CJPME Political Blog, Nov. 17, 2016: Until I looked more closely at Governor General David Johnston’s recent trip to the Middle East, I was totally oblivious to the fact that Canada funds programs to help Palestinian women. Long concerned about the plight of women in the Middle East, I was thrilled to learn that Canada funds a CARE International program to increase Palestinian women’s access to the labour force.   Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Nov. 16, 2016: The naysayers on both sides of the issue have been proven wrong.  When the Green Party passed a motion in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on Israel in August, conservative voices felt Elizabeth May would be justified in stepping down as party leader.  Progressive voices, however, urged her to stay on, and not to disavow the BDS movement.   Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Nov. 10, 2016: Last week, the Vancouver Sun printed a remarkable apology to Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada.   The Sun editorial board had published a piece in August claiming that IJV – a Jewish organization – had denied the Holocaust and encouraged terrorism against Israelis.  The only problem was, they were dead wrong. Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Nov 2, 2016  Canadians can’t be blamed for missing the anti-Islamophobia motion that passed in parliament last week.  If you Google it, you won’t get a single hit in mainstream media: not in CBC, not in Postmedia, not in the Globe and Mail, nowhere.  In fact, when this piece is published, it may be the first media piece talking about Canada’s successful anti-Islamophobia motion. Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Oct 26, 2016 The appearance of B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad at the UN last week caused a healthy furor.  While European and other politicians supported his testimony, Israel’s right-wing leaders went so far as to accuse El-Ad of treason.  Yet this tiny Israeli human rights organization did what international diplomacy has failed to do for years: it held Israel to account – just briefly – for important violations of international law.  Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Oct.25,2016 As the Harper era ended and Trudeau’s term began in late 2015, a collective sigh of relief could be heard from ethnic communities all across Canada, especially from Muslim Canadians. From opposing niqabs at citizenship ceremonies to setting up a hotline for individuals to report the “barbaric cultural practices” of their fellow Canadians - which would have undoubtedly targeted Muslims and those believed to be Muslim - Steven Harper’s Conservative government proved to be highly intolerant of certain minority communities and certainly aided in the heightening of tensions against ethnic and religious groups in the country.  Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Oct.21, 2016 My organization has joined in the sponsorship of 9 different Syrian refugee families.  Some of the files were submitted as early as 2015; all have been approved; yet not a single refugee has arrived.  There are thousands of sponsoring groups in Canada in a position identical to ours.  Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Oct.12, 2016 Over thirteen years ago, the excitement was palpable.  In early June, 2003, Air Canada was about to launch its inaugural non-stop flight from Montreal to Beirut.  Thousands of Lebanese-Canadians had bought their tickets for the summer, delighted to avoid tiresome layovers in Europe on the way to visit friends and family. Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Sept.28, 2016 The media rollout on August 4th was flawless, and the news story was indeed sensational.  Israel claimed that millions of dollars of World Vision aid money in Gaza had been diverted to Hamas.  The supposed culprit was Mohammad El Halabi, Manager of World Vision’s Gaza operations.  All the major newswires carried the story, and Canadian media – including the National Post, Global News, and CTV News – joined the media wolf pack.  Continue reading

CJPME Political Blog, Sept. 16, 2016 Normally, political party conventions end with leaders trumpeting their satisfaction with their party’s progress and accomplishments. Not so last month with Canada’s federal Greens. Barely able to wait for the doors to close on August’s 3-day convention, Green leader Elizabeth May publicly and harshly criticized a key outcome of the convention.  At issue was the passage of a resolution calling for the party to adopt the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.  BDS is a tactic to pressure Israel to respect the human rights of Palestinians.  “As leader, I am disappointed that the membership has adopted a policy in favour of a movement that I believe to be polarizing, ineffective and unhelpful,” May announced on the evening the convention closed.  Continue reading