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The Age
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
In the fight against antisemitism, free speech must be upheld
Antisemitism in this country is a problem. This is beyond argument and it is deeply troubling. The events of the past two years are irrefutable evidence: from the synagogue attack of last Friday to the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue, the antisemitic graffiti, online comments against Jews, and the disruption in universities and to daily life. The need for a coherent national strategy to address the problem is clear. This week the government's special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, released her report on how to develop such a strategy. The position of special envoy was created in July last year after attacks and harassment against Jewish students in universities, and against Jewish institutions. A special envoy to combat Islamophobia in Australia was announced two months later. That position is filled by Aftab Malik. The role of special envoy is one that has been established in other countries. The US also uses the definition Segal has used of antisemitism, which is one developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016: 'Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.' Key recommendations from special envoy's report Withhold financial support from universities, programs or people that facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism. Include terms in all public funding agreements with cultural institutions or festivals to combat the promotion of antisemitism, or lack of effectively dealing with incidents. Screen visa applicants for antisemitic views and affiliations, and ensure visa refusals or cancellations for antisemitism. Work with social media platforms to reduce the reach of people who peddle hate, including bot accounts. Embed Holocaust and antisemitism education in school curriculum. Work with governments to require the International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism to be used across all public institutions. Monitor media organisations to ensure fair and accurate reporting about Jewish people. Professor Ben Saul, of the University of Sydney, a UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, is a critic of the definition in its conflating of antisemitism and possible criticism of Israel. He warns it would have a 'chilling effect' on people and their right to free speech. It is a view shared by Greg Barns, SC, spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, who said: 'The temptation will be for universities, cultural institutions and others, including NGOs, to suppress alternative views in relation to Israel.' Segal's report says that from October 2023 (the time of the Hamas massacre in Israel) to September 2024, antisemitic incidents surged by 316 per cent – more than 2000 cases were reported of threats, assaults, vandalism and intimidation. So, clearly, action is needed.
Cision Canada
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Cision Canada
CSRDN Condemns Prime Minister's Statement on Palestine
This press release has been shared with Prime Minister Mark Carney, and all Members of Parliament. OAKVILLE, ON, July 4, 2025 /CNW/ - On June 24, during a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour at the NATO summit in The Hague, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney made a deeply disturbing statement. He claimed that Palestinians must "become Zionists" if they wish to have their human rights respected. Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need, United for Peace – Canadian Interfaith Coalition, Canadian, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Canadian Muslim Healthcare Network, Justice For All, and United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine Israel of the United Church of Canada condemn Prime Minister Mark Carney for his appalling remarks made during a CNN interview on June 24, where he asserted that Palestinians must "become Zionists" to have their human rights respected. Such a statement is both morally reprehensible and a flagrant violation of international law and Canadian democratic values. Such a remark is not only morally indefensible, but it also violates the very principles of international law and the foundational values of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It suggests that the oppressed must embrace the ideology of their oppressors to be deemed worthy of dignity — a position as unjust as it is dangerous. Zionist Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), its leadership face arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Leading international human rights organizations—including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and various UN bodies—have concluded that Israel is practicing apartheid, as defined under international law. These findings are based on extensive documentation of Israeli laws, policies, and practices that differentiate between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens - Muslim, Druze and Christian citizens make up 25% of the population - in key areas such as land ownership, residency, family reunification, access to education and public services, and political participation. This dual legal and policy regime upholds Jewish supremacy in law and practice, entrenched further by the 2018 Nation-State Law, which constitutionally enshrined Jewish exclusivity in state identity and self-determination, while failing to recognize equality for non-Jewish citizens. Zionist Israel's ongoing military occupation, systemic discrimination, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and defiance of international law — including the ICJ's provisional measures and ongoing ICC investigations into war crimes — represent not only a grave regional injustice, but a global threat to human rights and international order. These actions echo the darkest chapters of apartheid South Africa and demand not appeasement, but urgent global accountability. To suggest that Palestinians must adopt Zionism — the very ideology underpinning their dispossession — is to demand subjugation from a people under siege. It is to ignore their right to resist oppression, the erasure of their culture and history, and to legitimize a regime built on religious and racial supremacy. In the listed above organizations' view, by endorsing Zionist ideology in this context, Carney not only betrays Canada's obligations under international law, but also undermines the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His comments embolden racism and supremacism, both at home and abroad, and stand in stark contrast to Canada's professed commitments to justice, equality, and the rule of law. Canada must stand with the oppressed — not the oppressor. A principled stance on human rights demands not the erasure of Palestinian identity, but the end of Israeli apartheid, occupation, and war crimes. Justice requires that we support the Palestinian people's right to self-determination — not demand their submission.
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Israeli Actions In Palestinian Territories Constitute War Crimes, Human Rights Council Hears
17 June 2025 'The goal of the Israeli government is abundantly clear: the destruction of life in Gaza.' That's how Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, opened her statement to the 59th session of the Council on Tuesday. Calling the war in Gaza 'the most ruthless, prolonged and widespread attack against the Palestinian people since 1948,' Ms. Pillay addressed the findings of the Commission's report, released to the HRC on 6 May. Attacks on educational facilities in Gaza It found that 90 per cent of Gaza's schools and universities have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks – including airstrikes, shelling, burning and controlled demolitions. 'With the loss of education, Palestinians are also losing their source of stability, hope and possibility of a future,' said Ms. Pillay. By not issuing adequate warnings to civilians sheltering inside, these attacks caused extensive casualties, amounting to war crimes, including knowingly launching attacks that caused excessive and disproportionate civilian harm, and the crime against humanity of extermination. The Commission found no military necessity to justify the destruction of schools, concluding that the intent was to restrict long-term Palestinian access to education. Notably, while Israeli forces often claimed they were targeting Hamas operatives allegedly based in schools, the Commission verified only one instance of Hamas using a school for military purposes, compared to the systematic Israeli use of schools as military bases. Education restrictions in the West Bank Ms. Pillay also warned that education in the West Bank remains under threat. Demolition orders, military raids, restrictions, and operations have significantly reduced school days, while settler violence has endangered students and teachers. The Israeli government has either incited or failed to prevent such violence, she said. Attacks on religious and cultural sites In Gaza, Israeli forces have damaged 53 per cent of religious and cultural sites. Many were being used for refuge or worship, causing further civilian casualties, constituting war crimes and, in some cases, the crime against humanity of extermination. This completely avoidable damage 'has a cascading effect and deeply affects intangible cultural elements, such as religious and cultural practices, memories and history, undermining the identity of Palestinians as a people,' said Ms. Pillay. Because Israeli forces should have known where these sites were and planned their assaults accordingly, the Commission found these acts constituted war crimes including intentionally targeting historic and religious sites and widespread destruction without military necessity. Seizure of cultural heritage sites in the West Bank In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Commission documented repeated cases of Israeli authorities or settlers seizing cultural heritage sites, displacing Palestinians, excluding non-Jewish history and restricting Palestinian access. The report highlights increasing restrictions and assaults on Palestinians at Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount, a long-standing flashpoint in East Jerusalem. Ms. Pillay argued that through these actions, 'Israel has been using cultural heritage and settlements as leverage for its unlawful territorial claims in the occupied West Bank, in flagrant defiance of multiple United Nations resolutions and the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).' These actions violate international law, including the right to cultural life, freedom of religion, and protection of cultural heritage. Recommendations Ms. Pillay concluded her speech by underscoring that Israel's attacks on education, infrastructure and heritage sites aim to 'erode Palestinians' historical ties to the land and weaken their collective identity, thereby hindering their right to self-determination' and the possibility of a peaceful, sustainable two-State solution. Accordingly, the Commission calls for Israel to end the unlawful occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination; stop attacks and seizures of educational, religious and cultural sites; end the systematic erasure of Palestinian history; and comply fully with international law, including the 2024 ICJ ruling. Sudan's war intensifies amid starvation, rights probe warns Meanwhile in Sudan, heavy fighting continues to escalate as a 'direct result' of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday, ahead of briefing the Human Rights Council. In an update on the emergency in the northeast African nation, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan highlighted the increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas - and a sharp rise in sexual violence. 'Many Sudanese are dying from hunger and especially those who have been detained and in detention - they are dying and millions affected,' said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Expert Member of the Fact-Finding Mission. 'In terms of international responsibility, we urge all States to respect and enforce the arms embargo of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1556,' she added. Humanitarian relief continues to be weaponized and hospitals and medical facilities remain under siege, warned the investigators, whose mandate was established by the Council in October 2023. Direct link ' There is a direct link between the flow of arms in Sudan, armed hostilities and the resulting violence amounting to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations,' said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. ' We know the kind of arms that are being used: heavy artillery, modern warfare, drones and in fact, they have escalated.' Fellow investigator Mona Rishmawi insisted that testimonies gathered pointed to 'both sides' continuing to commit war crimes – a reference to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which turned on each other in April 2023, following a breakdown in transition to civilian rule. Around El Fasher, for instance, civilians have been 'assaulted, detained and killed while villages have been attacked, burned and looted' by the RSF. During one RSF attack from 10 to 13 April, more than 100 civilians were reportedly killed, while a SAF bombing in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians. Now into its third year, the war has killed tens of thousands of civilians so far, displacing over 13 million Sudanese and subjecting many more to sexual violence, looting and the destruction of homes, health facilities, markets and other infrastructure. Crimes against humanity continue, 'particularly in the context of persecution of certain ethnic groups', Ms. Rishmawi insisted. The result of restrictions to aid relief has been to drive famine, 'especially in Darfur', said the investigators, who are respected human rights experts and not UN staff. In their latest update to the Human Rights Council, the investigators documented a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, with women and girls subjected to rape, gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery and forced marriage, mostly in RSF-controlled displacement camps. About UN experts The members of both the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan receive their mandates from the UN Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-06-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Asper donates $3M for Shaarey Zedek upgrades
Gail Asper has announced a $3-million donation to the capital campaign for Congregation Shaarey Zedek, which she likened to Grand Central Station for Winnipeg's Jewish community. Asper said in her remarks at a ceremony where she announced the gift that the decision to support the synagogue 'was the easiest and fastest to make' because generations of her family have benefited from its services. 'If we have benefited so much from something, we have a responsibility to be there for it,' she said, adding her family wanted to do its 'fair share' to support the synagogue. The Asper Foundation is giving $2 million, and the Gail Asper Family Foundation is giving $1 million. The campaign to renovate the synagogue will cost nearly $18 million. The Jewish community has raised $8.4 million, including the donation from the Aspers. Another $3 million was from the synagogue's reserve fund, while the Manitoba government is contributing another $3 million. About $3.8 million must be raised. The donation will enable Shaarey Zedek to 'meet the needs of a changing congregation,' Asper said, adding she is 'confident it will be able to do so for generations to come.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Shaarey Zedek executive director Rena Secter Elbaze said the donation will enable the 'beloved building to be transformed' for the community. Congregation Shaarey Zedek was closed from 2022 until last fall for the renovation project, which included floor-to-ceiling windows in the auditorium, pews and carpeting in the sanctuary, modern conference rooms, accessible and gender-neutral washrooms, a child-care centre and upgrades to the audio-visual system. Asbestos was removed, and security features were enhanced, including the addition of shatter-proof windows, 32 CCTV cameras and a pass card-entry system. Secter Elbaze said the building is a 'welcoming space' for all and is used by non-Jewish groups as well. faith@ John LonghurstFaith reporter John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
New York Post
08-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Eric Adams signs executive order adopting Holocaust remembrance group's definition of antisemitism
Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order Sunday adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism, as he vowed to ramp up the city campaign to combat Jew hatred. He also introduced legislation urging the City Council to approve the IHRA definition, which would make it official law. The IHRA definition is considered by many Jewish leaders to be the standard in fighting antisemitism. 4 Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order Sunday adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism. Matthew McDermott 'Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities,' the IHRA definition states. Adams announced the order during a discussion with Dr. Phil Sunday night at the Tribeca Synagogue. It comes as he faces re-election and plans to run as an independent on an 'End Semitism' ballot line. 4 Adams also introduced legislation urging the City Council to approve the IHRA definition, which would make it official law. Paul Martinka 'Antisemitism is a vile disease that's been spreading across our nation and our city. What's worse, since Hamas' terror attacks on October 7, 2023, we have seen this hateful rhetoric become normalized on our campuses, in our communities, and online as antisemitic propaganda far too often masquerades as 'activism,'' Adams said. More than half of the hate crimes reported in the city in March victimized Jews, even though they account for just 11 percent of the population, the mayor noted. 4 Adams announced the order during a discussion with Dr. Phil Sunday night at the Tribeca Synagogue. LP Media 'We know this moment demands bold, decisive action to crack down on anti-Jewish hatred,' Adams said. 'Today, we signed a landmark executive order to adopt an internationally recognized definition of antisemitism, but we must go further. I am calling on the City Council to join this commitment to target antisemitism everywhere it exists and immediately pass a bill to codify this definition into law. It's time we all come together to eradicate this hatred from our city, once and for all.' 4 More than half of the hate crimes reported in the city in March victimized Jews, even though they account for just 11 percent of the population. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post At the state level, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who's also running for mayor — issued an order barring state entities from doing business with firms that back the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel before his resignation. Gov. Kathy Hochul has retained the policy. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has his own pro-Israel policy. In 2021, he announced that he pulled $111 million in investments out of the firm that owns Ben & Jerry's because of the ice cream maker's boycott of Israel's occupied territories. DiNapoli is the sole manager of the $274 billion state Common Retirement Fund.
