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Canada Pledges to Combat Antisemitism, Promote Holocaust Awareness at Malmö International Forum

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center commends the Government of Canada for its numerous pledges put forward today at the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke virtually at the forum and shared several of Canada’s pledges, including establishing the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism as a permanent position, supported by increased resources, and supporting and promoting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

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Canada Has Been Too Comfortable for War Criminals

"While Germany actively pursues those responsible for the Holocaust who are still alive today, the topic remains a sore point for Canadians dismayed by Ottawa’s shameful record in holding Nazi perpetrators accountable for their atrocities," writes FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt in his latest column in the Toronto Star. "With Helmut Oberlander’s demise last month, Canada’s most well-known Nazi death squad member may now be gone but there are still many important lessons for us to learn from this travesty of justice and Canada’s dereliction of duty involving war criminals on our soil."

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Antisemitic Rhetoric Continues to Be Used by Some Opponents of COVID-19 Measures

Across Canada, some protesters have called public health orders genocide, worn yellow stars like those Jews were forced to wear in Nazi-occupied Europe and even attended protests displaying images of Anne Frank.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center joins other Jewish voices in denouncing comparisons of COVID-19 public health measures to the Holocaust, which are an affront to the memory of Holocaust survivors and victims who were dehumanized, persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime.

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Irish Author Sally Rooney Refuses to Sell Hebrew Rights of New Book to Israeli Publisher in Support of BDS Movement

Irish author Sally Rooney said she will not sell the translation rights of her new novel to an Israeli publisher and will only allow her book to be translated to Hebrew through a publishing house that complies with the BDS movement’s “institutional boycott guidelines” against Israel.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, criticized Rooney’s decision, stating, “In the 20th Century, it was Nazi Germany, Communist Russia and Maoist China whose gatekeepers decided what ideas could be read; in the 21st century, Ireland’s Sally Rooney follows the orthodoxy of antisemitic BDS by boycotting Hebrew, the official language of Jewish people. Rooney debases herself and greases the wheels of fascism into darkness.”

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First Jewish Wedding Held in Bahrain in 52 Years

For the first time in more than half a century, a Jewish couple was married in Bahrain on Sunday. The wedding was a milestone for the Jewish community in the Gulf nation, which opened diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 and has recently made an effort to build a relationship with the American Jewish community.

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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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