday. Its chief characteristic, Cotler and other delegates argued, is the singling out of Israel for an opprobrium and condemnation that applies to no other country in the world and that transforms the very notion of a Jewish homeland into a criminal offense.

"It is anti-Semitism under the banner of human rights at a time when human rights is the new secular religion," Cotler said. "Israel is characterized as the human rights violator of our time, so that it emerges as a new kind of anti-Christ."

For many participants, the fact that the meeting took place at all was itself of historical significance, because it puts the concern for rising incidents of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions in several European countries onto the international agenda.

In this sense, one of the most important events of the meeting came when the German ambassador to the organization, Dieter Boden, invited the delegates to hold another meeting on anti-Semitism in Berlin next year.

The conference comes after several years during which European countries in particular have experienced new waves of anti-Jewish attacks, many of them carried out against synagogues and cemeteries in France by young immigrants from North Africa.

The French government, in a move that was widely praised at the conference, passed new legislation giving greater powers to the police to crack down on hate crimes.

The conference was initially suggested by members of the Parliamentary Commission, a group of legislators from several countries, which submitted the proposal to the U.S. State Department. From that point, according to members of the American delegation, Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed the idea against considerable resistance from other OSCE member states, who argued that anti-Semitism should be taken up in more general meetings devoted to racism and discrimination, rather than made a separate, stand-alone subject.

"Plenty of people came in here kicking and screaming and with the idea that, 'O.K., we've done it,' rather than with the idea of really drawing some lessons," Andrew Baker, a member of the American delegation who is the director of international affairs for the American Jewish Committee in Washington, said as the meeting drew to a close Friday.

The conference consisted largely of statements by delegates and members of the many nongovernnmental organizations that were also present. There was almost no give and take, no debate and not even any authoritative presentation of the actual situation of Jews around the world, though individual delegations and organizations provided reports on incidents of anti-Semitism in specific countries, from Belgium to Romania.

There was thus no challenge to some specific ideas that, in another context, would probably have produced some dissenting views, including the idea that the anger around the world provoked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict really is a new form of anti-Semitism. Indeed, that question has been heatedly debated in both Europe and the United States in recent months, with some, including some Jews, rejecting the notion that even very angry and virulent criticisms of Israel amount to anti-Semitism.

Another idea advanced by some delegates that would certainly provoke disagreement if it ever became actual policy by OSCE governments was that ways need to be found to control publications and Web sites that promote anti-Semitism.

Jacques Picard, a professor at the University of Basel, told the conferees that the ideas being expressed on Internet hate sites are imitations of old anti-Semitic notions but that "the Internet disseminates these ideas with the protection of anonymity." He continued, "Anonymity should be lifted."

If there was a single recommendation that seemed to gain widespread acceptance, it was that effective hate-crime legislation should be enacted in countries that do not have it yet, and that there should be a renewed commitment to enforcing that legislation.

"For too long we allowed a current of anti-Semitism to simmer in our societies," Gert Weisskirchen, a German member of Parliament, said. "Now is the time to act."

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 2003

LENGTH: 485 words

HEADLINE: Criticism from human rights groups on Middle East conflict

ANCHORS: PETER MANSBRIDGE

BODY:
PETER MANSBRIDGE: The longer the Israeli offensive lasts, the louder the criticism seems to get from human rights groups. Today they again demanded Israel allow international observers into check on the situation. Jennifer Ditchburn has that story.

CROWD: Human rights for Palestine

JENNIFER DITCHBURN (Reporter): These protesters are echoing a call that's gathering momentum in the international community.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We have very specific demands for the Canadian government and these are sending a delegation now to monitor the violations of human rights.

DITCHBURN: European nations, including France and Poland, and organizations like Amnesty International, want observers sent into monitor the violence. The United Nations seems poised to send in a mission.

MARY ROBINSON (US High Commissioner for Human Rights): Would it not be right for this commission to dispatch immediately a visiting mission that would travel to the area and return expeditiously to the commission with their findings and recommendations?

JOHN TACKABERRY (Amnesty International Canada): The concern of Amnesty International is that the space they're given be balanced.

DITCHBURN: Amnesty International wants observers, but says Israel and the Palestinian authority have to be open to the idea.

TACKABERRY: If it's going to work, it has to be based upon recognition of the desirability of this and the necessity of this and the rec..., that you can't run, as I indicated earlier, you can't run roughshod over human rights if you're going to going to build a strong peace.

DITCHBURN: But critics say that observers would have no affect on suicide bombers, and would be put in harm's way.

IRWIN COTLER (Quebec Liberal MP): There's no way that a group of observers are going to be able to do anything about suicide bombers. It's impossible, you know, to patrol that kind of frontier.

DITCHBURN: He also believes the Human Rights Commission has been biased against Israel in the past.

COTLER: In the longer run, we have to do something about this systemic institutional bias because what's at stake here, as I say, is the integrity of human rights and the integrity of the United Nations.

DITCHBURN: This human rights advocate says the situation has gone beyond the need for observers. Now peacekeepers are needed.

WARREN ALLMAND (President, Rights and Democracy): I'm not insisting on a UN, it should be an international, call it what you like, a peacekeeping force, some kind of force, international force that has the authority and the mandate to protect Palestinian and Israeli citizens from all kinds of attacks, military and terrorist.

DITCHBURN: The UN Human Rights Commissioner is scheduled to discuss the issue of a monitoring mission tomorrow. A government spokesperson said Canada would be at the table to evaluate the merits of the plan. Jennifer Ditchburn, CBC News, Ottawa.

LOAD-DATE: April 4, 2002

SECTION: METRO; Sylvester Brown Jr. Column; Pg. C2

LENGTH: 620 words

HEADLINE: AT WHAT POINT DOES CRITICISM OF ISRAEL BECOME ANTI-SEMITISM?

BYLINE: Sylvester Brown Jr.

BODY:
Gene Carton has been my most persistent reader.

I've received e-mails from him after each column. Some are complimentary, others aren't. But none of my columns really touched the issue of utmost importance, he said, "the rise of anti-Semitism globally."

Carton wanted to discuss the matter. I kept putting him off. I hadn't noticed that anti-Semitic behavior was on the rise. Not locally at least. But who was I to discount his fears? After repeated invitations, we finally met a few weeks ago.

We had coffee in University City. For a guy in his mid-60s, Carton is in pretty good shape. He reminds me of actor Ted Danson, jacked up on caffeine. He speaks with a hushed urgency.

He told me Jews are stereotyped. "People perceive us as wealthy and owning all the media. With high numbers of unemployment, when times are hard, when people's houses are foreclosed, people blame Jews."

Carton added that blacks speak disparagingly of Jews. Michael Jackson used the term "Jew me" in one of his songs. Jesse Jackson referred to a Jewish neighborhood as "Hymie Town." Minister Louis Farrakhan called Judaism a "gutter religion."

"That's true, but it's old news, Gene," I said. How do those incidents indicate a rise in anti-Semitism?

The current situation in the Middle East will ultimately lead to worldwide anti-Semitism, Carton answered. Being anti-Israel is the same as being anti-Semitic. Anybody who's sympathetic to Palestinians should be considered anti-Israel. Carton said countries or groups supporting terrori sm in Israel hate Jews.

I left Gene thinking he was overreacting. I'm no expert on the conflict between Palestinians and Jews. But I do know the situation revolves around complex issue of land, historical grudges and religion.

But Carton's comments intrigued me. Do matters in Israel really affect how Jews are perceived worldwide?

Irwin Cotler, a renowned professor of law at McGill University in Canada, thinks so.

Speaking before hundreds at Washington University last month, Cotler said that violence in the Middle East has sparked a rise in anti-Semitism. Jews are now being blamed for "all evils of the world" - including the 9-11 attack in this country, he said. Cotler warned against "genocidal anti-Semitism" which he defined as the growing cry for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews.

Last week's speech by the prime minister of Malaysia fueled those fears.

Malaysia's leader Mahathir Mohamad told a summit of Islamic countries that Jews "rule the world by proxy." He defended his comments by saying he had made a clear distinction between condemning Jewish people and the state of Israel.

So there's the question again. Does criticizing the policies of Israel make one anti-Semitic? Should Jews be blamed for the actions of the state?

Like I said these are complex issues. I called my friend Barry Leibman. He's one of the owners of Left Bank Books. Leibman's Jewish, and he's knowledgeable about world affairs.

"I'm critical of the policies in Israel. That doesn't make me anti-Semitic," he answered. "People are critical of the policies of the U.S. but that doesn't make them anti-American."

OK, I can buy that. But why is it becoming popular to associate all Jews with the Middle East conflict?

"It's just easy to do. It's easier to simplify everything. That's the danger," Leibman answered. "It takes courage to be more complex, to actually view things more than just the easiest way."

Even after investigating the matter a bit, it's difficult for me to discern when a criticism of Israel rises to the level of broad, sweeping anti-Semitism. I guess I'll have to stay up on the subject. My persistent reader, Gene Carton, would expect nothing less.

NOTES:
METRO PAGE 2; E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: 314-340-8374

LOAD-DATE: October 26, 2003

SECTION: v.32(48) D 5'02; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5518886

LENGTH: 745 words

HEADLINE: Symposium seeks recognition of Jewish refugees from Arab lands (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Lazarus, David

BODY:
At a recent symposium on the Forgotten Exodus of Jews from Arab lands, experts called for compensation for the 900,000 Jews displaced when Israel was created and the exposure of the myth that Palestinians are the only Mideast refugees.

''This is one of the most important initiatives we have ever done. We hope it will raise the consciousness of our own community and Canadians about the tragedy of those Jews who were expelled from their countries.'' Keith Landy, president of Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), told The CJN

Following the symposium, CJC indicated it would co-operate with the efforts of a newly formed coalition, called Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), based in New Jersey.

JJAC is working to document the losses suffered by Jews who were expelled from Arab countries in the 20th century, win redress for them and put the issue ''on the international political and judicial agenda.''

The group, whose supporters include the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the American Sephardi Federation and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, also wants to raise public awareness on the issue.

Modelled after a symposium held in Paris about a year ago, the Montreal gathering drew an overflow crowd of 450 to the Gelber Conference Centre.

Some were refugees from Arab lands eager to hear of concrete progress being made on their behalf. Others, such as Iraqi-born Steve Acre, gave poignant accounts of the persecution and harassment Jews suffered in their native lands before finally finding safe haven in Canada. Iraq's once-thriving Jewish population of 135,000 is now largely gone.

About 600,000 of the 900,000 refugees, expelled or forced to leave their countries as Israel fought for independence and afterwards, ended up in the Jewish state.

And the centuries-old Jewish communities in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, were reduced to a shell of their former selves or were extinguished.

''My family lost all of its property,'' Acre said in an interview. ''This issue had to be brought to the forefront. Compensation should not be just for the Palestinians, but for us too.''

Recurrent themes emerged as the issue was addressed by some notable international experts.

Lawyer William Goldnadel of France, who is seeking legal avenues of redress, was joined by others, including MP and human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler, in puncturing the myth that Jews were ''protected'' in their native lands.

Goldnadel anticipated that a class-action lawsuit would be launched by a committee of former refugees, which could ultimately result in compensation for the hundreds of thousands whose properties and assets were confiscated when they were force to leave the countries they had called home for generations.

''The time for justice is at hand,'' he said.

Other experts, including French lawyer Arno Klarsfeld, stressed that the principle of ''reciprocity'' must apply for Jewish and Palestinian refugees and that the Jewish refugee issue must be a part of peace negotiations.

Cotler, who has agreed to serve as an honorary chair of JJAC, delineated several principles that should apply, among them the right to reparations and restitution, and the obligation to memory and truth.

Cotler said United Nations Resolution 242 referred to a ''just solution to the refugee problem,'' meaning all refugees created as a result of the birth of the State of Israel - Arabs and Jews.

Klarsfeld, son of the Nazi-hunting couple Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, said unlike Jewish refugees from Arab lands, only a ''tiny portion'' of Palestinian refugees were forced to leave the new Jewish state.

And while the Jewish state has acknowledged Palestinian suffering, no Palestinian has ever recognized the plight of Jews forced from their lands, he said.

Avi Beker, secretary general of the WJC, and others noted that the United Nations Relief Work Agency, which provides humanitarian aid at Palestinian refugee camps, has stood by as the camps became fertile breeding grounds for terrorism and helped to perpetuate the ''tragedy'' of the Palestinians.

The symposium appeared to give the Jewish refugee cause hope, although Jean Claude Niddam, an official of Israel's Justice Ministry, said that over the years, other groups, such as the WJC and WOJAC (the World Organization for Jews from Arab Lands) have had limited success in similar efforts.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: January 13, 2003

SECTION: v.32(5) Ja 31'02 pg 1,17; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5300994

LENGTH: 963 words

HEADLINE: New group formed to fight anti-Semitism

BYLINE: Arnold, Janice

BODY:
MONTREAL -- Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler is leading an effort to attract prominent non-Jews to a new international body that will ''sound the alarm'' over what he describes as ''an exploding new anti-Jewishness'' in the world.

The International Commission to Combat Anti-Semitism held its founding meeting in early January in Jerusalem with Cotler, a longtime human rights lawyer, and Per Ahlmark, a former deputy prime minister of Sweden, agreeing to serve as its interim co-chairs. Ahlmark is also European co-chair of UN Watch, a group promoting the fair application of the UN Charter.

At a press conference announcing the commission's formation, Cotler said the new anti-Semitism hides behind denunciations of Israel and Zionism and is best defined as ''the discrimination against, or denial of, the national particularity and peoplehood'' of Jews.

''In other words, the singling out of Israel and the Jewish people for differential and discriminatory treatment in the international arena.''

Cotler told the commission's founding meeting that this latest form of ''the world's longest enduring hatred'' is not confined to Israel's enemies, but is increasingly finding legitimacy in international forums, including the United Nations.

''This globalized anti-Semitism cannot be fought by Jews alone but can only be fought by an international coalition involving the intergovernmental community, such as the UN, governments and political leaders everywhere, nongovernmental organizations, public intellectuals, academics, and civil society,'' Cotler said.

The Israeli government has endorsed the project. Michael Melchior, Israel's deputy foreign minister, told reporters the new anti-Semitism needs new strategies to expose and condemn it.

He said that while many Jewish organizations monitor this threat, one composed mainly of respected non-Jews of global stature would have more impact.

Plans are for the commission to be based in Switzerland, with offices in Jerusalem and New York. Details on funding and membership are yet to be finalized, Cotler said in an interview. The commission's board of directors is now being formed and will be announced at a later date.

Cotler told the founding meeting that classical anti-Semitism, which has been waning for years, denied individuals Jews the right to live as equal members of a free society.

By contrast, the new anti-Semitism denies the Jewish people the right to live as ''an equal member of the family of nations,'' he said.

''In a word, Israel is the only state in the world today - and the Jews the only people in the world today - that are the object of a standing set of threats from governmental, religious and terrorist bodies seeking their destruction,'' Cotler said.

The two strains have a fundamental characteristic in common, he continued.

Both are ''an assault upon whatever is the core of Jewish self-definition - be it the Jewish religion at the time of classical anti-Semitism, or the State of Israel as the 'civil religion' of the Jewish people under this new anti-Jewishness.''

The ''demonization'' of Israel today is the contemporary echo of the medieval indictment of the Jew as ''the poisoner of the wells,'' Cotler charged.

''In a world in which human rights has emerged as the new secular religion of our time, the portrayal of Israel as the metaphor for a human rights violator exposes Israel as the 'new anti-Christ' - with all the teaching of contempt for this 'collective Jew among the nations' that this new anti-Semitism implies.''

Although the new anti-Jesishness has been percolating for 30 years, Cotler said a number of glaring examples in the last year have made the need for action urgent. These include:

- The World Conference Against Racism in Durban, where Israel was ''the only state singled out for indictment.''

- The singling out of Israel by the UN Commission on Human Rights as the only country to receive condemnation.

- Israel becoming the first country in 52 years to be specifically indicated by the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention.

- The exclusion of Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency aid agency, from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

''If anti-Semitism is no longer respectable and anti-Zionism in the form of the 'Zionismis-racism' resolution has been exposed as a cover for anti-Semitism, what better mask than human rights - and the UN as repository of human rights - to carry out this process of distortion and defamation,'' Cotler said.

Cotler emphasized he is not suggesting that Israel should not be held accountable for violation of international law or human rights. ''The Jewish people are not entitled to any privileged protection or preference because of the particularity of Jewish suffering.''

The problem is that Israel has been ''systematically denied'' equality before the law in the international arena. What's more, he observed in an interview, anti-Jewishness at the highest levels is spawning a resurgence of old-style anti-Semitism in the form of physical assaults against Jews in the Diaspora.

''This pervasive and persistent anti-Jewishness constitutes a standing assault on democracies and human rights everywhere,'' he told The CJN.

This new type of anti-Semitism will have ramifications beyond the Jewish community, he said.

''Genocidal calls for Israel's destruction and racist terrorism singling out Jews everywhere are a clear threat to international peace and security.''

The Middle East peace process is also jeopardized because the new anti-Semitism incites terrorism and ''undermines the trust of even the most dovish Israelis.''

Irwin Cotler a leader in the effort

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2002

SECTION: v.33(38) S 25'03 pg B66; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5859082

LENGTH: 948 words

HEADLINE: How to resolve Jewish Arab refugee claims stirs debate (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Morgan, Anna

BODY:
The question of how to proceed with the claims of Jews from Arab countries has lingered, unresolved, for many years, with an ongoing debate on how to solve the problem.

Raffaello Fellah, co-chair of the World Association of Jews from Arab Countries (WOJAC), believes the claims of Jews from Arab countries must be linked to those made by Palestinian refugees and that both issues must be dealt with in the context of the Middle East peace process.

Founded in 1975, WOJAC was created intially to relieve the distress of Jews forced to leave Arab countries after the creation of the State of Israel, abandoning all they owned. It later began raising awareness of the issue through various educational projects and lobby efforts.

''Jewish organizations need to act jointly and launch a claim similar to the one brought against Germany by Holocaust victims,'' Fellah said in a phone interview from Rome.

''There are differences between the two cases,'' Fellah acknowledged. Germany wanted to repair the damages, Arab countries do not.

However, a lot can be gained by simply forcing both sides of the dispute - Jewish refugees and representatives of Arab governments - to meet at the negotiating table, he said.

WOJAC places the number of Arabs that left Palestinian territory at 590,000 and the Jews that left Arab countries at around one million. The number of Jews from Arab countries and the number of Palestinians each total approximately four million.

As for assets, Fellah said that a 1978 conference in Washington, D.C., estimated the value of property left behind by Jewish refugees at billions of dollars.

The WOJAC Web site says the immediate cause of the en masse exodus of the Jews from Arab states ''was the considerable deterioration of their situation,... a process which occurred mainly between 1948 and the 1960s, as a result of a wave of Arab nationalism and the establishment of sovereign Arab states in the 20th century.''

The Web site goes on to say that any Middle East peace accord must deal with all victims - Palestinian and Jewish - fairly and equitably within the framework of negotiations.

The new democratization of Iraq could mark a turning point, Fellah said.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Attention should also be paid to a boycott law, created in 1957 in Damascus by the Arab League, that allowed governments to confiscate all properties abandoned by Jews in Arab countries, Fellah said.

Issues need to be addressed first through diplomatic and political means, and then, if necessary, in front of the courts, he said.

''The most important thing is not to make individual cases,'' Fellah said. ''We must be united on this subject. No organization should be the prima donna.''

Mount Royal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, an international human rights lawyer and activist, says Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, an organization formed this past June, has spent the past few months collecting testimonies and preparing a composite legal study to facilitate those who wish to pursue lawsuits.

In a phone interview, Cotler said that ''refugees have become the looking glass by which contemporary conflicts are understood.

''For this reason, it's important to return the question of Jewish refugees to the narrative. Otherwise, it's Middle East revisionism,'' Cotler said.

''Jews from Arab countries were the victims of patterns of harrassment and discrimination: assets were seized and legislation was passed declaring the Jewish nation an enemy of the people,'' Cotler said.

''The forgotten exodus of these Jews deserves to be recorded and presented,'' he added.

This doesn't take away from the importance of Palestinian refugees, Cotler said. But the United Nations General Assembly has passed 101 resolutions on refugees from different countries, many of them dealing with Palestinians, and ''not a single one deals with Jewish refugees,'' he said.

''If the United Nations wants to be a fair-minded arbiter, it should consider both... it needs to acknowledge that there is a joint victimization.''

However, Yehouda Shenhav, a professor at Tel Aviv University and editor of Theory Criticism, an Israeli journal of critical theory and cultural studies, says it is unfair to both the Palestinians and Mizrahi Jews - Middle Eastern Jews - to compare the two groups.

In a recent article in Ha'aretz, Shenhav wrote that ''the history of the Mizrahi aliyah [immigration to Israel] is complex, and cannot be subsumed within a facile explanation. Many of the newcomers lost considerable property, and there can be no question that they should be allowed to submit individual property claims against Arab states (up to the present day, the State of Israel and WOJAC have blocked the submission of [individual] claims on this basis).''

In addition, Shenhav wrote, WOJAC, ''which intended to promote Zionist claims and assist Israel in its conflict with Palestinian nationalism, accomplished the opposite: it presented a confused Zionist position regarding the dispute with the Palestinians, and infuriated many Mizrahi Jews around the world by casting them as victims bereft of positive motivation to immigrate to Israel.''

Shenhav quoted former Israeli government ministers Yisrael Yeshayahu, who was born in Yemen (he died in 1979), and Shlomo Hillel, who is from Iraq, as saying they weren't refugees. They came with messianic and Zionist aspirations.

But Cotler said the two terms, refugees and Zionists, shouldn't be considered mutually exclusive. Jews from Arab countries may have been Zionists, but their immigration to Israel increased because of discrimination.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

LENGTH: 793 words

HEADLINE: Chretien and Martin Nix Referendum on Same-Sex Marriage

ANCHOR: Kate Wheeler

GUEST: Mike Duffy, CTV News

BODY:
WHEELER: Well, as the issue of same-sex marriage continues to divide the Liberal caucus the idea of a referendum was shot down by Jean Chretien and buried by his heir apparent. Both Chretien and Paul Martin closed the door on the notion of a national vote. Joining us now from North Bay, Ontario where the Liberal caucus is wrapping up today is CTV's Mike Duffy.

Good morning, Mike. Tell us how much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth went on there.

DUFFY: I'll tell you, it was a pretty rough day yesterday. And the debate is going to continue today. Kate, over the years I have covered everything from the debate in Parliament over abortion, over the restoration of capital punishment, I haven't ever seen anything with the same emotional intensity of what we are seeing in the last day and a half here as Liberal MPs are talking not only about principle but also about politics and their own electoral survival.

WHEELER: How many of them are seriously worried about the possibility of losing their seat?

DUFFY: Well, I would say that you've got 25 or 30 MPs who think that this, and decriminalization of marijuana, will be enough to put their positions in jeopardy. And so, faced with losing your job, it's a pretty compelling argument. At the same time, those who oppose it say we are also defending families. So, they say it's not just about their own political survival, but it is also, they say, about protecting families that need protection.

WHEELER: So, the door has been effectively shut. Where will these politicians that disagree go from here?

DUFFY: Well, it's interesting. The Supreme Court in the Trudeau reference in 1982 on the Constitution was asked a question by the Canadian government about patriation of the Constitution. And they came back and they split the question they were asked into two, and provided a road map for Pierre Trudeau on the constitutional issue.

Professor Irwin Cotler, who is a Liberal MP from Montreal and an expert in constitutional law, he is suggesting that the Supreme Court of Canada could take this reference that they have been given and plot a way so that both sides win. In effect, what he would suggest is that instead of having church marriages as we see now, everyone in Canada would be into a civil union, a kind of registered marriage agreement. And then after you did that -- and everyone would do it, gays, heterosexuals, whatever -- after you do that then you go to the church of your choice -- if you want to go to church -- to have your union blessed.

So, this would be a way to keep the word "marriage" out of contention. A lot of people, particularly Roman Catholics and other Christians, feel that marriage is a sacrament. And they feel that it has been handed down, you know, for over a thousand years, that it should be carried out in this way.

So, Irwin Cotler's suggestion of a middle road here may in fact provide a way out. But in the meantime this debate will go for at least another year, Kate, because there are legal hurdles to be overcome. And nothing happens quickly when it comes to the Supreme Court.

WHEELER: Now, speaking about going for at least another year, the Prime Minister was somewhat toying with reporters yesterday, I feel.

DUFFY: I can't believe some of my colleagues who swallow the worm. He said he is going to stay until the 29th of February in a leap year. So, somebody ran out to the wire right away and said he's now ruled out an early departure. He is having great fun with this. And members of his personal staff yesterday were chortling as they watched the media all running in circles.

The fact is, he will be gone at about the end of the year, I am told. Maybe just a little bit into January. He wants to spend Christmas with his grandchildren one last time at 24 Sussex Drive. And then he will make way for Paul Martin.

Martin yesterday was interesting. He said there won't be a winter election because he wants to have redistribution in seats in western Canada. Western Canada and Ontario are going to get additional seats in Parliament. And so, therefore, what it looks like, we will have a Martin government come in early in January, and then three or four months later after the first of April he would call an election for sometime around the end of May, early June, and bring on his new team then. So, instead of getting the big bang in terms of an entire new Martin team we'll get it in two stages. Not as spectacular as Paul Martin wanted, but that's the way it works.

WHEELER: All right. Mike Duffy, as always, thank you very much.

DUFFY: Great to talk to you. Bye-bye.

WHEELER: Okay, bye.

LOAD-DATE: August 21, 2003

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 592 words

HEADLINE: Questions for Arafat

BYLINE: Irwin Cotler

HIGHLIGHT:
The writer is a Canadian Member of Parliament on leave from McGill University, where he is a professor of human rights law. He has written extensively on international terrorism.

BODY:
The Aksa Martyrs Brigade, a branch of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, took "credit" for the horrific terrorist bombing on Shabbat Eve the week before last - one of an increasing number of attacks for which this group has claimed responsibility.

The involvement of a terrorist group affiliated with Arafat's Fatah has intensified, and polarized, discussion as to how Arafat should be regarded. Is he a partner for peace - as the US administration, the European Union, Canada, and others continued to maintain last week, even after his rebuff of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's request for a cease-fire? Or is he a participant in terror - indeed, the head of a "coalition of terror," as the Israeli government and former prime ministers Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak all claim.

Warning Arafat that it's his "last chance" to stop terror has long been a routine among Western foreign ministries. But these words usually lack teeth, because they are not accompanied by specific, verifiable indicators of progress on his part. Now that CIA Director George Tenet, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, and special envoy Anthony Zinni are slated to come to the region to follow up on Powell's mission, they should approach the Palestinian leadership with the following questions:

1. Will Arafat order an immediate halt to the Palestinian Authority's officially sanctioned incitement to hatred and violence that is manifest in the Palestinian media, mosques, schools, and summer camps? The Arab scholar, Fouad Ajami, has argued that this culture of contempt, this demonizing of the "other" is precisely what incites suicide-bombers. As the Supreme Court of Canada noted in upholding the constitutionality of anti-hate legislation in Canada, "the Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers, it began with words."

2. Will Arafat dismantle and disable the terrorist infrastructure, including the Aksa Martyrs Brigade, which enjoys sanctuary within the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority itself?

3. Will Arafat prohibit by law the operations of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - groups that publicly call for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews everywhere and that commit terrorist acts to that end?

4. Will Arafat investigate, arrest, and bring to justice all those who participate in the perpetration of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians?

5. Will Arafat cease and desist from the smuggling of weapons into the Palestinian Authority, as evidenced by the seizure of the Karine A ship and its storehouse of illegal arms?

6. Will Arafat refrain from personally aiding and abetting acts of terror through the incitement, financing, and facilitating of terrorism as the available documentary evidence suggests is the case?

7. Will Arafat publicly and continually call for, in Arabic, the cessation of all acts of terror? In particular, will he publicly and unequivocally proclaim that all acts of terror from whatever quarter, for whatever purpose, are unjustified and prohibited under international law and Palestinian law?

Powell should address these specific queries to Arafat whether or not he chooses to meet with him.

Arafat's public response to these specific and verifiable indicators will allow the international community to finally determine whether he sees himself as a partner for peace or a participant in terror.

By his own words and deeds shall we know him.

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2002

SECTION: EDITORIAL/OPINION; Pg. C6

LENGTH: 771 words

HEADLINE: INFECTIOUS HATRED;
THE WEST NEEDS AWAKENING TO FANATICS' EVIL GAME PLAN

BYLINE: BY PAUL JACKSON

BODY:
With the exception of Montreal Liberal Irwin Cotler, who is Jewish, the only other MPs who unceasingly stand up for Israel in the House of Commons are Canadian Alliance members Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney.

Day is, of course, an evangelical Christian, and Kenney, of Irish Roman Catholic stock.

That the former leader of the Alliance and the Calgary Southeast MP are both devout Christians and also staunch defenders of the tiny Jewish state, shouldn't really be surprising.

After all, their Biblical faith comes greatly from the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments, handed by God to Moses, and Jesus himself was a Jew who tried to reform what he thought were abuses of Judaism of the day.

Every true Christian has to have a place in their heart for the Jewish people.

This past week I listened as Kenney spoke to Lou Pomerance's "Beth Tzedec Lunch Bunch" group as to how he moved from believing the Palestinians were a persecuted people to realizing the Palestinian leadership and most of the 22 Arab states in the Middle East were simply using the Palestinian people as pawns in their game plan to destroy Israel and push the Jewish people into the sea.

Now, one can never say Kenney has been on the left in political circles, and that is where the anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian propaganda campaigns are hatched, but he admitted that, until he had really taken a close and objective look at who was saying what and who was doing what, he had been taken somewhat for a ride by the pro-Palestinian lobby.

Yet, slowly he began to see, no matter what Israel did to try and appease Palestinian leaders like Yasser Arafat and their terrorists, it was never enough. Arafat and the leaders of other Palestinian or Islamic groups would drive a hard bargain with Israel, sign that bargain supposedly in good faith, and then immediately launch new terrorist attacks and demand even more concessions. Kenney, like Day, eventually determined absolute annihilation of the Jewish state is the real agenda.

He noted the evolution of the code words such as "moral equivalency" in which the naive are taught to see both terrorists and the defenders against terrorism as having an equally just cause.

When terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah slaughter innocent Jewish men, women and children, they are doing so only because poverty and persecution have driven them to do so. When the Israelis try to defend themselves, they are deemed to be committing atrocities against innocent people. None of this make makes sense.

Shamefully, Jean Chretien's government has accepted the philosophy of "moral equivalence" and sees both sides through the same eyes.

Time after time in the United Nations, the Chretien team backs anti-Israeli resolutions drawn up by Arab league dictatorships.

When it comes to taking sides, we abandon the only democracy in the Middle East and side with the dictatorships. It's appalling and eventually, we'll pay for it.

With the Chretien government's capitulation to the charade of "moral equivalence," Kenney reminded his audience -- if they needed to be reminded -- it was only after five months of non-stop questions in the Commons and speeches across the nation that Day finally embarrassed Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham into listing Hezbollah in Canada as a terrorist organization.

Until then, Graham had claimed Hezbollah had both a military wing and a social wing, and no one should confuse the two or link them together. This was, Day insisted, like viewing a Nazi party social club being there for harmless fun, and not aligned with fundamental Nazi beliefs.

Kenney went on to paint a frightening picture of radical Islam that is not simply determined to destroy Israel, but western civilization as well. Judaism and Christianity are seen in the same light.

The U.S., Canada and other Western democratic nations are on the death list, too.

The terror attacks of 9/11 on New York City were meant to shake America's confidence -- and get it to abandon Israel in order to try and save itself -- but the attacks should be seen as a wake-up call.

Fanatical leaders like Osama bin Laden spread anti-western hatred amongst young Muslims -- even young Muslims in Canada and the U.S. -- and try to pervert their minds and use them as foot soldiers to subvert the very societies in which they -- and we -- live.

To my mind, Kenney's speech itself was a wake-up call.

Alarmingly, the Chretien and Graham types refuse to listen.

They just hope the inevitable will never happen. But if we don't start listening to the likes of Day and Kenney, it surely will.

LOAD-DATE: October 19, 2003

SECTION: S 26'03

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5842514

LENGTH: 466 words

HEADLINE: Pakistan to reconsider request for monument honouring slain journalist

(Record in progress)

BYLINE: ,Dennis bueckert

BODY:
OTTAWA (CP) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says he'll consider a request to honour slain American journalist Daniel Pearl with a monument in Pakistan's capital.

But Musharraf sounded unenthused about the request from Pearl's family, relayed to him Friday in an appearance before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

''Building a monument (to Pearl)? I never thought of it,'' he said. ''There's so much to be done in Pakistan. I could consider that.''

Montreal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said he raised the matter at the request of Pearl's father, and thought a monument to Pearl in Pakistan could have great symbolic significance.

''This could be an important development in the building of bridges...between the West and Islam, and between Jews and Muslims.''

Four Islamic militants have been convicted in the killing of Pearl, but they have appealed. It has been widely assumed that Pearl was killed because he was an American and a Jew.

Musharraf angrily rejected allegations made in a new book that Pearl was killed because he had uncovered links between al-Qaida terrorists and Pakistan's secret service, the ISI.

''ISI involvement in the killing of this young man is unthinkable,'' the president said.

''The conjecture that is being done in this book, it's very sad. Where is the authentication?''

The book by French writer Bernard-Henri Levy claims Pearl had uncovered evidence that a faction of the ISI was working with terrorists and trading nuclear secrets with Iran and North Korea.

Musharraf said Pearl ''stayed with a group that had contacts with all kinds of people and then he kept moving down into this world of extremism.''

''Then, unfortunately, whatever happened, happened.''

He said there is total co-ordination between the work of ISI and U.S. intelligence services.

''They fully know exactly what we are doing.''

The president also told the committee that Pakistan has developed its nuclear capability on its own and has never had any defence deal or arrangement with Iran, while missile purchases from North Korea ended some time ago.

There is no chance of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, he insisted.

''Pakistan's strategic assets are in very strong custodial control. The organization that we have is far more effective than what India has.''

Musharraf is in Canada partly to pursue his interest in a free-trade relationship, but he has also taken every opportunity to defend Pakistan's record in the war on terrorism.

He said no army in the world could subdue the hostile and mountainous terrain of Western Pakistan, a region without roads or telecommunications infrastructure.

Even Britain did not dare to enter the region when it ruled that part of the world, Musharraf said.

JOURNAL-CODE: 1418

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: (634) Ap 29'02 pg 23; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5410086

LENGTH: 1149 words

HEADLINE: ''Humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes'': Svend Robinson. NDP MP explained prior to stepping down as critic why he travelled to Middle East, what Canada should be doing

BYLINE: Robinson, Svend

BODY:
[Graph Not Transcribed]

I returned yesterday from the Middle East, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the occupied territories. In the very few minutes that I have to speak in the House and through the House to Canadians I want to share both what I witnessed and some observations with respect to the future of this tragic part of the world.

There is a humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes in the occupied territories. I fear for the future of the people of the occupied territories, the Palestinians and indeed the future of Israel itself.

My colleague from Mount Royal [Liberal MP Irwin Cotler] has spoken of security, insecurity and self defence. It is very important that we look at the context of what is taking place today. The squalor, despair and hopelessness of an entire generation that has grown up in refugee camps without any hope for the future, the despair and anguish that those people are feeling today and the fear in cities throughout the occupied territories are a result of the brutality, violence and contempt for international law which the government of Israel is demonstrating in its current military assault on the occupied territories.

All innocent human life must be protected. My colleagues and I have condemned in the strongest possible terms the suicide bombers terrifying Israelis who are out for an evening in the town or celebrating a holy day. That is terror and we condemn it. However, the terror of suicide bombers must not be responded to by the terror of Ariel Sharon's tanks, helicopter gunships and soldiers. That is what we are witnessing, the terrorism of the state in all its brutal, raw and violent reality.

I spoke in the Qalandiya refugee camp with those who were victims of this terror. There were young teachers watching television in their home in Ramallah who heard noise downstairs and gunshots ringing out. As they opened the door they saw two of their colleagues, fellow teachers, young Palestinians, innocent, with hopes for the future, who had been shot dead in cold blood by Israeli soldiers. As they looked down and cried out the soldiers kicked their bodies off the stairs and onto the floor below. They then proceeded upstairs, handcuffed these teachers, blindfolded them, beat them repeatedly and over the course of the next week engaged in what can only be described as torture before finally dumping them back at the checkpoint, because of course they were entirely innocent.

In a civilized society, a society which respects its obligations under international law, and my colleague from Mount Royal is well aware of the obligations under the fourth Geneva convention, this is an outrage and the international community cannot stand by and watch this happen.

We know all too well of what is happening in Jenin and throughout the occupled territories with this brutal and violent military assault, cutting off of food, water and electricity, stopping oxygen and medical supplies from entering, and stopping ambulances from rescuing the sick and the injured. This is inhumanity and the world cannot stand by and watch it happen.

The reality is that people are speaking out. I want to pay tribute tonight to those who in Israel and in the occupied territories have given me hope. I speak here of Canadians like Kevin Neish who is there in solidarity in a refugee camp in Bethlehem, volunteers from Oxfam Quebec, or those that I met with in Tel Aviv, 15,000 Israell people, mainly Jews, rallying on Saturday night against Sharon's war.

The war widows, who for the first time have spoken out, said ''No more.'' They said, ''In these days of blood, violence and destruction, when women from both sides are widowed and children are orphaned, we call for an end to the cycle of bereavement. The control over another people is leading to unnecessary casualties on both sides and endangering our lives and the moral fabric of Israeli society.'' They talked of the control.

We must recognize that the illegal occupation must end. Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories. The illegal settlements must be dismantled. Imagine what a young Palestinian must think as they see these settlements doubling since Olso and at the same time homes being demolished.

What can this lead to? Only to despair and hopelessness.

I want to pay tribute as well to those brave soldiers and reservists who as well have said ''No more.'' I speak here of the group Ometz Lesarev. I speak of Yesh Gvul, Ometz Lesarev, the courage to refuse. Those reservists and a growing number have said they are not prepared to participate in the violence in the occupied territories, soldiers like Staff Sergeant Gil Nemesh who said: ''Those terrible things happening in the territories have little to do with the security of Israel and stopping terror. It is all about the settlements. Choking and starving and humiliating millions of people, to provide safety to the settlements.''

This must stop. Canada must speak out. I was ashamed and appalled that at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva our government almost alone among all members, only with Guatemala, opposed the sending of a human rights mission to that area. Shame on the Government of Canada.

What should Canada be doing? Canada should be calling, as the leader of my party has urged eloquently, for an international protection force. This would be an area in which Canada could show real leadership, not waiting but calling now for that protection force.

We would not be alone. Indeed, members of the Knesset, Yossi Sarid, the leader of the opposition from Meretz and others have called for that, as have the Jordanians and the Swedes. Where is Canada's voice in speaking out for an international protection force?

As I said, there must be a protection force. Israel must immediately withdraw. There must be emergency humanitarian relief. We have to consider, if the situation deteriorates, the possibility of re-evaluating our relations, both economic and diplomatic, with Israel.

I know my time is limited. I want to conclude by saying that certainly we in Canada condemn any acts of racism, of violence, the attack on a synagogue in Saskatoon for example.

I have been accused of taking sides in this tragic dispute. I want to say yes, I plead guilty. I have taken sides. I take the side of life over death. I take the side of peace over war. I take the side of the oppressed over the oppressor. I take the side of justice over dehumanization and tyranny.

There must be justice and peace for the Palestinian and Israeli people. The occupation and the violence must end. The world must not continue to turn a blind eye to this tragedy.

NDP MP Svend Robinson, who represents the federal riding of Burnaby-Douglas, B.C., delivered this speech in the House on April 9, 2002.

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 5, 2002

SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 15B

LENGTH: 2477 words

HEADLINE: Canadians honor one of their own

BYLINE: Greer Fay Cashman

HIGHLIGHT:
Grapevine

BODY:
THE party is over. At least the one between Pnina Rosenblum and Haim Moshe has run its course - and now she can turn her full attention to the Likud Party without feeling guilty about not giving enough time to her marriage. Cosmetics queen Rosenblum, and her husband who were quickly reconciled after announcing a month ago that they were divorcing, have decided to call it quits after all. But they will remain friends and will continue to live in Ramat Gan, albeit not in their luxury abode. She's moving into a rented penthouse, and he's moving into something a little more modest. Given what they were up against at the start of their marriage, the fact that they stayed together for even 10 years is quite an accomplishment.

CANADIAN Ambassador Michael Bell and Construction and Housing Minister Natan Sharansky heaped praise this week on international human rights activist, Irwin Cotler, who was Sharansky's first lawyer when Sharansky was imprisoned by the Soviet authorities. Several of the ministers rostered to represent the government at national day celebrations were otherwise occupied at the Labor Party convention. But even if they would have been available, given Cotler's presence at the Canada Day reception hosted by Bell and his wife, Linda, to celebrate the 135th anniversary of Canadian confederation, Sharansky, who owes so much to Cotler's persistence, was the most logical choice. Cotler, a frequent visitor to Israel, was here on this occasion to participate in the Ninth Biennial Jerusalem Conference in Canadian Studies at which both he and Bell presented papers.

AT the Canada Day reception held on the spacious lawns of the ambassador's residence in Savyon, Bell recalled that during the years of Sharansky's incarceration, Cotler had kept him informed about what was being done to secure Sharansky's release, and eventually in 1986 Bell got to meet Sharansky for the first time. Looking out at the splendid buffets that were constantly replenished, Bell thanked the generous sponsors who had made the festive function possible and noted that despite the difficult economic situation there were more sponsors than there had been the previous year. He was also impressed to see how many Canadian companies have their own representatives stationed in Israel working towards the prosperity of both countries. Bell, who is currently serving in Israel for the third time, said that he could not ignore what is affecting everyone and expressed Canadian concern about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians with regard to safety, security and human rights. Canada, he said, was lending her voice to efforts to stop the violence and resume the negotiations. Bell said that he and his wife know victims of the conflict, yet for all that, he chooses to be an optimist, believing that with perseverance and commitment peace will eventually be achieved. As for Canada's relations with Israel, Bell said that despite the recession, trade statistics were still going up. In an aside to his colleagues from other countries, he expressed the hope that the same could be said of their bilateral trade. He also referred to strong relations between Canada and Israel on other levels, especially academic.

BUT it was Sharansky who mentioned Canada's involvement in the battle against renewed anti-Semitism. As for trade relations, Sharansky was particularly pleased to have been the minister of industry and trade who, in 1996, signed the Free Trade Agreement between Israel and Canada. Israel he said, is the only country to have a Free Trade Agreement with both Canada and the US. Despite the intense humidity, people were having such a good time at the Canadian affair that they were reluctant to leave. One guest in fact, had been so keen to come, that she arrived straight from the airport. Artist Sali Ariel, who heads the International Women's Club had been in San Francisco for a reunion of her high school clique, all the members of which wield influence in high circles and have chalked up major achievements. Ariel and her husband cartoonist, Ya'akov Kirschen, are long-time personal friends of the Bells.

UNEMPLOYMENT was the opening topic in Politica this week. In addition to Labor and Social Affairs Minister Shlomo Benizri and his old friend and colleague MK Tommy Lapid, moderator Dan Margalit lined up several experts on the subject plus a resident of Dimona who said that he had been unemployed for two-and-a-half years. Polite, and obviously hurting, the man tried to tell his story, but Margalit in his usual fashion kept cutting him short and the man never got to say what he wanted to say. His frustration was exacerbated by the fact that he was in a remote studio, and although visible on the screen in Margalit's studio, was only there as window dressing. All his efforts to attract Margalit's attention were to no avail. Dimona has been on the lower rungs of the socio- economic ladder for all of its existence. Its population suffers from lack of opportunity and therefore lack of motivation. But that doesn't mean that they haven't pinpointed their problems or that they haven't thought of viable solutions. They just need someone to listen and take note and should not be cruelly exploited by the insensitive Dan Margalits of this world.

OUTGOING Meretz MK Amnon Rubinstein gave only the barest hint last Friday that he had no further political ambitions, but he certainly didn't reveal that he was about to retire from the Knesset when he attended an Israel-India Cultural Association luncheon at Tandoori in Tel Aviv to mark the 10th anniversary of Israeli-Indian diplomatic relations. Rubinstein was there in the capacity of chairman of the Israel-India Parliamentary Group. When a yoga instructor mentioned the age of enlightenment that characterized his tenure as minister of education and expressed the hope that he would hold the position again, his response indicated that there was no likelihood of that happening. And of course, by Monday everyone knew why. Rubinstein announced that he was stepping down from the Knesset to take up an appointment as dean of the Law School at the prestigious Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. In fact, it was during his period as education minister that colleges offering degrees began to flourish in Israel creating opportunities for students who might otherwise have missed out on higher education. Rubinstein said on Monday that his greatest satisfaction is in meeting people who tell him that it is due to him that they have a BA. But on Friday he had very little to say. Indian Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal, who came with his wife, Smita, spoke of relations between India and Israel as a bonding of the minds and IICA chairman Eric Silver described relations between the two countries as an extraordinary success story. Rubinstein, who headed Israel's first parliamentary delegation to India last December, recalled his delight when, in an interview that he gave in Cochin, he was asked by a journalist why India is so popular in Israel. Rubinstein had replied that it was because there has never been any anti-Semitism in India. Whereupon his interlocutor asked: "What's anti-Semitism?" Thrilled by the question, Rubinstein joyfully embraced him.

SENIORITY or rather lack of it, was the primary reason that his Foreign Ministry colleagues were opposed to the appointment of Danny Ayalon as ambassador to the US - and the other reason was that they're not happy about political appointments that often thwart the aspirations of career diplomats. Ayalon is likely to be approved by cabinet on Sunday as are two other political appointees, Nissim Zvilli, a former secretary-general of the Labor Party whose staunch loyalty over the years to Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is being rewarded with an ambassadorship to France, and Avi Primor, currently vice president of Tel Aviv University who is tipped to become ambassador to the European Union in Brussels. With Primor, who acquitted himself with great distinction as Israel's ambassador to Germany, the problem is not a matter of seniority, but of what is widely perceived in the Foreign Ministry as having one's cake and eating it, too. Primor has very close ties with the EU, and no-one denies that as far as qualifications go, he really is the best man for the job. However, Primor resigned from the Foreign Ministry to take up his TAU appointment, and some say he should not be allowed to see-saw back into the diplomatic corps at the expense of others waiting in line for so plum a posting.

TOURISM may be waning, but not a week goes by without solidarity groups - not all of them Jewish - from different parts of the world coming to assure Israel that she is not alone. For some of these groups, leaving their home countries is not always easy as, for instance, those from South Africa. Nonetheless, for the second consecutive year, a delegation of 35 rabbis led by Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris has come to Israel under the auspices of the South African Rabbinical Association. Aside from meeting Israeli dignitaries such as President Moshe Katsav, the delegation went to Tel Hashomer and Shaare Zedek hospitals not only to visit victims of terrorism, but also to donate blood. Better to give a pint of blood to help save a life than to lose blood on the battlefield.

IT is comforting to know that despite anticipation of various strategies of creative corruption in the wake of the new tax reforms, Israeli politicians, compared to their European counterparts, are fairly free of corruption, and even when they do engage, it's not necessarily for their personal gain. Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, an international consultant on business and environment strategy in an address to Emunah in Jerusalem observed that even Shas leader, Arye Deri, who was found guilty of corruption, pocketed a relatively small amount of money, and the businessmen who gave it to him were minor players. Israel's top politicians may do favors for their friends at the expense of the state, observed Gerstenfeld, but they're less inclined than their European parts to line their own pockets. Hardly a day goes by without corruption scandals involving European politicians he said, but it's so much the norm that when Jacques Chirac ran against Jean-Marie Le Pen in the recent French elections, there were signs in the street urging "Vote for the crook, not for the fascist."

UNLIKE some of the tell-all officials who left the prime minister's office when Ehud Barak was the man in the hot seat, Uri Shani, who until recently was Ariel Sharon's bureau chief remains the soul of discretion. Shani, who was interviewed this week by Israel Radio's Dalia Yairi, gently fended off all questions related to the reasons for his resignation, but said that he still retains a close relationship with the prime minister, leading to speculation that despite all the rumors about him being shunted aside by Omri Sharon and various movers and shakers within the Prime Minister's Office, the real reason for his stepping down was to prepare the field for when Sharon has to battle to retain both the Likud leadership and the premiership. Current polls indicate that even though Binyamin Ben-Eliezer proved himself to be no less of a bulldozer within his own party than Sharon is in his, when it comes to national leadership, Ben Eliezer is trailing not only behind Sharon but also behind Binyamin Netanyahu; and Haim Ramon, who may or may not contest the Labor leadership in the upcoming party elections, has even less of a chance. But the surveys have been wrong before and may very well be wrong again.

AMAZINGLY spry and energetic nonagenarian Clara Hammer, better known as the chicken lady because, with the help of her many supporters in Israel and abroad, provides chickens for Shabbat for scores of financially distressed families. But well-wishers don't limit themselves to sending checks. Hammer has a collection of chicken-related adornments and household utensils that accompany the charitable donations. Many people think that the chicken lady should have some symbol of what she does - but the people who benefit from her love and her generosity can testify that it's far from being merely symbolic.

UNTIL the death of veteran National Religious Party leader Dr. Yosef Burg, there were two Burgs in the political arena - albeit in different corners of the political spectrum. With the exception of the Bible Quiz that was the senior Burg's great love and joy, a World Mizrachi tribute dinner in his honor, and his 90th birthday party at the Knesset, father and son meticulously abstained from appearing together on public platforms so neither would be in the position of having to disagree with or criticize the other. But now that Yael Burg has retired from her position as principal of the Givat Gonen High School at which Arabs and Jews study in the same classroom, there may be two Burgs on the same side of the political fence. Yael Burg's political views are pretty much in sync with those of her husband, Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg who has lost much of his political clout. But now that Yael Burg has more time to devote to politics, the two might make an effective team.

PROFESSOR Mark Spigelman, organizer of the upcoming conference on ancient DNA that has attracted participants from more than 20 countries, was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response. An Indian researcher told him: "Hey, your country and my country are both fighting Muslim extremists, so why shouldn't we come." A South African who lives near a police station in Johannesburg said that it was recently attacked by armed bandits carrying Kalashnikovs. "How much worse could it be in Israel?" he asked.

MOST of us go about our daily lives in Israel in as routine a fashion as possible while knowing that terror can strike anywhere at any time and that any one of us or our loved ones can become victims. It's not easy to live with. It's not easy for people who have lived under threat for most of their lives. It's probably even more difficult for people who've come from countries where terror was never something with which they had to contend. Either way, it's eating away at our collective psyche. To help English speakers in need of better emotional and psychological tools to withstand terror and psychological warfare, UJIA has arranged a Coping with Terror Workshop to be led by Professor Mooli Lahad, a globally recognized expert and international adviser on stress and crisis resulting from the daily threat of terror. The workshop will be held this coming Monday, July 8 at 7.30 p.m. at the Basel Hotel, 156 Rehov Hayarkon, Tel Aviv. Organizers promise that full security will be provided. To confirm attendance contact: UJIA Israel (03) 696-5244 or [email protected]

GRAPHIC: 2 photos: 1. Pnina Rosenblum and Haim Moshe: This time it's quits. 2. Uri Shani (Credit: 1. Israel Sun. 2. Ariel Jerozolimski)

LOAD-DATE: July 7, 2002

SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS

DISTRIBUTION: Attention News Editors

LENGTH: 529 words

HEADLINE: Government of Canada funds literacy project for immigrants

DATELINE: MONTREAL, Sept. 17

BODY:
The Service d'interprGete d'aide et de rDefDerence aux immigrants will adapt their Canada: Citizenship CD-ROM to help illiterate immigrants. Mr. Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament for Mount Royal, on behalf of the Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, today announced a contribution of $42,000 for this adaptation project. The Government of Canada is funding this initiative through the National Literacy Secretariat.

Under this project, the support and referral service for immigrants would like to create a Macintosh version of the Canada: Citizenship CD-ROM. It is already available for Windows. Through this initiative, this tool first designed for illiterate or poorly educated immigrants will be available to all francophone and anglophone clients across the country, regardless of the type of computer used.

"This project will help adult learners across Canada further develop their literacy skills, in addition to being a first-rate resource for trainers," said Mr. Cotler. "The Government of Canada is proud to support this initiative, which will improve access to literacy resources for people with reading and writing difficulties."

Literacy skills are linked to work skills, health and self-esteem. Higher literacy skills among Canadians enable them to participate more fully in our economy and our society. For instance, literacy skills help determine the kinds of jobs we find, enable parents to read to their children and help us understand technical jargon, allowing us to use tools and equipment safely.

The National Literacy Secretariat works in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, business, labour and the volunteer community. The goal of these partnerships is to increase public awareness of literacy, help people share information, improve access to literacy programs, develop learning materials and advance research on literacy.

This project supports the Government of Canada's Innovation Strategy and more specifically "Knowledge Matters", a policy paper that addresses the national challenge of ensuring Canadians possess the skills and knowledge required to fully participate in the knowledge-based economy.

Funding for this project was provided for in the December 2001 Budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.

This project has been reviewed to ensure compliance with the Department's administration of its grant and contribution programs.

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION: http://www.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/inquiry.cgi?OKEY=67704

CONTACT: Media Relations Office, Human Resources Development Canada, (819) 994-5559

LOAD-DATE: September 18, 2002

SECTION: v.33(17) Ap 25'03 pg 21; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5601932

LENGTH: 240 words

HEADLINE: Imagine a dynamic young leadership conference

BODY:
The recent Imagine International Young Leadership Conference in Montreal -- touted as a weekend that would change the lives of young Canadian Jews -- lived up to its billing.

The conference began with a daylong ''by invitation only'' Jewish Leadership Institute for 100 young adults who have been identified as emerging leaders by Federations, community agencies and synagogues.

The program offered opportunities for learning, networking and socializing with peers. Participants also heard from worldclass speakers such as Rabbi Michael Melchior, Dr. Ellen Cannon, Dennis Prager, Irwin Cotler, John Loftus, Rabbi Shmuel Boteach and Elie Wiesel.

Over 500 young leaders attended the conference, including more than 100 recruited from Toronto by Jessica Cooperman and Brian Tanner.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

The conference provided a holistic Jewish experience, with a full Shabbat program focused on spirituality and capped off by a gala Mystery Ball.

Richard Diamond, the Past Chair of Young Leadership who was instrumental in developing the national young leadership structure, was honoured at the conference. Other leaders from Toronto honoured by the National Young Leadership Executive were Jessica Cooperman, Gilbert Palter, Anthony Sigel, David Spiro, and Naomi Cohen who were recognized by their peers for outstanding contributions both locally and nationally.

Toronto will host the conference in 2005.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

SECTION: v.33(22) My 29'03 pg 6; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5634747

LENGTH: 404 words

HEADLINE: March against anti-Semitism set for June 8

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
A multi-faith collection of Jews, Christians, Hindus and Aboriginals will gather in downtown Toronto on June 8 in the second annual ''march for humanity.''

Sponsored by a coalition of groups led by Canadians Against Anti-Semitism (CAS), the march is designed to ''inspire Canadians to reclaim the pride imbedded in our traditions, and speak out against the spread of hatred threatening Canadian principles and our way of life.''

The march will also serve as ''a bridge to the non-Jewish grassroots, educate and promote awareness,'' said Sandra Stern, founder of CAS.

Six speakers will address the marchers, including Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, who will deliver the keynote address. Others scheduled to deliver remarks are Prof. Irwin Cotler, a parliamentarian who served as legal counsel to Nelson Mandela and Andrei Sakharov; David Mainse, host and executive producer of 100 Huntley Street on the Crossroads Television System; Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College; MP Art Eggleton (Lib.) and MP Scott Reid (Canadian Alliance).

Participants will be entertained by a number of performers, including the Sai Children's Choir, the Tall Pines Singers, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, gospel singer Jackie Richardson, and Cantor Benjamin Maissner.

''Although our focus is prejudice, we're doing it in an atmosphere of social harmony, communal harmony, and ending it on a hopeful note, because our hope is to make it better,'' Stern said.

Stern said she was inspired to create CAS and organize its first march in June 2002 due to her concern over a ''growing world wide rise of anti-Semitism. To me it was reminiscent of the 1930s.''

What's more, she said, much of the anti-Jewish hate was taking place ''right in my backyard,'' with Canadian synagogues struck by arson and with visible Jews being roughed up in the streets of Montreal.

Last year's march attracted about 1,200 participants most of whom were non-Jews, Stern said.

Among the march's co-sponsors this year are the Canada Christian College, the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada and Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Toronto.

''Hopefully the march will demonstrate that Canadians will not and should not accept anti-Semitism.'' he added.

The march will began at 2:45 p.m. at Bloor Street and Avenue Road and head down University Avenue to Queen's Park.

Sponsored by multi-faith coalition

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

SECTION: (685) My 5'03; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5611918

LENGTH: 1493 words

HEADLINE: The Hill Times' List of Who Supports Whom in Liberal Leadership Race (Record in progress)

BODY:
Paul Martin

Reg Alcock (Winnipeg South, Man.) David Anderson (Victoria, B.C.) Mark Assad (Gatineu, Que.) Sarkis Assadourian (Brampton Centre, Ont.) Jean Augustine (Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Ont.) Larry Bagnell (Yukon) Sue Barnes (London West, Ont.) Reginald Belair (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.) Mauril Belanger (Ottawa-Vanier, Ont.) Eugene Bellemare (Ottawa-Orleans, Ont.) Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul's, Ont.) Maurizio Bevilacqua (Vaughan-King-Aurora, Ont.) Robert Bertrand (Pontiac-Gatineau-Labelle, Que.) Ethel Blondin-Andrew (Western Arctic, N.W.T.) Raymond Bonin (Nickel Belt, Ont.) Paul Bonwick (Simcoe-Grey, Ont.) Claudette Bradshaw (Moncton-River, N.B.) Gerry Byrne (Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte) John Cannis (Scarborough Centre, Ont.) Murray Calder (Dufferin-Peel-Wellingto-Grey, Ont.) Elinor Caplan (Thornhill,Ont.) Aileen Carroll (Barrie-Simcoe-Bradford, Ont.) Jeannot Castonguay (Mad. Restigouche, Que.) Brenda Chamberlain (Guelph-Wellington, Ont.) Yvon Charbonneau (Anjou-Riviere, Que.) Denis Coderre (Bourassa,Que.) Joe Comuzzi (Thunder Bay-Superior North, Ont.) Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal, Que.) Roy Cullen (Etobicoke North, Ont.) Rodger Cuzner (Bras d'Or-Cape Breton, N.S..) Paul DeVillers (Simcoe North, Ont.) Nick Discepola (Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Que.) Stan Dromisky (Thunder Bay-Atikokan, Ont.) Claude Duplain (Portneuf, Que.) Art Eggleton (York Centre, Ont.) John Efford (Bon.-Trinity-Conception, Nfld.) Mark Eyking (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.) Raymonde Folco (Laval West, Que.) Georges Farrah (Bonaventure-Gaspe, Que.) Joe Fontana (London North Centre, Ont.) Liza Frulla (Verdun-St-Henri, etc, Que.) Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre, B.C.) Roger Gallaway (Sarnia-Lambton, Ont.) John Godfrey (Don Valley West, Ont.) Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Sask.) Bill Graham (Toronto Centre-Rosedale, Ont.)

Ivan Grose (Oshawa, Ont.) Albina Guarnieri (Mississauga East, Ont.) John Harvard (Charleswood, etc, Man.) Andre Harvey (Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, Que.) Tony Ianno (Trinity-Spadina, Ont.) Ovid Jackson (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, Ont.) Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame, etc, Que.) Joe Jordan (Leeds-Grenville, Ont.) Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough--Agincourt, Ont.) Stan Keyes (Hamilton West, Ont.) David Kilgour (Edmonton Southeast, Alta.) Gar Knutson (Elgin--Middlesex--London, Ont.) Karen Kraft Sloan (York North, Ont.) Walt Lastewka (St. Catharines, Ont.) Derek Lee (Scarborough-Rouge River, Ont.) Sophia Leung (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.) Judi Longfield (Whitby-Ajax, Ont.) Paul Macklin (Northumberland, Ont.) Steven Mahoney (Mississauga West, Ont.) Gurbax Malhi (Bramalea-Gore, etc, Ont.) John Maloney (Erie-Lincoln, Ont.) Serge Marcil (Beauharnois-Salaberry, Que.) Diane Marleau (Sudbury, Ont.) Paul Martin (LaSalle-Emard, Que.) Bill Matthews (Burin-St. George's, Nfld.) John McCallum (Markham, Ont.) Larry McCormick (Hastings, etc, Ont.) Joe McGuire (Egmont, P.E.I.) John McKay (Scarborough East, Ont.) Anne McLellan (Edmonton West, Alta.) Dan McTeague (Pickering-Ajax--Uxbridge, Ont.) Maria Minna (Beaches-East York, Ont.) Andy Mitchell (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) Shawn Murphy (Hillsborough, P.E.I.) Lynn Myers (Waterloo-Wellington, Ont.) Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre, Man.) Gilbert Normand (Belle-Etchemins,etc, Que.) Patrick O'Brien (London-Fanshawe, Ont.) Lawrence O'Brien (Labrador, Nfld.) John O'Reilly (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock, Ont.) Stephen Owen (Vancouver Quadra, B.C.) Massimo Pacetti (Saint-Leonard,etc, Que.) Carolyn Parrish (Mississauga Centre, Ont.) Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds-Dollard, Que.) Janko Peric (Cambridge, Ont.) Joe Peschisolido (Richmond, B.C.) Jim Peterson (Willowdale, Ont.) Pierre Pettigrew (Papineau-Saint-Denis, Que.) Jerry Pickard (Chatham-Kent Essex, Ont.) Gary Pillitteri (Niagara Falls, Ont.) David Pratt (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) David Price (Compton-Stanstead, Que.) Carmen Provenzano (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) Karen Redman (Kitchener Centre, Ont.) Julian Reed (Halton, Ont.) Geoff Regan (Halifax West, N.S.) Robert Thibault (West Nova, N.S.) Jacques Saada (Brossard-La Prairie, Que.) Andy Savoy (Tobique-Mactaquac) Judy Sgro (York West, Ont.) Helene Scherrer (Louis-Hebert, Que.)

Andy Scott (Fredericton, N.B.) Benoit Serre (Timiskaming-Cochrane, Ont.) Raymond Simard (Saint Boniface, Man.) Bob Speller (Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant, Ont.) Diane St-Jacques (Shefford, Que.) Brent St. Denis (Algoma-Manitoulin, Ont.) Paul Steckle (Huron-Bruce, Ont.) Andrew Telegdi (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.) Yolande Thibeault (Saint-Lambert, Que.) Anthony Tirabassi (Niagara Centre, Ont.) Alan Tonks (York South-Weston, Ont.) Rose-Marie Ur (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, Ont.) Tony Valeri (Stoney Creek, Ont.) Lyle Vanclief (Prince Edward-Hastings, Ont.) Joe Volpe (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.) Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest, Ont.) Bryon Wilfert (Oak Ridges, Ont.)

Total: 124

Undeclared/Undecided

Carole-Marie Allard (Laval East, Que.) Eleni Bakopanos (Ahuntsic, Que.) Gerard Binet (Frontenac-Megantic, Que.) Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Ont.) John Bryden (Ancaster-Dundas, etc, Ont.) Marlene Catterall (Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.) Jean Chretien (Saint-Maurice, Que.) David Collenette (Don Valley East, Ont.) Herb Dhaliwal (Vancouver South-Burnaby, B.C.) Stephane Dion (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Que.) Claude Drouin (Beauce, Que.) Wayne Easter (Malpeque, P.E.I.) Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre, Ont.) Charles Hubbard (Miramichi, N.B.) Nancy Karetak-Lindell (Nunavut) Bob Kilger (Stormont-Dundas, etc, Ont.) Rick Laliberte (Churchill River, Sask.) Peter Milliken (Kingston and the Islands, Ont.) Dennis Mills (Toronto-Danforth, Ont.) Rey Pagtakhan (Winnipeg North-St. Paul, Ont.) Denis Paradis (Brome-Missisquoi, Que.) Marcel Proulx (Hull-Aylmer, Que.) Lucienne Robillard (Westmount-Ville-Marie, Que.) Allan Rock (Etobicoke Centre, Ont.) Guy St-Julien (Abitibi-Baie-James, etc, Que.) Paul Szabo (Mississauga South, Ont.) Paddy Torsney (Burlington, Ont.)

Total: 27

Sheila Copps

Bonnie Brown (Oakville, Ont.) Sarmite Bulte (Parkdale-High Park, Ont.) Charles Caccia (Davenport, Ont.) Sheila Copps (Hamilton East, Ont.) John Finlay (Oxford, Ont.) Clifford Lincoln (Lac-Saint-LouisLaval East, Que.) Beth Phinney (Hamilton Mountain, Ont.)

Total: 7

John Manley

Peter Adams (Peterborough, Ont.) Colleen Beaumier (Brampton West, etc, Ont.) Martin Cauchon (Outremont, Que.) Dominic LeBlanc (Beausejour-Petitcodiac, N.B.) Bob Nault (Kenora-Rainy River, Ont.) Lawrence MacAulay (Cardigan, P.E.I.) John Manley (Ottawa-South, Ont.) Alex Shepherd (Durham, Ont.) Jane Stewart (Brant, Ont.) Susan Whelan (Essex, Ont.) Bob Wood (Nipissing, Ont.)

Total: 11

SENATORS

Paul Martin

Jack Austin (Vancouver South, B.C.) Lise Bacon (De La Durantaye, Que.) John Bryden (New Brunswick) Anne Cools (Toronto York, Ont.) George Furey (Newfoundland and Labrador) Jerahmiel S. Grafstein (Metro Toronto, Ont.) B. Alasdair Graham (The Highlands, N.S.) Colin Kenny (Rideau, Ont.) Shirley Maheu (Rougemont, Que.)

Total: 9

John Manley

Sharon Carstairs (Manitoba) Michael Kirby (South Shore, N.S.) Yves Morin (Lauzon, Que.) Marie-P. Poulin (Nothern Ontario, Ont.)

Total: 4

Sheila Copps

Willie Adams (Nunavut Territory) Tommy Banks (Edmonton, Alta.) Michel Biron (Quebec Mille Isles) Thelma Chalifoux (Alberta) Maria Chaput (Manitoba) Pierre De Bane (De la Valliere , Que.) Marisa Ferretti-Barth (Repentigny, Que.) Laurier LaPierre (Ontario) Raymond Lavigne (Quebec, Que.) Rose-Marie Losier-Cool (Tracadie, N.B.) Pana Merchant (Saskatchewan) Lorna Milne (Peel County, Ont.) Vivienne Poy (Toronto, Ont.) Fernand Robichaud (Saint-Louis-de-Kent, N.B.) Raymond Setlakwe (Laurentides, Que.) Charlie Watt (Inkerman, Que.)

Total: 16

Undecided / Undeclared

George Baker (Newfoundland and Labrador) Catherine Callbeck (Prince Edward Island) Ione Christensen (Yukon) Joan Cook (Newfoundland and Labrador) Eymard G. Corbin (Grand-Sault, N.B.) Jane Cordy (Nova Scotia) Joseph A. Day (Saint John-Kennebecasis, N.B.) Joyce Fairbairn (Lethbridge, Alta.) Isobel Finnerty (Ontario) D. Ross Fitzpatrick (Okanagan-Similkameen, B.C.) Joan Fraser (De Lorimier, Que.) Jean-Robert Gauthier (Ottawa-Vanier, Ont.) Aurelien Gill (Wellington, Que.) Daniel Hays (Calgary, Alta.) Celine Hervieux-Payette (Bedford, Que.) Elizabeth Hubley (Prince Edward Island) Mobina Jaffer (British Columbia) Serge Joyal (Kennebec, Que.) Leo Kolber (Victoria, Que.) Richard H. Kroft (Manitoab) Jean Lapointe (Saurel, Que.) Viola Leger (New Brunswick) Frank Mahovlich (Ontario) Wilfred Moore (Stanhope St./Bluenose, N.S.) Landon Pearson (Ontario) Lucie Pepin (Shawinegan, Que.) Gerard Phalen (Nova Scotia) Pierrette Ringuette-Maltais (New Brunswick) William Rompkey (North West River, Nfld.) Nick G. Sibbeston (Northwest Territories) David Smith (Ontario) Herbert Sparrow (Saskatchewan) Peter Stollery (Bloor and Yonge, Ont.) John (Jack) Wiebe (Saskatchewan)

Total: 34

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: v.33(29) Jl 17'03 pg 1,17; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5815094

LENGTH: 836 words

HEADLINE: 12 Liberal MPs, senators urge shift in Mideast policy

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
[Graph Not Transcribed]
[Graph Not Transcribed]

A dozen Liberal MPs and senators are asking the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to ''improve and refresh'' its Mideast policy - in effect shifting to a more pro-Israel stance.

In a paper submitted to the department as part of its comprehensive review of foreign policy, the MPs advance a broad range of recommendations that would see Canada recognize Israel's legitimate need to fight terrorism, marginalize Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, end its use of the term ''cycle of violence,'' and alter Canada's voting pattern on United Nations resolutions that single out Israel for criticism.

If adopted, the report suggests its recommendations would add ''a number of corrections... in the current Canadian foreign policy towards the conflict... [by] bringing our policy up to date and resolving the inconsistencies between our stated policy and our implementation of that policy.''

The policy paper states it ''offers a comprehensive vision of proactive, Canadian Middle Eastern diplomacy in the 21st century and it gives hope to this region in turmoil.''

The policy proposals were submitted by Toronto-area MPs Carolyn Bennett, Art Eggleton, Jim Peterson and Joe Volpe; Montreal-area MPs Raymonde Folco, Marlene Jennings, Bernard Patry, Irwin Cotler and Senator Leo Kolber; Winnipeg MP Anita Neville and Winnipeg Senator Richard Kroft; and Vancouver Senator Jack Austin.

The MPs represent ridings with the largest Jewish population concentrations in Canada.

Volpe said the MPs wanted to get away from a purely ''reactive'' approach to Mideast events.

''We said we have to come up with something coherent and encompassing, rather than piecemeal reactions to issues as they come up,'' Volpe said.

''It's not just a critique of our foreign policy regarding the Middle East, it's a road map for understanding what is going on and suggesting solutions from a Canadian perspective.

''My critique of the Canadian position has been that we're trying to have a balanced position so we can be the honest broker,'' Volpe said. ''Give me a break. People are dying every day.''

Volpe said Canada must stand for Israel's right to peace within secure and recognized borders.

Peterson said he's disagreed for some time with some aspects of Canadian policy, including part of its UN voting record and its criticism of Israel when it responds to terrorist attacks.

''One of the most egregious occasions was when we said Israel does not have the right to pursue terrorists in the territories and defend itself against them,'' he said.

Eggleton, Canada's former defence minister, said the report addresses some deficiencies in Canadian policy, such as criticism when Israel responds to terrorism. ''It's not proper to think of those situations of Israel attempting to defend its people as some sort of attack or retaliation on the Palestinians. It's part of a police action'' aimed at dismantling terrorism, he said.

Canada, Eggleton noted, took part in the Afghan campaign against terrorism, much as Israel is doing when it defends itself against Palestinian terrorism.

Neville, who recently visited Washington, D.C., on a program sponsored by parliament's Canada-Israel Friendship Group, said ''it's important that the politicians, not just the bureaucrats, have input on the policy-making process.''

She said the report asks policy-makers to consider Arafat an impediment to meaningful peace.

The MPs and senators agreed Israel enjoys support in the caucus beyond the dozen who signed the report. With the document on the table, their next step will be to meet colleagues, DFAIT officials and representatives of the Jewish community to solicit broader backing for the initiative, Neville said.

Among the recommendations outlined in the report:

- Canada should not use the term ''proportionate response'' in connection with Israeli security measures and should not second guess legitimate measures aimed at combatting terrorism;

- Canada should not used the term ''cycle of violence,'' as that equates terror attacks with their response;

- Canada should reverse its earlier policy of recognizing Arafat as head of the PLO and simply recognize the Palestinian Authority as the principal representative of the Palestinian people;

- Canada should endorse the road map for peace and contribute to the plan's multilateral track;

- Canada should lobby the UN General Assembly, western democracies and other international organization against the politicization of the UN;

- Canada should work with the Lebanese government to remove the military presence of Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon;

- Canada should urge Saudi Arabia to tackle the underlying causes of Islamic extremism in that country;

- Canada should demand that Iran stop supporting terrorism and it should call on the UN Commission on Human Rights to re-establish its rapporteur there.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

LENGTH: 411 words

HEADLINE: ISRAELI, FOREIGN LAWYERS REPRESENTING TERRORISTS' VICTIMS IN LAWSUIT AGAINST PA

BYLINE: Report by Dan Izenberg: "Lawyers' Mission Targets Terrorists' Bank Accounts"

BODY:
A group of English-speaking lawyers arrived in Israel earlier this week for a special mission organized by ShuratHadin, an organization established to conduct lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority on behalf of terrorism victims.

The group is headed by attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, the first Israeli lawyer to submit a lawsuit against the PA. Since then, the district courts in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have received about a dozen suits for damages totaling millions of shekels.

During a reception for the mission on Wednesday night, Darshan-Leitner said that the aim of Shurat Hadin was to use litigation to wipe out the financial resources of the terrorist organizations.

Canadian parliamentarian and human rights activist Irwin Cotler told The Jerusalem Post that the lawsuits could be an effective tool in the fight against terrorism, since Israel controls millions of shekels which it has collected on behalf of the PA (such as income tax and unemployment insurance payments for Palestinians working in Israel.) In the the past three days of the 10-day tour, the group has met with representatives from the Shin Bet and army intelligence,Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, Devorah Chen, chief state prosecutor for security matters, and Col. Shaul Gordon, a member of the army's Chief Appellate Court. The group has also visited the military court at Beit El.

Darshan-Leitner said she hopes that a core of lawyers in other parts of the world will help her in the campaign to cripple the terrorist organizations. She added that the suits against the Palestinians help give the victims of terrorism the feeling that they control their lives once again.

Barak told the group that he was disappointed with the way that the US is coping with al-Qaida. He said that the UShas a tradition of going too far in restricting civil liberties when it perceives threats to national security. Barakadded that Israel tries to strike a better balance between national security needs and human rights.

(Description of Source: Jerusalem The Jerusalem Post (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Right-of-center,English-language, independent daily; root URL on filing date: www.jpost.co.il )

JOURNAL-CODE: WWNC

LOAD-DATE: July 1, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4A

LENGTH: 493 words

HEADLINE: Lawyers' mission discusses targeting pocketbooks of terrorist groups

BYLINE: Dan Izenberg

BODY:
A group of 47 men and women from English-speaking countries, most of them lawyers, arrived in Israel earlier this week for a special mission organized by Shurat Hadin, an organization established to conduct lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority on behalf of terrorism victims.

The organization is headed by Attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, who was the first Israeli lawyer to submit a lawsuit against the PA. Since then, the district courts in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have received about a dozen suits for damages totaling millions of shekels.

During a reception for the mission on Wednesday night, Darshan-Leitner said that the aim of Shurat Hadin was to use litigation to wipe out the financial resources of the terrorist organizations.

Canadian parliamentarian and human rights activist Irwin Cotler told The Jerusalem Post that the lawsuits could be an effective tool in the fight against terrorism, since Israel controls millions of shekels which it has collected on behalf of the PA (such as income tax and unemployment insurance payments for Palestinians working in Israel.)

Evan Winer, an attorney from Chicago, said he had chosen this mission out of the many offered because of the impressive round of briefings and tours that Darshan- Leitner and her husband, Avi, had set up. In the the past three days of the 10-day tour, the group has met with representatives from the Shin Bet and army intelligence, Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, Devorah Chen, chief state prosecutor for security matters, and Col. Shaul Gordon, a member of the army's Chief Appellate Court. The group has also visited the military court at Beit El and held a barbecue at the settlement of Psagot, on the edge of Ramallah.

Darshan-Leitner said she hopes that a core of lawyers in other parts of the world will help her in the campaign to cripple the terrorist organizations. She added that the suits against the Palestinians help give the victims of terrorism the feeling that they control their lives once again.

Winer and another lawyer, Jason Wandner, of Miami, said they were impressed by the system of military justice in the administered territories. "The prosecutors are very professional," said Wandner.

The lawyers were skeptical about allegations that Israel is breaking international law in its fight against terrorism, questioning Belgium's ability to impose international law on a situation which involves "lawless countries or groups."

Supreme Court president Barak told the group he was disappointed with the way that the United States is coping with al-Qaida. He said the US has a tradition of going too far in restricting civil liberties when it perceives threats to national security, and that the detention of alleged terrorists on Cuba's Guantanamo Bay was a black mark on the constitution. Barak added that the court in Israel tries to strike a better balance between national security needs and human rights.

LOAD-DATE: June 29, 2003

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 200 words

HEADLINE: Canada's three largest political parties want Mugabe tried for genocide

DATELINE: OTTAWA, Oct 8

BODY:
Senior members of Canada's three largest parliamentary parties called Wednesday on the Canadian government to indict Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Senior members of the governing Liberal Party, the right-wing populist Canadian Alliance and the regional, left-of-centre Bloc Quebecois said they were calling on Ottawa to issue a formal indictment against Mugabe.

At a joint press conference, Keith Martin, of the Canadian Alliance, said that if the government agreed to the three parties' demands, Mugabe could face arrest and trial if he ever stepped foot on Canadian soil or if he visited any other country with which Canada has extradition agreements.

In addition, said Irwin Cotler of Canada's governing Liberal Party, Zimbabwe should be "permanently suspended from the Commonwealth," an association linking Britain with more than 50 former colonies.

Martin said there was irrefutable evidence that "children as young as 10 are force to take part in torture and gang rape" by Mugabe's regime.

Martin claimed that Mugabe had been "using rape as a tool" to silence any opposition to regime.

hfw/mdl

Canada-Zimbabwe

LOAD-DATE: October 9, 2003

SECTION: v.32(32) Ag 15'02 pg 1,13; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5447623

LENGTH: 1124 words

HEADLINE: Bombing shocks MPs' aides: parliamentary assistants on Israel mission

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
Missions to Israel are meant to do a lot of things, not the least of which is to expose visitors to the day-to-day lives of ordinary Israelis.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Recently, a group of parliamentary assistants got more than they bargained for during a week-long visit to the Jewish state.

While enjoying lunch at the Anna Ticho House Restaurant in central Jerusalem, their afternoon briefing was interrupted by an explosion that shook the room and prompted local patrons to check in with their loved ones by cellphone. Only a block away, a suicide bomber had detonated an explosive charge, destroying a falafel stand but killing only himself.

Like the many Israelis sitting nearby, Tanis Gilbert felt the need to grab her phone and call her family -- in her case, her husband and mother back in Canada. They had been concerned about her visit to Israel and had asked that she call every day.

Gilbert, executive assistant to Montreal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, knew it was still early in the morning back in Canada and felt she'd wait until later in the day. To her surprise, her husband, who had woken early and heard about the bombing on the morning news, was soon on the phone making sure she was alright.

Welcome to life in Israel in the year 2002.

Back in Canada, Gilbert said the suicide attack was ''a little nerve-racking.''

''In a way, I think it was helpful to us all when there was an incident, because it helped us understand better what the Israelis go through on a daily basis.''

Despite the attack, Gilbert was effusive when recalling her week in Israel. The beauty of the country, its sandy beaches, its holy places, its ancient architecture, all left an indelible mark on her. Especially memorable, she said, was an impromptu ''baptism'' in the Jordan River -- not by a Christian cleric, but by a Jewish man accompanying the trip.

''I figured Jesus was baptized by a Jew; why can't I be?'' she said.

Gilbert was one of seven parliamentary assistants who took part in the mission, which was organized by the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC), the Jewish community's political lobbying arm on Israel.

Roy Rempel was also fascinated by what he saw. A defence and foreign affairs analyst for Opposition Leader Stephen Harper, he was quite familiar with the issues facing Israel. Yet he was surprised by how small the country is and by the unmilitarized atmosphere in its major cities.

''I had certain preconceptions of what security would be like -- streets cordoned off, metal detectors at shopping centres. That wasn't the case, and I was surprised.''

Rempel was also taken aback at ''the extent to which Israelis continue to go to restaurants and to get on with their lives.''

Rempel admitted he felt somewhat ill at ease during portions of the trip. On their first night in Israel, the group stopped at an outdoor falafel restaurant and he felt somewhat nervous.

Beyond experiencing the uncertainty felt by ordinary Israelis, Rempel found the trip illuminating in a broader, strategic sense. During a visit to Israel's northern frontier, a trip that only took a few hours, he witnessed for himself the pre-1967 borders and ''the security dilemma Israel faces up there.''

Hills in Lebanon overlook the northern town of Metulla and ''you get a sense of how vulnerable those communities are. Hezbollah positions look down on a child's wading pool at [Metulla's] Canada Centre,'' he noted.

Gilbert, who was quite familiar with the Israeli scene because of her work in Cotler's office, said she was scared during the visit to northern Israel, when the group toured an Israeli military outpost and came ''face-to-face with Hezbollah.''

The Shiite terrorist group has erected a billboard facing Israel on which it placed enlarged photos showing mutilated Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon.

''Hezbollah taunts the soldiers on a daily basis,'' she said. ''The fact they [Israeli soldiers] see this every day and managed to stay restrained was amazing to me,'' Gilbert said.

''The resilience of the Israeli people was amazing to me, that they go with normal lives even though things are blowing up around them. They have amazing resilience,'' she said.

A visit to the Shaare Zedek Hospital was a highlight for Laurie Scott, parliamentary assistant to Sen. Consiglio Di Nino, a Progressive Conservative.

Because of its location in Jerusalem, the hospital treats many bombing victims. A nurse by training, Scott was impressed by the hospital's efficiency in dealing with trauma, its triage system and its contingency plans in case of a chemical weapons attack.

Gilbert was moved by the personal story of a young X-ray technician who was badly burned and suffered shrapnel wounds while trying to help bombing victims on Ben Yehuda Street.

The woman now visits terror victims soon after they are brought to hospital and shows them a photograph of herself, with her face badly burned, taken immediately after she was hurt. Thanks to reconstructive surgery, she remains an attractive woman and she tells other victims they too will survive and be okay, Gilbert said.

The group also met with three Israeli parliamentarians as well as spokespeople for the Palestinian Authority. Rempel would have liked to have met more Palestinians, but he said he got a sense of how grim things are for the Palestinians and their economy. ''Because of the actions of the extremists, Israel has to take security measures... It just looks like a grim and wretched situation, something created by the extremists.''

Scott said: ''I kind of felt sad. There was so much anger and animosity between the two sides. That was kind of discouraging. I felt both sides were so exhausted and angry and there wouldn't be any negotiations... I'm so Canadian: 'Why can't you get along?' ''

David Cooper, CIC assistant director of government relations, said previous CIC missions to Israel involved MPs and senators. It was thought that showcasing Israel to parliamentary assistants would help expose an important group to the realities of the situation. ''They're the ones often helping their bosses doing the research, so we felt it wold be good to reach out to this level of the Ottawa political establishment.''

The visit to Israel ''puts faces on the human situation,'' Cooper said. ''They come away with a very positive feeling about Israeli society.''

Others who took part in the trip included Mark Buzan, who works with Canadian Alliance MP Jason Kenney; Rob Moore, assistant to Stephen Harper; Patrick St. Jacques, assistant to Bloc Quebecois MP Richard Marceau; and Adam Dubroy, assistant to Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett.

Attack 'a little nerve-racking'

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 32

LENGTH: 217 words

HEADLINE: TORONTO MARCHERS BATTLE ANTI-SEMITISM

BYLINE: BY DAVE GORDON, TORONTO SUN

BODY:
More than 1,000 people protested anti-Semitism and racial intolerance in the Canadian March for Humanity yesterday .

"We want to spread the message that there should be zero tolerance for intolerance," said Sandy Stern, founder and chairman of Canadians Against Anti-Semitism, which organized the March that began at Bloor St. and Avenue Rd. and ended at Queen's Park.

"There has been a sharp rise in anti-Semitism in our city and in our country. This is not a part of our city's values. Our city's strength is in its diversity. Racism runs counter to the spirit of Toronto," said MP Art Eggleton, who spoke at the event. Other speakers included MP Irwin Cotler, MP Scott Reid, and Rev. David Mainse of 100 Huntley Street.

According to B'nai Brith Canada, Canada has seen a 60% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the past year.

Clyde Smith, 52, from the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem, said he came as his religious duty.

"It is important for Christians to stand with the Jewish people, and do everything to prevent anti-Semitism. Canada has had a checkered past and made mistakes, and it would be nice if those mistakes didn't continue."

Earlier in the day, vendors and shoppers alike came to support Israel at Mel Lastman Square, in the eighth annual Israel Day Festival.

GRAPHIC: photo by Veronica Henri; A YOUNGSTER takes a break during the second Canadian March for Humanity yesterday. About 1,000 people gathered for the event.

LOAD-DATE: June 9, 2003

SECTION: v.32(40) O 10'02 pg 35; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5486847

LENGTH: 800 words

HEADLINE: Jews expelled from Arab lands get new voice

BYLINE: Pomerance, Rachel

BODY:
NEW YORK -- An initiative seeking compensation for Jews forced to flee Arab lands during Israel's creation is gaining steam.

Justice for Jews From Arab Countries (JJAC) was launched last week to publicize the ''historical truth'' of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, said former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke.

The group says about 865,000 Jews had to flee Arab and Muslim lands because of hostility surrounding the the State of Israel's formation. That's more than the estimated 750,000 Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled from Israel in the 1948 War of Independence.

Many of the Jewish refugees were stripped of their property when they fled.

The issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands has been swept under the ''Persian carpet,'' joked Holbrooke, an honorary chairman of the new group, along with Lord George Weidenfeld of Great Britain's House of Lords.

Also taking leadership roles are Canadian MP and human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler and former Knesset speaker Shlomo Hillel, who helped some 100,000 Jews leave Iraq just after Israel's War of Independence.

The new group was created by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American Sephardi Federation and the World Jewish Congress.

The coalition seeks ''redress'' for Jews displaced from Arab lands. Exactly what form that will take should be determined in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the group says.

''If the Palestinians will be getting financial restitution, then we believe Jewish refugees will be getting financial restitution,'' said Stanley Urman, director of the Center for Middle East Peace and the JJAC's co-ordinator. ''We want to make sure that every time the issue of refugees is discussed within the context of the Middle East peace process, then the rights of former Jewish refugees will also be addressed.''

The group plans to collect claims from Jewish refugees, start a legal committee to document the claims, lobby heads of state and international bodies, mobilize Jewish communal support and back a public education project.

The new coalition comes five months after Israeli Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit said his ministry was preserving and computerizing more than 10,000 claims from previous compensation initiatives that had been abandoned.

The ministry has partnered with the Sephardi Federation, which has been publicizing the effort and seeking new claims.

The goal is to gather information on Jewish property in Arab states to counter Palestinian claims to lost property in future talks, Sheetrit said in June.

Most Jewish refugees from Arab lands went to Israel, which undertook a massive effort to absorb them. Today, they and their descendants comprise half of Israel's Jewish population.

In contrast, Arab states largely refused to settle Palestinian refugees, denying them citizenship and forcing them into squalid camps to keep the conflict with Israel alive.

Israeli and Jewish leaders believe any final deal with the Palestinians will include compensation for Palestinian refugees. But they reject allowing refugees and their descendants to return to Israel, seeing it as tantamount to Israel's demographic destruction.

But Palestinian leaders continue to insist on the ''right of return.'' The issue was a key factor in the collapse of the July 2000 Camp David summit and subsequent peace talks.

The impetus for the new group, Urman said, is the prospect of future talks, the Justice Ministry push for documentation and the fact Jewish refugees with first-hand knowledge of their property claims in the Muslim world are dying off.

Until now, Jewish groups and individuals have crusaded for the cause with little support. Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman of the Conference of Presidents, said there has been no ''vehicle for doing this on a sustained basis'' and ''the UN wasn't taking it up.''

JJAC does plan to bring the matter to the UN, asking both UN delegations and Jewish groups with consultative status to broach the issue.

One basis for the group's diplomatic efforts will be UN Security Council Resolution 242, which since the 1967 Six-Day War has been the basis for land-for-peace talks. It also seeks to settle the refugee problem - without specifying which refugees.

The JJAC said it won't pursue a lawsuit against the Arab League, as proposed in June by Amram Attias, president of the International Committee of Jews From Arab Lands, which is part of the American Sephardi Federation.

''Our priority is to engage in political discussions,'' Urman said.

Attias said his group is still examining grounds for a suit, but said he would defer to the new coalition. ''Right now, we want to talk in one voice,'' he said.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A17

LENGTH: 850 words

HEADLINE: Lawyer honoured for work in Bosnia

BYLINE: Harold Levy, Toronto Star

BODY:
Commands 'unparalleled respect'

A Toronto woman who helped thousands of victims of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina repossess their homes and recover their stolen land has won a prestigious human rights award for her work.

Lawyer Georgette Gagnon, 44, is not only the first woman to receive the Walter Tarnopolsky Human Rights Award, but she is also the youngest recipient.

The award is presented annually to a Canadian resident who has made an "outstanding contribution to domestic or international human rights" by the Canadian section of the International Commission of Jurists.

Every third year it is given to a person like Gagnon who has managed to achieve extraordinary accomplishments in the area of human rights before reaching "the mid-point" of his or her career.

The top level selection committee which chose Gagnon for the honour included one member from the International Commission of Jurists.

The other members were from the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Judges' Conference and the Canadian Society of Law Teachers.

Other recipients since the award was initiated in 1994 have included human rights advocate and member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, former federal NDP leader and former head of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development Ed Broadbent, former justice minister Mark MacGuigan, former chairman of the Canadian Human Rights Commission Gordon Fairweather and, most recently, Senator Gerald Beaudoin, a constitutional scholar.

"This is a highly coveted award in Canada's human rights world," Ruth Selwyn, executive director of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, said. "The award embodies the values and intellect of the late Walter Tarnopolsky, a great human rights advocate and scholar. And it is a reflection of the esteem with which she is held by her peers."

Gagnon, a graduate of the Osgoode Hall Law School, has been honoured largely for her efforts on behalf of more than one million citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were displaced by a 1992-95 regional war.

As director of human rights for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina for two years, she headed a 150-member staff whose job was to help people repossess their homes and businesses lost during the war.

Gagnon, who returned to Canada from Sarajevo at the end of June, said in an interview her work seeking justice for victims of human rights violations in Bosnia and Herzegovina was "overwhelming" in terms of the sheer numbers of people.

"Typically, we helped victims of ethnic cleansing whose loved ones had been killed, who had lost their jobs, who were forced out of their homes and communities, return to homes still occupied by the people who had moved into them," Gagnon said.

"There were tens of thousands of cases like this. It was a huge challenge to help them repossess their homes.

"Repossessing your property is the first step in a family's decision to return to your pre-war community. By making that happen, we contributed to stability and post-war reconciliation."

Gagnon's nomination was supported by Robert Beecroft, an American ambassador who heads the OSCE mission.

"I consider Ms. Gagnon to be one of those rare individuals who has single-handedly made a difference in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by enabling refugees and displaced persons to achieve justice while playing a key role in laying the foundations for a society based on the rule of law," Beecroft wrote.

"She commands an unparalleled respect among international colleagues and local counterparts in Bosnia and Herzegovina for her profound commitment to advancing respect for human rights in a country where abuses are still common ..." Beecroft said.

Gagnon majored in political science at the University of Calgary between 1977 and 1981, and receiving a law degree from Osgoode Hall in 1984, she went on, between 1997 and 1998 to write a master of law thesis .

In 1999 she plunged into human rights issues in Sudan where she studied the impact that trans-national companies had on the human rights of citizens in war-torn countries.

She later participated in several missions to Sudan that investigated links between Canadian oil development and human rights violations.

In 2002, she served as the legal and technical adviser to an International Eminent Persons Group created by the United States Secretary of State that investigated slavery, abduction and forced servitude in Sudan and recommended practical measures to stop it.

In addition to being presented with an inscribed bronze medallion at the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting in Montreal on Aug. 18, Gagnon will also receive a $1,000 honorarium. She plans to donate it to an organization in Sudan that helps women become economically self-sufficient.

Gagnon is married to consultant Dan Rath, with whom she wrote a 1991 book about the demise of then-Ontario premier David Petersons's Liberal government. She is currently considering an offer from the United Nations to do human rights work in Iraq.

GRAPHIC: Rick Eglinton/toronto star Georgette Gagnon, 44, helped thousands of people in Bosnia repossess their lost homes.

LOAD-DATE: August 12, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6A

LENGTH: 972 words

HEADLINE: STATESIDE

BYLINE: Melissa Radler

BODY:
Genocide Bombing

Two months after a White House spokesman coined the phrase "homicide bombing," a member of Canada's Parliament has come up with a new term to describe self-immolators targeting Israeli civilians in discos, pizza parlors and buses: "Genocide bombers."

"Suicide bombing to me is an inappropriate and misleading term," explained MP Irwin Cotler, who is also a world-renowned professor of human rights law. The term homicide bomber, he said, was "a quick attempt to offset the term suicide bombing. It's better than suicide bombing, but I think it should be called what it in fact is."

Cotler tried out his new phrase in the House of Commons on Tuesday, where he gave a minute-long floor speech condemning the "genocidal bombing" that killed 19 Israelis earlier that day in Jerusalem. Then, he personally explained his new term to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who promptly issued a rare statement on the Middle East. "Canadians are horrified by these brutal attacks," it began.

Cotler discussed the reasoning behind his choice of semantics. "It appeared to me that this wasn't just a matter of people committing terrorist acts for the sake of terror. That would be bad enough," he said. "People are singling out Jews because of a covenant that they commit themselves to, to the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews wherever they live."

Recovery, New York style

A member of Congress secured his visa, a Russian- Jewish emigre donated his surgical skills and Russian- Americans paid for 16-year old Sergey Losavridza's stay in the US this week, where the Israeli teenager underwent surgery to remove a bolt lodged near his brain during a recent terrorist attack.

Losavridza, a high school student who enjoys sports, was injured in a December 2, 2001 suicide attack on a Haifa bus carried out by Hamas. Six months after a corrosive bolt shot through his face and lodged in his head, a four and a half hour operation on Monday to remove the bolt was deemed a success by ear, nose and throat surgeon, Daniel Branovan.

At a press conference before the surgery, Rep. Ben Gilman (R-NY) - who stepped in after Losavridza's visa was denied by the US embassy in Israel - praised the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, Michael Miller, for organizing Losavridza's surgery and stay, the hospital and doctors for donating upwards of $ 20,000 in time and medical equipment to the injured teen, and the Russian-Jewish community for sponsoring Losavridza and his mother in the US. "When I was asked to assist Sergey, it personalized Hamas's cowardly acts of terror and barbarity," said Gilman.

Miller urged his fellow Jews not to become inured to terror's statistics in Israel. "Here we have a living, breathing survivor of a horrific attack," he said.

PeaceWorks

Fed up with the violence in the Middle East, a Mexican Jewish entrepreneur named Daniel Lubetzky inaugurated PeaceWorks last week in New York to solve a century old conflict halfway around the world.

With Jewish and Arab speakers in tow, Lubetzsky - founder and CEO of a company of the same name that promotes joint business ventures in the region - announced his plan to mobilize the Israeli and Palestinian masses in support of peace.

"A small core of extremists would like to achieve an absolutist agenda on each side," he said of the current strife. "One percent of the population has taken hostage of 99% of the population."

With a committee of 200 activists, PeaceWorks' plans entail gathering signatures (including anonymous signatures) by mail, telephone and the Internet in support of a general grassroots peace initiative, then hashing out a final peace deal using the January, 2001 Taba proposals as a starting point.

After calling for the masses to make themselves heard, a minor furor erupted at the inaugural event when an audience member said that Israel's masses have already mobilized for peace and that Israeli democracy already allows their voices to be heard. "If you would go and preach these beautiful ideas to the Palestinians, the next day you wouldn't wake up," he said, at which point he was heckled and told to "Be quiet!" by a fellow spectator.

Lubetzky tried to mollify both sides. "Whether there is democracy or not, it has been co-opted by extremists," he said. An Arab Israeli PeaceWorks member concurred, calling the audience member's comment "part of the dehumanization process."

Syrian ambassador speaks to Israeli reporter

After eight months of frosty silence, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations spoke to an Israeli reporter at a recent briefing held outside Security Council chambers. The gesture marked a first for Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe of Syria, who, along with his staff, had studiously avoided acknowledging members of the Israeli press corps since his country was elected to the 15-member council last October.

Syria's thawing diplomatic boundaries vis a vis Israel coincided with its assumption of the council's rotating presidency on June 1. During Wehbe's first week on the job, the Israeli reporter managed to get called on at a question and answer period, though the ambassador declined to answer his question. In another first, Wehbe explained his lack of response directly to the reporter. "He said, 'Why do you ask questions about Israel? I will not answer questions about Israel!'" the reporter recalled.

Jewish social scene

Hundreds of Jewish under-40s turned out for cocktails and humous at "Unity 2002," the Israeli consulate's first gathering of major Jewish organizations's younger membership under one roof. Spotted conversing with the locals at the event was Israeli basketball great and captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Nadav Henefeld.

"I'm really amazed by how many people are here," he said.

LOAD-DATE: June 26, 2002

SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. 85

LENGTH: 587 words

HEADLINE: Musharraf denies charges raised in book about Pearl

BYLINE: BY DENNIS JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BODY:
Writer Dennis Johnson is publisher of Melville House Books in New Jersey, which reprinted Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, by Bernard-Henri Levy. The book, translated by James X. Mitchell, was originally published in France. Johnson's column on books and authors formerly appeared in the Democrat-Gazette.

In response to a surprise question during an appearance before the Canadian Parliament on Sept. 26, the president of Pakistan has responded to revelations in the book Who Killed Daniel Pearl? that the killer of the Wall Street Journal reporter was a member of the Pakistani secret service, the ISI, and that the Pakistani government may be sheltering more who were involved.

In response to a query from MP Irwin Cotler, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said the author of Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, Bernard-Henri Levy, lacks evidence and that Pearl put himself at risk by his involvement with "a group that had contacts with all kinds of people and then he kept moving down into this world of extremism himself."

Musharraf added, "And then whatever happened, happened."

Ruth and Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl's parents, immediately denounced the comments. Speaking to a reporter from Toronto's Globe & Mail newspaper on Sept. 27, Ruth Pearl said Musharraf was "blaming the victim," while Judea Pearl said the Pakistani president was "trying to exonerate himself and the people he works with, the ISI."

The Levy book "raises major questions that the [Musharraf] government has never responded to," Ruth Pearl said.

Levy, meanwhile, called Musharraf's comments "outrageous," and "a slander on the memory of Daniel Pearl." In New York City on Sept. 27 to talk about his charges on the PBS news program "Now With Bill Moyers," Levy said, "Daniel Pearl was a journalist doing his job, and doing it fearlessly. He was not an extremist."

"This is the same thing that Musharraf had the nerve to say to President Bush at the time of the kidnapping," Levy said, "that Danny Pearl had been 'over-intrusive.' I am astonished that Musharraf is allowed to get away with these comments as a way of avoiding discussion on Pakistan's responsibility in this tragedy."

Musharraf has previously refused to answer questions about the book. During a state visit to France in July, Musharraf refused to answer reporters asking him about the book, saying Levy was subject to "vested interests," but refusing to elaborate.

The book, originally released in France, was released in the United States this month by the small independent publisher, Melville House in Hoboken, N.J. The book quickly become a bestseller in France.

Wall Street JournalEditorial Features Editor Tunku Varadarajan, in a review, said, "I commend this book," and praised Levy for his "painstaking research" and his "noble sense of outrage."

"He's one of the few to ask hard questions about Pearl's death, harder than the questions the Pakistani investigators appear to have asked of the suspects-harder, even, than the questions the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad was willing to ask of the investigators," wrote Varadarajan.

In a separate statement, Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger said the newspaper had no evidence to confirm one of Levy's hypotheses, that Pearl may have been investigating the exchange of nuclear technology between Pakistan, North Korea and al-Qaida.

"However," Steiger said, "we urge all the authorities involved in the investigation to review the book." This story was originally published on Sunday, October 05, 2003.

LOAD-DATE: October 6, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 510 words

HEADLINE: UK to address issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands

BYLINE: Douglas Davis, Melissa Radler Contributed To This Report.

BODY:
LONDON - British officials have promised to make "every effort" to highlight the cause of Jewish refugees from Arab countries within the European Union.

The pledge followed the presentation of a report by members of the Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) to Foreign Office Minister Baroness Symons and Lord Michael Levy, Prime Minister Tony Blair's personal envoy to the Middle East.

The JJAC report, entitled "The Middle East's Forgotten Jewish Refugees," notes that just 8,000 Jews now live in Arab countries, down from 900,000 in 1947.

It is seeking international recognition of the "de facto population exchange" of Jews and Palestinians, which "refutes the Arab claim for a 'physical' right of return." The report points out that "while everyone knows about the 'plight' of the Palestinians, few know about these Jews, who were "refugees no less than their Palestinian counterparts."

After the meeting at the House of Lords on Monday, human rights lawyer and Canadian legislator Irwin Cotler said the European Union "must take the lead in holding Arab governments responsible." He noted that "both Palestinian refugees and former Jewish refugees are victims of the Arab war against Israel."

The report, based in part on recently released UN documents, pointed to collusion by Arab governments against their Jewish populations, which Cotler described as "ethnic cleansing and criminal conspiracy."

Executive director Stanley Urman said the JJAC "will not allow this issue to be treated with lip service. We will plead the case for rights and redress in every hall of government in Europe."

"The issue of rights and redress for Jews displaced from Arab countries must be placed on the international political and juridical agenda as a matter of law and equity," he said.

The JJAC is demanding "recognition of the legitimate rights of the Jews from Arab countries and restitution of their private and collective claims for the loss of life and invaluable spiritual and material assets, including communal and private property that was expropriated or abandoned by Jews forced to leave those countries."

"At a conference on Jewish refugees from Arab countries, organized this past Sunday in London by the World Jewish Congress, speakers contrasted the integration of the Jewish refugees in Israel with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's refusal to resettle Palestinian refugees.

Carole Basri, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania law who presented a study on Iraq's persecution and expulsion of its Jewish population following Israel's establishment, said that the measures were "orchestrated and carried out by the state," and that they constituted "ethnic cleansing under international law."

A new WJC report, "UNRWA, Terror, and the Refugee Conundrum: Perpetuating the Misery," written by the organization's secretary-general Avi Beker, as well as Basri's study, will be presented this week to the White House, Congress, the British Parliament, and the EU Parliament, said Beker.

LOAD-DATE: July 2, 2003

SECTION: CANADA & WORLD; Pg. D02

LENGTH: 692 words

HEADLINE: MPs 'shield' Zimbabweans; Canada won't tolerate attacks, Mugabe told

SOURCE: The Canadian Press

BYLINE: Dennis Bueckert

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
Canadian MPs are twinning with opposition politicians in Zimbabwe in hope of deterring attacks on them during that country's tense election campaign.

Fourteen Canadian parliamentarians have volunteered to stay in close touch with Zimbabwean MPs who have been attacked or are considered at risk in pre-electoral violence by government thugs.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should know the whole world is watching the election, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said yesterday.

"This is to put the Zimbabwe government and Mugabe on notice that the kind of intimidation and violence he's been engaged in, he will be accountable for," said Cotler.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the Zimbabwean elections will be the main topic at the meeting of Commonwealth leaders on the weekend in Australia.

With the March 9 election less than two weeks away, two leading opposition politicians have been charged with treason for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe.

There has been talk of suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth but Canada has withheld its decision pending further developments.

"The situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating every day," Chretien said after a cabinet meeting. "The situation is complicated. Canada will be in the avant garde to protect democracy in Zimbabwe."

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said he was checking into reports from Zimbabwe that all Canadian journalists will be refused permission to cover the elections.

He said his "twin," Blessing Chebundo, has had his house destroyed, received death threats and narrowly avoided being set on fire after attackers doused him with gasoline.

New Democrat Bill Blaikie, another participant in the twinning program, said it can't guarantee candidates will be safe but should help deter attacks. "We're doing what we can at this end."

Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change, was charged with treason Monday and released. The offence carries a penalty of life imprisonment or the death sentence.

MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela, the party's shadow agriculture minister, were charged with the same crime yesterday after being summoned by police, said their lawyer, Innocent Chagonda. They were also released from custody.

The government claims Tsvangirai met members of the Montreal-based political consulting firm Dickens and Madson last year to arrange for the "elimination" of Mugabe.

Earlier this month, the company's president Ari Ben-Menashe released a secretly recorded videotape of a Dec. 4 {2001?] meeting in Montreal which he said incriminated Tsvangirai.

The RCMP has launched an investigation into the alleged plot.

Zimbabwean police say Ncube and Gasela accompanied Tsvangirai when he first met officials of Dickens and Madson in London last year. Tsvangirai has acknowledged meeting officials of the firm four times about possible publicity it could offer his party abroad.

The opposition denies it planned to assassinate Mugabe and says the secret video was doctored.

Tsvangirai has also alleged it was the firm, not the opposition leader, that first proposed a plot to kill Mugabe.

Ben-Menashe has called that accusation "total rubbish." He has also denied Tsvangirai's allegation that his company was hired to discredit the opposition.

In Harare, Tsvangirai said yesterday he had not made an error of judgment in meeting the firm, which had worked for the Zimbabwean government for several years, a fact he was apparently unaware of.

"I trusted the judgment of my subordinates who recommended me to see these people."

He also said the charges would not affect his party's presidential campaign.

"If it was so serious a charge as treason, why should someone be allowed to go scot free? Our programs will continue as we planned them," he said.

Tsvangirai said the government was trying to sway voters and accused it of banning opposition rallies to stifle his campaign before the March 9-10 vote.

In South Africa, Zimbabwean opposition activists said the decision to charge Tsvangirai with treason was an "act of desperation" by a government petrified of losing power.

GRAPHIC: Photo: REUTERS; Supporters of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe flash posters at rally before elections take place on March 9-10.

LOAD-DATE: February 27, 2002

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 26

LENGTH: 367 words

HEADLINE: MONUMENT EYED FOR SLAIN REPORTER

BYLINE: BY KATHLEEN HARRIS, OTTAWA BUREAU

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
Amid allegations his government's secret service was linked to Daniel Pearl's murder, Pakistan's military ruler says he'll consider erecting a human rights monument in the slain journalist's honour.

President Pervez Musharraf told the Commons foreign affairs committee yesterday that Pakistan is "totally committed" to fighting terrorism and promised not to proliferate its nuclear weapons.

He also promised to consider a request from the Pearl family -- presented by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler -- to install a tribute memorial.

But he rejected claims Pearl was murdered because he was about to reveal links between terrorists and Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI.

A recent book by French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy retraces Pearl's final steps in Karachi before he was kidnapped and beheaded in January 2002.

The author alleges Pearl was killed because he had found links between al-Qaida terrorists and Pakistan's secret service, and that a faction of the ISI was working with terrorists and trading nuclear secrets with Iran and North Korea.

BOOK 'CONJECTURE'

"ISI involvement in the killing of this young man in unthinkable," Musharraf told MPs.

"The conjecture that is being done in this book is very sad, and with what authentication?"

Musharraf said Pearl arrived in Pakistan from India and became more and moren involved in the "world of extremism.

"Unfortunately, whatever happened, happened," Musharraf said.

Visiting Canada to press for closer economic and trade ties, Musharraf also defended Pakistan's record on counter-terrorism, and said the enemy is "on the run" in small packs along the border.

Musharraf, who staged a coup in 1999, promised to relinquish military rule once the region is stable.

"I'm not giving a date, but I understand this is not democratic," he said.

"But under the present circumstances of turmoil in the region, internationally and internally, there is a requirement of stability and unity of command, which I am providing.

"The moment the democratic structure stabilizes, I will take off the uniform."

Today, Prime Minister Jean Chretien meets with Hamid Karzai, the president of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.

GRAPHIC: 1. photo of DANIEL PEARL; 2. photo of PERVEZ MUSHARRAF

LOAD-DATE: September 27, 2003

SECTION: v.32(35) S 5'02 pg B70-B71; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5456829

LENGTH: 3011 words

HEADLINE: The year 5762 in review: The year began with a security alert to Jewish institutions... and ended with an increasing toll of intifada death

BYLINE: Grachnik, Adam

BODY:
Tishrei

EVENTS

- The Canadian Jewish Congress issues a warning to all Jewish organizations, community centres and synagogues to go on neightened alert after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

- The Los Angeles Times reveals that the Mossad had warned the United States in August 2001 that 200 terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden were entering the country to plan ''a major assault on the United States.''

PEOPLE

- Isaac Stern, master violinist, dies at 81.

Cheshvan

EVENTS

- British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces that a Palestinian state is key for peace in the Middle East.

- Syria is elected to the United Nations Security Council.

- Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi is assassinated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israel responds by sending troops into six Palestinian cities.

- Shaar Shalom Synagogue in Thornhill, Ont. is vandalized with graffiti reading ''Jews must die/Taliban lives/Osama bin Laden lives.''

- Eleven Jewish organizations in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Windsor receive letters containing substances feared to be anthrax.

- MP Irwin Cotler says the selection of the United Nations and its secretary general for the Nobel Peace Prize legitimizes the ''festival of hate'' against Israel and Jews that occurred at the UN anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa.

- A Palestinian terrorist opens fire on bus in the French Hill neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Two Israelis are killed and the gunman is shot dead. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

- Then-foreign minister John Manley tours the Middle East. He attempts to get Israel to withdraw from Palestinian areas and criticizes the Palestinian Authority.

- The Israel Defence Forces officially declares dead three soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon last year.

- U.S. President George W. Bush, declares support for an independent Palestine alongside Israel.

- The U.S. State Department freezes the assets of terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

PEOPLE

- Simon Wiesenthal announces his retirement at age 92 after bringing close to 3,000 war criminals to justice.

Kislev

EVENTS

- Hezbollah rejects a secret U.S. offer to ''forgive'' terrorist attacks in exchange for ending hostilities towards Israel.

- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls for seven days without violence as a first step to implement the peace plan brokered by former U.S. senator George Mitchell.

- Vandals burn down part of a Jewish elementary school in Marseille, France.

- Eight Israeli terror victims go to Belgium to petition a court there to charge Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

- In a 24-hour period, 28 Israelis are killed in two separate terrorist attacks by Palestinians. The first occurrs in Jerusalem. In the second, a suicide bomber hits a city bus in Haifa.

- The Israeli military fires missiles at locations near Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's Gaza headquarters.

- Chapters and Indigo bookstores remove copies of Mein Kampf from shelves, calling it ''hate literature.''

- Canada endorses a UN declaration calling on Israel to refrain from violating the Geneva Convention.

- US mediator Anthony Zinni begins a visit to the Middle East with the goal of bringing peace to the region.

- Israel cuts of all contact with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, claiming he is ''no longer relevant,'' after a suicide bomber kills 10 Israelis near the West Bank settlement of Immanuel.

PEOPLE

- Shimon Fogel is appointed executive director of the Canada-Israel Committee.

Tevet

EVENTS

- Israel bars Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas services in Bethlehem unless he arrests those responsible for the assassination of Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi.

- Leger Marketing releases a survey which shows that twice as many Canadians believe Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat rather than Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is responsible for the resurgence of Mideast violence.

- The Jewish Agency for Israel says French immigration to Israel is up 30 to 40 per cent in the wake of anti-Semitic attacks in France.

- After seizing a ship headed for the Palestinian Authority from Iran with more than 50 tons of weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declares ''the PA is a central part in the international terror network, with Iran at its centre.''

- U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni concludes a trip to the Middle East, saying there are opportunities for progress.

- The Shin Bet security service reveals that Saudi Arabia has been sending money and instructions to Gaza for a Kassam rocket-development project.

PEOPLE

- Senator Sheila Finestone steps down after reaching the Senate's mandatory retirement age of 75.

- Israeli Defence Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer becomes Labor Party leader.

Shvat

EVENTS

[Graph Not Transcribed]

- A freak snowstorm blankets Jerusalem.

- Israeli forces enter Tulkarm, imposing a curfew and arresting dozens of suspected militants.

- Numerous attacks on Jewish sites in Paris trigger condemnation by French President Jacques Chirac.

- Israel's deputy foreign minister, Rabbi Michael Melchior, criticizes France and calls the counry the ''worst Western country concerning anti-Semitism.''

- Reports suggest the Al Qaeda terror network is trying to move its headquarters from Afghanistan to Lebanon.

- Six Israelis are killed when a Palestinian terrorist attacks a bar mitzvah celebration in northern Israel.

- A suicide blast kills 1 and wounds 100 others in central Jerusalem. The bomber is described as a 20-year-old female student from Nablus.

- Three teenagers are killed by a suicide bomber inside a shopping mall in the West Bank.

- Six Israeli soldiers are killed at a roadblock near Ramallah, leading Israel to launch land, sea and ground attacks that kill 14 Palestinians.

- Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is confirmed dead after U.S. officials view video-tape of his throat being slit and his head being decapitated. The tape also shows Pearl saying repeatedly that he is Jewish.

PEOPLE

- Comedian Frank Shuster dies at 85.

- Deputy prime minister Herb Gray, 70, unexpectedly resigns from Parliament around the same time that Prime Minister Jean Chretien shuffles his cabinet.

- David Levine becomes Quebec's junior health minister, the first Jewish cabinet minister in a Parti Quebecois government.

Adar

EVENTS

- Israeli forces strike the main security complex in Gaza City in retaliation for shooting and rocket attacks in the Negev.

- A new Saudi peace initiative is called ''a positive trend'' by a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but Israel said it would not agree to a key provision - a return to the pre-1967 war borders.

- Canada abstains in a UN vote that begins implementing resolutions passed at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which was denounced by many Western nations as an exercise in Israel-bashing.

- Toronto Police report Jews were the single largest victims of hate crimes in 2001, being targeted a record 338 times - a 66 per cent increase over the previous year.

- An Ontario judge orders Daniel Weiz and two youths to stand trial in the beating death of Matti Baranovski.

- A suicide bomber kills 10, including six children, in Jerusalem's haredi neighbourhood of Beit Israel.

- In a 24-hour period 14 Israelis are killed. Eleven are killed in a suicide blast at the Moment Cafe, mere blocks from the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In Netanya two Israelis are shot dead by Palestinian gunmen.

PEOPLE

- Ben Kayfetz, writer, broadcaster, activist and historian of Canadian Jewry, dies at 85.

Nisan

EVENTS

- Israeli President Moshe Katsav is honoured by Prime Minister Jean Chretien at the 17th Canada-Israel Committee Dinner.

- Arson is cited in a fire at Toronto's Anshei Minsk Synagogue. Damage is estimated at $100,000. Police say there is no indication of a hate crime. Books dating back to the 1860's were damaged in the fire.

- An 18-year-old Israeli is killed and 44 wounded in two separate terror attacks in Kfar Sava and Jerusalem.

- A suicide bomber kills 29 people and wounds hundreds in an attack on a seder at a hotel in Netanya.

- In Haifa, a suicide bomber strikes a restaurant, killing 15 people.

- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a national television address, calls Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat ''Israel's enemy and the enemy of the entire free world.'' He launches Operation Protective Wall and the army engages in heavy fighting in Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem and Jenin. Arafat is put under house arrest at his Ramallah compound. Two right-wing Israeli cabinet ministers resign from the government after Sharon releases Arafat.

- March of the Living cancels the Israeli portion of the trip.

- Nine hundred people attend the first-ever Edmonton Jewish Film Festival.

- Israel withdraws its troops from Bethlehem and the Gaza Strip, but leaves troops in several towns and cities in the West Bank.

- A Palestinian ambulance is found carrying a bomb hidden under a gurney carrying a sick Palestinian child. The driver admits it's not the first time Palestinian ambulances have been used to carry bombs.

- Anti-Jewish attacks take place in France, with fires reported in shuls in Lyon, Strasbourg and Marseille.

- Thousands rally in Paris to express solidarity with Israel and protest a wave of anti-Jewish violence in France.

- Three Jewish community buildings in Ottawa and Toronto are vandalized with anti-Israel slogans. In Saskatoon, the Agudas Israel Synagogue is struck by a firebomb, causing $130,000 in damage.

- Hezbollah fires anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces on the Lebanese border.

PEOPLE

- Maj.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon is appointed the Israel Defence Forces' 17th chief of staff.

Iyar

EVENTS

- Youths attack' the central synagogue in Kiev. They march down the street chanting ''kill the Jews.''

- Canadian Jewish Congress pulls out of a meeting of the Canadian Christian-Jewish Consultation, saying the CCJC doesn't support Israel in its fight against Palestinian terror and that churches have been silent on incidents of anti-Semitism in Canada.

- Twenty-three Israeli soldiers are killed in heavy fighting in Jenin, including eight killed in one ambush in an alley.

- Eight Israelis are killed and 14 wounded by a suicide bomber on a bus near Haifa.

- Six Israelis are killed at a bus stop in the Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.

- A crowd of 25,000 rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to show solidarity with Israel. A similar rally in Washington draws 100,000 people.

- Solidarity rallies in Montreal and Vancouver draw thousands.

- Canadian Jewish Congress calls the NDP ''biased and simplistic,'' even after leader Alexa McDonough apologizes for actions taken by former foreign affairs critic Svend Robinson during a trip to the West Bank.

- Israel captures Palestinian militia leader Marwan Barghouti, alleging he has been involved with ''directing, encouraging and financing terrorist activities.'' Israeli forces also capture Hamas operative Husam Badran.

- A truck filled with natural gas explodes outside a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, killing 15 people. Al Qaeda later claims responsibility.

- French Jews rally against extreme right-wing presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen, who shocked France by qualifying for a head-to-head run-off vote against incumbent President Jacques Chirac.

- Israel rejects a UN-led fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres claims the mission was looking to ''blood libel'' Israel.

- Twenty-two Canadian MPs and five senators - a record number - return from a trip to Israel sponsored by the Canada-Israel Committee.

- The standoff between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ends as Israel says most of the wanted Palestinians would go free, while a few would be sent to Gaza and a small number would be deported.

- A Palestinian terrorist wearing an Israeli army uniform kills four people in the West Bank.

- El Al begins direct flights between Toronto and Los Angeles.

Sivan

EVENTS

- Canada abstains on a UN resolution condemning Israel hours after a suicide blast at a billiards hall in Rishon Lezion kills 15.

- The Likud Central Committee rejects the creation of a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had tried to delay the vote on the resolution.

- After a meeting with Israeli Prime Ariel Sharon, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham says Canada recognizes ''the need for Israel to have its security and it must take actions to ensure security.''

- The Beth Israel Ohev Shalom Synagogue, Quebec City's only synagogue, is firebombed in the early morning hours.

- The Israeli embassy in Paris burns to the ground, but terrorism is not cited as the cause.

- Two Israelis are killed and 41 injured in a suicide bombing in Rishon Lezion.

- Israeli Defence Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer orders a 225-mile-long security fence to be built between Israel and the West Bank.

- Four Israelis are killed in two separate terrorist attacks. One attack kills three yeshiva high school students in Itamar and a 50-year-old is ambushed near Ofra.

Tammuz

EVENTS

- Seventeen Israelis, including 13 soldiers, are killed when a suicide bomber detonates a car loaded with explosives beside an Egged bus near the northern town of Meggido. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

- At the Ontario regional convention of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), a resolution condemning Israel is passed without opposition.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

- Israeli forces attack Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound for six hours. Tanks and bulldozers destroy three buildings. One shell hits Arafat's bedroom.

- Unemployment in Israel hits a record 10.6 per cent, translating into 270,000 unemployed people.

- The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) passes resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinians areas. As well, the executive committee and council adopts a policy comparing Israel to South Africa under apartheid.

- One teen is killed by a suicide bomber in Herzliyah, leading the Israeli army to re-occupy Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's compound for two days.

- In one week, 32 Israelis are killed by terrorism. In one incident, a suicide bomber blows himself up on a bus in Jerusalem.

- U.S. President George W. Bush, call for new Palestinian leadership through democratic means. He says if this happens, the United States will help put the new Palestinian Authority on firm financial footing.

- Israeli intelligence links Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to a $20,000 (US) payment to the Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.

PEOPLE

- Yossi Goldberg, president of the Israeli Ice Skating Federation, dies at 60.

Av

EVENTS

- Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, an Egyptian immigrant living in the United States, opens fire at an El Al ticket desk in Los Angeles, killing two people before being shot dead.

- Pakistani tennis player Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, who teamed up with Israel's Amir Hadad in doubles play at Wimbledon, faces criticism and a potential ban by the Pakistan Sports Board because Pakistan has no ties with Israel.

- The New York Times reports that former Argentine president Carlos Menem received a $10-million (US) bribe from the Iranian government to remain silent about his country's role in the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aries Jewish centre that killed 85 people.

- Nine people are killed when Palestinians wearing Israeli army uniforms ambush a bus on its way from Bnei Brak to Immanuel.

- One Israeli and two foreigners are killed in Tel Aviv by two suicide bombers.

- The Jewish Agency reports that 17,000 new immigrants have arrived in Israel since January 2002.

- The Israeli Consulate in Montreal. is one of eight foreign missions slated for closure by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The Montreal Jewish community begins lobbying to reverse the decision.

- Israeli forces bomb the home of Saleh Shehadeh, head of Hamas's military wing in Gaza. The bomb kills 14 people, including Shehadeh's wife and three children.

- A bomb in a cafeteria at Hebrew University's campus on Mount Scopus kills seven and wounds 80.

- Israel releases $15 million (US) in frozen tax funds to the Palestinian Authority to avert a humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian areas.

- Israel launches a new offensive against Hamas, sending dozens of armoured vehicles into Nablus.

PEOPLE

- Thousands mourn after David Rosenzweig is stabbed to death in front of the King David Pizzeria in the heart of Toronto's Jewish community while helping his son with a broken-down car.

Elul

EVENTS

- Israel tells the United States that it will respond to a strike against it by Iraq, even if there are no Israeli casualties.

- Israel announces it will purchase 1 billion cubic metres of water from Turkey over the next 20 years.

- Jewish leaders in Prague launch an appeal for aid after floods cause $4 million (US) in damage to Jewish holy sites.

PEOPLE

- Notorious Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, 65, is found dead in Baghdad from gunshot wounds. It's unclear if he committed suicide after a lengthy illness or was ordered killed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for refusing to train Al Qaeda fighters in Iraq.

- Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that, as of Aug. 30, 609 Israelis - 427 civilians and 182 members of security forces - have been killed by Palestinian violence since Sept. 29, 2000.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2003

LENGTH: 515 words

HEADLINE: Media Advisory-CIAJ-Conference on Terrorism, Law and Democracy: How is Canada Changing Following September 11, 2001

BODY:
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--A multidisciplinary conference, "Terrorism, Law and Democracy - How is Canada changing following September 11, 2001," will bring together distinguished national and international experts on law and security. The two-day conference will discuss the balance between the protection of public security and fundamental rights and examine how countries around the world, including Canada, have reacted to the events of September 11. It will be held in Montreal March 25-26.

The conference has a comprehensive program and brings together authorities and commentators from a diverse variety of fields, including: noted military commentator Gwynne Dyer, Ward Elcock, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, The Hon. Bob Rae, Paul Wilkinson, Director, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St Andrews, Scotland, Desmond P. Morton, Former Director, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, Alan Borovoy of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, MP Irwin Cotler, Vern Krishna, treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada and Stewart Bell of the National Post.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham will deliver the keynote address at the Conference luncheon on Tuesday, March 26th.

Among the topics to be discussed are the impact of September 11 on Canada's ethnic communities; international terrorist networks and the new threat environment; terrorism and the criminal law; does Bill C-36 give police too many powers; fighting terrorism financing - implications for the legal and financial sectors.

There will be a community forum, open to all members of the public, on Monday evening. The purpose of the forum will be to explore and discuss the impact that Canada's response to terrorism has had on the fabric of Canada's multicultural society. The forum will be moderator by Rivka Augenfeld, Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes refugiees et immigrantes, Montreal, QC and Peter Showler, Chair, Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa, ON. The panel includes: Ms Saliha Bahig, Psychologist, Montreal, QC, Dr. Rudhramoorthy Cheran, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto, ON and Dr. Emerson Douyon, Clinique Rene Laennec, Montreal, QC.

The conference is organized by the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice and co-sponsored by the Law Commission of Canada, the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies, Carleton University's Centre for Security and Defence Studies, University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, Universite de Montreal and McGill University's Institute of Comparative Law and Faculty of Law.

LOCATION: Renaissance Hotel du Parc - Montreal, Quebec
DATES: March 25 & 26, 2002
The full program can be viewed at: http://www.ciaj-icaj.ca/en/index.html The media is invited to attend the conference.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice Christine Robertson (514) 343-6157 Email : [email protected] Web : www.ciaj-icaj.ca

LOAD-DATE: March 18, 2002

SECTION: News; Pg. A5

HEADLINE: WILD ART;
WARTIME HERO REMEMBERED

GRAPHIC: photo by Andre Forget CP; Dr. Vera Parnes, founder and president of the Raoul Wallenberg International Movement for Humanity, places flowers by a bust of Wallenberg in Montreal yesterday. The Swedish diplomat, based in Budapest during the Second World War, saved the lives of more then 100,000 people persecuted by the Nazis. A weekend conference in Montreal on the legacy of the Holocaust hero was told his fighting spirit and humanitarian outlook should be applied to more recent atrocities. Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said 1990s bloodbaths, such as the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia or the genocide in Rwanda, prove there's a crying need for individuals to stand against killing machines. Last year, Parliament declared Jan. 17 Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day.

LOAD-DATE: January 21, 2002

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 802 words

HEADLINE: Diaspora Digest

BYLINE: Michael Freund

BODY:
Rabbi assaulted on Paris street

A French rabbi was attacked and physically assaulted in a Paris suburb Friday on the eve of the Shmini Atzeret/Simhat Torah holiday weekend, French television reported.

Rabbi Michel Serfaty was walking to a synagogue in the Essonne neighborhood when several men reportedly began pushing him. One of the attackers then got out of his car and punched him in the face.

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin condemned the attack, saying, "The government was determined to fight anti-Semitism and religious intolerance."

Police have arrested two men in connection with the incident.

Toronto marks Holocaust Education Week

The Jewish community of Toronto next week will launch its 23rd annual Holocaust Education Week, which will incorporate a series of over 120 programs throughout the greater Toronto area.

The Holocaust Center of Toronto and UJA Federation are organizing the 13-day event, which will open October 30 and run through November 11. Speakers will include Michael Berenbaum, the former head of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Irwin Cotler, a member of the Canadian parliament and an internationally-renowned human rights activist, as well as Maj.-Gen. Edward Fitch, the highest-ranking Jewish officer in Canada's armed forces.

Architect Daniel Libeskind will deliver the keynote address at a community-wide commemoration of Kristallnacht on November 8, when he will discuss, "Designing Sacred Space: Memorializing the Holocaust." Other programming will include a daylong seminar for educators, and the screening of a documentary on a British stockbroker who saved 669 Jewish children from the Holocaust. A gathering of adult children of Holocaust survivors will take place, as well as lectures on subjects including Jewish resistance to the Nazis and modern anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

A growing number of local churches also plan to participate, reports the Canadian Jewish News, which notes that some 15,000 people took part in last year's Holocaust Education Week. For more information, visit: www.holocausteducationweek.com .

Site of first Phoenix Synagogue reclaimed

Thanks to the help of local philanthropists, the Arizona Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) has succeeded in finalizing the purchase of the site where the area's first synagogue once stood, the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix reports.

The complex, located on East Culver Street in Phoenix, housed Temple Beth Israel from 1920 through 1949, and it includes the original sanctuary as well as classrooms, cottages, and a social hall. For most of the past five decades, the site has served as a Baptist church. It was slated to be demolished before the AJHS stepped in and raised the funds necessary to purchase the complex.

"We're excited that we are able to save this wonderful historical Jewish landmark for the entire community," AJHS president Jerry Lewkowitz told the paper. "Now that phase one is completed for the purchase of the building, we will now embark on phase two: soliciting the community for matching funds for Arizona and City of Phoenix historic preservation grants," he said.

The historical society plans to renovate the complex, which will be renamed the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center. It will be used to conduct Jewish life-cycle events, and may also house a museum documenting the history of Arizona's Jewish community.

Cleveland launches teen Jewish literacy project

Amid rising concerns over assimilation and intermarriage among American Jewry, a Cleveland businessman has come up with an unusual way to interest local Jewish youth in their heritage: paying them to read Jewish books.

According to the Cleveland Jewish News, the businessman, who prefers to remain anonymous, has committed the requisite funds to establish a program called the Committee for Jewish Literacy (CJL).

"It's not that kids don't want to learn about Yiddishkeit; it's just not easily accessible for them," CJL coordinator Channah Appel told the paper. "So, we supply books at no cost and offer a little monetary incentive to read them."

The program is geared toward high school students in the greater Cleveland area. Participants will be sent five short books explaining basic aspects of Judaism, and will meet once a month to discuss them and take a test on what they have read. They will be awarded $ 5 for reading the first two volumes, $ 10 for reading the second pair, and up to $ 50 based on their test results.

The books to be used include volumes on the Jewish holidays, Israel and the Bible published by the Jewish Literacy Foundation (www.jewishliteracy.org ). The response thus far, according to Appel - who hopes to have as many as 100 kids sign up for the program's initial run - has been positive.

LOAD-DATE: October 22, 2003

SECTION: v.33(27) Jl 3'03 pg 1,25; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5716445

LENGTH: 938 words

HEADLINE: Report calls for justice for Jews from Arab lands

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
A report on the fate of Jewish communities in Arab lands may draw greater attention to an often ignored episode of Middle Eastern history at a time when the Palestinian refugee claims are under discussion.

That's the hope of one of the authors of a legal report that calls for redress for up to a million Jews and their descendants who were forced out of their homes by Arab governments.

Winnipeg lawyer David Matas believes the claims of Jewish refugees must be addressed as an issue of fundamental human rights. The claims of Palestinian refugees are high on the agenda in any discussion of Mideast peace, yet the experiences of Jews is currently given short shrift, Matas said.

''This is not just about the peace process,'' he said. ''It's about getting justice.''

Matas, along with Montreal native Stanley Urman, is author of Jews from Arab Countries: The Case for Rights and Redress. The report was prepared for Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), an international organization that is lobbying for recognition of the rights of Jews who were displaced from their homes in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Aden in the 1940s and 1950s.

In announcing release of the report, honorary JJAC chair and Mount Royal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler charged Arab governments with ''a pattern of ethnic cleansing'' and ''criminal conspiracy'' in forcing their Jewish populations to flee.

Speaking at a news conference in New York marking release of the report, Cotler said, ''This campaign is about truth, justice and reconciliation; we must return the history of Jews from Arab countries to the narrative of the Mideast from which it was expunged.''

''Confronting the reality is as important as getting compensation,'' said Matas, who also serves as vice-president of the Canadian section of the International Commission of Jurists.

The reality as presented in the report paints a disturbing picture of a broad range of Arab states enacting restrictive legislation, fomenting mob violence and, finally, forcing Jews to depart.

''The status of Jews in Arab countries changed dramatically immediately before and after the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49,'' the report states. ''By way of example, in Syria, as a result of anti-Jewish pogroms that erupted in Aleppo in 1947, 7,000 of the town's 10,000 Jews fled in terror. In Iraq, 'Zionism' became a capital crime. More than 70 Jews were killed by bombs in the Jewish quarter of Cairo between June and November 1948. After the French left Algeria, the authorities issued a variety of anti-Jewish decrees, prompting nearly all of the 160,000 Jews to flee the country. After the United Nations partition vote, Muslim rioters engaged in a bloody pogrom in Aden and Yemen, which killed 82 Jews. Varying numbers of Jews fled from 10 Arab countries, becoming refugees in a region overwhelmingly hostile to Jews. In virtually all cases, as Jews left the country, individual and communal properties were confiscated without compensation.''

Of 800,000 Jewish refugees between 1948 and 1972, 586,000 settled in Israel. The report says, ''There exists a moral imperative to ensure that justice for Jews from Arab countries assumes its rightful place on the international political and judicial agenda and that their rights be secured as a matter of law and equity.''

The issue has been largely ignored by the international community, but there have been exceptions, Matas said. The UN High Commission for Refugees lobbied on behalf of Egyptian Jews form 1957-67, he said, leaving behind ''a huge paper trail'' but very few successful compensation claims.

Matas said the rights of Jewish refugees have been recognized in various international treaties and agreements. UN Resolution 242, which contemplates Israeli withdrawals from seized territories in exchange for peace, includes a provision for redress for refugees. The resolution does not indicate who qualifies as a refugee although debate at the time indicated it would include Jews fleeing Arab lands.

Matas said a number of remedies could be implemented to satisfy Jewish claims, ranging from continuation of the efforts made by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to legal claims under the Refugee Convention in 1951, to creation of an international fund that would be part of a comprehensive Arab-Israel settlement.

He was particularly critical of Canada's role as chair of the Refugee Working Group, established following the 1991 multi-party Madrid Peace Conference. Canada has ignored the issue, arguing it would complicate the situation, Matas said.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Marie-Christine Lilkoff said the question of Palestinian refugees had been identified as a central issue of the peace process.

''Since they do not impinge directly on Israeli-Palestinian situation, the claims of Jewish refugees from Arab countries should be resolved between the countries concerned,'' she said.

In other developments, the British House of Lords was scheduled to hold public hearings earlier this week, after The CJN went to press, on the rights of Jews from Arab countries. The hearings were to examine the response of the British government to the plight of Jewish refugees who fled Egypt in the mid-1950s. International legal experts and British and French Jewish community leaders were to participate in the proceedings.

At the same time, a formal delegation was to present Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, the British Minister of State for Middle East Affairs, with a copy of the report.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. A08

LENGTH: 406 words

HEADLINE: Ontario dominates regional cabinet representation

SOURCE: The Canadian Press

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
A regional breakdown of the 39-member federal cabinet. The cabinet was appointed yesterday by Paul Martin, who was newly installed as Canada's 21st prime minister:

LOAD-DATE: December 13, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 37

LENGTH: 357 words

HEADLINE: GRIT CAUCUS REVOLT;
MPS SAY MARRIAGE BILL MAY BE THE KISS OF DEATH

BYLINE: BY BILL RODGERS, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU

DATELINE: NORTH BAY

BODY:
Angry Liberal MPs opposed to their government's same-sex legislation finally got their say yesterday at a sometimes-raucous summer retreat in North Bay.

Sources say Quebec MP Clifford Lincoln gave one of the most impassioned and cogent arguments against the controversial legislation, telling the caucus he was as equal as anybody else in the room and had the right to his view. He later told reporters, "there are a lot of people (in his riding) that are very worried about it."

Toronto's Jim Karygiannis predicted many Liberal MPs would "definitely" lose their seats in the next election if the legislation were passed.

He said if he supported the bill, "I might as well pucker up my lips and kiss (my seat) goodbye."

An angry Pat O'Brien, a London, Ont., Liberal said, "It's very discouraging to hear the Justice Minister (Martin Cauchon) say, 'well, I'm coming and I'm listening but my mind's made up so what you say doesn't matter a hell of a lot.' That continues the farce that this has been for too long now."

Montreal MP Irwin Cotler, a former law professor, is recommending a compromise that would leave the current definition of marriage unchanged.

He calls it civil marriage, which would have "all the rights and benefits and obligations of a marriage."

Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who sat and listened, virtually shot down a recommendation by Pickering MP Dan McTeague that the government hold a national referendum on the issue.

The PM told reporters on his way into the caucus, "I'm not keen on referendums. To have a referendum to decide the fate of a minority -- it's a problem."

Chretien, who said he would listen to arguments for such a vote warned that if federal governments had put the French language to a vote it might have been banned in Canada.

He believes the same-sex issue must be decided by Parliament.

"We're elected to make decisions, like it or not. Sometimes it's not easy," the PM said.

One source predicted it definitely wouldn't be easy for Chretien. He estimated up to 60% of the 172 elected Liberals are opposed to changing the definition of marriage to include gays and lesbians.

LOAD-DATE: August 21, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 293 words

HEADLINE: Activists bloodied, unbowed

BYLINE: Amanda Ruth Thomas

BODY:
Despite a budget cut, close to 300 young people from over 30 countries kept a tight focus on activism as part of the World Union of Jewish Students week-long annual conference.

MKs Tzippi Livni and Rabbi Michael Melchior opened the conference on December 26, while the Israeli band Gaia kicked off a week of theme parties representing different continents.

WUJS Chairman Peleg Reshef said the recurring message was the need for Jewish student leaders to be responsible, not only for fellow Jews, but for their campuses in general. In a visible expression of this point, 30 Canadian students from Montreal and Toronto were in attendance, as opposed to the two to five representing other delegations. Montreal's Concordia University was one campus to which Palestinian students brought the intifada last fall. Demonstrators who took over the student union there burned Israeli flags and equated the Star of David with a swastika.

Guest speaker at the closing ceremony was Canadian MP Professor Irwin Cotler, who praised WUJS for its participation at the UN Durban conference. Reshef said Dutch students in particular admitted that they had not been politically active in the past, but had now realized that without action, their situation would revert to that of 1939.

"The Foreign Ministry is realizing our potential," said Reshef, "but students are very angry that after Durban and all that we did there, after all our educational programs, the Jewish Agency has cut the student budget again, this time by 20%. The students are putting all their energy into fighting cut-backs instead of the enemy outside. Although we come from different countries, we share exactly the same problems and face the same propaganda wherever we are."

LOAD-DATE: January 8, 2002

SECTION: v.33(25) Je 19'03 pg 30; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5643761

LENGTH: 360 words

HEADLINE: Abella to address OSCE conference on anti-Semitism

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
For the first time, a conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will focus on the issue of anti-Semitism as a distinct phenomenon, while a Canadian delegate will participate in one of the key discussions on how to tackle the problem.

Ontario Court of Appeal Judge Rosalie Abella will join a panel discussing legislative and institutional mechanisms, including law enforcement, as tools to address violent anti-Semitic incidents.

Abella will lead a Canadian delegation that will include Senator Jerry Grafstein, treasurer of the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly, as well as MP and human rights advocate Irwin Cotler. The conference will be held in Vienna from June 19 to 20.

In the past, the OSCE has discussed anti-Semitism as part of a broader anti-racist agenda. The Vienna conference will look specifically at manifestations of anti-Semitism in Europe, Central Asia and North America, as well as the role governments and civil society can play in promoting wider tolerance, the OSCE said in a statement.

Abella's husband, Prof. Irving Abella of York University, said the OSCE's focus on anti-Semitism is ''an earthquake.''

''For Canada to ask a judge, rather than a diplomat, to lead [the Canadian delegation] is significant... They've chosen a person who is Jewish, who is a refugee, born in a displaced persons camp, [the daughter] of Holocaust survivors,'' he said.

The OSCE addressed the recent growth of anti-Semitism at the 11th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly last summer. At the time, Sen. Grafstein urged his colleagues to endorse an American-drafted resolution that called on member states to issue strong denunciations of anti-Semitism.

The 55-member OSCE adopted the resolution unanimously, but Grafstein said he has had trouble mobilizing interest in debating the issue in the Canadian Senate.

More than 150 delegates from participating OSCE states, as well as at least 100 NGOs, are expected to participate in the Vienna conference. The U.S. delegation will include diplomats and congressmen and will be led by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 766 words

HEADLINE: New group to combat new anti-Semitism

BYLINE: Tovah Lazaroff

BODY:
Fighting surging anti-Semitism requires a new strategy, Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior said yesterday as he announced the creation of an international non-Jewish organization based in Switzerland to head that effort.

"It will be the approach of the International Commission for Combating Anti-Semitism that wherever and whenever anti-Semitism appears with its ugly face, we will expose, condemn, and fight against it," he said.

There are many Jewish organizations monitoring this threat, Melchior said, but there isn't a non-Jewish one looking at it from an international perspective.

"Anti-Semitism is not just a threat against Jews, it's a threat to the basis of civilization, decency, and democracy. " said Irwin Cotler, one of the founding members of the commission. He is a human rights lawyer, a member of the Faculty of Law at McGill University in Montreal, and a member of Canada's Parliament.

Hatred against Jews is not new, but today it has a new emphasis that must be addressed, Cotler said.

"This threat always begins with the Jews and never ends with the Jews," said Per Ahlmark, a former deputy prime minister of Sweden and European co-chairman of UN Watch.

"We are witnessing a new anti-Jewishness, one that is a dramatic transformation, grounded in classical anti- Semitism, but distinguishable from it," said Cotler. "That is the singling out of Israel and the Jewish people for discriminatory treatment in the international arena."

Traditional anti-Semitism denied Jews the right to live as equal members of society, the new anti-Jewishness is a denial of the right of Jewish people to live an as equal member of the family of nations, Cotler said.

Experts point to the fact that anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise. According to the Annual Report on Anti- Semitism in the World by Tel Aviv University, terror attacks against Jews rose from from 32 in 1999 to 66 in 2000. Other violent incidents rose from 114 to 190.

But what concerns Cotler is discrimination against the State of Israel in the international arena.

"It's carried out under the protective cover of international law and human rights," Cotler said.

The most blaring example, is of course, is the anti- Semitism at the UN conference against racism in Durban last summer, he said.

But there are many others. Israel is singled out for differential treatment in other UN conferences. Thirty percent of the indictments by the United Nations Human Rights Commission are against Israel, Cotler said.

Last December, for the first time in 52 years, an indictment was registered a against a country under the Geneva Conventions - Israel. "For 52 years, no one was ever brought before them, not for the genocide in Cambodia, not for the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia," Cotler said.

Israel is also excluded from participating in international bodies that levy such indictments, he said.

It took four years to plan the Durban conference, Cotler said. But only six weeks was spent organizing a protest for the anti-Semitism it exhibited. Had this new commission been in existence it would have been lobbying to keep anti-Semitism out of the conference from the start, he said.

"If you have a member state of the UN like Iran calling for the destruction of Israel, the UN should be responding. When Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews, the international community should be alarmed," Cotler said.

"Nothing I am saying here is intended to suggest that Israel is not accountable for any violations like any other state, that is the point, like any other state. No one is suggesting that Israel should be above the law, but Israel is being systematically denied equality before the law," Cotler said.

The commission will also explore anti-Semitic rhetoric by the Palestinian Authority, including Chairman Yasser Arafat, said Melchior.

Anti-Israel rhetoric by Palestinians was not taken seriously enough in the past, he said.

"There can't be a peace process with the incitement going on," he said.

"Regardless of how we look at the Middle East conflict, anti-Semitism can never be accepted," said Ahlmark.

Neither Melchior, Ahlmark, nor Cotler was specific as to how the organization would be funded or how many members it would have. Developing a board and a president is one of its first tasks, Cotler said. Eventually, national committees would also be set up in each participating country.

The International Commission for Combating Anti- Semitism will initially also have offices in New York and Jerusalem.

LOAD-DATE: January 7, 2002

SECTION: (709) O 20'03; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5878124

LENGTH: 989 words

HEADLINE: Hill staffers running in Ottawa-area municipal elections: dhaliwal hires a new B.C. assistant (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Rana, F Abbas

BODY:
One current and one former Parliament Hill staffer have thrown their hats into the ring and are running in the Ottawa municipal elections on Nov. 10, 2003.

[Graphs Not Transcribed]

Jean-Francois Claude, a former special assistant to Government House Leader Don Boudria and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, is running for the position of councillor for Innes ward in Ottawa, while Sean Casey, executive assistant to Alliance MP Randy White, is running for a school board trustee position from zone 3 of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

Mr. Claude is married to Tanis Gilbert, executive assistant to Quebec Liberal MP Irwin Cotler who represents the riding of Mount Royal. Mr. Claude hails from Ottawa. He earned his BA in communications from the University of Ottawa and started to work as legislative assistant first with Ontario Liberal MPP Jean Poirier and later on with Jean-Marc Lalonde. In 1996, Mr. Claude started to work on Parliament Hill first as special assistant to Mr. Boudria and then in the same position with Mr. Dion. Currently, he is serving as a senior adviser with Communications Canada.

The incumbent councillor Rainer Bloess has represented the Innes ward for nine years.

In an interview last week with Hill Climbers, Mr. Claude said he was optimistic he can win this race which he said is being widely labelled as ''the race to watch in Ottawa.''

''I think we stand a tremendous chance. There is an appetite for change not only in this ward but we also saw it in the recent provincial election. We have a very solid organization in place. We are on target in terms of our fundraising objectives and our canvassing. It's a headon race, there are only two candidates,'' said Mr. Claude.

Mr. Claude said that the spending limit in this election is expected to be $23,000 and his campaign has already raised more than half of this amount. He also said that in this campaign, along with his family and friends, some of the current and former Hill staffers who live in the ward are helping him out.

Mr. Casey, 34, who is running for the position of school board trustee is a native of Markham, Ont., and has his bachelor of journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa. After his graduation, he started to work at a local radio network CKBY, now known as Y105 and later on at CHEZ FM as a reporter. As a reporter for the two radio networks, he mostly covered municipal politics. In 1994, Mr. Casey joined the office of former deputy mayor Allan Higdon as communications assistant.

Mr. Casey moved to federal politics in 1997 as communications assistant to Alliance MP Randy White and was promoted to the position of executive assistant to Mr. White in 2000. Currently, Mr. White is a solicitor general critic and is incharge of election readiness for the Canadian Alliance party.

Two other candidates Norm MacDonald and David Burkitt along with Mr. Casey are running for the position of school board trustee.

In an interview last week, Mr. Casey, who lives in Barrhaven, said he decided to run for a school board trustee because there is an ''extreme shortage'' of schools and nothing has been done to fix this problem.

''I thought if somebody doesn't work or get on to the board and work with them to do some kind of planning in order to build some new schools in this area and upgrade some of the existing facilities, these kids are going to have nowhere to go,'' said Mr. Casey.

''I'd like to see balanced books, I'd like to see a long-term plan in order to build schools in communities where they are needed something that currently doesn't exist.''

Mr. Casey said if elected, he will be involved in the decision-making process related to the school board on issues such as ''transportation, hiring teachers, to basically administering the entire school board and how the money is spent, what schools are built, what schools are repaired, what schools are closed.''

DHALIWAL HIRES A NEW WESTERN ASSISTANT

Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, who represents the British Columbia riding of Vancouver South-Burnaby and is the political minister for the province, has hired a new assistant for British Columbia.

Carla Brumpton, 23, started her new job earlier this month replacing Michael Drummond, who has now started working as manager, public consultation at TransLink, Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority in Vancouver, B.C.

Originally from Kelowna, B.C., Ms. Brumpton earned her BA from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C. After her graduation, she briefly worked as research assistant at Industry Canada.

Before starting her current job, Ms. Brumpton was working as a special assistant in Mr. Dhaliwal's regional office in Vancouver, B.C.

As a special assistant, Ms. Brumpton will be responsible for files such as softwood lumber and offshore oil on which she will keep the Minister abreast with different developments on these files.

EA TO ALLIANCE MP KEITH MARTIN LEAVES

Alliance MP Keith Martin, who represents the B.C. riding of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, announced last week that John Koury his longtime EA in the riding office will leave his job on Nov. 15.

Mr. Koury, who has served as executive assistant to Mr. Martin for the last seven years, has recently completed his MBA and is now ''searching for new opportunities and challenges.'' He was also campaign manager for Mr. Martin's national run for the 2000 leadership campaign of the Alliance party.

In a press release issued last week, Mr. Martin said ''Mr. Koury has been a loyal and superb executive assistant, displaying outstanding skills in organization, communication and management. He will be an enormous asset to any organization that chooses to hire him, and I wish John great success in the future.''

[email protected]

The Hill Times

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: December 5, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 242 words

HEADLINE: Canadian MPs urge Mideast policy shift

BYLINE: Michael Freund

BODY:
A dozen members of the Canadian parliament are urging the country's Foreign Ministry to adopt a more balanced and less pro-Palestinian approach toward the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Canadian Jewish News reported.

In a policy paper submitted to the government, the MPs suggested a number of significant changes to Canadian foreign policy which would revamp the country's stance vis- a-vis Israel.

These would include recognizing that the Jewish state has a legitimate right to combat terror, marginalizing Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority and refraining from the use of the term "cycle of violence," which effectively equates the perpetrators of terrorism and its victims.

"It's not proper to think of those situations of Israel attempting to defend its people as some sort of attack or retaliation on the Palestinians," said former Canadian defense minister Art Eggleton, one of the MPs pushing for a change in Canadian policy. Rather, they are akin to "part of a police action" to stop the violence, he said.

He added that Israel's war against Palestinian terror was comparable to the action taken by the US against al- Qaida and the Taliban.

The signatories, which include internationally renowned human rights activist Irwin Cotler, plan to meet with other parliamentarians, as well as with Foreign Ministry officials and heads of Jewish organizations, to drum up further support for their initiative.

LOAD-DATE: July 22, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 463 words

HEADLINE: WJC focuses on Jewish refugees, anti-hate legislation

BYLINE: Melissa Radler

BODY:
NEW YORK - After a two-day visit with officials in Canada where the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and anti-Israel sentiment on campus took center stage, the leadership of the World Jewish Congress is on its way to Hungary to press for anti-hate legislation, said WJC secretary-general Avi Beker.

On Sunday, the WJC hosted a day-long conference in Montreal entitled "The Forgotten Refugees," which focused on the 900,000 Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries in the aftermath of Israel's establishment. The conference, which included first-hand testimonies from Jews born in Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Libya, included presentations on the legal and historical basis of the refugees' right for redress.

"When you collect all the testimonies together I think you get a very grim picture," said Beker, who spoke about the perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee problem by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The WJC and other Jewish groups in the US have urged Jews who fled Arab and Muslim countries to file claims forms documenting their stories with the Justice Ministry in Israel.

"This is a clear case that all these people were refugees. The only difference between Jewish and Palestinian refugees is that Jews are no longer refugees," he said.

The conference, which was attended by 500 people, was followed by meetings yesterday in Ottawa with opposition leader Stockwell Day, who Beker said voiced sympathy and support for Israel, and Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, who called on the Canadian government to outlaw Palestinian terrorist groups. WJC officials were slated to meet with Minister of National Revenue Elinor Caplan yesterday afternoon.

Cotler, a professor of international human rights law, has long urged his colleagues to outlaw Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hizbullah. "It is past time for Canada to do the right thing, to name terrorist networks as terrorist entities, as mandated by our undertakings under UN Security Council resolutions and domestic law," he told the House of Commons last week.

Beker said he also discussed the recent spate of anti- Semitic acts on Canadian college campuses, including a riot at Concordia University in Montreal earlier this year that forced Binyamin Netanyahu to cancel an appearance. "We have to educate people," said Beker, noting that many Jewish students are not aware of basic Middle East history, including the flight of the Jews from Arab countries.

On Monday, said Beker, a team of five WJC experts from Paris, Geneva, and Israel are meeting with Hungarian Justice Ministry officials in Budapest. Led by Justice Minister Peter Barandy, participants are slated to discuss adopting legislation that would outlaw anti-Semitism in Hungary.

LOAD-DATE: November 19, 2002

LENGTH: 516 words

HEADLINE: Dissent over Canada's role in Iraq invasion without UN approval

ANCHORS: PETER MANSBRIDGE

BODY:
PETER MANSBRIDGE: Last week, we saw the first indications of dissent from the Liberal backbench over what role Canada might play in a war on Iraq. It started when Defense Minister John McCallum suggested Canada may decide to go to war without approval of the UN, and today more evidence of just how serious that dissent could be. Eric Sorensen now on another issue that's causing trouble in the Liberal Caucus.

ERIC SORENSEN (Reporter): It was a tricky photo-op, Canada's Defense Minister and the US Defense Secretary, a reassuring image to some that Ottawa and Washington defense policies are not at odds.

JOHN MCCALLUM (Minister of National Defence): The Secretary was very happy with what I said to him.

SORENSEN: But the message was troubling to many Liberals who fear Ottawa may join an US-led war in Iraq without United Nations' approval.

MCCALLUM: Some may say we're doing it only with an UN mandate. We're saying we much prefer that, but we may do it otherwise.

SORENSEN: That comment had an immediate impact on the Liberal Caucus. Carolyn Parrish confirmed to CBC she's prepared to sit as an independent if Canada does not stick with the UN.

IRWIN COTLER (Quebec Liberal MP): I think there would be concern in Caucus.

SORENSEN: Many Liberals insist all non-military options must be exhausted before signalling any willingness to join an US-led coalition.

COTLER: If it means that we're nudging towards being more open, you know, to a military option without a UN Security Council resolution, that would be premature.

SORENSEN: Since McCallum's comments, the Foreign Affairs Minister has been working to convince Liberal MPs and Canadians that Ottawa remains committed to the United Nations' process. Colleen Beaumier, who is in the Liberals' anti-war camp, is content with assurances she received from the Prime Minister over the phone.

COLLEEN BEAUMIER (Ontario Liberal MP): He assured me his position has not changed. That we will not be going in to Iraq unless it is with the United Nations.

SORENSEN: And the man who could stir things up in Caucus, if he wanted, has signalled his satisfaction with what he's heard from the government.

PAUL MARTIN (Quebec Liberal MP): Canada's overwhelming preference is that this should be done, if it is to be done, through the United Nations as a result of an United Nations resolution under an United Nations mandate. That is clearly Canada's preference.

SORENSEN: Which, even for many so-called anti-war Liberals, puts to rest suggestions of a brewing Caucus revolt.

JOHN GODFREY (Ontario Liberal MP): I don't think this has the potential to split the Caucus because I think we're overwhelmingly all of the same view, that we first want peace, secondly we want an United Nations solution.

SORENSEN: Ottawa has left itself some political wiggle room for Canada to be part of a coalition outside the United Nations as it was in Kosovo, but that position also puts many Canadians and Liberals on high alert for any sign that Canada might indeed join a US-led invasion of Iraq.

Eric Sorensen, CBC News, Ottawa.

LOAD-DATE: January 15, 2003

SECTION: News; Pg. A3

LENGTH: 463 words

HEADLINE: IRAQ UPPING ANTE: GRAHAM

BYLINE: JANE SIMS, FREE PRESS JUSTICE REPORTER

BODY:
Iraq is "playing a game where they are raising the stakes" by not allowing international weapons inspectors into the country, Canada's foreign affairs minister said yesterday.

"If they are going to refuse to let inspectors in, then I think it is going to be up to the (UN) Security Council to revisit exactly what we are going to do," Bill Graham, said at the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting in London.

The Iraqis have to recognize the efforts of the international community that are giving them a chance to participate in the ongoing high-stakes debate, he said at a news conference.

Iraq's refusal to allow inspectors entry tends "to give credence to the belief they are hiding something" and supports the U.S. contention Iraq is an international security threat, he said.

But Graham warned there has to be a "a clear and present danger" before any action is taken in the area because of the potential to destabilize a volatile spot.

Canada, he added, has been urging "extreme caution."

Graham's speech preceded a forum on the threat to civil liberties in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The debate, which was to answer the question how much should we give up in times of crisis, was a wide-ranging discussion, involving some the of the country's leading legal pundits.

Participants included: Darrell Bricker, president and chief executive officer of Ipsos-Reid polling, Hugh Segal, president of the Institute for Research and Public Policy, MP Irwin Cotler and Janice Stein, professor of conflict management and director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto.

Much of the discussion focused on the effect of Bill C-36, the federal anti-terrorism legislation.

Pollster Bricker said for Canadians, the loss of security has been at the forefront of public opinion.

"Canadians do feel less secure today than they did on Sept. 10 last year," he said, talking about limiting freedoms for safety concerns.

But as we move farther from the attacks, there is an increased desire for more personal freedom, he said.

Stein spoke of Canadians' fear of being terrorists' "back door to the United States." However, she said, no political leader can give assurance there is no risk.

The biggest problems are integrating the intelligence community, forging better communication and monitoring, with come civilian oversight to ensure rights are not being compromised, she said.

Graham pledged Canada's support to the international criminal court and urged the United States, which has balked at the court, to come on side.

Graham said he has spoken to leaders in the American law community who support the international court.

"What we want to do is have a world system we can really rally around," he said.

GRAPHIC: photo by Geoff Robins, The London Free Press; TARGETS IRAQ: Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham speaks at the Canadian Bar Association meeting in London yesterday. Graham warns there has to be a "a clear and present danger" before any action is taken against Iraq because of the potential to destabilize a volatile spot.; Canada, he says, has been urging "extreme caution."

LOAD-DATE: August 13, 2002

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5A

LENGTH: 851 words

HEADLINE: Government decision on Falash Mura corrects historical injustice - activist

BYLINE: Dan Izenberg

BODY:
Jerusalem attorney Michael Corinaldi, a key activist in the struggle to bring Ethiopian Jewry to Israel, bridles at criticism of the government's decision on Sunday to bring over thousands of members of the Falash Mura community currently languishing in Addis Ababa and Gondar.

"The decision corrects the historical injustice of 1991, when the government discriminated between the members of Beta Yisrael and the Falash Mura," said Corinaldi.

Corinaldi also rejects the criticism that the government did not give any serious consideration to the matter and instead made an out-of-the-blue, knee-jerk decision or simply went along with the demands of Shas and its religious mentor, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who declared recently that the Falash Mura are Jews.

According to Corinaldi, the decision to bring over the Falash Mura is part of a long process of persuasion and lobbying involving Canadian civil rights activist Irwin Cotler, former Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar, former deputy Supreme Court president Menahem Elon, and Corinaldi. Others active in the campaign are Avraham Neguise, director of the Ethiopian advocacy group, South Wing to Zion, and Rabbi Menachem Waldman.

Corinaldi told The Jerusalem Post that Attorney- General Elyakim Rubinstein, who also threw his support behind the proposal to bring the Falash Mura to Israel, read a letter in support of the move from Shamgar to the cabinet before it voted on the proposal, which was submitted by Interior Minister Eli Yishai.

According to the cabinet decision, "The Population Registry will immediately begin to complete the examination of the ancestry of those awaiting immigrant permits. Anyone descended from an Ethiopian Jew on his mother's side will receive an entry permit in accordance with the Entry to Israel Law."

The origins of the cabinet decision are to be found in 1991's Operation Solomon, when the government decided to bring thousands of Ethiopian Jews assembled in a camp in Addis Ababa to Israel. The names of those eligible to immigrate were listed in a survey conducted by the Jewish Agency. But when the Israeli officials reached the Ethiopian capital, they founds thousands of people belonging to the Falash Mura community who wanted to come to Israel but did not appear on the list. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir refused to allow them to board the planes.

Since the relations between Beta Yisrael and the Falash Mura were fluid, some members of the Falash Mura community did come to Israel in Operation Solomon. After reaching Israel, they called on the government to allow their relatives to follow.

The fate of those left behind was ostensibly settled in 1993, when a ministerial committee headed by then- absorption minister Yair Tsaban decided not to allow the Falash Mura to come.

However, in the next few years, relatives in Israel petitioned the High Court on behalf of their family members left behind. Between 1994 and 1996, a steady trickle of Falash Mura came to Israel. Some had to convert, while others underwent a special program to reacquaint themselves with Judaism.

In 1997, then-interior minister Natan Sharansky agreed to allow the 4,000 Falash Mura still waiting in Addis Ababa to come to Israel. But the government also decided that this marked the end of immigration from Ethiopia and refused to consider any more requests.

In the meantime, however, thousands more members of the Falash Mura community began to gather in Addis Ababa and Gondar. Since 1999, the government has allowed 200-300 Falash Mura into Israel each month.

Today, nevertheless, an estimated 10,000 members of the community live in Addis Ababa, 7,000 in Gondar, and 4,000 in villages in the Gondar area. Many of the Falash Mura officially converted to Christianity or left Judaism over the past century. The formal abandonment of Judaism came in the wake of political coercion or natural disasters, including a four-year famine, which decimated the Jewish population and isolated parts of the Jewish community. After leaving the fold, many Falash Mura continued to observe parts of the Jewish tradition, including Shabbat. "They are in effect Maranos," said Corinaldi.

Since moving to Addis Ababa and Gondar, they have informally returned to Judaism and maintain a religiously observant lifestyle.

According to Corinaldi, the Falash Mura are very poor and live in harsh conditions. They do not live in the camp, but often find jobs there, receive meals, and study Judaism. The camps are maintained by Jewish organizations abroad and Israel does not contribute to them, nor is it involved in the Jewish education of the community.

Corinaldi said he believes the government has applied double standards to the would-be immigrants from Ethiopia compared with those of the former Soviet Union. A large number of FSU immigrants are not Jewish according to their own declaration. Nonetheless, they are allowed into Israel in accordance with the Law of Return, either because they are first- or second-generation descendants of Jews or because they have Jewish relatives.

LOAD-DATE: February 23, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 423 words

HEADLINE: Group seeks justice for Jewish refugees

BYLINE: Melissa Radler

BODY:
NEW YORK - Decades after most Jewish communities in Arab countries were wiped out by persecution, expulsions, and flights to new homelands, Jewish groups here launched an organization to help secure justice for the Middle East's 900,000 forgotten Jewish refugees.

The aim of the new group, Justice for Jews in Arab Countries (JRAC), is to educate the public on the issue and advocate for rights and redress, said the group's founders at a press conference here yesterday.

Established under the auspices of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, World Jewish Congress, Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, and American Sephardi Federation, the group's chairmen include former US ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke; former Knesset speaker Shlomo Hillel; Lord George Wiedenfeld of Chelsea; and Canadian MP and international human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler.

In May, Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit launched a campaign in conjunction with the American Sephardi Federation to collect affidavits from individuals who fled the Arab lands.

"There are hundreds of thousands of Jews who became refugees in the tragedy of the last half century, and we're here today to raise historical consciousness," Holbrooke said. He noted that Jewish refugees outnumbered the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who became refugees as a result of the Arab-Israeli wars.

The founders said they don't plan to press for compensation for the refugees. However, they noted that past agreements cover the refugees' rights for redress. UN Security Council Resolution 242, passed on November 22, 1967 in the aftermath of the Six Day War, calls for "a just settlement of the refugee problem" and was meant to encompass a solution for both Jewish and Arab refugees, Holbrooke said.

A decade later, the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt entitled Jewish refugees to file claims in their place of birth, although he noted that nearly all the claims were rejected by the Egyptian courts and just one claim is still pending. At Camp David II in 2000, former president Bill Clinton called for an international fund to be set up to compensate both Jewish and Arab refugees.

"Our sole purpose is to ensure justice for Jews in Arab countries, that their rights be secured as a matter of law and equity," said Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman of the Presidents Conference.

"It's very important now that we address ourselves to a solution and that they are not forgotten," Wiedenfeld said.

LOAD-DATE: October 3, 2002

SECTION: v.33(3) Ja 16'03 pg 32; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5541884

LENGTH: 817 words

HEADLINE: Canadian at Oxford inspired by Limmud conference

BYLINE: CRAIMER, ALIZA

BODY:
What did you do on your winter holiday? If you are like 2,100 Jews in the United Kingdom, you descended upon the University of Nottingham for the annual winter conference of the Jewish educational organization, Limmud.

For five days, you go from session to session feasting on a veritable buffet of Jewish education. If you are so inclined (and I was), you can attend sessions from early morning until late at night at programs on community, culture, education, family, history, Israel, music, philosophy, social issues, Torah and more.

Between sessions, and while scarfing down the not-so-gourmet meals, people from all over England, continental Europe, Israel, North America and South America have the opportunity to chat and get to know one another.

Since the conference began more than 20 years ago with 80 participants, Limmud has grown immensely. This year's event featured 350 speakers and almost 700 sessions. There is something incredibly inspiring about taking an intensive period of time and devoting it to Jewish learning, especially during such a hyper-commercialized Christian holiday season.

As one person explained it, the goal of Limmud is to take each person further on his or her personal Jewish journey. This intent was evident in the variety of sessions and denominations represented at the conference. Whatever their personal background or level of religious observance, participants shared a strong sense of Jewish identity and a desire to expand their Jewish literacy.

For me, the sessions were the highlight of the conference. Of the 15-plus sessions I attended, none felt like a waste of time. That said, some of them stood out.

One of the best speakers was Canadian MP and human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler, who spoke compellingly about the ''new anti-Jewishness'' and indicators of this trend, including state-sanctioned cultures of hate (in most Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority) and genocidal covenants against Israel and the Jews (Hamas and Hezbollah).

Daniel Taub, a lawyer in Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave a fascinating lecture about negotiation theory, based on his experiences as a negotiator in the Israeli-Palestinian and Israel-Syria negotiations. I had never really considered the complexities of negotiations, and it was enlightening to hear about the dynamics and psychology involved from someone with firsthand experience.

In order to broaden my horizons away from my main passion, Israel, I attended a variety of sessions on other topics, including the issue of Judaism as universalistic or particularistic, Halachah and alternative medicine, and how to lead the Kabbalat Shabbat service. The latter session was especially useful and gave me a feeling of really connecting with being Jewish.

I am glad that Limmud has a ''how-to'' series of lectures that provide useful information for everyday Jewish living. Even though I will probably never lead a Shabbat service, I take pride in the fact that I am on my way to having this ability. Another bonus of this session was that I had the chance to ask general questions about praying protocol, long forgotten from my Akiva Academy days.

For instance, it was really bothering me that at the end of the Amidah service I could not remember which way to bow first. Now, I no longer have to rely on furtive glances at my neighbours (hoping that they too are not guessing). Bowing first to the left at the end of the Amidah may seem like a trivial detail; however, now that this technical mystery is solved, I can focus more on the praying and less on the esthetics.

Some may be thinking that attending so many lectures would be exhausting. But Cafe Limmud and the bar were great for re-energizing and socializing, and the participants in open-mike sessions at the Limmud acoustic cafe consistently wowed me with their talent. In the evenings, you could also do Israeli dancing or attend a Jewish stand-up comedy show. And the Brighton Jewish film festival selections were a great way to relax at the end of a long day of lectures. Whatever your interests, there was no shortage of ways to unwind!

As I relished my experience at the conference, I could not help but think about my fellow Canadians and how much the Jewish community at home could benefit from such a winter conference. I spoke with some ex-pat British Limmudniks who are working on a Canadian Limmud for spring 2004 in the Toronto area. I won't be home until fall 2004, but if Limmud is not yet established, I intend to organize one. With a lot of help (anyone interested?), hopefully, we'll see Limmud Banff in 2005! For more information on Limmud, check out www.limmud.org .

Aliza Craimer ([email protected]) is a graduate of the University of Calgary now working on an MPhil in modern Jewish studies at the University of Oxford.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

Canadian Jewish News January 16, 2003

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

SECTION: v.33(10) Mr 6'03 pg 33; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5569837

LENGTH: 633 words

HEADLINE: Remembering Bar-Ilan professor Dafna Izraeli

BODY:
CJN Wire Services

RAMAT GAN, Israel -- Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv last Sunday to pay their final respects to Bar-Ilan University Prof. Dafna Izraeli, who died the previous Friday after a battle with cancer.

Prof. Izraeli, 65, was a sociologist and a leading proponent of women's rights in Israel.

She was the founding director of the university's program in gender studies, the only graduate program of its kind in Israel. She was also founding director of the Rachel and J.L. Gewurz Center for Gender Research. Established nearly three years ago, the centre supports research in areas such as women in the labour force, women in politics and public life, changing patterns of family life, family violence and women and Halachah (Jewish law). The Gewurz Center was established with the generous support of Prof. Izraeli, her daughter and her brother, Samuel Gewurz and his wife, Brenda, of Hampstead, Quebec. With the support of the family, the university will be establishing an academic chair for research in gender studies in Prof. Izraeli's name.

In his eulogy, Bar-Ilan University president Prof. Moshe Kaveh said that Prof. Izraeli served in many circles as the spokesperson for women's rights in Israel and in the entire world. He vowed that the university would continue to pursue her life's work in order to eternalize her ''spirit, vitality and vision for the advancement of feminist rights.''

''I would define her as a leader,'' said Prof. Tova Cohen, director of the Heller Center for the Study of Women in Judaism and a close colleague.

''Most recently her leadership was directed toward starting the interdisciplinary study program at Bar-Ilan University. She regarded it as her most important mission over the last five years. She was one of the straightest and fairest people I've ever known,'' added Prof. Cohen, who has been appointed as the new director of the graduate program in gender studies and the Gewurz Center.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Mount Royal Liberal MP and professor Irwin Cotler, a close family friend, was also among the mourners.

Prof. Izraeli was born in France in 1937 and grew up in Montreal. She held a BA in political science and philosophy and an MSW in social work from McGill University and a PhD in sociology and anthropology from Manchester University in England. She served as visiting professor at New York University, Northeastern University, Harvard University and at University of California at Berkeley. Prof. Izraeli served two terms as chair of Bar-Ilan University's sociology and anthropology department.

Prof. Izraeli co-wrote six books and wrote dozens of articles on issues relating to gender in unions, work, family, social policy and the Israeli military. Her paper on Israel's first affirmative action law will be published in Women's Studies International Forum.

A tireless advocate for peace, democracy and women's rights in Israel, Prof. Izraeli was a founding member of the Israel Women's Network, an organization fighting for women's equality, the vice president of the New Israel Fund, a U.S.-Israeli organization working for peace and democracy in Israel, and was personally and professionally involved in bringing together Palestinian and Jewish women. Over the past two decades, she was an advisor to many government committees on the status of women in Israel, most recently the sub-committee on the Advancement of Women and Work and on the Economy in the Knesset Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

Prof. Izraeli and her late husband, Dove, who passed away just weeks ago, leave behind three children, Leora, Sharona and Haim, as well as 19 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, two brothers and one sister.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

SECTION: v.33(37) S 18'03; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5849909

LENGTH: 756 words

HEADLINE: Liberal MPs, senators oppose Al-Jazeera license

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
A group of Liberal MPs and senators is opposing the application by cable providers to bring the controversial Qatar-based network Al-Jazeera to Canadian digital cable subscribers.

Inclusion of the Arab-language network would likely lead to incitement against Jews, breaches of Canada's anti-hate laws and damage to the country's multicultural mosaic, the lawmakers argue.

Canadian Jewish Congress and B'nai Brith Canada have already lined up in opposition to the license application, citing Al-Jazeera's track record of broadcasting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial and glorifying suicide bombers

The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) and the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations, meanwhile, have stated they would support the application. In a news release, the CAF states it is important for Arabs and Muslims to hear news from the Middle East ''without North American filters.''

The controversy stems from a request by the Canadian Cable Television Association, an industry lobby group, and Videotron Ltee to add Al-Jazeera to the list of digital channels that can be distributed in Canada.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which regulates the broadcasting industry, has solicited the input of Canadians on proposals to add a variety of non-Canadian satellite services for digital distribution, among them Al-Jazeera.

In a written submission to the CRTC, the 13 Liberal parliamentarians say that ''allowing the Al-Jazeera channel to be carried in Canada would be detrimental to the public good. We believe this will disrupt the tolerant, multi-cultural makeup of Canadian society, import extremist hatred into Canadian living rooms and result in an increase of crimes directed against the Jewish people within Canada. As such, we are asking the CRTC to deny the application.''

The submission is signed by senators Jack Austin, Isobel Finnerty, Leo Kolber, Richard Kroft and MPs Carolyn Bennett, Irwin Cotler, Art Eggleton, Raymonde Folco, Marlene Jennings, Anita Neville, Jim Peterson, Jacques Saada and Joe Volpe. Most of the MPs represent ridings with substantial Jewish populations. Earlier this summer, the same group called on the Liberal government to shift federal policy on the Middle East toward a more pro-Israel stance.

The group's nine-page submission to the CRTC cites instances when Al-Jazeera provided a platform for terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and Hezbollah to disseminate their views. The network has also aired its own programs that have engaged in Holocaust denial and encouraged terrorist suicide attacks, they say.

Among the incidents cited in the submission:

- an interview with KKK leader David Duke;

- an interview with French Holocaust-denier Robert Faurisson, who testified for Nazi apologist Ernst Zundel at two of his Canadian trials;

- a statement by a Saudi cleric saying ''Jews are the most despicable people... worms... all evil.''

- an interview with a mufti who said ''there can be no peace with the Jews because they suck and use the blood of Arabs on the holiday [sic] of Passover and Purim.''

- a statement by Sheikh Yousif Al-Karadawi of Al-Jazeera's own Sharia and Life program that ''every man has the right to blow himself up inside this [Israeli] military society.''

- an e-mail read on the Al-Jazeera program The Opposite Direction that ''[Jews are] the descendants of apes and pigs [who] will not be deterred unless there is a true Holocaust that will exterminate all of them at once.''

Toronto-area MP Art Eggleton said Al-Jazeera's presence in Canada ''would be a detriment to Canadian society. The hatred spoken over the airwaves by Al-Jazeera could well contravene Canada's hate laws.''

Eggleton said that in recent years Canada has experienced a rise in anti-Semitism tied to events in the Middle East. Adding Al-Jazeera to the roster of cable offerings would add to the incitement against Jews, he said.

Montreal-area MP Jacques Saada said that ''Al-Jazeera is a station which has a history of allowing the distribution of materials that are contrary to our Canadian laws and Charter. I don't think Canada has anything to gain by being exposed to hate propaganda. Allowing it would go against the grain of who we are as Canadians.''

Coincidentally, one of Al-Jazeera's star reporters, Tayssir Alluni, was charged in Spain last week with having links with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network.

'Would be detrimental to the public good'

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: (697) Jl 28'03; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5851024

LENGTH: 1559 words

HEADLINE: The Hill Times' list of who supports whom in liberal leadership race, after Manley's exit

BODY:
MPS

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: (680) Mr 31'03; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5577901

LENGTH: 1543 words

HEADLINE: Government caucus 'torn' and 'divided' over Iraq war (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Malloy, Kate; Francoli, Paco

BODY:
OTTAWA--The federal Liberal caucus is "torn" and "divided" over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, say Liberals who predict relations will continue to deteriorate between Canada and its largest trading partner, especially if the war lasts several months and if more American and British soldiers are killed.

Other Liberals say Prime Minister Jean Chretien's (Saint-Maurice, Que.) leadership is missing on this critically important time in world history.

Although Prime Minister Chretien's Cabinet is dominated by "doves" who oppose going into this war on Iraq, a number of government backbenchers say the caucus is divided on the issue and that confusion remains over whether Canada is actually not involved in the conflict.

Some of the divisions surfaced during votes on a Canadian Alliance motion to support the war last Tuesday in the Commons, with at least four government MPs abstaining, including David Pratt (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.), Albina Guarnieri (Mississauga East, Ont.) Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal, Que.) and David Price (Compton-Stanstead, Que).

Liberal MP Albina Guarnieri, who is considered a "hawk," and who told the National Post on Jan. 30 that Canada should stand with its allies, was extremely cautious last week with her words. Ms. Guarnieri would not say whether Canada should join the so-called "coalition of the willing," making it clear that the decision has been made by her Prime Minister to stay out of the war. She said the time has come for the party to appear united and that "Canada should be looking for every possible way to support our allies."

Asked about U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci's controversial comments last week when he said "there are a lot of people disappointed in Washington and a lot of people are upset," Ms. Guarnieri said she did not believe he had over-stepped his bounds.

"Cellucci is a diplomat and whenever diplomats speak you know that it's always an understatement and I think we need to be sensitive and concerned about White House reaction, but I didn't hear Cellucci insulting the Prime Minister or calling anyone insulting names, so relatively speaking, some comments should be more circumspect," said Ms. Guarnieri.

Asked whether or not the Liberal Caucus is "out of control," Ms. Guarnieri responded: "Certainly, the comments and heated rhetoric are anything but helpful, although I think we should have a united front when it comes to foreign policy, we certainly should not be insulting the United States, particularly at a great time of sensitivity and we should redouble our efforts to enhance relations with the United States in every possible respect."

Last Wednesday was the first time the governing Liberal caucus met since the U.S. and British started dropping bombs on Iraq before 10 p.m. (Eastern Time) and 6 a.m. Baghdad time on Wednesday, March 19.

One Liberal source said the Prime Minister told the caucus that the country is divided and so is the party. The source said the PM addressed his caucus in a monotone voice and appeared "deflated" and "totally exhausted." However, Prime Minister thanked the MPs who don't take his dove-style approach to the war in Iraq for expressing themselves, and he vowed to stop the anti-American rhetoric flying out of the government caucus, or, as the source put it, "to put his finger back in the dyke."

A Liberal source said Art Eggleton (York Centre, Ont.), the former federal defence minister, stood up in caucus to say the 31 Canadian soldiers in Iraq should be removed by the Canadian government, which raised some eyebrows.

That Canadian soldiers are fighting in the Persian Gulf proved to be a major source of tension among the Liberals. Last week, reports surfaced that of the 31 Canadian Forces members serving on exchange programs with coalition forces, at least six are involved in logistical or support positions for combat troops.

"My feeling is that I couldn't understand the Prime Minister saying that we weren't there when we are already there. And there is no way we can pull out. We are in too deep. It's not that simple. So we are part of the coalition, indirectly maybe but we are still there," said MP David Price (Compton-Stanstead, Que.), a member of the House's Defence Committee and who is also considered a "hawk."

Liberals were also split over the impact the government's position has had on Canada-U.S. relations, especially at border towns.

One Grit source said Liberal MP Gary Pillitteri (Niagara Falls, Ont.), who owns Pilliteri Winery Estates, raised the Canada-U.S. relations issue at caucus and also defended Ambassador Cellucci's comments in the face of attacks from other Liberals.

Grit MP Roger Gallaway (Sarnia-Lambton, Ont.), who wasn't at the caucus meeting but whose riding includes a major border-crossing, said Mr. Cellucci's remarks should be seen as a "clarion signal."

Declared Mr. Gallaway: "I think we are doing great damage to ourselves at the moment in terms of that relationship. We have to say something supportive of the U.S."

Mr. Gallaway was particularly dismayed that the Liberal caucus is now seen as anti-American, and in some cases even "pro-Iraq." He said his office has been overwhelmed by e-mails and phone calls upset with the Liberal Party.

"I can tell you that we're getting a profound shift in phonecalls and e-mails from my riding that people are saying that they are annoyed with the government's stance [which] is perceived as anti-American. This is all viewed very negatively," he said.

Much of the same came from MP Lawrence O'Brien (Labrador, Nfld.), who said he was "dismayed as a Canadian" by the fallout over the events over the past few weeks.

"I just think we have a long way to go following this particular confrontation to put ourselves back on the footing we were a year ago. I am absolutely dismayed as a Canadian and as a Parliamentarian," he said during committee hearings of the House's Defence Committee on Canada-U.S. military relations last Tuesday.

"I happen to believe from my understanding that [relations] are getting worse by the second. That's my take and I can't change my mind. Those are my feelings and that's based on what I see and hear."

Later, Mr. O'Brien told The Hill Times that Canada should be doing more to help the Americans in the war effort.

"I would love to see Canada there, playing some role," he said, adding that he is confused by the role being played by the Canadian soldiers currently deployed in the Persian Gulf .

Another Liberal source told The Hill Times the party needs new leadership, and suggested that Paul Martin (LaSalle- Emard, Que.) "would have been a more effective voice at the UN and would have had a greater impact at the United Nations and would have engineered a better solution for Canada and for the United States."

But several Liberals defended the government's position and played down any talk that U.S.-Canada relations are at an impasse.

Liberal Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre, B.C.) said after caucus last week that she continues to support the Prime Minister's decision, saying he took a "principled position consistent with multi-lateralism."

Although admitting that relations are now "strained," she cautioned against blowing events over the past two weeks out of proportion.

"We have to remember that our relationship is based on more than just one thing. Like any relationship it is going through a rocky piece right now, but I think we can rebuild because it has been a strong relationship," she said.

Liberal MP Jacques Saada (Brossard La Prairie, Que.) agreed. "I fully espouse the position of my government. Canada's identity in foreign affairs policy has always been based on the fundamental value of multilateralism and I think we should stick to that," he said.

Mr. Saada found himself on the defensive over Canada's war stance during a trip to Washington, D.C., on the eve of the war. As co-chair of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, which was established after World War II to oversee bi national defence relations between Canada and the U.S, he was in the American capital the week the war started for highlevel meetings with dozens of military and foreign affairs officials from both governments. The other co-chair is a American Jack David, appointed by President Bush.

The theme of the meetings, which had been scheduled weeks in advance, was expanding continental security but Iraq quickly rose to the top of the agenda.

Mr. Saada admitted that his American counterparts put him on the defensive with many questions about Canada's decision not to support the U.S.-led invasion.

"It was friends trying to explain [their] position to each other," he said when asked about the mood of the meetings, adding that the American officials made their "disappointment" to him very clear.

"I had to explain that to us it is important to give as much strength as possible to multilateral organizations such as the UN. I explained that we should not be on the defensive in this regard. It's a very proactive stand that we have taken," he said. The Hill Times

[email protected] [email protected]

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: v.32(47) N 28'02 pg 35; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5518819

LENGTH: 688 words

HEADLINE: Mideast situation adds urgency to Hadassah meet

BYLINE: Lazarus, David

BODY:
MONTREAL - Rochelle Levinson launched her three-year term as national president of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO with a pledge to boost membership, to keep the organization vital for Canadian-Jewish women and to make Diaspora Jews more aware of just how much Israel needs them right now.

''This is still a very vibrant organization,'' Levinson, a 63-year-old native of Winnipeg who lives in Vancouver, said in an interview as Hadassah's 37th national convention came to a close recently at a downtown Montreal hotel.

''It's more and more difficult for women to balance careers and a home life, leaving little time for volunteerism,'' said Levinson, who ran unopposed for the presidency of the organization, currently celebrating its 85th anniversary.

''New chapters are being formed, but I would like to raise awareness about the organization and of the work we do.''

One positive sign, Levinson noted, is the large number of women - out of Hadassah's Canadian membership of 14,000 - who belong to its ''Aviv'' component for women 45 and younger. A highlight of the three-day convention was a reunion of Aviv participants.

''I'd like to see us grow in strength and in numbers,'' she said.

At the time of the interview, Levinson was set to leave almost immediately for a Canadian Hadassah solidarity mission to Israel being co-ordinated by her and her immediate predecessor, Marion Mayman.

Mayman, of Ottawa, made it clear before the triennial convention got underway that it would not be a ''business as usual'' event in light of the two years of terror against Israel that has left 600 Israelis dead.

The convention program clearly reflected that.

Besides featuring panels on Israel and the media and on what Jewish students face on campuses, the convention, chaired by Susan Balinsky and Maxine Sanders, also presented awards to two friends of the Jewish state: human rights lawyer and Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, who received the Humanitarian Award, and hockey legend Jean Beliveau, who received the Canadian Award.

Beliveau has travelled several times to Israel for the Maccabiah Games and shown strong sympathy for Israel.

At the convention's closing dinner, attended by about 300 delegates, Israel's ambassador to Canada, Haim Divon, praised Canadian Hadassah-WIZO and referred to the ''reassurance and strength'' provided by Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, which Canadian Hadassah has raised funds for since 1990. Also singled out for a tribute was veteran Canadian Hadassah executive vice-president Lily Frank, a name synonymous with the organization.

The evening's most memorable moment came when the Dr. Avraham Rivkind, who heads the hospital's Trauma Unit in Ein Kerem and which has treated hundreds of terror victims, accepted Canadian Hadassah's highest honour, the Rebecca Sieff Award.

To Rivkind's surprise, Shimon Ohana, a young Israeli whom he had literally brought back from death two years ago, appeared at the presentation ceremony with his mother Rachel.

Ohana, then 18 and a police border recruit, was shot in the heart soon after the start of the latest intifadah in the Jerusalem suburb of Gilo. Rivkind never gave up on him, even though Ohana showed no vital signs and was clinically dead.

Past recipients of the Rebecca Sieff Award have included former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, conductor Zubin Mehta, filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, and Soviet refusenik Ida Nudel.

Another convention highlight was a tribute to three lieutenant-governors: Lise Thibault of Quebec, Marilyn Trenholme Counsell of New Brunswick and Myra Freeman of Nova Scotia, who is Jewish.

The convention also stressed the need for continued support of Canadian-funded Hadassah projects in Israel.

They include a network of day-care centres, schools, residences and youth villages, and two hospitals: Assaf Harofeh Hospital near Ben-Gurion Airport and Hadassah Hospital.

At the closing dinner, it was announced that the Dan family had just pledged $500,000 towards Canadian Hadassah projects in Israel, including $100,000 for Hadassah Hospital's Trauma Unit.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: May 5, 2003

SECTION: v.32(44) N 7'02 pg 34; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5500896

LENGTH: 660 words

HEADLINE: Reconstructionist convention set for Montreal

BODY:
MONTREAL - The 39th Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF) convention, to take place Nov 7 to 10, will gather over 300 people from across the continent for four days of learning, worship and networking.

The JRF is the synagogue organization of the Reconstructionist movement, providing its 103 affiliated congregations with a wide array of services.

These services include rabbinic placement, and national and regional offices that offer consultation on key areas of congregational life, including youth and adult education, leadership, development, outreach and community-building initiatives, fund-raising and budgeting, as well as musical, liturgical and other resources.

The theme of the convention, the first in Montreal since 1967, is Self, Congregation, Community and the World: Seeking a Reconstructionist Balance.

It is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Lavy Becker, founding rabbi of Congregation Dorshei Emet, the Reconstructionist synagogue of Montreal; and Rabbi Ira Eisenstein, credited with founding Reconstructionism as a separate movement.

Shabbat morning services will be held at Congregation Dorshei Emet's new building.

The convention's opening plenary session, Jewish Identity in the Modern World, will feature Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University and member of Congregation Dorshei Emet; and Rabbi Shawn Zevit, JRF director of outreach and congregational services.

The session will examine where Reconstructionism fits into the landscape of North American Jewish life in both historical and contemporary contexts, using information from the recently released National Jewish Population Survey and other sources.

Participants will have the opportunity to gather in small groups by geographic region to discuss the findings, and their impact on local communities.

Keynote speaker, MP Irwin Cotler, will consider the global implications of the rise in racism and anti-Semitism.

Convention participants will celebrate the many successes of the Reconstructionist movement over the past two years, including the establishment of the first Reconstructionist summer camp that completed its first session this summer; and a new Israel programs department.

Teens from 14 charter member congregations will join lay and professional leaders for special programming and the launch of No'ar Hadash (New Youth), the Reconstructionist Youth Programming Network.

About 40 workshops will be offered on topics including Interactive Jewish Art, Rabbi-Congregational Relations, Leading Shabbat Services, Canadian Jewry in Comparative Perspective and Reconstructionist Halakhah.

Also at the convention, Ilana Axel of Congregation Shir Hadash in Northbrook, Ill. and Staci Scheinblum of Kehilat HaNahar in New Hope, Penn., will be awarded the JRF Master Teacher Award presented to Jewish educators for their exemplary dedication to children's Jewish education.

The first ever Kehilat Tzedek Award, honoring a JRF community for its innovative, effective and sustained work in tikkun olam, will be presented to Darchei Noam Congregation of Toronto.

The business plenum will elect a new board and officers.

Daniel Cedarbaum of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. has been nominated as the new JRF president. He has served on the board since 1990 as secretary, treasurer and vice president of financial affairs.

Affiliates also have access to other Reconstructionist institutions, including the Reconstructionist Press, which publishes a broad selection of books including the six-volume prayerbook series Kol Haneshamah, a Passover Haggadah and CD, educational materials, musical recordings keyed to the liturgy, and related materials; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, which trains rabbis, teachers and spiritual leaders; and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the professional support organization for Reconstructionist rabbis.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2003

SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS

DISTRIBUTION: Attention News Editors

LENGTH: 820 words

HEADLINE: Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region - Father of Slain Journalist Daniel Pearl, and First Nations Chief Matthew Coon Come to Headline Event

DATELINE: MONTREAL, May 29

BODY:
This Sunday Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region (CJC, QR) will hold its triennial Conference, "Breaking Barriers...Building Bridges" which will include major sessions on antisemitism, "Breaking out of the Jewish Bubble", and a town hall on tolerance in Quebec and will take place on:

Participants will hear from Dr. Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl; Amy Stevens, Deputy Front Page Editor of the Wall Street Journal; Jean Lapierre, well-known TQS & CKAC journalist; First Nations Chief Matthew Coon Come; Montreal Police Director Michel Sarrazin; Guy Bouthillier, past-President of the SSJB; Rwandan satirist Michel M'mbara; Graeme Decarie, historian and broadcaster; Enza Cappadoro, co-President, National Congress of Italian-Canadians, Federal Immigration Minister Denis Coderre, Quebec Minister of Revenue Lawrence Bergman, and many more. (see attached program for more details.) An award ceremony will feature Most Rt. Rev. Andrew S. Hutchison as a recipient of the Allan Rose Human Rights Award and Concordia Hillel students for the CJC, QR Award for Excellence in Community Advocacy.

CJC, QR will launch this conference with a night of "Flavours of Jewish Montreal" on:

A tantalizing celebration of Jewish food, music, and culture, featuring Quebec Klezmer sensation RAOUL and the music of Jews from Arab lands, an opportunity for all Quebecers to share the many flavours of Jewish Montreal.

Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region is the official voice of the Jewish community of Quebec.

NB: Conference organizers and some featured speakers will be available for advance interviews.

TENTATIVE PROGRAM

9-9:45 a.m.
Opening ceremonies
Nina Ben Ami Acting Consul General of Israel
Denis Coderre Federal Minister of Immigration
Lawrence Bergman Quebec Minister of Revenue
AndrDe Boulerice Parti-QuDebDecois MNA
Louise O'Sullivan Boyne City of Montreal Executive Committee
David Birnbaum Executive Director's report

9:50-10:15
Address by Chief Matthew Coon Come, Assembly of First Nations
INTRODUCTION: Keith Landy National President, Canadian Jewish Congress

10:20-11:40
The Mike Dym Symposium on Combating Antisemitism
"Antisemitism: New threats, new strategies"
Michel Sarrazin Director, Service de police de la Ville de MontrDeal
Irwin Cotler MP, Mount Royal
Manuel Prutschi CJC National Director of Community Relations
Kenneth Stern Counsel and Advisor, American Jewish Committee
CHAIR: Jack Silverstone Executive Vice-President and General Counsel, CJC

11:45 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.
'BUILDING BRIDGES'
Israel's program of assistance and cooperation in developing countries

MAZAL RENFORD Director, Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Centre, Haifa
INTRODUCTION: Dorothy Zalcman Howard Chair, CJC National Executive Committee

12:15-2:00
AWARDS LUNCHEON
Joseph Gabay CJC, QR Presidential address

AWARD RECIPIENTS
Flora Naglie and Most Rt. Rev. Andrew S. Hutchison Alan Rose Human Rights Award
Edward Wolkove Ezekiel Hart Award
Concordia Hillel CJC, QR Award for Excellence in Community Advocacy
DR. JUDEA PEARL Keynote address
INTRODUCTION: Amy Stevens, Wall Street Journal

2:15-3:30

3:40-5:30
A Town Hall on Tolerance and Pluralism in 21st Century Quebec
HOST:
Jean Lapierre TDelDevision Quatre-Saisons / Radio CKAC
Guy Bouthillier Past President, SSJB
Max Bernard Honorary Vice-President, CJC, QR
Enza Cappadoro Past President, Italian-Canadian Congress-Quebec
JosDee Legault Political columnist, The Gazette
Peter McAuslan Founder and President, McAuslan Breweries
Michel Mpambara Comedian
Graeme Decarie Historian, broadcaster
Nancy Rosenfeld Vice-President, Canadian Affairs,
Andrea and Charles Bronfman

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
http://www.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/inquiry.cgi?OKEY=36018

CONTACT: Eta Yudin, Director of Communications, Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region, (514) 345-6411 ext. 3165 or cel (514) 894-7440

LOAD-DATE: May 30, 2003

SECTION: (645) Jl 15'02 pg 7; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5463993

LENGTH: 2081 words

HEADLINE: Total contributions received through Liberal riding associations in 2001

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: December 20, 2002

SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS

DISTRIBUTION: Attention News Editors

LENGTH: 406 words

HEADLINE: Pluralism, Religion & Public Policy Conference - October 9 - 11, 2002 - McGill University, Montreal

DATELINE: MONTREAL, March 26

BODY:
Can there be any consensus in a pluralist society respecting the common good? Can notions such as "the dignity of the human person" or "equality of persons" or "human rights" be articulated in such a way as to guide effectively our legislators, judges, and those charged with overseeing public welfare? What role should religion play in shaping policies on economics, education, scientific research, foreign policy? It is often said that ours is a "secular" society, but what exactly does that imply?

"Pluralism, Religion & Public Policy" is a conference designed to bring together people from academia, law, politics, and religious institutions to debate some of the foundational issues which must be faced in addressing such questions - questions which have been made all the more urgent since the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

Participants will include McGill professors from a wide range of disciplines and special guests with internationally recognized expertise, among whom are TRISTRAM ENGELHARDT, WILLIAM GALSTON, CHIEF JUSTICE BEVERLEY MCLACHLIN, RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS, DAVID NOVAK, AND MARGARET VISSER. Public addresses and conference lectures will be accompanied by symposia in law, politics and bioethics, each with distinguished panelists (including the Hon. Irwin Cotler, the Hon. Preston Manning, the Hon. Claude Ryan, and many others). A book will be published, from conference papers and related research, with the aim of helping to frame the future of these debates.

The project is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Religious Studies and the Centre for Cultural Renewal in Ottawa, with participation by the Faculty of Law and other McGill units. Public evening lectures by the Rev. Dr. Neuhaus and Dr. Visser are being sponsored by the Beatty Memorial Lecture Fund. Prof. Douglas Farrow and Mr.Iain Benson are conference co-chairs. Registration material will be available on the web by the end of March, at www.mcgill.ca/prpp . For further information phone (514) 398-4121.

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
http://www.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/inquiry.cgi?OKEY=13755

CONTACT: Professor Douglas Farrow, Faculty of Religious Studies, (514) 398-8945,
douglas.farrow(at)mcgill.ca; Source: Kate Williams, Director, University Relations Office, (514) 398-6747, kate.williams(at)mcgill.ca

LOAD-DATE: March 27, 2002

SECTION: v.32(41) O 17'02 pg 6; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5486887

LENGTH: 472 words

HEADLINE: Holocaust Education Week marks its 22nd year

BYLINE: Kraft, Frances

BODY:
Even though Holocaust Education Week is in its 22nd year, there has been no shortage of ideas for programs. ''They're adding new programs right until the brochure goes to press,'' said Barbara Rusch, chair of this year's Holocaust Education Week.

The annual event, which is co-ordinated by the Holocaust Centre of Toronto, UJA Federation, will run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 11 at a variety of locations around the city.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

The series of 110 lectures and presentations will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at Beth Tzedec Congregation with Hana's Suitcase, a story that began when a Holocaust-era suitcase belonging to a young girl, Hana Brady, ended up at the Tokyo Holocaust Education Centre two years ago, prompting the centre's curator, Fumiko Ishioka, to investigate the girl's fate.

The story became a book by Karen Levine, who will speak at the program. She will also introduce her award-winning radio documentary on the same subject, and will be joined by moderator Michael Enright of CBC; and speakers George Brady (Hana's brother), and Ishioka.

This year, instead of the usual Kristallnacht closing program, Holocaust Education Week will end on Remembrance Day with a talk at Beth Sholom Synagogue by Ed Carter-Edwards, a World War II veteran from Hamilton who was shot down over France and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Jewish war veterans will participate in the program.

To commemorate Kristallnacht on Nov. 9, Irwin Cotler, human rights crusader and MP for Mount Royal, Que., will discuss Echoes of Kristallnacht in our Time. The program will take place at Beth Tikvah Synagogue.

''There are many varied and really interesting programs,'' said Rusch. ''There are so many researchers, artists and writers who every year are committed to taking the Holocaust and its commemoration to new heights and new levels that previously haven't even been thought of.''

Along with personal testimonies of Holocaust survivors and a myriad of other events, some of the programs are The Ringelblum Archives (from the Warsaw Ghetto) with Warsaw curator Eleonora Bergman (Nov. 2, Holocaust Centre of Toronto); A Place to Save Your Life, a film on the Jews of Shanghai (Nov. 3, Stan Wadlow Seniors' Centre); the dedication of Megillat HaShoah, a new liturgy to be used in congregations worldwide on Yom Hashoah (Nov. 7, Beth David B'nai Israel Beth Am Congregation); Eichmann in my Hands, with Peter Malkin who captured Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann in 1960 (Nov. 3, Shaar Shalom Synagogue); and Displaced Persons: Growing Up American after the Holocaust with Joseph Berger, author of the memoir Displaced Persons (Nov. 5, Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue).

A complete schedule of Holocaust Education Week events can be found at www.jewishtoronto.net .

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 823 words

HEADLINE: New report accuses Arab states of Jewish 'ethnic cleansing'

BYLINE: Jenny Hazan And Greer Fay Cashman

BODY:
Linda Menuchum's father, a prominent Jewish lawyer in Baghdad, was abducted and executed by the Iraqi government in 1972.

"After 1963, Jews were forbidden to leave the country," recalled Menuchum, who told her tearful story for the first time on Wednesday morning at Jerusalem's David's Citadel Hotel, where Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) presented their case for the rights and redress of Jewish refugees from Arab states. JJAC has produced a report, compiled by 22 leading international law and human rights experts, charging Iraq and other Arab governments with subjecting their Jewish populations to what the JJAC leaders call "ethnic cleansing."

"It was in 1968 when the radio reports started to be very harsh on Jews. They were really inciting people against us," said Menuchum, whose father stayed in Iraq after she fled to Iran at the age of 20 with her mother, brother and sister in 1970, from where the family eventually made its way to Israel. "At that time, Jews who were living in houses were given one month to leave. It was not permitted to travel more than 100 kilometers from the place where we lived. Those who worked in the private sector found themselves out of a job. Jews were not permitted to enter university. Several were taken in for interrogation. Phone lines were cut."

Menuchum is one of over 850,000 Jews who have been displaced from Arab countries since 1948, according to the JJAC report, which states that 97% of Jews from Arab lands have left their countries of origin, leaving a mere 8,000-member population behind.

"This report presents a damning indictment of the Arab world for the mass violations of human rights and for the coordinated, repressive measures to drive out their Jewish populations or to hold them as political hostages," said JJAC executive director Stanley Urman, who listed in- timidation, beating, persecution, pogroms and the enactment of Nuremberg-type laws as among the state-sanctioned tactics used in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen, Aden, Syria and Lebanon.

"It presents a damning indictment of the international community, for its disproportionate and favorable treatment towards Palestinian refugees and their failure to respond to the plight of Jewish refugees," he said, referring to the fact that Israel has become a safe-haven for over 600,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands.

"The time has come to restore the truth and the justice of Jewish refugees from Arab lands to the Middle East narrative from which they have been expunged and eclipsed," said Canadian parliamentarian Prof. Irwin Cotler, who is honorary chairman of the JJAC. He charged that Arab regimes were guilty of "a pattern of ethnic cleansing" and "criminal conspiracy in dealing with their native Jewish populations."

"Any narrative of the Middle East - including the road map - that does not include justice for Jewish refugees from Arab lands, is a case study in Middle East revisionism. It's an assault on truth and memory and justice," said Cotler, who accused the United Nations of singling out Israel for differential and discriminatory treatment in the international arena.

"Since 1947, there have been some 687 resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, which have dealt with the Arab-Israeli conflict," explained Cotler. "One hundred and one of those resolutions dealt with the question of refugees. All 101 dealt with Palestinian refugees only. Not one resolution dealt with the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands." There would not be an Arab refugee problem if the Arabs had not rejected the UN partition plan, he said.

"The biggest mistake we made was that we allowed the development of the concept that the Palestinian refugee problem is the consequence of the establishment of Israel," said former Knesset speaker Shlomo Hillel at the organization's presentation to President Moshe Katsav on Wednesday.

"Those who waged war in the aftermath of the UN Resolution on the partition of Palestine are the ones responsible for the refugee problem," said Hillel, who is a member of the JJAC's legal advisory committee.

While the UN has spent billions on the Palestinian refugees, it has not allocated a single cent for Jewish refugees from Arab lands. "We had refugees in transit camps that were not funded by the UN," said Hillel.

"This raises serious questions of the appropriateness of the United Nations having a role in the Quartet," said Cotler. "Until the UN assumes its responsibility for the pursuit of justice in the proper duty of remembrance, in the right of redress, we are speaking of an issue of misrepresentation."

The JJAC - which was founded only 18 months ago - will in the coming week distribute its findings to the governments of the United States, Canada, and England in the hopes of raising awareness and motivating them to apply diplomatic pressure on Arab states.

LOAD-DATE: June 26, 2003

SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

DISTRIBUTION: TO FOREIGN AND POLITICAL EDITORS

LENGTH: 483 words

HEADLINE: Four-Day International Conference on Anti-Semitism Wraps up in Lower Manhattan

DATELINE: NEW YORK, May 14

BODY:
Is anti-Zionism a new form of the old anti-Semitism? Is the Vatican anti-Jewish? Who is ideologically responsible for the thousands of anti-Semitic acts in Europe over the past two years? These are a few of the questions that drew 36 top-level scholars, writers and other intellectuals from a dozen countries to New York for a four-day international conference on anti-Semitism in the West. The event ended on Wednesday.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030514/NYW146 )

Speaking of more than 1,300 attacks on Jews and Jewish property in France and an equal number of incidents in Britain over the past two years, Mortimer B. Zuckerman, president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and publisher of the Daily News said, "The physical acts are committed by Moslems, but the rhetoric that made them acceptable comes from the European political elite."

The conference, entitled "Old Demons, New Debates: Anti-Semitism in the West," was sponsored by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research at the Center for Jewish History.

Canadian human rights lawyer and Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler said that subject of the conference was important to the survival of humanity because "anti-Semitism is the proverbial canary in the pantheon of evil."

The speakers were almost evenly divided between North Americans and Europeans, with others from Israel, Iran and Mexico. Participants included public intellectuals and representatives of activist Jewish organizations.

Islamic anti-Semitism and its spread to the West was a repeated theme. "The first step to overcoming this plague and to the treatment of this disease which threatens civilization and the Jewish People must be the lucid, relentless, implacable exposure of its roots and that has been the raison d'etre of this conference," explained Hebrew University Professor Robert Wistrich.

"Thousands attended the conference throughout its four days," said Bruce Slovin, chairman of YIVO. "We have opened discourse on anti-Semitism at a higher, intellectual level that will influence the debate for decades to come."

The conference was organized in the wake of resurgent anti-Semitism in Europe following the attack on the World Trade Center, which took on new urgency with the Iraq War. Among the organizers of the conference were YIVO and Center for Jewish History Chairman Bruce Slovin and YIVO Board members Joseph Greenberger, Martin Peretz, Dr. Leon Botstein, Max Gitter, Dr. Arnold Richards and Leon Wieseltier, Literary Editor of The New Republic.

SOURCE YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

CONTACT: Tamara Moscowitz of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, +1-917-606-8288; or Steven E. Greene of the Center for Jewish History, +1-212-294-8303, [email protected]

URL: http://www.prnewswire.com

LOAD-DATE: May 15, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A04

LENGTH: 387 words

HEADLINE: Hezbollah added to terror blacklist

BYLINE: Les Whittington, Toronto Star

HIGHLIGHT:
Ottawa to make it official today Joins 13 other banned groups

BODY:
The federal government will announce today that it has added Hezbollah to the list of terrorist groups banned in Canada, sources say.

Cabinet made the decision yesterday morning and signed the order last night, sources told the Star. It means the assets of Hezbollah will be frozen, joining 13 other groups whose activities have been banned in Canada.

Late last month the federal government expanded its blacklist of terrorist groups to include Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad but did not name Hezbollah. Opposition critics, led by Alliance MP Stockwell Day, have condemned the government for not including Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group.

"Perhaps it will take a horrific tragedy before this government finally cracks down on these terrorists," Day said two weeks ago.

Fundraising for Hezbollah's military wing is already banned in Canada but the government had been slow to move on banning the complete organization.

Revenue Minister Elinor Caplan told the Star 10 days ago that she expected cabinet to add Hezbollah to the list and that it was simply gathering evidence before doing so. She made the comments on the same day that B'Nai Brith launched legal action against the government for not banning Hezbollah.

Both the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have reported Hezbollah has used Canada as a base for more than a decade. Its ventures reportedly include collecting charitable donations and stealing luxury vehicles in Ontario and Quebec, authorities say.

Irwin Cotler, a Liberal MP from Mount Royal, has been critical of his own government's delay in naming Hezbollah.

He says the file on the group is "so comprehensive and so compelling that the failure to name them remains inexplicable."

In a recent speech in Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said "martyrdom operations - suicide bombings - should be exported outside Palestine."

Government officials had contended that there is a difference between Hezbollah's social-political wing, which has elected members to Lebanon's legislature and does social work in the country's southern region, and its military wing.

But Day says "the leader of Hezbollah himself has said very clearly in print that there is no separation between the military arm and the social arm."

LOAD-DATE: December 11, 2002

SECTION: v.32(22) My 30'02 pg 26; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5393602

LENGTH: 462 words

HEADLINE: Thousands march to show 'unwavering support for Israel' [March to Jerusalem]

BYLINE: Regenstreif, Michael

BODY:
MONTREAL - Thousands of Montrealers of all ages braved unseasonably cold weather on May 19 for the city's 30th annual 18-kilometre March to Jerusalem

The event shows the community's ''unwavering support for Israel,'' and is ''more relevant than ever,'' said march co-chair Bonnie Paperman.

At the opening ceremonies before the first marchers departed from the Ben-Gurion checkpoint at 1 Cummings Square, Jewish community leaders and politicians mingled with the crowd and spoke.

Shlomo Avital, Israel's consul general in Montreal, said the march is one of the community's greatest events.

Montreal Mayor Gerard Tremblay attended the opening ceremonies and spoke of his ''profound attachment to the Jewish community.'' He wished the marchers well on their journey through ''the many diverse neighbourhoods of the city,'' adding that all Montrealers are united in the values of ''love, justice and peace.''

Rabbi Sidney Shoham of Congregation Beth Zion spoke about the central importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people and deplored the violence and bloodshed that the ''city of peace'' has seen. He told the marchers to walk ''with pride and dignity'' and prayed for a ''ray of peace to shine on Jerusalem.''

Morton Besner, president of the Jewish Cultural Association, the march's sponsor, recalled that ''30 years ago, four men had a great idea to express our solidarity with the wonderful people of Israel.''

Two of the four, Gordon Brown and Joe Ain have since passed away, and Ruby Zimmerman sent his best wishes from Israel. Herbie Paperman, the fourth founder of the March to Jerusalem, was beside Besner on the podium.

FEDERATION CJA president Steven Cummings referred to the march as a symbol of the community's ''solidarity, love and support with our brothers and sisters in Israel.'' He also announced that the Israel Emergency Campaign in Montreal had already raised $15 million.

Other dignitaries included Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler, D'Arcy McGee MNA Lawrence Bergman, Montreal city councillors Robert Libman and Michael Applebaum, and Daniel Gal, Israel's former consul general in Montreal.

The runners of the Wolf Pack led the way as the marchers began to make their way through the streets of Montreal to ''Jerusalem.'' March co-ordinator Aviva Miller told The CJN that between 10,000 and 15,000 marchers participated. Proceeds from the march help fund cultural exchange programs with Israel.

The route brought the marchers back to Cummings Square and Checkpoint Jerusalem. As they finished the march, the participants were joined by thousands of others for the annual YM-YWHA Israeli Street Festival, where animators got the crowd dancing, to Israeli horahs one moment and to disco beats the next.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: February 20, 2003

SECTION: F 26'02

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5316767

LENGTH: 1087 words

HEADLINE: TORONTO (CP) - The success of Canadian athletes at Salt Lake City has spawned a collectibles frenzy across the country as people make (Record in progress)

BYLINE: Press, The canadian

BODY:
TORONTO (CP) The success of Canadian athletes at Salt Lake City has spawned a collectibles frenzy across the country as people make mad grabs for everything Olympic including hockey jerseys, Maple Leaf-adorned clothing and, for the extreme sports fan, a $5,000 autographed skate.

The Team Canada hockey jersey, emblazoned with the stylized Maple Leaf worn by the gold-medal winning hockey team in 1924, is quickly becoming the must-have fashion accessory this season, followed by Team Canada baseball hats.

Stores like Sport Chek are having a difficult time keeping up with demand.

''It's been going crazy,'' said Scott Allen, store manager for a Halifax store. ''People want anything that says Canada on it.''

Nike Canada, the exclusive producer of the jerseys, is currently doing another run of the shirts to keep up with the immense popularity.

''The Canadian public really is interested given the numbers that watched the game on Sunday and the women's game on Thursday,'' said Scott Farley, director of marketing services for the Canadian Hockey Association in Calgary, which owns the rights to the Team Canada logo.

Many people are also trying to cash in on Olympic popularity by selling 2002 Olympic pins, hats, autographed merchandise and other knick-knacks on the online auction house Ebay.

One of the priciest items on Tuesday was a size 9 Nike Air Quest hockey skate worn and signed by Team Canada captain Mario Lemieux at $5,100 US.

MPs twin with Zimbabwean political candidates to deter violence

OTTAWA (CP) Canadian MPs are twinning with opposition politicians in Zimbabwe in hope of deterring attacks on them during that country's tense election campaign.

Fourteen Canadian parliamentarians have volunteered to stay in close touch with Zimbabwean MPs who have been attacked or are considered at risk in pre-electoral violence by government thugs.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should know the whole world is watching the election, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said Tuesday.

''This is to put the Zimbabwe government and Mugabe on notice that the kind of intimidation and violence he's been engaged in, he will be accountable for,'' said Cotler.

He said his ''twin,'' Blessing Chebundo, has had his house destroyed, received death threats and narrowly avoided being set on fire after attackers doused him with gasoline.

New Democrat Bill Blaikie, another participant in the twinning program, said it can't guarantee candidates will be safe but should help deter attacks.

''We're doing what we can at this end.''

With less than two weeks go until the March 9 election, two leading opposition politicians have been charged with treason for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe.

Eghbal to return to France to fight for custody of daughter he abducted

HALIFAX (CP) A man who abducted one of his young daughters in France three years ago vowed Tuesday to fight for custody of his children ''even at the price of my life.''

In a brief note scribbled on a scrap of paper and given by family members to reporters, Marc Habib Eghbal said: ''I need to have custody. If not, I will be engaged in a war without end.''

Eghbal has agreed to waive his right to an extradition hearing and will be transferred to French authorities in the coming days, his lawyer said.

''He wants to return so he can start the custody battle that he hopes and believes will result in having his two children returned to him,'' Lee Cohen said outside Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Eghbal, 37, was arrested outside Truro, N.S., earlier this month after being on the run with his six-year-old daughter, Sara, since 1999, when he fled France with her.

There was an international warrant for his arrest from France where Eghbal was convicted in absentia of removing Sara and assaulting Fabienne Brin, his former common-law wife.

The story captured international attention when Brin, 34, flew to Halifax for an emotional reunion with Sara, later recounting the meeting to a crush of TV cameras, reporters and documentary filmmakers from two continents.

Watchdogs plan alternative conference to jump-start Alberta's G-8 summit

CALGARY (CP) Groups that lobby governments for human and civil rights plan to hold their own five-day conference leading up to next summer's G-8 summit of world leaders in Alberta.

The conference, called the G-6B to reflect the world's six billion people, is to raise issues that likely won't get on the G-8 agenda child labour exploitation, arms trade to Third World countries and narrowing the gap between rich and poor countries.

''It's an alternative view of how the world ought to run with respect to human beings,'' said Lynn Foster of Alberta-based International Society for Peace and Human Rights, lead conference organizer.

''We're not opposed to the concept of globalization per se. It's just the way it's being implemented benefiting the rich and destroying the poor.''

Ever since the violent protests at the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle in 1999, government leaders have said they welcome citizen input at world meetings.

But many conference organizers, mostly from non-governmental organizations, fear the average Joe's opinion won't be heard at the G-8 summit in Kananaskis, Alta. So they are creating their own ''people's summit'' at the University of Calgary on June 21-25, 2002.

Vancouver and Ottawa lead Canadian cities in UFO reports in 2001

WINNIPEG (CP) From a strange funnel of fire in Alberta to a triangle of light flying over Sydney, N.S., reports of unidentified flying objects increased a staggering 42 per cent last year in Canada.

''We're not sure (why),'' said researcher Chris Rutkowski, one of the authors of the annual Canadian survey of UFO reports.

''We're thinking that perhaps more people are seeing something that's really there or perhaps more people are aware of how or whether they should report things.''

The trend started well before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 in the U.S., so that has been ruled out as a factor.

For the first time, researchers also tied reports to cities and found that Vancouver and Ottawa topped the list with 17 and 15 reports respectively.

Once again, British Columbia was the best place to be in Canada to spot a UFO. The province accounted for 123 of the 374 reported sightings and has led the country consistently since 1999.

Ontario was next with 87 sightings and Alberta was third with 40 reports.

JOURNAL-CODE: 1418

LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2002

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2

LENGTH: 576 words

HEADLINE: THE NEW CABINET

BODY:
The 39-member federal cabinet, as appointed yesterday by Paul Martin, newly installed as Canada's 21st prime minister:

GRAPHIC: 1. photo of ANNE MCLELLAN; Deputy PM; 2. photo of DAVID COLLENETTE; He's out

LOAD-DATE: December 13, 2003

LENGTH: 485 words

HEADLINE: Liberal caucus remains divided on certain issues

ANCHOR: LISA LAFLAMME

BODY:
LISA LAFLAMME: It wasn't power that dominated the Liberal Caucus meeting in North Bay today. It was passion for and against same sex unions, where Prime Minister Jean Chretien shot down alternatives to the proposed law almost as quickly as they came up. It's Chretien's last retreat before retiring, but his MPs first chance to share their views on the controversial subject behind closed doors. CTV's Joy Malbon is in North Bay tonight following a Prime Minister who refused to budge. Joy.

JOY MALBON [Reporter]: Lisa, they talked, the Prime Minister listened but the Liberal Party is just as divided as ever over same sex marriage.

ROGER GALLOWAY [Liberal - Ontario]: There's absolutely no agreement on much at all.

MALBON: Disgruntled Liberal backbenchers holding out for an alternative to gay marriage came away with, well, nothing. The idea of a national vote on the issue shot down by the Prime Minister.

JEAN CHRETIEN [Canadian Prime Minister]: We are there to protect every minority, linguistic, religious and so on and to have a referendum on these things there would be no protection anymore.

MALBON: He's not keen on referendums. Remember the Quebec sovereignty vote? On this, at least Chretien and his likely successor, Paul Martin, agree.

PAUL MARTIN [Liberal Leadership Contender]: There are other issues which are certainly subject to referendum. I think this is something for Parliament to deal with.

MALBON: But it has polarized the party and public opinion and some fear Liberals may pay the price at the polls.

DAN MCTEAGUE [Liberal - Ontario]: And this thing is really heating up. We are on a collision course with the electorate on this issue.

MALBON: And while the Prime Minister rules out civil unions, this MP, who fought for gay rights, believes there could be another legal option.

IRWIN COTLER [Liberal - Quebec]: If you can call a civil union you know a civil marriage with all the rights and benefits and obligations of a marriage.

MALBON: Others say allowing gays and lesbians into the marriage tent is simply the right thing to do.

CAROLYN BENNETT [Liberal - Ontario]: Are we going to do it now or are we going to do it when our children are in Parliament? It's going to happen. It's the way society's evolving.

MALBON: The Prime Minister introduced the legislation but it will be up to the new leader, likely Paul Martin, to make it law. The Supreme Court's expected to give its legal opinion sometime next year almost certainly making gay marriage an election issue. Joy Malbon, CTV News, North Bay.

LAFLAMME: Angioplasty or clot busting drugs, a new study goes straight to the heart of a life or death medical debate. Researchers are urging hospitals to choose the method that shows an astonishing success rate. That's just ahead. A look at what's coming up in local news is next.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

LOAD-DATE: August 21, 2003

SECTION: v.32(39) O 3'02 pg 31; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5477406

LENGTH: 789 words

HEADLINE: Hebrew U seminar not welcome at Concordia

BYLINE: Arnold, Janice

BODY:
The local president of the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University (CFHU) says it's ''a measure of the desperation'' of the Concordia University administration that an academic seminar his group was to hold at the Loyola campus Oct. 6 will not be allowed to go ahead.

Lewis Dobrin said he received verbal notice Sept. 19 from Concordia Jewish studies professor Ira Robinson that rector Frederick Lowy had decided the day-long public event, titled The Pursuit of Brilliance: The Best of Hebrew U, fell under Concordia's definition of a Mideast-related activity banned under the current moratorium on such events.

Lowy imposed the moratorium Sept. 9 after violent protests forced the cancellation of a speech at Concordia by former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The seminar features six Hebrew U professors giving a total of 16 lectures on topics such as medicine, technology, Jewish thought, law and political science, as well as the Mideast crisis.

''This event is not political at all, it is scholarly... I think the administration feels it not only has to show no bias, but has to have the appearance of showing no bias,'' Dobrin said.

Dobrin said the CFHU signed a contract with Concordia in July for the space at Loyola. The university was not charging the group, he said.

The event will now take place at McGill University's law faculty, which will charge the group for the space.

Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota said the event was cancelled because it ''contravenes the moratorium guidelines,'' and said Concordia offered to help find another location for it.

Dobrin said the CFHU had to scramble to find a new venue and inform the 3,000 people who received a seminar brochure in the mail about the change.

He acknowledged some seminar topics could be considered political.

Political science professor Meron Medzini will discuss Israel - Two Years of Intifadah and the Peace Options for Israel. Another political scientist, Reuven Hazan, will discuss Public Opinion and the Peace Process: From Golda Meir to Rabin and now Sharon, and Democracies at War: Lessons from Israel.

The day will conclude with a plenary session on Israel in Crisis, moderated by Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler.

But most of the program deals with such areas as women's rights in Judaism, brain research, Israel's hi-tech industry and the role of Israel's Supreme Court.

The event was to have been held in co-operation with Concordia's Jewish studies department.

The event is not a fund-raiser. In fact, Dobrin said, it is ''a money-loser,'' because of the cost of bringing in the professors and publicizing the event. But the last-minute switch may attract people, he said, because the Concordia cancellation has people talking about it.

Hillel city-wide president Yoni Petel called the cancellation ''disgusting... It's not just students affected [by the moratorium], now it's academics. How far will it go?''

But Petel said the change of venue of last week's ''community rally/Hakafot Shniot celebration in support of Jewish students and democracy at Concordia'' was not due to the moratorium.

Petel said reasons included the fact that police would not issue a permit for a march after dark and that the McGill planning office advised Hillel it does not allow outside groups to hold such gatherings on its premises.

* * *

A B'nai Brith Canada delegation was received at Premier Bernard Landry's Montreal office last week and asked that the province conduct an inquiry into the Sept. 9 events at Concordia University.

Speaking to reporters outside the Hydro-Quebec building, B'nai Brith's national legal counsel Steven Slimovitch said a government-appointed inquiry is the only body that can subpoena witnesses and ascertain why the protest against former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned violent.

The violence at Concordia's Hall Building led to the cancellation of Netanyahu's planned speech there. Slimovitch said he hoped an inquiry would examine what led up to the protest and recommend ways to prevent a similar incident from recurring.

B'nai Brith believes everyone involved should be questioned, including the university administration, the police, officials from the city and other levels of government, as well as demonstrators and student organizations.

B'nai Brith Quebec region executive director Saulie Zajdel said ''nothing spectacular'' came out of the meeting with Roy, ''who said he would discuss the issue with Landry. ''That's all we could hope for,'' Zajdel said.

Roy said Landry is not commenting on B'na' Brith's request for an inquiry, which he said has been forwarded to the Procureur General for consideration.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2003

SECTION: Pg. 22

LENGTH: 3636 words

HEADLINE: HERE WE GO AGAIN

BYLINE: Ina Friedman

BODY:
Here We Go Again

The assault on Israel's legitimacy at last summer's Durban conference, endorsed by the overwhelming majority of participating Non-Governmental Organizations, was no freak event. But with new storms brewing, Israeli and Jewish groups are still agonizing over how best to respond.

Ina Friedman

It started in Durban last August, continued in Geneva in December, and now battle is being rejoined, again in Geneva, during the annual session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

For six weeks, through to late April, the 53 nations on the commission are meeting to discuss the state of human rights around the world, focusing on xenophobia, torture, the rights of women and children and much more besides. Only one country is singled out for its own discussion sessions: On March 25 and 26, the entire commission will focus on human rights violations by Israel in then occupied territories.

Israel has long felt the U.N. displays unwarranted bias against it. But the fear among Israeli and Jewish Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) attending the current gathering is that - as at Durban and subsequent human rights get-togethers in Geneva - Palestinian NGOs, abetted by other NGO allies, intend to use the event to whip up another storm of anti-Israeli rhetoric so crude as to smack of anti-Semitism.

At the NGO Forum in Durban, a parallel event to the U.N. World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), representatives of over 3,000 human rights NGOs from around the world met to champion their individual concerns - from the caste system in India to the plight of indigenous peoples. They also crafted a program of action intended to guide the United Nations, individual governments, and joint international work on human rights in years to come. (The NGOs play an ever more important role in shaping international priorities and influencing government agendas. Notes leading Canadian human rights lawyer and Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler: "It was the NGOs that brought about the International Criminal Court Treaty and the Land Mines Treaty. They are now significant political actors.")

But the Durban Forum erupted into a frenzy of anti-Semitic rhetoric and vicious anti-Israel resolutions. Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Paris-based international liaison of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, headed the Jewish Caucus there, comprising organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International, Hadassah and the World Union of Jewish Students. And he says he experienced - firsthand and repeatedly - the aggressive disruption and intimidation tactics against Jews and Israelis practiced by Arab participants and their South African and other Third World allies, against a background of flyers and placards proclaiming slogans like "Down with Nazi-Israeli Apartheid" and "Hitler should have finished the job."

Some Israeli and Jewish activists hoped Durban was a one-time aberration, the result of clever manipulation, by anti-Israeli elements, of the wide-spread concern over the plight of the Palestinians. But the malaise has proven persistent.

At a follow-up meeting of the Forum's International Steering Committee (ISC), in Geneva on December 6, Samuels realized that Durban was no fleeting phenomenon, and that the brazen efforts to malign and discriminate against Israel and its supporters - indeed, against Jews, per se - now threaten to become a permanent fixture of the international human rights culture.

"At the last minute in Geneva, I discovered that, via an exchange of e-mails, members of the committee had appointed someone to replace me," relates Samuels, who had been elected as an ISC alternate by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), where he promotes understanding between European Muslims and Jews. "When I took my seat, Mercia Andrews of SANGOCO," the South African National NGO Coalition, which had hosted the NGO Forum, "looked at me and said: 'I no longer know who has credentials to attend this session. Certainly the enemies of the anti-racism process don't.'"

Samuels says he refused to be cowed into leaving the ISC meeting. Besides standing on principal, he was intent on thwarting a proposal drawn up by SANGOCO - which had been active in fomenting the anti-Semitic atmosphere at Durban - to establish a U.N.-funded World Movement Against Racism. Referring to a leaked copy of that intended movement's manifesto, Samuels says its first priority would have been to work to dismantle the State of Israel by, among other measures, urging a commercial embargo, and promoting a "full right of return" for Palestinian refugees while canceling Israel's Law of Return. In the event, Samuels kept his seat, the proposal was not tabled - and the ISC has now been disbanded.

Only the previous day, at a session of NGOs parallel to the meeting of the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention - called to discuss Israeli violations of the treaty - the Palestinian hosts had unabashedly ordered Samuels to leave the room. "Dianne Luping of (the Palestinian human rights organization) LAW, who is an excellent lobbyist and legal mind, came up to me and said: 'Shimon, you're leaving!' I stayed put, and then Raji Sourani, the veteran director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, approached me and ordered: 'You leave now!' And when I again refused, he actually put his fist onto my chin." After a heated exchange, "including a threat to 'get me later,'" Samuels reports, Sourani backed down.

Present in the room all the while were representatives of the Swiss government, the European Commission, the International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty International, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) - "and no one intervened," Samuels reports bitterly. He stayed long enough to hear a repre-sentative of the International Commission of Jurists explain how to impose a total commercial embargo on Israel without violating World Trade Organization provisions. "Then I left to call the representatives of the governments and three international human rights organizations on their cell phones," Samuels continues. "'You have witnessed an act of racism,' I told them. 'Please leave this forum.'"

None of them did.

No one questions that from the standpoint of the Jewish organizations attending it, the five-day NGO Forum in Durban was a disaster. Held immediately prior to the government-level WCAR conclave - from which the United States and Israel walked out, in protest against the draft language on the Middle East conflict - the Forum was an often chaotic, sometimes rowdy affair. Even U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson were booed when they appeared before the plenum of 3,000 human rights NGOs.

Much has been written about the "hijacking" of the Forum by Palestinian groups and their allies, and of the consequent resentment of various minority groups - including the Roma (Gypsies), Chechins and groups of indigenous peoples - that their issues had been marginalized. But only the Jews were subjected to flagrant harassment. Members of the Jewish Caucus were verbally abused. The meeting of the Commission on anti-Semitism was stormed by about 100 shouting protesters, forcing it to recess and reconvene in smaller groups (some of which were similarly disrupted).

And at its closing session, the plenum adopted a Declaration and Program of Action that branded Zionism as racism; condemned Israel as a "racist, apartheid state" guilty of "acts of genocide" and "ethnic cleansing"; called for the establishment of a war crimes tribunal to bring to justice those responsible for these "crimes against humanity"; and urged the international community "to impose a policy of complete and total isolation of Israel," as it had done with apartheid-era South Africa.

As Irwin Cotler was later to sum up: "A conference at which human rights was to have been celebrated as the new religion of our time turned into one at which Israel was portrayed as the anti-human rights metaphor ... the new anti-Christ."

Some believe that in endorsing the declaration, the NGO Forum shot itself in the foot. Crucially, Robinson, who expressed her dismay at the "hateful, even racist" atmosphere of anti-Semitism at the conclave, chose not to recommend the declaration to the government WCAR conclave as a framework for action.

Yet, with representatives of Jewish NGOs like Samuels still being excluded from and harassed at international events, and the preoccupation with Israel again evident at the current Geneva gathering, the question must be asked: Has anti-Semitism - of the classical variety, or cloaked in the form of virulent anti-Israel rhetoric - insidiously seeped into the NGO culture, to be accepted as "normative" behavior?

The answer is heavily nuanced. Israel's human rights record in the territories occupied since 1967 is far from sterling. Violations are regularly documented and condemned by Israeli groups such as B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Public Committee Against Torture. But the Palestinian Authority's dismal record on human rights was utterly ignored at Durban and has been ever since. What's more, notes Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Rabbi Michael Melchior (who canceled his appearance at the WCAR), the NGO declaration went beyond protesting Israeli policies in incitefully hyperbolic language. "It denied Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state," he says, by branding Zionism - which most Jews regard as a national liberation movement - as racist. "And it singled out Israel" - among the world's many nation-states with a sizable ethnic minority - "for such disapprobation."

How did this happen with such ease? Even Jewish delegates to Durban are prepared to be forgiving toward some of the single-issue NGOs, less versed in Middle East politics. Many at Durban, says one of these delegates, were so engrossed in advocating their own causes that they failed to notice the storm brewing over Israel and anti-Semitism. And the plenum session that adopted the declaration was so disorganized that many delegates did not understand what they were voting on - to say nothing of its implications.

Furthermore, a number of groups - including the Eastern and Central European Caucus and the Roma Caucus - joined the Jewish Caucus in walking out of the closing plenum after a clause deploring anti-Zionism as "a virulent contemporary form of anti-Semitism" was stricken from the declaration's final draft (the only section of the 475-clause document to be voted out).

During the following week, moreover, 81 NGOs from 35 countries signed a statement (framed by the Eastern and Central European Caucus) disassociating themselves from the offending sections of the declaration - and dozens more endorsed it after the closing date for signatures.

And yet, these groups represent only a tiny fraction of the NGOs that participated in Durban, and the declaration remains on the record. The overwhelming majority of the NGOs - single-issue groups from every continent, concerned with everything from reparations for victims of the slave trade to the rights of the Dalits of India - remain formally committed to its wording.

But the greatest disappointment, even anger, expressed by Jewish groups has to do with the behavior - at Durban and since - of the major international human rights organizations (INGOs), such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

David Matas, a legal adviser to B'nai B'rith Canada, has summed up that grievance (in a report on Durban entitled "Civil Society Smashes Up"): "The international NGOs disassociated themselves from the attacks on the Jewish community, but refused to condemn those attacks." While rejecting the language applied to Israel in the NGO declaration, he notes, they were careful to point out that they "agreed with the issues" raised in its controversial clauses. And most of all, the INGOs expressed a desire to put the ugly aspects of Durban behind them as quickly as possible. In answer to a question at a press conference held directly after the Forum, for example, Michael Posner of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, said that his organization rejects the "Zionism is racism language ... But it's time to move on."

Some of the INGOs did try to prevent the offensive language from reaching the final draft. Ronald Eissens, the Dutch director of ICARE (Internet Center Anti-Racism Europe), recalls that, at a pre-Durban meeting, "Melinda Ching of Amnesty International stood up and said that if the draft (containing the anti-Israel hyperbole) goes to Durban, the international NGOs would oppose it and call a press conference to condemn its hate language." Other sources say that the Palestinian NGOs prom-ised the INGOs that the inflammatory language would disappear, but then reneged. Why, then, didn't the INGOs follow through on Ching's threat to denounce the draft and vote against it?

"What held them back was intimidation by the Palestinian and Arab caucuses," says Stacy Burdett, associate director of government affairs at the Anti-Defamation League. "People have told me that they've seen internal memos or been present at discussions in which donors to these organizations said: 'What the hell were you doing at the Zionism is racism conference? And why didn't you speak out against it?'" The reason was that "Arab groups had told them: 'If you want to continue working in our region, don't interfere in this.'" Amnesty's Ching, while saying that her organization was not subject to intimidation, says she has heard of it happening to other NGOs.

That explanation deeply rankles leading Jewish NGOs, which are far from ready to "move on."

First of all, there are the practical consequences of the NGO declaration to deal with. Jeff Rubin, the communications director of Hillel, the leading Jewish campus NGO, says there have been "no ramifications at American colleges," where NGOs are especially influential, and he ascribes that to September 11. "Dealing with the political and emotional repercussions of that event has really pushed everything else onto the sidelines," he says. But Cotler notes that he is already seeing "divestment campaigns at various universities - along the lines of campaigns conducted against South Africa - now being applied to Israel. This is part of the program of action in the Durban NGO document."

And in Western Europe, Durban has "drawn back to the surface" the anti-Semitism that has always figured, to a degree, in its anti-racism movement," says ICARE's Eissens. "Many organizations wanted to sign the statement of the Central and Eastern European Caucus," he explains. "But they were stopped by groups of African descendants, who did not want to detract from the declaration's value" - because of its clauses on the slave trade. "The conflict over this got pretty ugly, including accusations that the European Caucus was led and being paid off by Jews."

Then there is the unresolved bitterness among Jewish NGOs at how their colleagues behaved. "Frankly, I can't see how we can continue to conduct business as usual with these NGOs until there is some meeting of minds about that horrendous show of anti-Semitism at Durban," says B'nai B'rith's Executive Vice President Dan Mariaschin. "Until then, I would be for suspending cooperation with the human rights groups that sat by and did nothing there - and certainly with those who joined the bandwagon."

At the same time, Mariaschen speaks of the need to launch an "educational campaign among the major human rights groups." In part, it would aim at overcoming what Dina Siegel Vann, the U.N. and Latin American Affairs Director of B'nai B'rith International, calls the "distortions" in human rights ideology. "Human rights NGOs naturally identify with the underdog," she observes. "Our problem is that they perceive the Jews as the opposite - what they call a 'privileged minority.'"

Yet there is no consensus on the wisdom of pressing for a "meeting of minds" with the NGOs whose actions proved so disappointing at Durban. "I don't think they'd cooperate. All they want to do is bury Durban and get back to their own issues," says Leila Seigel, who represents the International Council of Jewish Women at the UN institutions in Geneva. "If we keep pushing them on this, we'll just turn people off."

Eissens echoes that fear in confessing his ambivalence about how to proceed. "I'm aware that continuing to air Jewish grievances about Durban alienates many groups, who want 'their thing' to be in the spotlight," he says. "Then again, as human rights activists, we're obliged to address all manifestations of racism, including those within the NGO movement itself."

Cotler offers yet another perspective on this dilemma, especially in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One reason for the Jewish NGOs' strained communications with other human rights groups, he suggests, may have to do with a tendency toward insularity. "The Palestinians have mainstreamed their cause by becoming involved in the larger human rights agenda," he says. "They don't just make their own case; they attend meetings on women's rights, on children's rights, while we've withdrawn from that larger agenda, in part because we see it as being adversarial."

Still, he too favors vigorous action to ensure that what went on in Durban, and its lingering effect, are not swept under the carpet. "We need a coordinated governmental-NGO effort to hold the institutions and people involved to account," he urges. "If we take them at their word - that they're concerned about the international human rights regime - we (must show them) how they're undermining exactly what they say they are committed to."

THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN opportunity to do just that - and to see whether Jewish NGOs are capable of thwarting repeats of the Durban scenario - at the current Geneva meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

But because March 26, when the commission debates Israel, is the day before the Passover Seder, few Jewish NGOs are sending representatives. Israel's Foreign Ministry is creating a special unit to liaise with NGOs, but it will not be organized in time to act effectively. The World Union of Jewish Students is sending its chairman, Peleg Reshef, from Israel, but he is taking just two students along. Reshef is hoping to mobilize local Jewish students to demonstrate against the commission's tendency to single out Israel for censure - and, he says, "to defend Israel's right to exist."

It's unlikely many Jewish representatives will be around a day earlier, either, when Palestinian NGOs will be holding a briefing for diplomats, which will also feature a speaker from Amnesty International. As of this writing, the Palestinian NGOs had not decided whether to organize demonstrations, as well.

The next landmark event, drawing governments and NGOs from around the world, is the U.N.-sponsored World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to be held in Johannesburg on August 26-September 4. Given the venue, and the proven support of South African NGOs (represented by SANGOCO) for the Palestinian cause, that summit is already prompting concern about a display of anti-Israel rhetoric (and worse).

Mordechai Yedid, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director general for U.N. and international organizations (who represented the Israeli government at WCAR), notes that "while Durban was about ideology, Johannesburg is about practical issues of globalization, social development, and the environment. Israel has much to contribute to the developing countries in these areas," he says, "and their governments know it. In general, they're are keenly interested in seeing the summit succeed." The stance that may be taken by the NGOs, however, is another matter. "I know that Jewish NGOs are worried that the WSSD will turn into another Durban," Yedid admits. "But it's still too early to predict what will happen."

Gidon Bromberg, the director of Friends of the Earth in the Middle East - which coordinates the work of various Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian environmental NGOs - attended the February session of the WSSD's Preparatory Committee in New York and says he did not come across any Israel bashing there. Nevertheless, he adds, "We're not fooling ourselves and know that we can expect attempts by some radical groups to hijack the agenda in Johannesburg." This fear, he believes, is shared by leading environmental INGOs. "They're all aware of what happened in Durban, and none of them wants to see yet another international conference sidelined by Middle Eastern politics. That's not to say there won't be any discussion of the Middle East," Bromberg qualifies. "The challenge is to ensure that it doesn't prevent discussion of other issues."

It may therefore be critical to see how Jewish and international NGOs relate to the "poverty tribunal" that LAW is organizing at the WSSD. It is modeled on the International People's Tribunal on the Third World Debt, held in Brazil in February, which was a challenge by the "south," as a whole, to the "north," as a whole, to erase the debt. But LAW's poverty tribunal "will specifically be against Israel," says the group's Dianne Luping, "for all the violations that have led to poverty among such large numbers of Palestinians."

Once again, that is, Palestinian NGOs and their allies will be trying to single out Israel. Will the heavy-hitting international and the single-issue NGOs, whose counterparts in Durban copped out, take a stand this time?

LOAD-DATE: April 24, 2002

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A21

LENGTH: 839 words

HEADLINE: Security ties to U.S. key to Arar saga

BYLINE: Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star

BODY:
The release of Canadian citizen Maher Arar from a Syrian jail is being celebrated as a triumph of Canadian diplomacy. In some ways, perhaps, it was.

But the bizarre story of Arar, which began last year when he was detained in New York while on stopover to Ottawa, was never about relations between Canada and Syria. It was about the relationship - particularly the security relationship - between Canada and the U.S.

The 33-year-old's troubles date to Sept. 26, 2002. On a flight home from Zurich, the Syrian-born Ottawa engineer touched down at New York's Kennedy Airport to change planes. But, instead of being allowed to board his Ottawa flight, he was arrested, placed in solitary confinement and denied the right to contact Canadian consular officials.

For a week, he was not allowed to phone his wife. He was rushed through a deportation hearing without the benefit of counsel, declared to have links to Al Qaeda terrorists (with no evidence provided) and ordered deported to Syria - a country he left when he was 17.

In fact, he was not sent to Syria but Jordan, where he was detained for 12 days while the Canadian government, completely in the dark, scrambled to find him.

Why Jordan? Eventually, Arar may provide some answers. Jordan did not. But news reports indicated he had been sent there to be questioned by U.S. Central Intelligence Agency interrogators, who do not have to observe constitutional niceties when operating outside of their own country.

From Jordan he was sent to Syria, plopped into prison and, eventually, charged with being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood - an organization the Syrian dictatorship calls terrorist but which Canada and the U.S. do not.

Initially, there was not much support in Canada for Arar. His only public champions were the New Democratic Party's Alexa McDonough and his own Liberal MP, Marlene Catterall. When Arar's wife invited MPs to a candlelight vigil on Parliament Hill for her husband, the office of one Alliance member sent back the curt reply, "Get a life."

Over time, the sheer absurdity of Arar's situation drew others to his cause, including Montreal lawyer and MP Irwin Cotler and former Conservative foreign affairs minister Flora Macdonald.

Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh, made the perfectly logical argument that if her husband were a terrorist he should be charged and interrogated in Canada - not consigned to a Syrian dungeon.

But even as opinion began to shift, the specifics became murkier. Back in November, newspapers reported that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Canada the FBI had warned the RCMP of Arar's alleged terrorist links.

But by mid-summer, the same newspapers were reporting the reverse; that, in fact, Canadian security forces had tipped off the FBI.

Paul Cellucci, Washington's ambassador to Canada, gave weight to this second explanation when, reportedly, he told a private audience that Canadian security forces preferred to keep Arar in a Syrian jail.

Solicitor General Wayne Easter denied this was official RCMP policy. Flora Macdonald talked darkly of "rogue agents."

The real explanation is probably simpler than rogue agents. In its effort to pacify the Americans (and keep the Windsor tunnel open to truck traffic) the federal government has effectively put its national security apparatus under U.S. control.

None of this is new. During the Cold War, the RCMP security service operated as a branch of the CIA/FBI. Then, as now, the political masters of Canadian spookdom preferred to turn a blind eye.

The benefit of this arrangement is that there is coordinated security. We do share the continent. The downside is that, increasingly, the RCMP and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service no longer work for us. Instead, they work for Washington.

For many Canadians that may not matter. For some it does. Mohamed Mansour Jabarah, a St. Catharines teenager allegedly linked to Al Qaeda, was lured across the border to the U.S. by CSIS so he could be jailed, without charge, in an undisclosed location by American authorities.

Like Arar, Jabarah's alleged crimes could have been dealt with in Canada. But Canadian security services, apparently acting without the knowledge of the Canadian government, thought it more convenient to hand over this particular Canadian citizen to a foreign power.

Is this what happened with Arar? Perhaps we will find out. An intriguing left-right coalition of interests has developed to support the Ottawa engineer's cause. The collapse of the federal government's ludicrous Project Thread case against 21 Indian and Pakistani immigrants initially deemed terrorist has demonstrated how shallow so-called national security cases can be when put under proper scrutiny.

With the shadow of 9/11 receding, Liberal backbenchers no longer seem as reluctant to support civil liberties.

Meanwhile, Maher Arar is out of jail. Good for him. This time, he took a direct flight home.

Thomas Walkom's column appears on Tuesday. twalkom @ thestar.ca.

LOAD-DATE: October 7, 2003

SECTION: v.33(10) Mr 6'03 pg 16; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5569813

LENGTH: 476 words

HEADLINE: Young leadership set to 'Imagine' the possibilities

BODY:
At a time when many Jewish leaders are lamenting a perceived lack of Jewish interest from young men and women, it's encouraging to see what's planned for Montreal this April.

United Israel Appeal Federations Canada (UIAFC), UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, and Jewish Federations across Canada have created ''Imagine,'' an International Young Leadership Conference for young Jewish adults from around the world.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Over 500 people between the ages of 25 and 45 are expected to attend the conference from April 4 to 6, with the Toronto contingent at 100. Also taking part in the weekend will be young adults from the United States, Europe, Israel, South America and Australia.

''Two years ago, the Young Leadership Conference in Ottawa was wonderful,'' says Jessica Cooperman, Chair, along with Brian Tanner of Toronto's Young Adult Division. ''This year's event in Montreal is going to be incredible with people from around the world. It's such a great chance to network with worldwide young Jewish leadership. We're all looking forward to it. There's already a feeling of electricity about it and it's still not for a couple of months.''

The goal of the weekend is to help young Jewish leaders share ideas while enhancing their leadership skills through networking, speakers, and a series of interactive workshops led by experienced community leaders from around the country. The conference will feature top international talent, from business, entertainment, spirituality and motivation fields. The outcome of the weekend will be better-equipped young Jewish leaders and a national network to continue the dialogue into the future.

''It is a chance for young Jews to reflect on the world today and to have their spirits lifted, to hear inspiring stories and to bond with other young Jews in similar positions,'' says Imagine co-chairs Karyn Saragossi and Heather Adelson-Zipkin. ''It will be a weekend that will set the standards for all Young Leadership conferences that will follow.''

Speakers include Rabbi Shmuel Boteach, MP Irwin Cotler, and Israel's Ambassador to Canada, Haim Divon, Ellen Cannon, and John Loftus.

A ''Club Med Day'' brings interested participants to Montreal's newly renovated YM-YWHA Jewish Community Centre. There they will spend Sunday working out or enjoying the health centre.

Another unique aspect of this year's Young Leadership Conference is The Mystery Ball. Billed as the ''must-attend party of the year,'' it is the first international ball for young Jewish people held in North America. The black-tie affair is being organized to allow conference guests to explore Montreal's unique food, fashion, culture, festivals and nightlife.

For more information or to register, contact Naomi Cohen at 416.631.5698 or by e-mail at [email protected]

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

SECTION: Ja 30'02

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5300445

LENGTH: 335 words

HEADLINE: Woman, child huddle in Montreal church fearing deportation to Zimbabwe (Record in progress)

BODY:
MONTREAL (CP) A woman and her child hid from immigration officials in a Montreal church Tuesday, saying she preferred jail in Canada to a death squad at home in Zimbabwe.

''If I go back, I'm going to die,'' said Dorothy Dube, upon hearing that she and her family were refused refugee status. ''At least here it's only prison.''

Immigration officials ordered Dube, her 10-year-old son, Basil, and her 18-year-old niece, Nompilo Ncube, to meet with them at Dorval airport Tuesday afternoon.

Instead, Dube and her family sought asylum from Rev. Darryl Gray of Union United Church.

Ncube says she was raped by Zimbabwean government thugs and Dube says she faced death for political dissent.

Dube said she cannot understand how Canada can deport refugee seekers back to Zimbabwe in the face of confirmed reports of torture, beatings and political killings.

''Canadians were born free; they don't understand the terror we face at home,'' Dube said, speaking in a whisper because of a heart condition. ''I'm sick with stress.''

Supporters are appealing to Immigration Minister Denis Coderre to halt the deportation, said Gray, whose church will be providing food and shelter. ''We simply want justice. We don't believe the family got a fair hearing,'' he said.

Aside from a judicial review, activists will also urge the minister to review the process for Zimbabwean refugees, who are rejected twice as often in Quebec as in other provinces.

''And we're calling for a moratorium on deportations,'' said Gray, linking Zimbabwe to Afghanistan, Zaire and Congo. ''Britain isn't deporting to Zimbabwe; why would we do it?''

The Zimbabweans also mustered support from MPs Irwin Cotler and Marlene Jennings, who appealed to Coderre.

''He's very sympathetic,'' Jennings said after speaking with Coderre Tuesday to urge him ''to do what he can.

''I understand he's dealing with it as a priority file,'' she added.

Coderre did not return calls.

(Montreal Gazette)

JOURNAL-CODE: 1418

LOAD-DATE: February 20, 2002

LENGTH: 377 words

HEADLINE: Ottawa made it illegal to support named terrorist organizations

ANCHORS: PETER MANSBRIDGE

BODY:
PETER MANSBRIDGE: Ottawa pulled out last year's anti-terror legislation and put a previously unused section to work today. It allowed Ottawa to formally name organizations as terrorist groups and make it illegal for Canadians to support them. As Chris Goldrick reports, there is already controversy over who has made the list, and who hasn't.

CHRIS GOLDRICK (Reporter): It was Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay who issued the list and with it a warning.

LAWRENCE MACAULAY (Solicitor General): If you deal, facilitate, provide an apartment, hook up a telephone, deal with these people to make, to help them in their activities, you have broken the law and we are coming after you.

GOLDRICK: And the penalties are severe. Up to life in prison for some offenses. And here are the groups Lawrence MacAulay is talking about. Topping the seven names on the list is Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. The other six groups are suspected of having links to it and are based in countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Somalia. Now, those suspected terrorist groups can have their assets seized. And Ottawa's new anti-terror legislation means anyone in Canada caught financing or assisting them can be charged.

ROCCO GALATI (Constitutional Lawyer): A metric ton of fertilizer.

GOLDRICK: Rocco Galati doesn't like anything about the list and he is outraged all the groups on it are Muslim.

GALATI: We know of other terrorist organizations from Irish to Basque to a number of other terrorist organizations that are not Muslim. This is a focus and target on the Muslim community.

GOLDRICK: Lawrence MacAulay dismisses those concerns, saying other groups will soon be added. Canada's security agency is considering new additions to the list. Cabinet will have the final say.

IRWIN COTLER (Quebec Liberal MMP): In my view, at some point in that process, the alleged terrorist entities should have been given notice and offered the opportunity to, in fact, challenge the determination that was being made.

GOLDRICK: But Ottawa seems determined to keep the process away from the public. It won't even say if any of the seven terrorist groups are operating in Canada, or if any Canadians are suspected of assisting them. Chris Goldrick, CBC News, Ottawa.

LOAD-DATE: July 24, 2002

SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS

DISTRIBUTION: Attention News Editors

LENGTH: 901 words

HEADLINE: The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, George Radwanski, today sent the following letter to the Honourable David Collenette, Minister of Transport, on the subject of Bill C-55

DATELINE: OTTAWA, June 18

BODY:
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, George Radwanski, today sent the following letter to the Honourable David Collenette, Minister of Transport, on the subject of Bill C-55:

Dear Minister Collenette:

On May 6 and May 15, I wrote to you regarding my concerns about section 4.82 of your Bill C-55.

Other than your letter of May 15 stating only that you had forwarded my correspondence to you to Solicitor-General Laurence MacAulay for a reply, I have received no response from you on this important matter.

As you are no doubt aware, Minister MacAulay's reply to me did not substantively address any of the specific privacy concerns that I had brought to your attention.

As I have emphasized to you in my previous letters, Bill C-55 is indisputably your legislation. Not only was this Bill presented to Parliament by you and bears solely your name as its sponsor, but the section in question, 4.82, proposes amendments to the Aeronautics Act which falls within your responsibilities as Transport Minister. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to understand how the principle of ministerial accountability could be reconciled with purporting that the need to justify deeply disturbing provisions such as this rests with some minister other than yourself.

Because the proposed provisions that are at issue would have extremely serious impact on the fundamental human right of privacy to which all Canadians are entitled, and because they would create a precedent that opened the door to further unjustified intrusions, I simply do not have the option of letting the matter rest.

I therefore wish to bring to your attention again that section 4.82 of Bill C-55 goes far beyond the stated anti-terrorism and security purposes of this legislation. By giving the RCMP and CSIS unrestricted access to the personal information of airline passengers for purposes that include looking for individuals wanted on a warrant for any of more than 150 Criminal Code offences punishable by imprisonment for five years or more, this section would strike unjustifiably at the privacy right of Canadians to be anonymous with regard to the state.

You have provided no explanation whatsoever as to why it would not be sufficient to limit this provision to allowing the RCMP and CSIS to access the passenger information in question, check it against data bases of known or suspected terrorists, and then immediately destroy it if no such match is found. As I have previously made clear, I would raise no privacy objection to such a more limited provision, which I believe can be justified as a reasonable anti-terrorism measure.

I wish further to bring to your attention that the concerns that I have raised in this matter have been publicly endorsed by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario; by members of every party in the House of Commons, notably including your own caucus member who is an internationally recognized expert on human rights, Irwin Cotler; by editorials in newspapers including the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Province, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Sault Star; and by prominent national affairs commentators including James Travers of the Toronto Star and Andrew Coyne of the National Post.

If there are considerations that nevertheless lead you to be convinced that you are right while all of the above, in addition to the Officer of Parliament specifically mandated to oversee and defend the privacy rights of Canadians, are wrong, then I respectfully suggest that it would be timely to explain your reasons without any further delay.

In the absence of such an explanation, it is my duty to request an undertaking from you that you will present amendments to fix this unjustified, unnecessary and unacceptable provision. In my letter to you of May 15, I detailed the specific amendments that I believe would be appropriate.

The purpose of these amendments is solely to limit RCMP and CSIS use of air traveler information to purposes related to anti-terrorism and security by deleting the reference to searching for individuals wanted on a wide range of other warrants, and to facilitate oversight by the Privacy Commissioner in cases where passenger information is retained indefinitely even though there is no specific match to known or suspected terrorists.

The proposed amendments would in no way impede the legitimate anti- terrorism and security purposes of the legislation. Rather, they would make the legislation appropriately respectful of the privacy rights of Canadians without in any demonstrable way diminishing our safety or security.

I would appreciate your prompt reply.

Yours sincerely,

George Radwanski
Privacy Commissioner of Canada

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
http://www.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/inquiry.cgi?OKEY=37018

CONTACT: Anne-Marie Hayden, Media Relations, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Tel: (613) 995-0103, ahayden(at)privcom.gc.ca, www.privcom.gc.ca LOAD-DATE: June 19, 2002

SECTION: (634) Ap 29'02 pg 22; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5410085

LENGTH: 2126 words

HEADLINE: Headlines ''cloud and sometimes corrupt understanding,'' says Cotler: Liberal MP Irwin Cotler probes root causes for conflict in the Middle East and the basis for conflict resolution

BYLINE: Cotler, Irwin

BODY:
[Graph Not Transcribed]

As I rise to speak I am reminded, particularly because this is Holocaust Remembrance Day, of the reverence for human life. That is why I wish to begin almost by way of prologue with a statement that every person, be they Palestinian or Israeli, Arab or Jewish, is a universe, and the death of any innocent a tragedy.

I rise also to speak not only as the MP for Mount Royal but as a Jew, as one who has been engaged in the struggle for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East for over 35 years, who has family in Israel and friends among the Palestinians and who has acted as legal counsel to both Israeli and Palestinian human rights NGOs. Accordingly, with this experience in mind, I would like to go behind the daily headlines, which cloud and sometimes corrupt understanding, to probe the real basis for conflict, the root causes, to use the popular metaphor, of conflict in the Middle East and the basis for conflict resolution.

I will organize my remarks around a set of foundational principles for understanding the conflict and for moving toward a just solution, many of which are themselves anchored in the basic principles of Canadian foreign policy in the Middle East.

Principle number one, which successive Canadian governments have described as the cornerstone of Canadian foreign policy in the Middle East, is respect for the security, well-being and legitimacy of the state of Israel. Indeed, this principle is itself rooted in a related notion or principle: the existential nature of the Israeli-Palestinian-Arab conflict. In a word, this is not a conflict about borders, though borders are certainly in dispute. This is not a conflict about territory, although territory is certainly in dispute. It is not a conflict about resources such as water, though resources are certainly in dispute. Nor is this even a conflict about Jerusalem, though Jerusalem is sometimes a metaphor for the existential nature of this conflict.

Simply put, the core of the conflict has been, and for the most part, continues to be the unwillingness of many among the Palestinian and Arab leadership to accept the legitimacy of Israel's right to exist anywhere in the Middle East.

Historical rejectionist evidence speaks for itself. In 1947 the United Nations recommended the partition of the Palestine mandate into a Jewish state and a Palestinian-Arab state. The Jews accepted the UN resolution. The Arabs rejected it and launched a war that by their own acknowledgement was intended to exterminate the nascent state of Israel.

It should be noted that at the time of this first rejection of a Jewish state there were no Palestinian-Arab refugees, no occupied territories, no settlements. Indeed, this was the beginning of a pattern of double rejectionism: the Arabs rejecting a Palestinian state if that meant having to countenance a Jewish one.

From 1948 until 1967 the West Bank was under the occupation of Jordan, and Gaza under the occupation of Egypt, so that only Arab occupation prevented the emergence of a Palestinian state during this period. In June 1967, again with no Israeli occupation or settlements in occupied territories, Egypt, Syria and Jordan waged a war against Israel, not to establish a Palestinian state but to once again extinguish the Jewish one.

In the Israeli exercise of self-defence, which the UN acknowledged, Israel gained control of the Sinai, the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Israel's offer in the immediate aftermath of that 1967 six-day war to return these newly obtained territories for a peace treaty was met with the triple ''no'' of the Arab Khartoum declaration: no recognition, no negotiation, no peace with Israel.

The pattern continued through the launching of yet another war of aggression against Israel on Yom Kippur until the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty in 1979 resulted in the return of the Sinai and peace between Israel and Egypt, just as a peace treaty was to be completed with Jordan in 1994.

In a word, therefore, and this is the reading of the Middle East history, fast forward now to the year 2000. It is not the Israeli occupation that has been the root cause of the conflict; rather, it is the rejection of Israel, even at the price of rejecting thereby a Palestinian state, that led to the initial occupation in 1967 and still sustains the less than five per cent of the territory yet occupied by Israel as a result of the six-day war. In a word, over 95 per cent of the territory captured by Israel in the exercise of self-defence in the six-day war has been returned within the frame-work of peace treaties with countries that were prepared to recognize Israel and, in the initial stages of Oslo, which have given Arafat control over 98 per cent of the Palestinian people.

However, in the year 2000 in the Camp David talks and then again in Taba, Arafat rejected a Clinton and Israeli initiated proposal that would have ended what remained of the occupation and would have established an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. This would have given the Palestinians almost everything that they themselves had been asking for, save for the right of return which, as Palestinian leader Sari Nusseibah put it, would have meant a second Palestinian state in place of Israel.

This would have required of Arafat and the Arab world to finally accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East alongside the 22 Arab states in the region. Arafat not only rejected this proposal, which recalls the refrain that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, but as the Arab scholar Fouad Ajami recently put it, Arafat launched a war of terror in the heartland of Israel of which the recent Passover massacre was a real life metaphor.

Principle number two and related existential principle which has emerged as a basic tenet of Canadian foreign policy is that the Palestinians are a people who have legitimate rights and needs, including the right to self-determination and the right, as I myself have been maintaining for more than 30 years, to an independent, democratic, rights protecting state in the Middle East. Only a democratic Palestinian state will protect the authentic Palestinian right to self-determination while affording the best security for Israel.

Israelis have acknowledged their willingness and readiness to negotiate an independent Palestinian state. The core question then is not whether there will be an independent Palestinian state on which Israel is prepared to agree. The question is whether the Arab world is prepared to make room for a single Jewish state alongside 23 Arab states.

Principle number three refers to UN security council resolutions 242 and 338 agreed upon for conflict resolution in the Middle East, a formula sometimes known as the land for peace resolutions. These UN security council resolutions have been further refined and built upon by the Madrid and Oslo process, including the importance of a just solution to the refugee question.

Principle number four is an end to any Arab or Palestinian government sanctioned incitement to hatred and violence. It is this government sanctioned teaching of contempt, this demonizing of the other, this culture of incitement, is where it all begins. In the words of Professor Ajami: ''The suicide bomber of the Passover massacre did not descend from the sky; he walked straight out of the culture of incitement let loose on the land, a menace hovering over Israel, a great Palestinian and Arab refusal to let that country be, to cede it a place among the nations, he par-took of the culture all around him -- the glee that greets those brutal deeds of terror, the cult that rises around the martyrs and their families.''

Principle number five is the danger of the escalating globalizing genocidal anti-Jewishness. It is a tragic irony that on the occasion of today's International Holocaust Remembrance Day, where Jews in concert with our fellow citizens remember the worst genocide of the 20th century, international holocaust and genocide scholars warn once again of a genocidal anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head. In particular, I am referring to the state and terrorist sanctioned public calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of the Jewish people which I have documented elsewhere.

Principle number six is terrorism. The deliberate maiming, murder and terrorizing of innocents can never be justified. It is important to recall and reaffirm the foundational principles of international and Canadian counterterrorism law and policy as they apply also to the Middle East. These include that terrorism from whatever quarter for whatever purpose, as the Prime Minister put it, can never be justified; that the transnational networks of super terrorists with access to weapons of mass destruction constitute an existential threat to the right to life, liberty and security of the person; and that freedom from acts of terror, freedom from fear of terror constitute a cornerstone of human security. In the words of our Prime Minister: ''There is nothing in our experience that can capture the fear that Israelis live with every hour of every day.''

They further include that there is no moral equivalence or similitude between terrorism and counterterrorism, between deliberate acts of terror against civilians and acts of self-defence against terrorists; that support and sanctuary for groups responsible for terrorism, as the foreign minister has put it, is unacceptable; and that counterterrorism must always comport with human rights and humanitarian norms.

Principle number seven is respect for human rights and humanitarian law as a cornerstone for the protection of human security. If human security were an organizing principle of Canadian foreign policy then it is human insecurity which is the most serious dimension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. What is needed therefore is a culture of human rights in place of a culture of hate, a culture of respect in place of a culture of contempt. As the foreign minister put it recently at a meeting of the UN commission on human rights in Geneva, ''security is sustainable only in an environment where human rights are protected'' including in particular the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

Principle number eight is support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon. In accordance with UN security council resolutions Canada supports the progressive extension of the Lebanese government's authority over all of its territory and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon.

Principle number nine is the implementation of the Tenet security work plan and Mitchell commission recommendations. Close to a year ago I described in this place a tenuous Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire that hung on a thread and threatened to explode into violence and stated that it was more necessary than ever that the parties adhere to the recommendations of the Mitchell commission. I reiterate these words today with all the urgency that today's situation commands.

The Tenet security work plan and the Mitchell recommendations are a carefully calibrated set of procedures and substantive requirements to end the incitement, terrorism and violence, to proclaim a ceasefire, to enter into mutual confidence building measures and to proceed to negotiations leading to a political settlement.

Principal number ten is confidence-building measures, the Parliamentary and people to people contributions. I want to associate myself with the initiative represented and mentioned earlier by my hon. colleague from Cumberland--Colchester [Tory MP Bill Casey] of an Israeli-Palestinian-Canadian Parliamentary peace forum.

Principle number eleven is the end game. UN security council resolution 1397 states: ''the vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders.'' For this vision to be reached, the culture of incitement, hate and terror will have to end, as stated by Professor Ajami.

Indeed, that is the core of what Tenet and Mitchell seek to build upon. For that to happen we must realize that saying yes to Palestine means also saying yes to Israel. Otherwise we will have learned nothing from history and will never realize the vision of a peaceful future for all peoples in the Middle East that we all desperately yearn for.

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, who represents Mount-Royal, Que., delivered this speech in the House on April 9, 2002.

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: November 5, 2002

LENGTH: 327 words

HEADLINE: Guessing on Paul Martin's cabinet

ANCHOR: CRAIG OLIVER AND JOHN IBBITSON

BODY:
CRAIG OLIVER: Oh, the anxiety. In just twelve days, Liberal MPs will find out whether they made the cabinet cut or not. Well to save those Liberals the anguish of sitting by the phone, worrying about whether their cellphone batteries are charged up, Will Paul call, we're going to save them a lot of work. We've done some snooping around, and we have up with a cabinet list of our own. Here it is.

In BC, David Anderson and Steve Owen get another shot at cabinet. Herb Dhaliwal is sent to the showers. In Alberta, Anne McLellan is a sure bet for cabinet again, but this time, rumours that she may become Canada's first female Finance Minister. David Kilgour is out. In Saskatchewan, Ralph Goodale stays. He's almost certain to be Deputy Prime Minister. In Manitoba, Reg Alcock is in. Rey Pagtakhan is out.

In the Liberal stronghold of Ontario, Martin is said it be cleaning house. Ministers Sheila Copps, David Collenette, Don Boudria, Jane Stewart, Elinor Caplan, Robert Nault all out. Ministers John McCallum, Bill Graham and Lyle Vanclief will likely stay in cabinet, shuffled to different portfolios. Maurizio Bevilacqua hangs in there and Allan Rock is still a 50-50 bet. Ontario newcomers to cabinet include Stan Keyes, John Godfrey, Judy Sgro, Jim Peterson, Joe Volpe, Tony Valare, Mario Belanger and Carolyn Bennett.

In La Belle Province, ministers Pierre Pettigrew and Denis Coderre are survivors. Stephane Dion is a 50-50 bet at best. But Martin Cauchon and Lucienne Robillard get the au revoir. Newcomers to the cabinet include Liz Fruila, Helen Scherer, Irwin Cotler and Georges Farrah.

In Atlantic Canada, Solicitor General Wayne Easter and Claudette Bradshaw bite the dust. Newcomers will include John Efford, Geoff Regan, Shawn Murphy. Well, we should add, by the way, that those of you who are left out, take hope. We're still working on our list. It's still in flux. And presumably so is Mr. Martin's.

LOAD-DATE: December 1, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 886 words

HEADLINE: Report presses for reparations for Jewish refugees from Arab lands

BYLINE: Melissa Radler

BODY:
NEW YORK - The exodus of close to one million Jews from Arab countries following the Israel's founding was a case of orchestrated, state-sponsored repression that deserves immediate redress, international law and human rights experts stated in a landmark report released Monday.

The report, "Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: The Case for Rights and Redress," was released at a press conference across the street from the United Nations Monday by Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), an organization founded last year to secure justice for the 856,000 forgotten Jewish refugees of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"The historical fact is that Jews were made refugees in many parts of the Arab world," said JJAC honorary chairman Richard Holbrooke, who served as US ambassador to the UN from 1999 to 2001.

"Historical truths cannot be denied," he said. "We must not forget this issue, and as we talk about refugees in the region, let's remember there were refugees on both sides." The report, compiled over 10 months by 22 experts from the US, Europe, Canada, and Israel, documents the Arab world's collusion in driving Jews from their homelands more than 50 years ago. It also details the international community's failure to recognize the Jews' suffering or provide redress for their lives or property.

Among the evidence of organized discrimination and persecution cited is a series of legal decrees undertaken against Jewish citizens, criminalized by the 1945 Nuremberg Charter and the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Civilians in Time of War, including the freezing of Jewish bank accounts and confiscation of property in Syria in 1947; the classification of Zionism as a capital crime in Iraq in 1948; the confiscation of Jewish property in Egypt in 1956; and the destruction of Jewish synagogues, cemeteries, and abolishing of local religious bodies in Tunisia in 1958.

The report also quotes numerous press reports and statements by Arab leaders dating back to the 1940s. Egyptian delegate to the UN Heykal Pasha warned on November 14, 1947, for example, that the partition of Palestine would "endanger a million Jews living in Muslim countries... If the United Nations were to partition Palestine, it might be responsible for the massacre of a large number of Jews," he said.

A May 16, 1948 article in The New York Times entitled "Jews in grave danger in all Muslim lands" reported on the drafting of an Arab League law that moved to make Jewish citizens of Arab nations "members of the Jewish minority of Palestine," and freeze their bank accounts for use in the war against Israel.

"We really had a pattern of ethnic cleansing," said international human rights lawyer and Canadian MP Irwin Cotler, a member of JJAC's advisory legal committee.

Calling the treatment of Jews after Israel's founding "state-sponsored, state-orchestrated repression," with the "marking of a criminal conspiracy," Cotler and other leaders present called for the establishment of an international tribunal to resurrect and rectify the issue after decades of neglect by the international community.

The executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, said that JJAC plans to present a copy of the report to the White House, press for hearings in Congress, and seek input from human rights groups. Next Monday, Lord George Weidenfeld of Britain is hosting hearings on the issue in the House of Lords, he said.

Several refugees who fled their homelands to escape persecution and violence spoke at the press conference. Giullia Boukhobza, whose family fled Tripoli in 1967, recalled a local mob threatening to burn down her house after Israel emerged the victor in the Six Day War. After its brush with death, her family went into hiding and escaped to Italy, she said.

"My family had to start from scratch," she said. "We didn't seek to make ourselves wards of the international community and we did not seek to plot against Libya."

In contrast to the approximately 700,000 Palestinians who became refugees after Israel's founding, the plight of Jewish refugees did not capture the world's attention; of the 681 UN General Assembly resolutions dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1947, 101 refer to Palestinian refugees, and none refer to Jewish refugees, noted the report.

No financial assistance was ever provided to the Jewish refugees, with Israel absorbing more than 600,000 people, compared with billions spent on Palestinian refugees, who have not yet been absorbed into their host countries or the Palestinian Authority.

The report also estimated the value of Jewish assets at more than $ 100 billion, and among JJAC's proposed activities is seeking financial redress through the court system.

"We ask for justice. Let all claims be judged equally," said Maurice Soussa, an Iraqi Jew whose family's electrical plant was shuttered in the 1940s by the government because it was Jewish-owned. For the two years, he recalled, the area serviced by the plant had no electricity.

"This campaign is about truth, justice, and reconciliation," said Cotler. "We must return the history of Jews from Arab countries to the narrative of the Mideast from which it was expunged."

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A6

LENGTH: 411 words

HEADLINE: Native, Jewish leaders join to fight hate, anti-Semitism

SOURCE: Canadian Press

DATELINE: MONTREAL

BODY:
Shared experiences of oppression and racism bind Canada's Jews and native people in a common battle to fight hatred, the grand chief of Quebec's northern Cree told a conference on Sunday.

"Part of a shared experience between aboriginal peoples and Jews is a history of oppression, of marginalization, and of struggling to retain our identities as societies within larger, often hostile and hateful societies," Grand Chief Ted Moses told an anti-Semitism conference organized by the Canadian Jewish Congress.

The event attracted the father of slain American reporter Daniel Pearl, Canadian political leaders, human rights experts and a variety of Quebec political commentators.

In an emotional speech, Judea Pearl denounced the growing global scourge of anti-Semitism and discussed his family's efforts to address the root causes of hate that resulted in his son's death.

Pearl was a Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and killed last year in Pakistan while researching militants and terrorism in Pakistan.

In a videotape of his killing, Pearl defiantly told his captors that he was Jewish.

The significance of Pearl's killing lies in the reasons for his death and highlights the new realities of the world following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, said his father.

"Danny was not killed for what he knew or for what he wrote or for what he intended to write," Judea Pearl said. "He was killed for what he represented and what he represented was each one of us."

His death struck an emotional chord among Americans, journalists, Jews and even progressive Muslims because they felt targeted themselves by the hate-fuelled murder, he said.

"The legacy of Daniel Pearl represents not a story of martyrdom, not a claim for victimhood but a proud reminder of who we are and what we stand for as well as a vivid reminder of who our adversaries are and what they stand for," he said.

A series of conference speakers described the worsening anti-Semitism that has arisen around the world since the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington.

"We are entering a new, escalating, virulent, global and even lethal anti-Semitism," said Irwin Cotler, a renowned human rights professor and Liberal MP. Traditional anti-Semitism against Jews in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere has been replaced by increasing attacks against the Jewish people and the right of Israel to survive among nations, he said.

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HEADLINE: Anti-Semitism on Senate agenda

BYLINE: Lungen, Paul

BODY:
For Sen. Jerry Grafstein, the parallel could not be more disturbing. While visiting Germany last summer, he and his wife planned to attend synagogue services in Berlin, but to do so, they were forced to pass through heavy security screening before they could enter. Disturbing, no doubt, but perhaps not surprising considering Germany's history and the upsurge in anti-Jewish incidents throughout the continent.

Back in Canada, he had a feeling of deja vu when he and other members of the Beth Tzedec Synagogue, one of Toronto's largest congregations, were made to enter the building through a parking lot entrance and pass through security screening not much different than what he experienced in Germany.

For Grafstein, the idea that Canadian Jews would have to be protected during High Holy Day services was galling, even ''personally demeaning.''

What's more, unlike in Germany, where security costs are subsidized by the government, congregants at Beth Tzedec and other synagogues themselves pay a special security fee for the added measures.

That is outrageous, Grafstein said, as have been the half dozen arson attacks on Jewish houses of worship and memorial chapels in the last two years and the upsurge of anti-Semitic incidents that now number in the hundreds.

As a senator in Parliament's Upper House, Grafstein has been in a position to do something about it. Late last month, he introduced a ''resolution on anti-Semitic violence in the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) region including Canada.''

The resolution is closely modelled on another resolution adopted unanimously this past summer in Germany by the 55-member OSCE, where Grafstein serves as treasurer, though it has been ''Canadianized'' and updated in its preamble recitations. It reaffirms Canada's obligation to ''unequivocally condemn'' anti-Semitism and take effective measure to protect individuals from anti-Semitic violence. It also calls on the government to schedule follow-up seminars to study the issue and to ''make public a statement recognizing violence against Jews and Jewish cultural properties as anti-Semitic, as well as issue strong public declarations condemning the depredations.''

The resolution will be referred to a Senate committee for further discussion and last week, Montreal MP Irwin Cotler said he planned to introduce a similar resolution in the House of Commons some time in the new year.

The U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag have already adopted the OSCE resolution and the German parliament held a one-day seminar to study the issue. Only last week, Grafstein was in Washington to participate in a meeting of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, an agency consisting of American lawmakers. A visiting delegation of German parliamentarians, who also participated, heard from a number of American Jewish groups on the question of anti-Semitism.

''They're way ahead of the game,'' Grafstein said of the American and German governments.

Grafstein, a Liberal, believes the government of Canada has fallen short of its international and moral obligations to speak out strongly against the current manifestation of anti-Semitism in Canada. He's also critical of political and religious leaders, and of the media for not giving the issue the attention he believes it deserves.

In introducing the resolution, Grafstein told his fellow senators that ''in Canada... all I have heard is silence... Honourable senators, silence is acquiescence. Acquiescence breeds license. License breeds legitimacy. Legitimacy leads to fear, scorn, loathing and then violence.''

Grafstein said the initial response of his Senate colleagues was one of surprise and shock at the extent of the problem. ''They were surprised by the fact there were those anti-Semitic incidents,'' he said.

Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative House leader and justice critic, told The CJN he was unaware of the extent of the problem and he believed few other MPs were familiar with it. He agreed federal leaders hadn't done enough to speak out against anti-Semitism and pledged he would do so in the future.

Sen. Jack Austin agreed that most of his colleagues were unaware of the level of anti-Semitism in Canada. ''It's not part of their reality,'' he said. ''People are pre-occupied with their own concerns.''

Although the record of public statements by political and religious leaders on the two-year spate of anti-Semitism is sparse, it is not a complete wasteland.

A news release issued by Prime Minister Jean Chretien last July when Toronto accountant David Rosenzweig was murdered read ''that such acts of hatred directed against Canadians for reasons of race, faith or for belonging to any identifiable group are totally unacceptable. We will not allow anti-Semitism or religious and ethnic intolerance in Canada.''

About one year ago, Cotler said he briefed the Prime Minister on ''the new anti-Jewishness'' and asked him to speak out about it. The Prime Minister addressed the issue at a Liberal fundraising dinner, but ''in my view, it was not enough and not in the right forum,'' Cotler stated.

In March, the Islamic Society of North America condemned the arson at Toronto's Anshei Minsk Synagogue, as did other religious groups, while a month later the Islamic Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat of Toronto called vandalism attacks against Jewish facilities the ''cowardly'' acts of ''irrational and desperate individuals.''

In May, Canadian Ethno-cultural Council president Art Hagopian ''expressed concern'' over the rise of hate crimes and attacks on cultural and religious communities while around the same time, the United Church responded to the upsurge in attacks against Jews in Canada and around the world with an ''absolute condemnation of all acts of anti-Semitism.'' The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, on the other hand, has remained silent on the issue.

Manuel Prutschi, national director of community relations for Canadian Jewish Congress, said some faith groups and other organizations have responded to specific attacks on Jews - he cited the outrage over a synagogue fire in Saskatoon - he felt ''there hasn't been a consistent ongoing response to what is a pattern. Our responsibility is to make people aware that this is a pattern, that these are not isolated events in Canada and that it is a reflection of the global pattern.

''This is a work in progress. Certainly we've been disappointed by the level of response to date,'' he said.

Prutschi said the Jewish community had not witnessed the same level of solidarity ''quite rightly'' expressed by the wider community to Muslims after 9/11. ''The federal government issued several statements and the prime minister visited a mosque in Ottawa. There wasn't that level of response when the police issued a general threat alert in June regarding an Ottawa synagogue being targeted,'' he said.

''I think a heartening gesture would have been if members of the government would have attended during services, as a statement.''

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2003

SECTION: v.32(36) S 12'02 pg 1,28; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5474060

LENGTH: 841 words

HEADLINE: Israel consulate spared

BYLINE: Lazarus, David

BODY:
MONTREAL -- Staff at the Israeli consulate and Montreal's Jewish community are thrilled that the consulate here will stay open after all.

Bowing to extraordinary pressure from the Jewish community -- as well as to a call from Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham -- the Israeli government notified the consulate Sept. 2 that it would not close.

''We're very happy,'' said Israeli Consul General Shlomo Avital. ''We're happy for all our friends. It's a good day for the Jewish community and all our friends in Quebec.''

The decision, which came as the consulate was literally packing its bags, brought a collective sigh of relief.

Two weeks ago, a New York official from Israel's Finance Ministry visited the consulate to take inventory and prepare the paperwork for closure, which was expected to take place around the High Holy Days.

Out of eight Israeli diplomatic missions slated for closure, two others -- in Marseille, France, and Minsk, Belarus -- were also spared.

Meanwhile, the Jewish community of Sydney, Australia, said it would be willing to pay to keep Israel's consulate open there. The offer was made by the head of the Australian Zionist Federation in Israel, Frank Stein, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel Radio reported last week.

Avital said the Israeli government was not preparing any official announcement about Montreal or the two other diplomatic missions staying open.

''This is the official announcement,'' he said.

But there appeared little doubt that intensive lobbying by the Jewish community and politicians played a decisive role in Israel's Foreign Ministry reconsidering its July 22 closure announcement.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Those said to have intervened included FEDERATION CJA president Steven Cummings, Rabbi Reuben Poupko, Senator Leo Kolber and Charles Bronfman, a longtime friend of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

The campaign also included Jewish community petitions, and requests to reconsider by figures such as Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, Quebec's International Relations Minister Louise Beaudoin and Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest.

Graham said he was urged by Kolber and local MP Irwin Cotler to intercede. After hearing ''why the consulate was of particular importance to the Jewish community,'' he said he contacted Peres personally. His Israeli counterpart described the severe cost constraints the Foreign Ministry was experiencing, but Graham said he was left with the impression Peres was doing all he could to save the consulate.

Those lobbying for the consulate underscored the distinct role the institution plays in Montreal and Quebec in catering to the province's six million francophones.

Graham said Quebec is ''a francophone jurisdiction that has particular ties to Israel... There's a francophone community in Israel itself and there's a real interest between Quebec and the Montreal Jewish community and Israel that goes back in time.

''I think it's important to maintain those links,'' he said. ''There's a consulate in Toronto. It's important that Montreal also have a consulate.''

According to Rabbi Poupko, the Israeli government finally ''understood the absolute need to keep the consulate open at a time when the perception of Israel in not what it should be.

''It shows that our support for Israel is valued and appreciated, that when we speak with a united voice, we are listened to.''

In 1998, the consulate faced a similar threat of closure, but stayed open after Bronfman and the Jewish community intervened. Unlike 1998, however, this time it came right down to the wire.

According to one source, the decision to spare the consulate was made over the objections of Israel's Finance Ministry, now under intense pressure to pare the government budget across the board.

As reported last month in The CJN, Peres and Sharon asked the ministry to try to find the money necessary to keep the Montreal consulate open - about $1.2 million (US) annually.

But according to the source, Peres held little sway with the Finance Ministry, particularly its high-ranking bureaucrats who make the decisions.

It was Sharon who ''finally banged on the table'' and ordered the ministry to come up with the money, the source said.

''Peres didn't win the battle. Sharon had to do it.''

Avital said that with the consulate staying open, it was unclear whether he would be taking on the post of ambassador to Senegal. News of his appointment coincided with the closure announcement.

One possibility was that Avital, who arrived in Montreal in 1999, would stay on for another year. Another was that he would depart for Senegal, and be temporarily replaced by Israeli consul Nina Ben-Ami.

Whatever the case, Avital said there seemed little doubt that the Israeli government came to realize the importance of the Israeli consulate to the Jewish community in Montreal and for maintaining important ties with Quebec.

- With files from Paul Lungen and JTA

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2003

SECTION: v.32(21) My 23'02 pg 18; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5413891

LENGTH: 906 words

HEADLINE: Israel, Jews and the left

BYLINE: CUMMINGS, JORDY

BODY:
Can it be that it was all so simple? In 1948, upon Israel's founding, the international left - including Arab communist and socialist parties, particularly in Egypt - was supportive of Israel. After the nakba (Arabic for catastrophe, referring to the founding of Israel), Marxists, even within the Arab world, were prepared to accept Israel's right to exist within secure borders.

The reasoning was that a socialist, labour-based country - Israel - would rub off on the repressive ''Islamo-fascist'' regimes that dominated the region.

Indeed, it was the British-funded Muslim Brotherhood, ostensibly an Islamic charity, that provided the basis for Arab anti-Semitism, as well as a means to push Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser to the right.

Also, it was the Americans (and particularly former U.S. president Jimmy Carter's National Security Council adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski), in their brilliance, who later decided to create an International Islamic Fundamentalist Brigade - later to be called Al Qaeda - in order to defeat communism in Afghanistan.

Aside from some American corporations, international big business has always relied more strongly on iron-fisted Wahabis - the inventors of what we call fundamentalist Islam, who essentially run Saudi Arabia - than on Eretz Yisrael.

Why is it, then, that the international left seems to be so pro-Palestinian, leading many hitherto left-leaning Jews to abandon their progressive affiliations? Why is it that an innocuous Naderite research group like QPIRG-McGill has been lumped in with ''extremists'' (as was the case in a recent issue of The CJN)? Much of it has to do with a misunderstanding of our position on this issue.

Even the most ardent leftist critics of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's actions do not deny Israel's right to exist within secure borders. It is just that we cannot square Sharon's appointing of transfer-mongers to his government and his stated desire to destroy the Oslo peace process with our support for Israel. Therefore, like Americans who saw it as their patriotic duty to speak the truth while their nation was involved in the horrendous Vietnam War, we see it as our responsibility, as Jews and as internationalists, to speak out against Sharon.

The charge that the left is anti-Semitic is ludicrous, especially given that those in the vanguard of many, if not most progressive social movements, are disproportionately Jewish. Indeed, the group of non-violent activists who recently occupied MP Irwin Cotler's office in Montreal included more than one Israeli, as well as quite a few Palestinians.

Furthermore, as more Palestinians and Arabs become involved in leftist and internationalist politics, it will bring a far preferable mode of political thinking to the Middle East than that of the Wahabis or the Baathists. (The latter are the worst anti-Semites in the region, growing out of what was supposed to be an Arab socialist movement into something heavily influenced by Nazi expatriates in the 1950s. Iraq's Saddam Hussein and the late Syrian leader Hafez Assad are Baathists.)

On the other hand, as many Jews close ranks to support Sharon, there has been a tremendous growth of openly expressed Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, if not Meir Kahane-derived attitudes, not only toward Palestinians but toward such ''self-hating Jews'' as Rabbi Michael Lerner, the editor of Tikkun magazine, Israeli author Amos Oz and Labour MK Yossi Beillin.

Israel and Palestine are but a small part of the international left's current agenda, which can be simplified in the great catch phrase ''Another world is possible.'' Unlike the media-created label of ''anti-globalization,'' the left aims to globalize social justice, environmentalism, human rights and labour movements to eventually be able to counter the international power of corporations. The nation state has declined in power over the last half-century, while big business acts ever more globally. Anyone confused about the current global corporate agenda can look at victims of the Enron debacle, not only in Houston, but all through India, where it was a regular Enron practice to bribe state officials to build huge dams that are environmentally destructive, while nearly 100 million Indians are without a safe supply of water.

As the world faces a huge resurgence in anti-Semitism, both of the fascist LePenite and the Islamist variety, it is important that members of the Jewish community understand one another - a sort of macro-level shalom bayit.

It is of course also important for us to understand that Jean-Marie LePen in France and other Euro-fascists are as anti-Arab as they are anti-Semitic. We Semites - Muslim, Jewish and Christian - must find ways of working together globally.

My aim in writing this opinion piece is not to propagandize or proselytize. Rather, it is rather to explain to my community why so many of us are involved in internationalism. I expect that the knee-jerk responses to me will be visceral, just as they were to Baruch Spinoza, who was thrown out of the Amsterdam Jewish community for his views. Yet, a compass is far more important when it is inconvenient. I believe that history will vindicate my position, while the same cannot be said for those who blindly support Sharon.

Jordy Cummings is a freelance journalist and activist based in Montreal.

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: February 20, 2003

SECTION: Vol. 21, No. 31

LENGTH: 749 words

HEADLINE: Ontario's chief justice confident the law will achieve balance between security, Charter rights

BYLINE: John Jaffey

TEXT:
Toronto

Ontario's chief justice says Canadians can count on the law -"a vital pillar of any democratic society"-to balance the competing needs of collective security and individual freedom.

Addressing a Canadian Club luncheon last week, Chief Justice Roy McMurtry spoke on the theme, "The Role of the Courts in Turbulent Times."

He framed the debate with a quote from The New York Times, which saw the current issue in the U.S. as "Civil liberty vs. security: Finding a wartime balance."

The Times said President George W. Bush's decision to try alleged terrorists in military tribunals is "a travesty of justice,"and declared that, "in his effort to defend Americans from terrorists, the President is eroding the very values he seeks to protect, including the rule of law."

Chief Justice McMurtry went on to point out that Britain had responded to Sept. 11 by permitting detention without trial for six months and the taking into custody of suspicious-looking airline passengers. France was similarly quick to permit police to search people's baggage.

"It has often been acknowledged that in times of fear, the majority of people place security above all else and are quite willing to cede government extraordinary authority,"he said. "As one U.S. law professor recently expressed it, 'we love security more than we love liberty.'"

He acknowledged that the federal government's proposals for increased security "have raised many concerns, as Canadians debate how to defend the Canadian model of a diverse and tolerant society in the face of international terrorism."

There was no doubt the government had a duty to protect its citizens. But the complexity of the debate was illustrated by the positions of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler and Alan Borovoy, general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, who both had "lengthy and distinguished records in their commitment to individual rights."

Cotler finds Canada's criminal laws inadequate to deal with an unprecedented terrorist threat. But Borovoy says Bill C-36's new powers of detention, investigation and surveillance are so wide they will catch behaviour that isn't terrorism.

Chief Justice McMurtry said it would be improper for him to comment on the law. "However, the legislation may well be tested in our courtrooms and as a result the role of judges could be subjected to closer scrutiny than at any time before in our nation's history."

Noting that in the last decade courts have been criticized as too activist and inclined to give too liberal a meaning to Charter guarantees of rights and freedoms, he reminded his audience he was one of the Charter's architects. He said its use of indeterminate terms "was deliberate, as the document was intended to evolve in response to new challenges and conditions. Our constitution was intended to endure without having to be reinvented by an endless series of constitutional amendments."

While judges had the task of interpreting the Charter, "they are aware they must exercise their role so as not to lose public confidence. ... Judicial creativity is part of legal existence, and law without discretion has been described as a body without a spirit."

Describing courts as impartial bodies that must reflect the basic values of society, he said they are not "necessarily democratic institutions, as they are not bound by the majority of public opinion. However, I believe that when the majority takes away the rights of a minority that is not democracy. Democracy is, therefore, a delicate balance between majority rule and individual rights."

He said that in many cases judges are told the solution to conflict lies in a balance between conflicting values. "However, there is no legislation or legal precedent that adequately indicates what weight should be attached to each value and how a judge should balance between the conflicting values."

Citing Brown v. Board of Education, where the U.S. Supreme Court held segregation in schools to be unconstitutional, as an example of courts becoming "the crusader for a new consensus,"he said a judge's decision "should reflect the deep values of society, not merely his personal values."

Recognizing that pressures on Parliament and provincial legislatures in the wake of September 11 were virtually unprecedented, he said that in the months ahead, "a high order of legislative and judicial statesmanship will be needed which will require wisdom, courage and restraint under the watchful eye of an informed public."

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: December 10, 2001

SECTION: News; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 434 words

HEADLINE: MP WANTS U.S. DIPLOMAT BOOTED

BYLINE: BILL RODGERS, OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
Grit backbench MP Alex Shepherd demanded Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, be booted out of the country, sources have told Sun Media.

A Liberal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Durham MP told the weekly caucus that Cellucci "should be censured and expelled" from Canada.

A blunt-talking Cellucci said in a Toronto speech this week that Washington "was disappointed and upset that Canada is not fully supporting" the U.S. in the war on Iraq.

Cellucci was directed to make his remarks by the "most senior levels" in the White House because federal Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal had levelled personal criticism against U.S. President George Bush, sources said.

The White House "expects these things, when they get personal, to be addressed by the leader," a source said.

"We watched and we waited and nothing was said about Dhaliwal's comments and, since we know of the prime minister's strong control of his own cabinet, it raises the issue, 'Does (Jean) Chretien support these remarks?' "

Simcoe-Grey Grit Paul Bonwick said it was time the U.S. ambassador was "reeled in" for his comments on Canada's position on Iraq and recent criticism of the lack of government spending on the Canadian military.

Oak Ridges MP Bryon Wilfert told caucus there should be some type of "discipline" for Cellucci while former defence minister Art Eggleton weighed in to say Canada should "pull out the 31 Canadians (soldiers)" who are working with American military units in Iraq as part of a Canada-U.S. exchange program.

Sources told Sun Media Chretien didn't intervene, allowing MPs to have their say on the issue.

Asked later about his caucus comments, Shepherd said: "I thought Mr. Cellucci crossed the line of diplomacy," adding Cellucci needs a lesson in recent history.

"I think he has forgotten the fact that we supported the United States on September 11, that we allowed all of these American planes to land in Canada."

Other Liberals, however, jumped in to cool down the heated rhetoric.

"This is not the way members of a family treat each other," said Quebec Grit Irwin Cotler.

Paul Martin admitted Canada's stance has strained relations between the countries, but not irreparably.

"I think that we've really got to understand just how strong the friendship between Canada and the United States is," Martin said.

Dan McTeague reminded those critical of the U.S. ambassador that Raymond Chretien, our former ambassador in Washington, once crossed the diplomatic line and expressed a preference for the Democrats during the 2000 presidential election.

GRAPHIC: photo of PAUL CELLUCCI

LOAD-DATE: March 27, 2003

SECTION: Pg. NAT8, NAT9, NAT14

ACC-NO: KJP2002121101

LENGTH: 1984 words

HEADLINE: Antidote to anti-Semitism

BYLINE: Weinblatt, Rabbi Stuart

BODY:
Most of us are probably too young to recall a year like the one we have just experienced. After the liquidation of Jewish life in Europe, and the annihilation of six million Jews, the Jewish people displayed an amazing resiliency and, tenacity, defying all expectations by refusing to disappear from the annals of history.

Yet equally surprising, just one generation after the destruction of the European Jewish community, anti-Semitism is rampant throughout the world, especially in Europe and the Arab and Muslim nations. It is surprising because in the shadow of the Holocaust we enjoyed a period in which such bigotry was repudiated and viewed as repugnant and unfashionable.

Yet today anti-Jewish sentiment knows no bounds, and is prevalent in many respectable quarters around the world. It is the bedrock of communist countries and atheistic regimes alike, uniting Muslim fundamentalists and neo-Nazis, intellectuals on the left and barbarians on the right.

Not only is it no longer unfashionable to express anti-Semitic comments, it is now down right fashionable. A conversation at a dinner party in London of European diplomatic types and others this past spring was defiled by the comment by France's ambassador to England attributing all the troubles in the world to that (expletive deleted) little country, Israel. He was neither recalled nor rebuked by his government.

It seems that no international colloquium can be held without Palestinians and Arabs hijacking the forum and turning it into a festschrift of hate and seizing the opportunity to either slander or exclude Israel. Last year's United Nations-sponsored conference on racism in Durban, South Africa was turned into a conference of racism against Israel and the Jewish people. Taking place a week before Sept. 11, the horrifying events of that tragic day overshadowed the deliberations, but the conference against racism actually foreshadowed Sept. 11.

Events spiraled downhill from there.

Despite protestations to the contrary, attempts to cloak good old-fashioned anti-Semitism in the mask of protesting Israel's policies is transparent. When Israel is singled out among all the nations of the world for the kind of criticism it faces, it is anti-Semitism, and must be identified as such. It is the only country in the world rebuked for defending itself. A defining characteristic of the new anti-Semitism denies that Jews are victims of Palestinian violence. Although in a break with its past, this summer, for the first time, Amnesty International actually declared that attacks on Israelis should be considered violations of human rights.

Renowned international human rights lawyer and professor of law Irwin Cotler wrote, "Anew, virulent, escalating, globalizing anti-Jewishness has emerged in the world which singles out Israel and the Jewish people not only for deferential and discriminatory treatment in the family of nations, but also for specific, targeted terrorist assault. It takes the form of genocidal anti-Semitism--the public call for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people."

Hardly any nation in the world is impervious to the plague of promoting and tolerating anti-Semitic speech and actions. In fact, when I was speaking with my children about the topics of this year's sermons, and how hard it is to come up with themes for five sermons, my daughter, Margalit, proposed a novel solution. She suggested I could devote a sermon one day to the problem of anti-Semitism in France, the next day could be about anti-Semitism in Bulgaria, one could deal with the situation in the Netherlands, and so on.

The day after the deadly Palestinian attack on Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the British newspaper, The Guardian, published an editorial criticizing Israel for, "random, vengeful acts of terror" against Palestinian civilians in Jenin. This, despite the fact that the United Nations had already issued a report dismissing the claim. Even though Israel waited until 126 civilians were murdered in the month of March before responding, so as not to be accused of over-reacting, Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago wrote, "We can compare what is happening in the Palestinian territories with Auschwitz."

It is hard to tell which came first, but there is a definite correlation between governmental policies and the attitudes expressed by leading intellectuals and the physical and verbal violence against Jews and institutions of the Jewish community. How a nation treats its Jews has always been a barometer of a country's moral fiber.

In Kiev, 50 youths chanting "kill the Jews" went on a rampage, smashing windows in a synagogue on a Saturday evening. Jewish cemeteries and the Holocaust memorial in Salonika, Greece, were defaced with pro-Palestinian slogans. Anti-Israel protesters hurled rocks and bottles at Jewish places of business in Amsterdam. In Brussels, Belgium, five firebombs were tossed into a synagogue and a Jewish bookstore was damaged by arsonists.

A number of assaults on Jews and desecration of Jewish communal institutions were reported in Germany, England, and elsewhere. In Barcelona, 10,000 people demonstrated against what they called Israeli "genocide" and burned the Star of David. Norway has an informal embargo on Israeli products, as dock workers have refused to unload merchandise from Israel.

The European Union has just instituted a 15 percent import tax on all products made in the disputed areas of Israel, and some stores are requiring that Ahava products bear a sticker with the words, "Made in the West Bank." Israel is isolated culturally, as concerts of Israeli performers and orchestras are canceled, and performing artists avoid coming to Israel.

And in the granddaddy of European anti-Semitism, France, gangs of hooded men attacked Jews and struck them with iron clubs. Youths with baseball bats attacked the Maccabi soccer team. Buses carrying Jewish school children were attacked. A French movie theater refused to rent its theater to a group of Jewish school children who wanted to see the movie "Harry Potter." Synagogues, Jewish schools, cemeteries and kosher stores were defaced. In the month of April alone, over 360 crimes were committed against Jews. A synagogue in Marseilles was burned, along with its prayer books and torah scrolls.

Despite all this, French President Jacques Chirac had the chutzpah to protest to Prime Minister Sharon against the campaign to portray France as anti-Semitic.

Gabriel Schoenfeld wrote in Commentary magazine, "The themes are the same everywhere. Israel, a country victimized by terrorism, stands accused of perpetrating terrorism; the Jews, having suffered the most determined and thoroughgoing genocide in history, stand accused of perpetrating genocide." It is no coincidence that the vile terms of the very people who sought to annihilate the Jews are now applied to Israel, as people march through the streets of Europe with placards calling Jews Nazis.

Following up on a petition signed by 120 university academics for a moratorium on cultural and research links with Israel and Israeli scholars, Egyptian-born professor Mona Baker wrote to two Israelis on the editorial board of the journal she edits demanding their resignations simply because they are Israeli.

How does this differ from the Nazis firing people from academic posts just because they were Jewish?

They want to boycott? Fine, let them boycott.

The Jewish sage Ann Landers, who died earlier this year, wrote a column a number of years ago based on something originally written by the late humorist Sam Levenson in response to the anti-Semites of the world.

"It's a free world. You don't have to like Jews if you don't want to, but if you are going to be an anti-Semite, you should be consistent and turn your back on everything Jews have done, including the medical advances that Jews have made possible."

They then go on to list things such as:

"... the vaccine for hepatitis discovered by Baruch Blumber, the Wasserman test for syphilis and the first effective drug to fight syphilis developed by Paul Ehrlich. Bela Schick developed the test for diphtheria. Insulin would not have been discovered if Oskar Minkowski had not demonstrated the link between diabetes and the pancreas.

"It was Burrill Crohn who identified the disease that bears his name. Alfred Hess discovered that vitamin C could cure scurvy. Dr. Casimir Funk was the first to use vitamin B to treat beriberi. Streptomycin was discovered by Dr. Woronan. Jonas Salk developed the first polo vaccine. Later, Albert Sabin developed the oral version."

Levenson concluded in his own inimitable way:

"Humanitarianism requires that we offer these gifts to all people of the world. So the bigots who don't want to accept these gifts can go ahead and turn them down, but I'm warning you, you aren't going to feel so good!"

In April the United Nations Human Rights Commission, with the support of France, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Spain and Austria, passed a resolution condemning Israel for war crimes, acts of mass killing and offenses against humanity, while supporting the right of the Palestinians to resist.

With all the tzoris going on all around the world, and this is what they dray their kop about?!

In two days in May government forces in Nepal tracked down and killed 350 guerrillas. Rwandans have slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis, China oppresses Tibet, Syria currently occupies Lebanon, Russia bombs Chechnya, and not a word of protest is uttered in the hallowed halls of the United Nations. There is no academic or religious freedom, nor is there freedom of the press in any of the oppressive and backward Arab regimes that trample on human rights. Yet only Israel is singled out, and accused of massacres and compared to Nazis, and they say it is not anti-Semitism!

How dare they do this? How dare the world not distinguish between aggressor and self defense? How dare the world side with the perpetrator and not the victim? It is inexplicable to me how people of good conscience can side with those who celebrate the loss of innocent lives and dip their hands in the blood of their victims.

Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie, tried to explain the absurdity of the accusations in a column he wrote a few months ago:

"When we bombed Afghanistan, it was a mission to "smoke them out." Yet when Israel attacks its hornet's nest of terror, it is accused of 'occupying' and told to retreat.

"When we fired on Kabul, from the safety of the air, we said innocent people would be caught in the crossfire and, sadly this was war. Yet when Israeli soldiers go door to door in Palestinian areas, the most dangerous, yet humane way to root out terrorists, we call them 'murderers' the moment one civilian is killed. When we were scorned by critics who thought our treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo was inhumane--because we bound, gagged and blindfolded them--we bristled and said, 'These are dangerous people.' Yet when Israel demands certain Palestinians strip and stay on the ground, we say this is outrageous and must be stopped.

"When a videotape emerges showing bin Laden speaking of September 11, we say it proves the man is evil. Yet when Israelis produce documents to show Arafat funds terror, they are accused of forgery."

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Europe, of all places, has no right less than 60 years after the Holocaust to act this way. I feel like the kid on the playground who cries out against an adversary who was supposed to refrain from attacking, "you promised you wouldn't do this again." Europeans, of all people, should object and realize that there is something seriously wrong when people march in the streets shouting, "Hitler should have finished the job.": The viciousness of the vitriol belies a deep-seated and underlying visceral resentment and contempt of Jews.

LOAD-DATE: January 15, 2003

SECTION: Assignment and International desks

LENGTH: 301 words

HEADLINE: ADL to Release Survey of European Attitudes Toward Jews; Wiesel, Fischer to Address International Conference on Anti-Semitism

World Jewish leaders from Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Central and South America will join government officials, UN consular diplomats and prominent individuals from the corporate, civic and arts world in New York City for two days of dialogue and deliberations for responding to the rise of anti-Semitism around the world. The full conference schedule follows.

ADL CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM SCHEDULE OF EVENTS OPEN TO MEDIA COVERAGE

http://www.usnewswire.com

CONTACT: Myrna Shinbaum, 212-885-7747 or Todd Gutnick, 212-885-7755, both of the Anti-Defamation League

LOAD-DATE: October 29, 2002

LENGTH: 697 words

HEADLINE: Government's revamped anti-terror legislation

ANCHOR: LLOYD ROBERTSON

BODY:
LLOYD ROBERTSON: Good evening. It's a rare admission. But Ottawa concedes it went too far after September 11th in tightening anti-terror measures in the name of national security. And today the government took the unusual step of rewriting its own legislation to calm critics who expressed fears about civil rights. These new measures will restrict federal powers to investigate and arrest law abiding citizens. Among key changes are limits to police powers to indefinitely keep secret files on airline passengers. Now, police files can only be kept for seven days unless a traveller is a criminal suspect. And Ottawa no longer seeks unlimited powers to impose so-called military security zones and arrest trespassers. New legislation limits the measure to only protecting military personnel and equipment. This last provision was the most contentious. Critics feared the government would use the security zone measure to criminalize peaceful protest at political events like this June's conference of G-8 leaders in Alberta. As CTV's Joy Malbon reports, Ottawa is giving assurances it will not quash dissent in the name of security. But not everyone is convinced.

JOY MALBON [Reporter]: This is what all the fuss is about. Concern that when Canada hosts a world summit here it would be turned into a military zone. Protesters shut out, denied their right to demonstrate. Not so says Art Eggleton. New legislation now limits his powers.

ART EGGLETON [Defence Minister]: It cannot be used to protect international conferences or to prevent protesters from carrying out their activities. It can only be used, it couldn't be used in the Kananaskis case.

MALBON: His powers restricted to protect military troops or equipment only. Critics aren't buying it.

JAMES MOORE [Canadian Alliance BC]: If military equipment is a reason to create a military security zone, ipso facto, if you put, land a helicopter in the middle of Kananaskas you need to protect that equipment, Kananaskis becomes a military security zone, so it's an out.

MALBON: An out civil rights watchdogs say still gives government far too much power.

ALAN BOROVOY [Civil Liberties Association]: This provision would make the government the umpire of its own ball game.

MALBON: The old legislation was compared to the War Measures Act, used to suspend civil liberties during the October crisis of 1970 in Quebec. Ottawa says it's listened to those concerns and made changes.

DAVID COLLENETTE [Transportation Minister]: These changes are needed to strengthen Canada's ability to protect the country and Canadians. Changes proposed in this legislation are just plain common sense.

MALBON: Another terrorist tool allows RCMP and security officers to share air passenger information. Red flagging suspects, including anyone with an outstanding warrant for a serious offense.

LAWRENCE MACAULAY [Solicitor General]: This individual's information will be forwarded to where the plane is landing and the individual would be arrested in this country.

MALBON: This Liberal still isn't convinced the new bill solves the old problems.

IRWIN COTLER [Liberal Quebec]: I think the good faith is there, but, you know, as they say the devil sometimes is in the details.

MALBON: This is Ottawa's third run at anti terror legislation in eight months. Criticized for rushing in the wake of September 11th, it's Ottawa's attempt to balance privacy and civil rights while remaining tough on terrorism. Lloyd.

ROBERTSON: Joy this is quite a weighty piece of legislation. What else is on the list that might be of general interest to people.

MALBON: Well as you said, a very thick document. But what's interesting is it makes it a criminal offence to even joke about terrorist activity. There are new definitions for hoaxes, and if it caused bodily harm, even death, it could mean jail time. Air rage is also a serious offense. It also allows Ottawa to put more money into port security after a Senate report about a month ago criticized Canada's ports as fertile grounds for terrorism.

ROBERTSON: Alright Joy. Thank you very much.

MALBON: Thank you.

LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2002

SECTION: News; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 721 words

HEADLINE: RALLYING CRIES;
BOTH SIDES IN MIDEAST CONFLICT PARADE THEIR VIEWS IN OTTAWA

BYLINE: MARK BONOKOSKI

DATELINE: OTTAWA

BODY:
They came hours apart, those pro-Israel and then those pro-Palestine, to stand below the Peace Tower at Parliament Hill and claim that their side is right and the other is wrong.

The day before, a bannered news story in the Ottawa Citizen gave rise to worries that the two back-to-back rallies would collide and that violence would break out, Jew versus Arab, Arab versus Jew.

"Police fear a bloody clash," the story began, fuelling anxieties further with the certainty that this "potentially explosive situation" had the RCMP and Ottawa police going on "high alert."

Then the day came, and nothing happened.

No confrontation, no clash, no bloodshed.

Just words versus words. Pro-Israeli demonstrators condemning Palestinian terrorism; pro-Palestinian demonstrators condemning Israel for atrocities of its own.

Meanwhile, atop the Peace Tower, high above them all, a Canadian flag was flying at half-staff, commemorating the four Canadian soldiers killed fighting another of terrorism's ilk when a U.S. fighter pilot mistakenly unleashed a bomb on them Thursday as they conducted a nighttime training mission in the Afghanistan desert.

Even in this mad, mad world, there is room for irony to have its own sense of timing.

According to police, the pro-Israel rally attracted upwards of 15,000 demonstrators -- with 100-plus busloads coming from Toronto alone -- while the pro-Palestinian gathering, a locally-organized event now in its fourth week, attracted perhaps 3,500.

But the twains never met.

SEA OF PLACARDS

In the sea of waving Israeli flags, certain placards stood out, some for their ingenuity, some for the imagery they triggered.

"Imagine a homicide bomber on the TTC," read the one being carried by Simon Marmar, a 16-year-old high school student from Toronto.

"There may not be a subway system in Israel, but it gets the message across," said the boy's father, Michael. "They have to live in that kind of fear every day of their lives ... going to work, stepping out for a coffee. It's just not tolerable."

Another placard: "America's 9/11 is Israel's 24/7." And another: "Bin Laden + Good PR = Arafat."

The Solidarity Rally for Israel, organized by the Canadian Jewish Congress, had two members of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government take to the podium -- Eglinton-Lawrence MP Joe Volpe and Montreal-area MP Irwin Cotler.

"Canada is not -- and cannot -- be neutral," Volpe told the cheering crowd. "This is a time for Canada to stand with its friends. This is a time for Canada to stand for Israel."

The pro-Palestinian rally, on the other hand, had no elected official in attendance, and has had none since federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough addressed one of its rallies several weeks ago.

That, of course, was prior to Svend Robinson being removed as the party's Middle East critic after travelling to the West Bank and attempting to get a meeting with embattled Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

No problem for Volpe to declare his bias on the side of Israel because of Canada's support of the State of Israel but the same could not be said for Robinson.

"Yes, I have taken sides," he admitted. "The Israeli government and the Israeli military are guilty of torture and murder."

Stripping him of the Mideast file did not take long.

POLICY CLEAR

As McDonough explained, Robinson had to get the boot "because of a regrettable public perception that the NDP has abandoned its long-standing position which supports the right of Israel to exist within secure borders and the right of Palestinians to have a homeland.

"The perception that we have strayed from this principle is deeply worrisome," she said and, with that, Robinson was gone.

The pro-Palestinian demonstrators, of course, had placards of their own. And diametrically opposed, of course, to those carried by the supporters of Israel.

But they, too, triggered imagery of their own.

"Sharon and Hitler are the same. The only difference is the name," read one.

Equating a Jewish leader with Hitler is absolutely hideous, of course, particularly when, hours before, some Jewish demonstrators were carrying placards reading, "Do another six million have to die first?"

But, unfortunately, that's the way it was under the Peace Tower yesterday.

And those were the signs of these times.

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2002

SECTION: (654) S 16'02; ISSN: 0848-0427

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5462900

LENGTH: 1486 words

HEADLINE: Governor General widely expected to prorogue Parliament today: Handful of controversial bills in the spotlight as Prime Minister Jean Chretien gears up for Throne Speech

BYLINE: Francoli, Paco

BODY:
The Governor General is widely expected to prorogue Parliament on Monday, Sept. 16, formally ending the first session of the 37th Parliament and making way for the Liberals' Throne Speech on Sept. 30.

Rather than allow Parliament to sit needlessly for two weeks, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson is expected to act on the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chretien, and will prorogue Parliament today. The session has lasted two years.

This is the last day the Prime Minister's Office can prorogue the session before Parliament is scheduled to resume -- the Senate is slotted to sit on Sept. 17 and the House of Commons the following day.

The move will spare Parliamentarians from returning to Ottawa to work on legislation which could be quickly killed given a planned Speech from the Throne on Sept. 30. It was also timed so that Parliament could remain in session as long as possible in case an emergency arose, such as the expected U.S. attack on Iraq. The House will miss a total of eight sitting days, while the Senate will miss six days.

Prorogation will occur by a proclamation published in The Canada Gazette and will most likely happen sometime in the afternoon after the House Foreign Affairs Committee adjourns its scheduled meeting. As the move will kill all bills and committee business left incomplete after Parliament adjourned last June, speculation has already started about which bills will be revived and which ones won't.

Normally, the House passes a blanket motion that enables all legislation to be revived, as was done the last time Parliament prorogued in 1999. This usually happens after the first vote of confidence in the House which is scheduled on the second sitting day in reply to the Throne Speech.

After the motion is passed, individual ministers must put their bills on the Order Paper for 48 hours, as if they are introducing them for the first time. They will then have up to 30 sitting days to reintroduce their bills in the same stage they were in when Parliament adjourned last June.

Parliament still has 12 bills to deal with in areas such as cruelty to animals, species at risk, public safety, pesticides usage and reproductive technologies. Insiders says most of them will likely be quickly returned to the Order Paper as is, but some might not.

All eyes will be on Transport Minister David Collenette to see what he decides to do with his controversial Public Safety Bill, C-55. Introduced last spring, it is a follow-up to the equally controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill, C-42, which was introduced in November, 2002 but got split into two in the face of stiff opposition to measures allowing ministers special powers to take emergency action to empower the defence minister to declare "military security zones" across the country.

Although it has many critics, such as Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski who said the bill would lead to a "power grab" for the police, its latest incarnation is not without merit.

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, who said he would not support the bill in its current form, told The Hill Times that it contains some useful amendments to the Aeronautic Act which would enhance air travel security and amendments to the Criminal Code to deter criminal and terrorist hoaxes.

Furthermore, said Mr. Cotler, the bill "would domestically enact and implement the biological and toxic weapons convention which would prevent the development, production, stockpiling, and use of biological weapons. That would not only reinforce Canada's existing legislation, but it's an important part of the domestication of anti-terrorist treaty laws."

Still, the Liberal MP who has made a name for himself as a human rights lawyer, is staunchly opposed to the general thrust of the bill. "Unless the legislation, as it now stands, is substantially rewritten or amended, I would not be able to support it in its present form. There are also some very disturbing and disconcerting features."

The Assisted Human Reproduction Bill C-56, is another major piece of legislation which has stirred controversy. Opposed by social conservatives by both Liberals and opposition MPs who are against using embryos for research, it sets out a regulatory framework for reproductive technologies.

Introduced by Health Minister Anne McLellan last May, this is Ottawa's third attempt to make laws to govern assisted human reproduction. Ms. McLellan expressed hope that Parliament quickly pass the bill -- which reflects much of the work done by a Royal Commission between 1989 and 1993 -- given Canada remains the only major industrialized nation that doesn't have laws governing reproductive and genetic technologies

The bill calls for a ban on areas such as human cloning, and buying and selling human embryos, but allows research on embryos that families no longer need to reproduce. Liberal MP Paul Szabo, who wrote a book on stem cell research, said there are many parts of the bill which should be a cause for concern. Specifically, the Ontario MP takes issue with the fact the legislation would permit the use of human embryos for research purposes, embryos which would come from so-called surplus embryos left over after the process of in vitro fertilization.

Question marks also remain around Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's First Nations Governance Bill C-61 which will reform the 126-year-old Indian Act by giving aboriginal communities more power to govern their own affairs. Mr. Nault has called the legislation an "interim step towards self-government."

However, many aboriginal leaders have denounced the bill, some going so far as to protesting on Parliament Hill with placards blasting Mr. Nault. Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was among them and said the legislation is a "direct attack" on existing native rights and threatens native peoples with "assimilation and legislated extinction."

In response, Mr. Chretien has encouraged native leaders to appear before the parliamentary committee reviewing the bill to say "what you like and what you don't like. Amendments can be made."

The fate of C-5, the Species at Risk Bill, will also be interesting to follow. Sponsored by Environment Minister David Anderson, the House finally passed last June this bill intended to protect 400 wildlife species at risk of extinction across the country.

This is the federal government's third attempt to pass an endangered species law in Canada. As the two previous attempts died slow procedural deaths, environmentalists and the MPs who went to bat for the bill will be keen to make sure it doesn't die on the Order Paper again.

Mr. Anderson ended up making some amendments to his legislation at the last minute after being pressured by several backbenchers who threatened to vote against the bill, notably Liberal MPs Karen Kraft-Sloan, Charles Caccia and Clifford Lincoln who also took to organizing opposition within the government.

The MPs believed the legislation was weak in two key areas. It did not protect the living spaces of endangered species and it left the decision on whether or not species are considered at risk up to politicians, not scientists. Mr. Anderson's office ultimately gave in to the pressure and made the requested changes rather than face having the bill die yet again.

The Alliance said the legislation is doomed for failure because it doesn't provide adequate compensation for landowners and will obstruct urban expansion. Environmentalists, meanwhile, have been chatting up Senators all summer in the hopes of getting further amendments. They are concerned that it doesn't provide as much help to creatures not found on federal lands -- about two-thirds of the species on the list.

Aside from these left-overs from the last Parliamentary session, the government is working on introducing a number of new bills, including new legislation from Treasury Board Minister Lucienne Robillard on the public service, from Heritage Minister Sheila Copps on historic places, from David Collenette on transportation issues, and from Justice Minister Martin Cauchon on criminal law reform.

The Prime Minister's new ethics package outlining new standards for politicians and senior bureaucrats is also on the horizon, as is Parliamentary reform. Changes to private members' business, as outlined in a recent report from the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, and Parliamentary rules are expected.

But the thrust of the Throne Speech, which is expected to dominated by ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and new legislation to combat child poverty and address aboriginal grievances and the health care crisis, is expected to have the biggest impact on the fall agenda. More on this next week.

-- Paco Francoli's e-mail address is [email protected]

JOURNAL-CODE: 1075

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 2003

SECTION: v.33(34) Ag 28'03 pg 30; ISSN: 0008-3941

CBCA-ACC-NO: 5840862

LENGTH: 472 words

HEADLINE: South African advocacy group marks 100 years

BYLINE: ZAREK, ELYSSE

BODY:
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) will be celebrating its 100th anniversary with an international meeting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Johannesburg and Cape Town from Sept. 5 to 7.

When SAJBD - the South African equivalent of Canadian Jewish Congress - was founded 100 years ago, it represented an immigrant community that hailed from Eastern Europe. Today, South Africa's Jewish community is ''strong and self-sufficient,'' Yehuda Kay, executive director of the SAJBD, said in a phone interview from Johannesburg.

''We've gone from a community of immigrants to a vital, vibrant part of South Africa,'' Kay said.

Among the attendees at the centenary will be Martin Luther King III. One of the most pressing issues facing the Jewish community in South Africa is its relations with local black Muslim groups, and hosting a black leader from the United States sends a strong message, said WJC Secretary-General Avi Beker.

''It shows blacks in South Africa that the Jews have a very close relationship with blacks,'' he said from Jerusalem.

Other issues facing the South African community are crime and anti-Israel bias in the media. In response, Kay said, the SAJBD participates in a grassroots, cross-cultural group that looks for ways to fight crime, and has created a professional media team to counter the ''ugly'' media campaign against Israel.

''Our priority has always been to safeguard the Jewish community's rights, lobbying for protecting Israel from bias in the media and political circles,'' Kay said. Other top priorities are building relationships with the government and fighting anti-Semitism.

Demographics is another pressing problem for the South African Jewish community. At its height, the community numbered 120,000, but the population has dropped to about 80,000 as its younger members have sought better opportunities abroad.

Beker said many South African Jews abroad become active in their adopted communities.

''[CJC president] Keith Landy is an example of the dispersion of the Jewish community from South Africa,'' he said.

Landy, who came to Canada from South Africa in 1970 and will be attending the anniversary bash, said many South African Jews left the country after the Soweto race riots - the worst in South Africa's history - in 1976, and after the fall of apartheid in 1994 because of the shaky political situation.

''Nobody knew there was going to be peace and reconciliation under Mandela,'' Landy said.

That's why there are pockets of South African Jews in English-speaking countries such as Canada and the United States, Britain and Australia, he explained.

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler will also be speaking at the meeting.

'We've gone from a community of immigrants to a vital, vibrant part of South Africa'

JOURNAL-CODE: 0561

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 857 words

HEADLINE: Diaspora Digest: A review of the Jewish world

BYLINE: Michael Freund

BODY:
Greece to remember Holocaust

Reports in the Greek press indicate that the government in Athens has decided to accede to requests by local Jewish leaders and will soon declare a national day of remembrance for the Holocaust.

The date reportedly chosen is January 18, the day upon which Allied forces entered Auschwitz in 1945.

As part of the commemorations, teachers will speak to students about the Holocaust and its impact on the country's Jewish community.

During World War II, the Germans deported approximately 55,000 Jews from Salonika to the death camps, of whom just 1,200 survived. Only 60 remain alive today.

Russian editor jailed for anti-Semitic incitement

A court in Novosibirsk has found the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Siberia guilty of "inciting national, racial, and religious discord" and sentenced him to three years in prison, Pravda reports.

Charges against Igor Kolodezenko were filed in 2000 after Siberia published "materials calling for violence against Jews," said prosecutor Yuri Kondratyev.

Despite being found guilty, Kolodezenko was freed from custody, as the court said his conviction was covered by the amnesty recently announced by the State Duma in honor of the anniversary of the end of World War II.

According to Kondratyev, the Novosibirsk prosecutor's office has petitioned the regional court to shut down Siberia on the grounds that it contains material which incites "national intolerance and discord."

Effort to beatify Italian Holocaust-rescuer

A Catholic diocese in Italy has initiated a campaign seeking beatification on behalf of Odoardo Focherini, who rescued more than 100 Jews from the Nazis.

Focherini, who served as administrative director of the antifascist newspaper Avvenire, is credited with risking his life and career to save Jews from deportation.

As anti-Jewish racial laws intensified in the fall of 1943, he helped organize a covert network to smuggle Jews into Switzerland.

He provided refugees with financial support and false documents and enabled some 105 Jews to escape to safety.

On March 11, 1944, German troops arrested Focherini in a hospital, where he was tending to a Jewish patient.

He was sent to the Flossenburg concentration camp, and then to the Hersbruck camp, where he died from an untreated leg wound at the age of 37, on December 27, 1944.

After the war, Focherini's efforts were recognized by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and by Yad Vashem, which conferred upon him the title of "Righteous Among the Nations."

In May, the diocese of Carpi announced that it would seek to have Focherini beatified, which is considered the first step toward sainthood.

Canadian MP warns of rising anti-Semitism

Speaking at a conference in Montreal last week, international human-rights activist and Canadian MP Irwin Cotler warned that hatred of Jews in the post-September 11 world is on the rise and is taking new forms, Canadian television reports.

"We are entering a new, escalating, virulent, global, and even lethal anti-Semitism," Cotler told participants in the conference, which was organized by the Quebec region of the Canadian Jewish Congress.

He argued that traditional anti-Semitism is now being replaced by attacks against the Jewish people and their right to form "a nation in the family of nations."

Cotler cited calls for the destruction of Israel and legalized anti-Semitism veiled as concern for human rights as examples.

Asserting that criticism of Israeli policies is legitimate, he insisted that efforts to demonize Jews or advocate their death is not.

"As we have learned only too well, while it might begin with Jews, it doesn't end with Jews," he said. "Anti- Semitism is the canary in the contemporary pantheon of evil. It is time we hear it. and it is time that we act."

Argentina pressured to open Nazi files

US congressmen and Jewish groups are urging Argentina's new president, Nestor Kirchner, to open government files from the Peron era relating to efforts to smuggle Nazi war criminals into the country after World War II.

Though Argentine authorities have promised on three occasions since 1992 to make the files available, they have yet to do so.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D, NY) introduced a resolution in the House last month calling on Kirchner to finally come clean on the issue.

"We certainly hope for cooperation from the new government, a new attitude on this issue," Hinchey, told Knight-Ridder newspapers. "That lack of action has created a bad impression of Argentine governments."

An additional 22 lawmakers have signed on as cosponsors, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center is lobbying other members of Congress to follow suit.

In a book published last year, Argentine journalist Uki Goni said that the country's police, diplomats, intelligence agents, and Catholic church all collaborated with dictator Juan Peron to facilitate the escape of wanted Nazi fugitives from Europe to Argentina.

Argentina is known to have served as a refuge for senior German war criminals such as Adolf Eichmann and Dr. Josef Mengele.

LOAD-DATE: June 17, 2003

SECTION: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor

LENGTH: 364 words

HEADLINE: ADL to Release Survey of European Attitudes Toward Jews During International Conference on Anti-Semitism