From the Desk of Avi Benlolo

Dear Friend,

Events of the past week show how profoundly important educationand advocacy is: just a few days ago I spoke with police regarding an Imamin London, Ontario who took to Facebook to share his message of hate andwishes that the fires in Israel would destroy the country. Mid-week I learnedof a shamefulincident at Ryerson University, where studentgroups shut down a motion to support Holocaust Education by walkingout of a student union meeting, preventing quorum and a vote on the motion. Asone student noted following the meeting, "It was the first time I couldtruly feel what my grandmother felt back in Poland in 1940."I also wrote a lengthy letter to Elizabeth May about our concerns regarding theGreen Party's new platform, which still includes economic sanctions; this weekendthe Green Party of Ontario will voteon a new BDS motion to replace the current Israel boycott resolution,which is polarizing the party- as if there is a watershed level of hatred whichis acceptable.   

And, at the beginning of the week I spoke with the ParliamentarySecretary to the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie toadvise her of my concerns regarding renewed Canadian funding for theUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). TheSecretary assured me that all measures will be undertaken by Canada to ensurefunds are not misappropriated to support terrorism.   

Late yesterday afternoon the OntarioLegislature passed a motion proposed by Thornhill MPP Gila Martow. Friendsof Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is pleased to support this motion, whichincluded both an endorsement of the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Antisemitism(in which I participated), and the rejection of the differential treatment ofIsrael, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign againstIsrael and the Jewish people.

I was very pleased to see that just this week  theOhio House of Representatives approved a bill legislating againstbusinesses that boycott Israel. Laws to boycott theboycotters are in fact growing in legislatures across the U.S.  Manystates, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and New York have allmade it illegal to conduct business with companies that support anti-Israelboycotts. South Carolina Representative Alan Clemmons, the driver ofa bi-partisan anti-BDS bill passed in South Carolina in 2015, predictsthat most states in the country will have laws addressing BDS within the nextthree to four years.

FSWC is proud that our efforts helped pave the way for thisissue to soften our provincial legislature; these measures includebringing New York Assemblyman Walter Mosely to Queen's Park to share hisexperiences in drafting anti-BDS legislation in New York state with MPPs thispast spring (see brief video at Queens Park, left), holding a series ofsessions and seminars with university students at Queens Park to providepersonal testimony about the problems they face as Jewish or pro-Israel voiceson campuses across the province, and the distribution of FSWC'sBDS policy paper.  Meetings with stakeholders over the past twelvemonths including Liberal Transportation Minister Stephen Del Duca and OntarioPC Leader Patrick Brown all helped pave the way. 

 On a positive note, and as a proud Canadian, I am pleased torecognize our government's principledstand at the UN through Canada's vote today against six anti-Israelresolutions targeting the Jewish state.

And I congratulate MPP Martow on her successful effort to ensure the governmentlived up to its pledge to address the boycott issue, and on gaining the supportof the Ontario legislature in recognizing its importance.

Avi