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FSWC Responds to Canadian Media's One-Sided Coverage of Human Rights Watch's Anti-Israel Report

Following the release of Human Rights Watch's (HRW) anti-Israel report and after observing the media's coverage of HRW's allegations, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) issued the following statement:

"Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center was disappointed to see leading Canadian news outlets continue to give such uncritical and one-sided treatment to allegations about Israel coming from Human Rights Watch - which released a new report that unfairly attacks Israel and falsely claims the country is committing apartheid. The report fails to give weight to Hamas terrorism and human rights abuses and the ongoing threats of attacks Israelis face every day.

"Make no mistake: HRW has been engaged in a longstanding campaign to vilify and demonize the State of Israel by associating the country with some of these most horrifying descriptors in the English language – 'apartheid', 'genocide', 'crimes against humanity'.  

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FSWC Files Request to Intervene in Case Against Foodbenders

Earlier this week, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, with the support of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, filed a request to intervene in a case before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against Toronto café Foodbenders.

Foodbenders caused outrage last summer when it publicly promoted its discriminatory policy that “Zionists” were not welcome on its premises. On social media and on physical signs in the café, Foodbenders made a number of other antisemitic statements and promoted antisemitic tropes.

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Protesters Mass in France, Israel, UK and US to Demand Justice for Sarah Halimi

Over the weekend, some 25,000 protesters in Paris and thousands more around the world gathered to demand justice after a French court ruled the killer of a Jewish woman, Sarah Halimi, was not criminally responsible because he smoked marijuana.

Representatives from Simon Wiesenthal Center joined rallies in Los Angeles, Paris and Tel Aviv to speak out.

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‘It Has to Stop’: Outrage Over Graffiti Equating Dr. Bonnie Henry to Auschwitz ‘Angel of Death’

The hateful message “Dr. Bonny (sic) Henry Mengele,” equating BC's provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, was found on Vancouver's seawall over the weekend.

In an online post, FSWC expressed disgust over the graffiti, stating, "Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, known as the 'Angel of Death,' was involved in the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and performed inhumane and often lethal medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz. Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC's provincial health officer, is saving lives. This graffiti is extremely offensive and wrong."

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Holocaust Survivor and Jewish Author Elie Wiesel Engraved into Washington National Cathedral

The designers of the massive Washington National Cathedral left its limestone uncarved in multiple key spots, openings for cathedral leaders as time goes on to consider which people and ideas most need spiritual honoring. This fall cathedral leaders, citing a rise in antisemitism and the need for dialogue, will unveil the building’s first modern Jewish icon: Elie Wiesel. The sculpture of the late Holocaust survivor, whose writings famously turned suffering and existential angst into human rights activism, was completed on April 8, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

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EU Moves to Stop Funding Palestinian Terrorists, Inciting Textbooks

The European Parliament Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to ensure EU funds do not reach anyone affiliated with terrorists. It also rapped UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, for inciting hate and violence in its textbooks.

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Report Antisemitism and News of Concern to FSWC

If you would like to report antisemitism or news of concern to Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, please email jaime@fswc.ca.

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