Friday, 24 January 2020

NSHRC

Larry Haiven: Accept Zaman’s apology and fight the real anti-Semites

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Judy and I and our two sons have fought our entire lives against all forms of discrimination, racial and anti-Semitic. And we have paid for it. During one incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan in Toronto where we organized resistance, somebody broke into our apartment and painted anti-Jewish slogans on the walls. My bruises from confronting white supremacists have healed. But, even in my 70s, I am still willing to challenge hatred and bigotry wherever I find it. Disappointingly, several of the attacks have come from the institutional Jewish organizations that felt uncomfortable with our criticism of Israeli policies and actions.

PSA: IJV demands Rana Zaman’s human rights award be reinstated

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Press release: “An EKOS survey commissioned by IJV Canada in 2018 shows that the Canadian Jewish community is significantly split on the issue of Israel and antisemitism. It reveals, for example, that 60% of Canadian Jews agree with the statement “Accusations of antisemitism are often used to silence legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies.”

News release: Halifax Jewish group condemns Human Rights Commission and Atlantic Jewish Council for rescinding Rana Zaman’s Human Rights Award

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“Rabbi Jonah Rank, who was associated with Halifax’s Shaar Shalom synagogue until recently, wrote an impassioned defence of Ms. Zaman to Human Rights Commission CEO Christine Hanson calling Zaman “a friend to the Jews, a courageous changemaker.” He cites Ms. Zaman’s efforts in establishing a peace-seeking group of Halifax Jewish and Muslim women called “Salaam-Shalom.” From a press release issued by Independent Jewish Voices, condemning the rescinding of Rana;s Human Rights Award.

Another bad decision in community living human rights enquiry

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Compensation awarded to the complainants in a human rights enquiry may sound generous, but it is peanuts when you take into account the decades the three were institutionalized, away from community and their loved ones, and subjected to a regime that allows almost no space for making your own decisions.