As Stephen Harper prepares to leave for Israel, NDP-linked website rabble.ca publishes a shockingly anti-Semitic article

Jews only care about Israel. They care about Israel more than Canada. Stephen Harper and Canada's Conservative Party know this and it forms the basis of their public support for Israel.

Anti-Semitic charges like that form the basis of many discussions among depraved neo-Nazis in their septic online bunkers. The above are not the precise words, but form the clear, obvious message of an article published by the far-left website rabble.ca on the day that Canada's Prime Minster will leave for an official trip to Israel.

Karl Nerenberg, the Ottawa correspondent for rabble, attributes Conservative wins in the last election in a few urban ridings with a substantial number of Jewish voters exclusively to Stephen Harper's support for Israel. He says, in essence, that that the Jews were responsible for the victories of under-qualified politicians in key ridings solely because of Harper's support for the Jewish State.

According to rabble's Nerenberg, the Conservatives "are banking on their [the Jews'] ardent support of Israel to gain needed voters, and so far it's working. In 2011, in Toronto’s York Centre, a rather indifferent Conservative candidate, with the thinnest of thin résumés, Mark Adler, managed to defeat hockey Hall-of-Famer and Liberal champion of a national daycare program, Ken Dryden. The riding’s Jewish voters moved quite significantly toward the Conservatives in that case."

A simple review of Canada's most recent census reveals that Nerenberg's reasoning is as facile as it is bigoted.  There are more than a million Muslims in Canada compared with less than three hundred thirty thousand Jews. Were Nerenberg correct in his assertion that Harper's Mid East policies are a cynical ploy to entice Jews, then it would follow to reason that strongly favoring Israel would repel Muslims. All major political parties attempt to appeal to ethnic voting blocs. But as a strategy whose sole goal was to win elections, it would be preposterous to try to win over one group at the expense of alienating another that is more than three times as large.

Founded by anti-Israel fanatic Judy Rebick, rabble's publisher is the same-sex partner of Libby Davies, the Deputy Leader of Canada's Official Opposition whom, in in 2010, was condemned by current NDP leader Tom Mulcair for her comments that effectively denied Israel's legitimacy and right to exist. Funding for that online hub of extremism, which has billed itself as the "official media sponsor" of the annual hate-fest "Israeli Apartheid Week" comes in part from the NDP think-tank The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The article today by Nerenberg reflects the hateful biases which form rabble.ca's core values. He claims that in 2011, he overheard Cabinet Minister Jason Kenney, "loudly telling someone at the other end of his cell phone call about the Conservatives’ excellent chances in a number of urban ridings -- all because of the Jewish vote."

Naturally, the collapse of the Liberal Party because of a terrible campaign headed by the poor political skills of Michael Ignatieff plays no role in Nerenberg's explanation for gains by the Conservatives in the ridings he describes. Nerenberg's implications are that they are only because of a sinister confluence of Jewish self-interest and loyalty to a foreign country with cynical Conservative politicking.

Stephen Harper has been clear about the reasons for his support of Israel, a liberal democracy, in its strife dealing with neighbors who are antithetical to western values and who have expressed genocidal aspirations towards Jews. But no, that's all a big put-on by Harper if Nerenberg's "analysis" is to be accepted. Nerenberg's claim of what he allegedly overheard is, in his mind, evidence of his own conspiracy theory.

Oddly for the Jewish community, there are some useful idiots within it who would make common cause with people like rabble's Karl Nerenberg. Former Jewish Canadian Congress boss Bernie Farber recently appeared along with Nerenberg at a panel at the "progressive" Toronto synagogue Temple Emanu-El. When confronted by concerns from Jewish Defense League head Meir Weinstein on his giving imprimatur to the hateful views promoted by Nerenberg and his employer, Farber dismissed them, referring to his co-panelist as a "respected journalist."

The quarters in which a person respects the types of biases expressed by Karl Nerenberg are ones that many decent people would avoid like the plague.

If Nerenberg is really interested in quotes from Jason Kenney, hopefully he will heed one from an interview the Conservative Minister gave this week to Postmedia's Mark Kennedy. 

"“We see the kind of culture of hatred in various parts of the world, regrettably in some dark corners of Canada, as some of this kind of new anti-Semitism...It often finds itself at the nexus between radical Jihadi Islamism and the far left" said Kenney. 

The 'nexus' of which Kenney spoke is in strong evidence at rabble.ca, where they act as apologists for Islamic terror against Israel.

But this nexus is nothing new. It happened in the Second World War when the Islamic prelate in the Palestinian Mandate, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, allied himself with Adolf Hitler and helped him raise troops with the shared intent of annihilating Jews.

Reading the extremist leftism in rabble.ca today, and how similar some of the commentary is to right-wing extremism, it serves as a reminder that NAZI is an acronym for National Socialist.

Rex Murphy on Canada's "genocide" hucksters

...From native protestors and spokespeople there is a vigorous resort to current radical jargon — referring to Canadians as colonialist, as settlers, as having a settler’s mentality. Though it is awkward to note, there is a play to race in this, a conscious effort to ground all issues in the allegedly unrepentant racism of the “settler community.” This is an effort to force-frame every  dispute in the tendentious framework of the dubious “oppression studies” and “colonial theory” of latter-day universities.

Then there is also an even more deplorable effort to frame the interactions between Canadians and Canada’s aboriginal peoples as a genocide — an accusation both illiterate and insulting...

Read the whole column at NATIONAL POST

Plus, check out:   Selling a fake Canadian "genocide" for fun and profit

Selling a fake Canadian "genocide" for fun and profit

There have been far too many efforts at genocide in the last century. Some, like that of the Armenians by the Turks, are still denied by its perpetrators, and some, like that of the Sudanese Arabs against blacks, is ongoing. There are some that today openly aspire to commit genocide but lack the means, as the one Iran and its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas would like to inflict on Jews.

But those aren't the genocides that former bigshots, ex-Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine and the defunct Canadian Jewish Congress' old boss Bernie Farber have chosen to decry. Instead they are trying to sell the notion of a fake "genocide" against Canada's Native population in Canada's "national newspaper" and their motives may not be entirely altruistic.

There are nuances that even a generally true statement, such as that Canada's First Nations have received very poor treatment in the past, need to take into account. For one thing, Canada's First Nations are just that, nations, a plural. While Canada's Indian Act applies to them all, in reality, different aboriginal tribes have negotiated and received different treatment from the government. But in absolutely no case, from the foundation of Canada in 1867, could that treatment, in any instance, be described as genocide, which is a deliberate policy of killing an entire racial or ethnic group.

It should also be noted that many of Canada's aboriginal nations waged war on each other, committing mass-murders and driving one another off land in what in contemporary terms would be described at a minimum as "ethnic cleansing."

Canada's historical policies towards First Nations may have been unfair, patronizing and colonial, but to call them genocidal is quite simply a lie.

To really understand Canada's historical policies toward First Nations, we need to look at them in the context of their time and not, as Farber and Fontaine do, through a distorted, telescopic rear-view mirror imposing the values of 2013 on the Nineteenth Century.

Canada compared to the United States, or for that matter compared to government treatment of aboriginals in any part of the New World or under any ex-colonial power, was extremely benevolent. Without question, our 18th Century policies considered Native culture to be lesser to that of the Europeans. But to put the times in context, slavery had only been abolished in the United States four years before Canadian Confederation and there was no country in the world then in which women were entitled to vote.

For Native Americans at that time, Canada was not a genocidal slaughterhouse, but a refuge. After the massacre of Custer's troops at Little Big Horn, it was to Canada that Sitting Bull and a band of his followers came to find sanctuary. Today, in the Royal Ontario Museum, rests a headdress that Sitting Bull gave to Canada's Northwest Mounted Police as a gesture of gratitude for the safety for his people that this nation provided.

For anyone examining all the actual genocides in history, it is clear that the method and purpose was to first segregate, then to annihilate the intended target. Racist laws in countries that had genocidal policies, such as Nazi Germany's Nuremberg Laws, were enacted to prevent, not promote integration. There is no instance, ever, that the purpose of a genocide was to integrate one group with another.   Yet, while it may offend contemporary cultural sensitivities, integration was the clearly stated intention of Canada's policies towards First Nations which Farber and Fontaine preposterously characterize as a "genocide."

Yes, there were abuses committed in Residential Schools many decades ago, for which Prime Minister Harper has apologized. But the worst of the abuses were perpetrated by corrupt individuals and were not part of any government policy.

The authors The Globe chose to promote, Farber and Fontaine, make a curious pair of "genocide" hucksters who may have driving motives other than their own particular concept of "social justice." Fontaine is a former National Chief who obviously craves the limelight, as does Farber. Beyond that, Farber now makes his living working for a company that needs to convince First Nations groups to let them build energy facilities on their land. Whether or not he believes that Canada committed a genocide, being seen as an extremist in their corner can't be bad for business.

However, that extremism comes at the cost of credibility. They are completely wrong in their inflammatory accusations and preposterous, ahistorical inventions such as that Sir John A. McDonald's policies towards aboriginals were genocidal attempts at mass murder.

And this says nothing of the facts about the current situation of First Nations in Canada. It would be a very curious form of genocide indeed that has resulted in First Nations being the fastest growing population in Canada. Last time I checked, that would make it the exact opposite of a genocide. Of course, this would not be the first time a group claimed a fake genocide, as their numbers are vastly increasing, solely for political aims.

But while what Fontaine and Farber have written in The Globe is a load of ridiculous, politicized nonsense, I don't want to give the impression that I don't think they aren't also sincere in their beliefs. After all, to borrow from and paraphrase H.L. Mencken, no one ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of Bernie Farber.

God save the Jews from Bernie Farber

Canada's former top official Jew is looking pretty goofy these days.

It's not that Bernie Farber doesn't mean well.

It's not that he isn't a supporter of Israel.

It's just the guy is so clueless, and so narcissistically intent on trying to look like a 'human rights' champion, that he'll get in bed with all sorts these days.

But give Bernie a break.

He used to be the big Jew on campus. Then, he got the shove when the Official Jewish organization he headed, the Canadian Jewish Congress, was dissolved and most of its advocacy functions absorbed into the new Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Right after that, the voters of Thornhill resoundingly rejected him when he ran as a Liberal for the Provincial legislature in that heavily Jewish riding.

So with the professional Jewish thing not working out so well, Bernie had to turn to greener pastures. Hey, a guy's gotta eat!

These days, Bernie is pushing the fake narrative of a "genocide" against Canada's First Nations and sucking up to the likes of she of the phony-hunger strike, the corrupt Indian Chief Theresa Spence.

But having been turfed out of the Canadian Jewish Congress gig evidently taught Bernie not to put all his eggs in one basket, so he has been busying himself with still other grievances to monger. Those being on behalf of the Gypsy* community.

In so doing, Bernie is getting mixed up with the kind of people that begs the question, "just what is wrong with that doofus?"

Bernie's latest showcase to advertise what a hell of a guy Bernie is has him on a panel discussing the documentary Never Come Back alongside the film's director, Karl Nerenberg. Human Rights hero Bernie and Nerenberg will discuss the purported  plight of Canada's Gypsy refugee claimants.

And just who is Bernie's new pal Karl Nerenberg?

He's the Ottawa correspondent for the fanatically anti-Israel website rabble.ca.

The same rabble.ca which has billed itself the "official media sponsor" of both the anti-Semitic hate fest Israeli Apartheid Week and the not-so-Jew-friendly Sea Hitler Gaza Boat.

This evening of intellectual stimulation will take place September 22 at the "progressive" (read flaky) Toronto synagogue Temple Emanu-El.

Rather than their self-serving pontificating about refugee law reform, it would be far more interesting if the Q&A were to field some questions about the implicit Jew-hate of the outlet for which Nerenberg works. It would be enlightening to hear him explain why he takes a consistently disparaging and cynical tone towards the Jewish state whenever he writes about it for rabble. Or perhaps he might elucidate about exactly what he meant when he wrote, "The Conservatives focused on Mount Royal as part of their "Jewish strategy," a strategy that won them a number of seats in Toronto.  " and  "the Conservatives have managed to attract Jewish votes with a policy that is -- to a fault -- blindly uncritical of Israel and everything its government does. "

Bernie and Temple Emamu-El's embrace of Karl Nerenberg should make for an evening to anticipate, and I
anticipate the best description of it would be: nauseating.

           ---- ------                      ------ ------                                     ---- ------

*Despite what a handful of self-promoting revisionists in the Gypsy community and their politically correct pals may lead you to believe, the Gypsies are a diverse community and not all of them identify as Roma. There are many who are proud to remain and be called Gypsies.

Canada's Grievance Culture

Bupkis Bernie, Sea Hitler Sandy and self-promoters for whom "Jew" is a résumé item

Going from being a big shot to bupikis affects some people worse than others. Some do it with grace, and others have an excruciating time letting go.

Bernie Farber was, for a very long time, one of Canada's best-known "official Jews." I never met a Jew who ever had the opportunity to elect Farber to speak on their behalf, and most of the ones I know shake their head with shame when he speaks as a "representative of Canada's Jewish community." But since there's no formal qualification for the position other than a few lazy mainstream media sources quoting you as such, he got the job.

Bernie was once head of the now defunct Canadian Jewish Congress. Now he's not.

But that hasn't stopped him from continuing to put himself forward as an official Jew. Now the causes that Bernie is pushing have put him pretty close with some of the reprehensible characters in a hateful anti-Israel movement reviled by almost every Jew in Canada.

That includes a special, fatuous breed of Jew like Sea Hitler Sandy Ruch who has decided that aligning herself with causes promoting the anti-Semitic, Holocaust denying regime in Iran is a good idea.  For people like Ruch and oddball fanatics at fringe groups like those calling themselves Independent Jewish Voices, "Jew" is less a commitment to system of religious beliefs than it is a resume item and attempt to give cover for the Jew hate of their anti-Semitic associates. 

The Bernie Farbers of this world have the right to their opinions and their causes. But until he or those like him are elected Pope of the Jews, they should not claim to be speaking for them.

Kathy Shaidle at Five Feet of Fury has more on the latest nonsense.  

I am shocked! Shocked to learn there is a double standard applied to "hate speech" in Canada

..in a bid to rebut Mark Steyn (best o' luck with that!) and to make the Chabad rabbi who had the temerity to invite Pamela Geller to speak at his synagogue look like a Hatey McHaterson, an ex-Big Deal Jew tweets thisarticle from the local Toronto gay rag. In it, Insp. Ricky Veerappan, the "celebrate diversity--or else" enforcer who made the rabbi an offer he couldn't refuse, has an entirely different reaction to revelations of "hate" on his beat..

UPDATE: It gets worse 

Motives behind Gypsy anti-Sun News demonstration

Somewhere between "minuscule" and "small" would describe the size of the demonstration held outside Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission offices in Toronto last Tuesday by the Roma community protesting against the Sun News Network. There were about two dozen people in total, including speakers which included "social activist" Bernie Farber and former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

There is no defending the content of Ezra Levant's tirade against the Gypsy community last year. Sun News issued an apology almost immediately after its broadcast and Levant himself apologized in great length and detail last month. 

Hopefully, that would have put the unfortunate episode in the past, but the issue has become less a cause about offense to the Gypsy community than as a spear opponents of Sun News would use to strike at the fledgling conservative news network.

That motive was so transparent that aspects of the protest took on an element of self-parody. Among the complaints by Roma Community Centre Director Gina Csányi-Robah was that Sun News continues to use the "offensive" term Gypsy to describe the Roma people. Making that claim ridiculous, following her speech, the event's Master of Ceremonies announced a performance by two musicians from the group "The Gypsy Lions."

A definitive monograph on the Gypsies by University of British Colombia Sociology Professor Werner Cohn refutes much of what Ms Csányi-Robah, who was born in Canada, alleges. Cohn is extremely sympathetic to the Gypsies, whose culture he studied in great detail and he dispels dangerous slanders against them such as the allegation of Gypsies "stealing children."

But he also points out that the Gypsies are in fact a number of peoples, most of whom self-identify as Gypsies and of whom the Roma (or Rom or Romani) are just one group.

Bernie Farber's interest in the Roma community is curious. He undoubtedly is sincere in advocating for people he considers oppressed. But it is remarkably convenient for him that in agitating against Sun News, he can attack people with whom he has an apparent ax to grind. As Farber pointed out in an interview on CBC Radio's As It Happens, there is a long history and no love lost between him and Ezra Levant.

That interview is fascinating in a number of ways. The biases and abuses of the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have been a frequent Sun TV target that could possibly even be described as an obsession, and Levant's Gypsy faux pas is being seized upon as an opportunity for payback.

In the interview, Farber and As it Happens host Carol Off compete with each other to malign Sun News and Levant, working themselves into a crescendo of bile. Off is famous for her lack of emotional allocution. For those unfamiliar with her vocal style, imagine a lobotomized, female Ben Stein on Ritalin and that will give you an idea of her bland droning.  But on this occasion her disdain for Sun News was so evident that she actually conveyed feeling in her voice.

But that feeling was rife with hypocrisy. As blogger Blogwrath has noted, the CBC has broadcast anti-Gypsy programming that invokes the most hateful stereotypes they face.

At the protest, former Liberal MP Wrzesnewskyj betrayed himself as an intellectual featherweight by comparing Ezra Levant to the unapologetic neo-Nazi Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel. 

Wrzesnewskyj was one of the most anti-Israel MPs in the House of Commons while he sat there. He co-authored a heavily biased anti-Israel report along with pathologically anti-Israel NDP MP Libby Davies.  On his trip to make that report, he was accompanied by Sea Hitler organizer Ehab Lotayef  and a group of fanatics who routinely support and participate in the "Israeli Apartheid Week" hate-fest that has been condemned by the last two federal Liberal Party leaders, Ignatieff and Rae. Wrzesnewskyj was compelled to resign as Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic in 2006 after he advocated that Canada engage with the terror group Hezbollah.

Ms Csányi-Robah has her own odd history of engaging, on behalf of her community, with nefarious groups. She has aligned the Roma cause with radical fanatics who want an end to Israel as a Jewish state. That association has shamed a number of Canadian Roma who wanted to distance themselves from such hate. That may partially account for why she was unable to garner much support from her own community for her Tuesday protest. 

It might strike some as remarkable that former Canadian Jewish Congress boss Farber would be part of such an event.  But Farber has been remaking himself recently since losing his role as one of  Canada's top "Official Jews." He has been using his twitter account to promote links from anti-Israel hysterics such as blogger Dr. Dawg, and the vehemently anti-Israel website rabble.ca. 

As blogger Sassywire points out, many in the Jewish community have been urging Farber for some time to come to protests against anti-Semites and Islamist hate-mongers seeking Israel's elimination, but he has not notably done so. Ironically the protest he makes a point of attending, he does so alongside people associated with anti-Israel causes to condemn the most pro-Israel media outlet in Canada.

In the end, it doesn't take much examination to get the impression that, like most people opposed to free speech, the protesters against Sun News appear less interested in suppressing hatred than they do in suppressing points of view that differ from theirs. 

Pro-Israel passion from an unusual suspect at Toronto celebration

Fossils and ancient relics were part of the Yom Ha'atmaut (Independence Day) celebrations held last Tuesday by Israel's Consulate General in Toronto. No, I'm not talking about former Canadian Jewish Congress boss Bernie Farber, although he was there too. This year's party took place at the Royal Ontario Museum in the central gallery adorned by shining Medieval suits of plated armor, enormous dinosaur bones and Egyptian funeral artifacts.

Royal Ontario Museum

The party happened last Tuesday night and a line stretching from the Museum entrance on University Avenue extended almost half a block up to Bloor Street as the invited guests slowly filed into the party. Security was tighter than in previous years, but the Boston Marathon bombings the day before made people patient and sensitive to the need for caution.

Inside, almost a thousand dignitaries, diplomats and assorted other guests filled the air with pleasantries while noshing on deserts and sipping on some very palatable Israeli wines.

I bumped into Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi, who was, as usual, warm and engaging. We'd met previously at a gathering at the home of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO Avi Benlolo, whom, along with his charming wife, was also at the Yom Ha'atmaut party.

I also ran into the beautiful Natalie Weed, who had been the Mistress of Ceremonies at last year's celebration, but has since moved on to become a regional press secretary for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. That was a very clever move on Tim Hudak's part, as it finally gives people a reason to look forward to hearing something from him.

The party was the first for newly appointed Consul General DJ Schneeweiss, who delivered a fiery speech extolling Israeli achievements and his nation's close relationship with Canada combined with an unapologetic assertion of Israel's right to self-determination.

The venue of this year's party was, while aesthetically interesting, was functionally less satisfying than last year's. The room was much smaller and it was difficult to move about among the crowd. But worse, there were only two bar stations, which made getting access to wine a frustratingly prolonged process.

After moving through a lineup that progressed with a tortoise's gait, and loaded up with as much wine as I could entice from the bartender, a felt a slight brush against my side. I turned to see that I was standing shoulder to shoulder with none other than Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Readers of this blog will note that I am a huge fan of Ms Wynne, who was awaiting being called to deliver her speech. I tried to get The Jewish Tribune's ace reporter Joanne Hill, who was laughing at me,  to get a picture of the premier and I together.  Joanne refused, probably fearful that she might become persona non grata at such events if such a picture ever emerged.

Moments later, the Premier was flanked by her entourage, which among others included MPP Moridi and my own representative, Dr. Eric Hoskins. Taking to the podium, Wynne delivered a speech which passionately lavished praise on Israel and boasted of her government's increased cooperation between the two jurisdictions. The speech sounded sincere and heartfelt, which will come as a bitter disappointment to her alma mater, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, where some politicized programs make activism towards elimination of the Jewish state part of their curriculum.

Curiously, Premier Wynne's government continues to push educational policies that encourage a type of narrow-minded, Marxist-based ideology that is anathema to liberal democracies like Israel and to the capitalist structures her government encourages. Whether this is an internal ideological conflict within the Liberal Party or if politicians are lazy and ignorant of what is happening under their watch are equally probable explanations.

But in any case, Yom Ha'atzmaut's celebrants in Toronto proved something that is painful for the fanatics sitting atop unions and institutions such as CUPW, CUPE Ontario and OISE. Because like it or not, acceptance for and affinity with the advanced, liberal bastion of democracy that is Israel is part of a mainstream discourse that leaves its bitter, radical opponents on the outside.

Bernie Farber's cognitive impairment

This is going to be one of those supercilious, parochial pieces referring to a blog piece written about still another blog posting, so if you're on-board for something as superfluous, keep reading...

The Huffington Post just published an article by the former head of the now defunct Canadian Jewish Congress, Bernie Farber, who is also a failed Liberal Party candidate for a seat in Ontario's provincial legislature.

Farber's article is all about taking issue with another Huff Po piece written by Frank Dimant, the current head of the Jewish advocacy organization B'nai Brith. In Dimant's piece, he notes that Canadian Jewish voter sentiment has moved from the Liberal Party to the Conservatives in the last few years, largely, he asserts, on the basis of the Harper government's strong support for Israel.

Among other prognostications, Dimant wrote that "There is already a movement that wants to neutralize Jewish support for the Conservative Party and the mantra is that all three parties have the same agenda regarding Israel, a two-state solution, so why do we have to support the Conservatives? In a well-orchestrated campaign we will soon begin to see a new Jewish agenda being proposed by some, which will advocate that Jewish community adjust its focus to Aboriginal issues, child poverty, health care and social housing."

Apparently very sensitive to criticism of the Liberal party and the potential shift against Israel it will take if his choice for leader takes the helm, Farber lashed out at Dimant, accusing the B'nai Brith head of launching an "attack on Canadian Jews who would dare identify themselves as Liberals."  

It doesn't require a particularly close reading of Dimant's article to observe that no such attack is there, only a challenge to Conservatives to retain the Jewish vote and noting the politicized environment within that community.

Distorting things further, Farber spends a great deal of ink regarding his assertion that Dimant "insinuates that there is something "new" about Canadian Jews taking an interest in Aboriginal issues, child poverty and social housing. "

For Farber to actually be correct, it would necessitate the term "adjust its focus" meaning the same thing as beginning something "new."

He then digresses into the Jewish community's interest in social justice as manifested in Aboriginal rights, social housing, etc. All that is good and fine, but as is not uncommon for him, Farber completely missed (or obfuscated) the point of the matter.

It is no secret that an interest in Israel and its well-being is of major importance to a large segment of Canadian Jews. But that interest is certainly not to the exclusion of other concerns, and Dimant's point was that the Liberals in the Jewish community would be trying to readjust priorities in order to serve the party's electoral interests. A point that Farber's piece seems to unwittingly confirm.

Interestingly, Dimant even didn't challenge the idea that the "mantra" of all parties is to take an equal stand on Israel, though the facts would suggest otherwise. The Conservatives have taken a strong, unequivocally pro-Israel stance, the New Democrats have two Deputy Leaders, Libby Davies and Megan Leslie, who are openly hostile to Israel, and the Liberal Party falls somewhere in between, although perhaps leaning slightly towards Israel more than the Palestinian side.

But as Mitch Wolfe described in yet another Huff Po piece, that may change significantly assuming Justin Trudeau, whom Farber has endorsed,  becomes the Liberal Party leader. Under Trudeau, there is every indication the Liberals will be even less favorable to the Jewish state. Justin Trudeau's brother Alexandre, who has the distinction of being his sibling's senior policy adviser, has cooperated with Iran's state propaganda service to make a pro-Iran, anti-Israel documentary, which clearly reflects his sentiments on the middle east situation.

Perhaps Bernie wanted to garner favor with his political party by changing the subject to deflect from his party selling Israel down the river. On the other hand, maybe he simply didn't understand Dimant's article.

The latter may indeed be the explanation. Last month on twitter, Farber implied opposition to a Toronto City Council motion giving amnesty to illegal immigrants was "racist." When I challenged him on that, his responses became incoherent, suggesting he didn't actually understand the issues he was discussing.

Bernie has every right to extol the supposed virtues of his political party and his chosen candidate. He has every right to promote the Liberal Party and his candidate as being the best choice for Canadian voters, though many would disagree. But Farber is perceived by some as a spokesperson for, and representative of Canada's Jewish community. This is very problematic when someone who has such little apparent regard for free speech is being presented as a community leader. He may represent the Liberal Party and the Justin Trudeau faction within it, but the only Jew on whose behalf Bernie Farber speaks is Bernie Farber.

Bully Bloggers are heroes in the War of Ideas

The history of mankind is really a chronicle of the conflict of ideas.

In the end, the hope is that good ideas will triumph over bad ones and that truth will unseat lies and deception.

The belief that truth will prevail explains in large measure why those societies we look back on as being the most repressive, cruel and unjust were the most censorious.  It has been and is fear that their support would crumble when confronted by ideas and facts challenging theirs that inspired guardians of the likes of Communism, Nazism and The Inquisition to the prohibition of dissenting speech and publications.

The right of Free Speech was the founding principle in that culmination of The Enlightenment, the American Revolution, and is something most of us in Canada take for granted. But we shouldn't. 

As the recent Supreme Court of Canada's Whatcott decision highlighted, there is an ongoing battle about just which ideas are permissible in a country that is supposedly based on principles of freedom and fairness.

That any idea other than those that specifically incite violence or commit libel should be banned is something many Canadians find not only offensive, but a dangerous indication that more rights may be usurped in the slide to the crushing of individual liberty.

An unlikely group of Canadians are at the forefront of the fight for the principle that ideas should be allowed to be freely expressed while exposing the hypocrisy of the would-be censors. They are a collection of activists and writers who have been disparagingly described by Bernie Farber,  the former Canadian Jewish Congress head and rumored successor to Ontario Human Rights Commissioner Barbara Hall, as "Bully Bloggers."

These so-called Bully Bloggers are characterized, in certain cases incorrectly, as "right-wing." What they do share is a belief that there are hypocritical, dishonest public figures in politics, unions and the media who are trying to shape opinion and influence culture and legislation, while attempting to suppress the free expression of ideas that dissent from theirs.

Lacking the resources of big media, government grants, wealth and powerful institutions possessed by those they criticize, the Bully Bloggers' tools are the Internet, cameras, computers and knowledge, operating in the idealistic hope that exposing hypocrisy and dishonesty can shift the flow of public opinion.

Sometimes that hope is in vain, but sometimes it is not. The mainstream media, despite publicly eschewing the Bully Bloggers, monitors their blogs closely and frequently steal stories from them when a tipping point is reached.

That happened when Bully Blogger Blazing Cat Fur brought to light information such as the practice of a Toronto public school using its facilities as a mosque during school hours, how the Toronto District School Board was promoting a group that advocated using vegetables as sex toys, and a Canadian Islamic School which had anti-Jewish slander as part of its curriculum.

It's not that all of the mainstream media or all public officials don't oppose such things, but they have conflicting interests and the safety of politically correct appeasement is often the expedient choice they make.

Fortunately, Bully Bloggers, who use their own time and resources to expose matters of public interest, have no such constraints. And their shedding the initial light on such matters can be the excuse that sympathetic members of corporate media use to give them wider exposure.

There are costs to putting oneself on the line for one's principles. The Bully Bloggers are exposing people who have powerful and wealthy connections in politics and the media. Frequently subject to hatred and threats, but sustained by the belief that getting the truth out is worth sacrifice, these dedicated citizen journalists soldier on.

Among the particular characteristics Bernie Farber attributed to Bully Bloggers were :

Targeting minorities, namecalling & attempts at intimidating r bully-bloggers stock & trade.

While one could easily dispute some of Farber's assertions about his Bully Bloggers (whom he never identifies by name), he fails to recognize the value of such things as name-calling in public discourse.

Jack Layton and the NDP decried the nickname "Taliban Jack" as a smear, but in our YouTube and Internet era of short attention spans,  people tend to think in shorthand. In two words, Taliban Jack conveyed the idea of a leader and a political party that was soft on Islamic extremism and Canada's commitment to fighting terror. It stuck - and not only because it was catchy, but because it was truthful.  And in the end, that reflects the Bully Bloggers' hope that the truth will get a hearing.

In some cases, name-calling is a very important tool. The people Bully Bloggers insult are those that would like to have authority or influence over the rest of us. As a general principle, the ones who seek out such power are the ones who deserve it least. Exposing and insulting them when they behave stupidly, viciously or hypocritically helps diminish the undeserving in the eyes of the public and keeps them away from the power they covet and all-too-often abuse.

So when Loony Libby Davies makes statements that effectively deny Israel's right to exist, or when she promotes 9-11 conspiracy theories in the House of Commons, it is in the public's interest to have a reminder that she may not deserve their respect.

When Crazy Muslim Mohammed Elmassry says that all Jews in Israel over the age of 18 are legitimate targets for murder, then it's useful for the public to have a mental trigger that he and the terrorist-supporting Canadian Islamic Congress he founded are contemptible.

When Sideshow Sarah Thomson makes implausible, self-serving accusations against Rob Ford, or Captain eHealth George Smitherman tries to regain public attention, it's relevant that both of those two people want to attain significant political power. That relevance is all the greater when considering that their records show how little they deserve such authority.

Critics of the Bully Bloggers accuse them of being racists and Islamophobes. These are two distinct and significant accusations that are often conflated and intentionally deceptive. To examine and refute those accusations, they need to be addressed one-by-one.

Racists are stupid people who believe individuals can be summed up and dismissed based on their race or ethnic origin. Racism is a belief system rooted in ignorance and hate and those that hold it are self-discrediting and can be easily dismissed. But race is different than culture. Culture is a system of ideas and practices and Bully Bloggers are not adherents to the fatuous leftist devotion to cultural relevance that considers all such beliefs and behaviors to have equal merit.

Confusing race with culture is a traditional facet of self-described progressives, who as a group are not very deep thinkers, so most of them have great difficulty differentiating between criticism of cultural practices and racism.

As far as being Islamophobes, some of the Bully Bloggers would plead guilty to that charge.  But before the Farbers of this world put on a smug smile and twinkle with what they might see as a damning confession by adversarial iconoclasts, they might consider that criticism of Islamic practices is a far cry from discrimination or prejudice against Muslims.

In fact, some of the people closest to the Bully Bloggers are Muslim critics of Islamism, like Salim Mansur, Tarek Fatah,  and Irshad Manji.

While the politically correct are afraid to call out Islamic terrorism as anything but extremism and an aberration, Bully Bloggers note how the promotion of violence is often a routine facet in the practice of Islam and the facts bear them out.

Much of Islamic practice is devoted to teaching fairness and integrity, particularly as the religion is manifested in North America. Naturally, the vast majority of Muslims abhor violence, are kind to their wives and daughters and are disgusted with terrorism. But there is a minority of Muslims who do not, and that minority is not insignificant in number. And how can those hateful, murderous ideologies be dealt with when they are denied by their perpetrators and swept under the rug by multiculturalist apologists?

Like Islamism's Muslim critics, Bully Bloggers are keenly aware that it is Muslims who are the most frequent victims of Islamist terrorism, totalitarianism and intolerance.

Islam, as it is preached and conducted in places like Saudi Arabia, The Palestinian Territories, Iran, Pakistan, and many other countries includes practices which are homophobic, brutally violent, racist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic.  As Canada's Muslim population increases through immigration from those countries, in too many cases, those hateful ideas have immigrated with them.

In Canada, we have seen Islamic conferences which featured Imams who preached such hatred. And it took the Bully Bloggers to first draw that to public attention before anyone noticed.

Bully Bloggers led the charge that ended with Parliament voting to scrap the thought-crime laws of Section 13 of Canada's Human Rights Act. The removal of that blunt, totalitarian tool is something that sticks hard in the craw the professional Human Rights Industry. More so that the battle proved those people who claim to concern themselves with human rights are hypocrites with little regard for the most basic human right of free expression.

Maybe the next time Bernie Farber is schmoozing at a cocktail party, writing a mushy-minded op-ed for the Globe and Mail, or being a twittavist,  he might consider that the Bully Bloggers are on the front lines, at demonstrations, chronicling and exposing and sometimes being assaulted by the real hatemongers in Canada.

Bully Bloggers get called names and worse, but they can take it. Anyone seeking to shape public policy should be able to handle a few insults, and if they can't, they have no place in the public sphere. But in the end, assuming thoughts and beliefs and most importantly, genuine facts can be expressed freely, then we should have faith that the best ideas and people will prevail.

When they do, you might take time to consider the Bully Bloggers out there doing hard, often thankless  groundwork for those victories. And unlike being a Human Rights Commissioner, the work Bully Bloggers do actually requires backbone.

Bigot bully bloggers target the vulnerable-comments that follow are racist garbage.Fact-they just talk amongst themselves shower & move on
— Bernie M. Farber (@BernieFarber) March 9, 2013

The welcome death of Section 13 and the arrogance of Canada's censors

Depending on who you talk to, a government lawyer named Richard Warman is either admired or reviled for his unrelenting effort to punish hate speech  in Canada. Joining neo-Nazi online forums, Warman has identified a number of public hatemongers and successfully pursued judgments against them through Human Rights Commission rulings.

His goal of working towards a Canada without racism and illegal discrimination  is an admirable one. From all credible accounts, Warman's efforts are the result of the noblest of motives; the desire to contribute to society and continue, in a different form, the fight against Nazism and fanatical racism that his relatives had done in battle during the Second World War.

But there is a dangerous flip side to the Human Rights Commissions that Warman and others have utilized to serve their aim. Conceived for the purpose of fighting illegal discrimination in employment, housing, education and so on, they have morphed  into tools used by special interests to try to prevent any form of speech that they consider offensive.

They have been used to intimidate people who have not promoted discrimination or racism but have merely expressed ideas. Some of the most notorious abuses were the cases of Ezra Levant being prosecuted for publishing cartoons of Islam's founder Mohammad and Mark Steyn and Macleans magazine for an article about the affect of Islam on western society. Though both cases were ultimately dismissed, there are obvious  problems with a quasi-judicial system presided over by individuals of questionable qualifications and dubious judgement, that forces defendants to appear at their own expense, while plaintiffs can launch frivolous publicly funded cases.

The notion that an ideology that is antithetical to the freedoms that western civilization has achieved is above criticism, because of an idolatrous deification of the secular concept of multiculturalism, should be abhorrent to anyone who believes in liberty and democracy. But that is precisely how Human Rights Commissions have been used, with the assistance of its petty-minded functionaries who believe that free speech is only "an American concept" without value in Canada.

Yet that is how Canada's Human Rights Commissions have been employed by defenders of Islamism. While in Canada, the majority of Muslims have rejected violent jihad, but that rejection is not universal, and Islamic nations like Iran are ruled by leaders who embrace the murderous methods of terrorism.

There is a regrettable, though somewhat amusingly illogical arrogance to the Human Rights censors who appear to think they possess a secret knowledge of the human capacity for hate. I was going to ask Richard Warman a question about that a few months ago at a public forum put on by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. At that event, Warman debated Canadian Civil Liberties Association General Counsel Nathalie Des Rosiers about the soon to be undone Section 13 of Canada's Human Rights Act that deals with hate speech. That debate took place, somewhat ironically, at the same place that almost exactly a year earlier was the site of an anti-Israel forum featuring the author of an anti-Semitic thesis sanctioned by the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Warman had described a short film called "Fitna"  about Islamic radicalism produced by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, as "criminal hate speech."

Fitna is not the ravings of xenophobic "right wingers" against Muslims and Islam. It is a compilation of images of Islamic leaders and demonstrators expressing approval of terrorism,murder, and repressive dictates against Muslim and non-Muslim alike. To be sure, those portrayed in Fitna are not representative of all Muslims. But Wilders did not invent those images and they are a significantly sizable minority within the Islamic world to be of serious concern to those in the West who believe in democratic ideals.

Wilders himself was described by Warman as a "far right" politician. Fitna is a warning against a religious and political ideology that suppresses women and denies them abortion rights, persecutes and kills Gays for their sexuality, persecutes religious minorities, and has no respect for free speech. In what kind of bizzaro world is someone who seeks to defend abortion rights, women's rights, gay rights and free speech against those who suppress them considered  a "right-winger"?

The question I intended to ask Warman was that as he had seen Fitna and had not been transformed into a raving Islamophobe, how is it that he sees fit to try to deprive others of that right on the basis that it would affect other people differently than it did him? Does Warman believe he is so intellectually and morally superior, like some inner party member of Orwell's 1984, that he is of a special class of person capable of correctly processing information the rest of us can not?

As it happened, I didn't get the chance to ask Warman that question, because just as it was my turn at the microphone, I was cut ahead of by Bernie Farber, the anticipated next head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Farber, another proponent of civil hate speech regulation, used his time with Warman to engage in the verbal equivalent of mutual masturbation in which the two men lavished praise on each other, and so consumed all the remaining question and answer period.

Fortunately, questions related to Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act will soon be moot. As a result of a Private Members' Bill put forward by Alberta MP Brian Storseth, the law that let unqualified censors determine the free speech rights of Canadians will soon be repealed. Hate Speech will still be a crime in Canada, but it will have to meet the test of standards necessary for criminal prosecution in genuine courts presided over by real judges. Given the plentiful opportunities for abuse and mischief afforded by Section 13, its death is not only welcome, but long overdue.

Canada's arrogant censor class need to understand that free speech is not a privilege over which they have final say, but a basic human right that should be infringed on only under the most serious of circumstances.

My strange Israeli Independence night

About a dozen years ago, a friend of mine who was then president of a north Toronto Synagogue said that Stephen Harper had come to speak to the congregation and had impressed them with his strong commitment to the security of Israel. My friend said the young political leader was markedly sincere about a friendship based on the shared values of Canada and the middle east`s sole liberal democracy.

Years of ethnic pandering by the Trudeau and Chretien Liberals, who would make all the right noises to whichever minority they were addressing at the moment, while meaning very little of what they said, made it easy to be cynical about a politician professing any such commitment. Now, six years after Stephen Harper became Canada`s Prime Minister and almost a year into his first majority government`s term, nobody doubts that sincerity.

The absolute seriousness of the bond between Canada and Israel was strikingly evident in the speech delivered by federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver at a Yom Ha`atzmaut (Independence Day) celebration hosted by Toronto`s Israeli Consulate at the Liberty Grand Ballroom at Exhibition Place on Thursday night.

The cavernous, quasi-palatial venue was filled with over a thousand luminaries from the local political, diplomatic, business and social worlds. And somehow I got invited, probably the same way Hrundi V. Bakshi got invited to the party in that eponymous movie. After a mostly cloudy, intermittently wet morning and afternoon, the clear sunny early evening was too beautiful to waste in a car, so I roller bladed town to the complex near Dufferin Street and the lake shore. Fortunately the evening was cool enough so that, despite wearing a suit, I wasn't all sweaty on my arrival, unlike the circumstances of my last appearance on Sun TV's The Arena with Michael Coren.

Remarkably, I was the only person to have travelled there that way, providing a bit of a surprise to the security people and the coat check girls. The invitation I received said it was a desert reception, and in retrospect, using a travel method requiring exercise for the trip home proved to be a good idea, given the calories I packed on in the three hours of the gathering.

There must be only one decent kosher desert caterer in Toronto because the assortment of mini cheesecake tarts with three blueberries on each, the iced cake balls impaled on sticks, the lemon meringue tarts and a variety of other carbohydrate laden items looked extremely familiar. In fact, I would be surprised if I don't see them again at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center's Spirit of Hope debate and fundraiser at the end of May.

There was a surprisingly palatable kosher red wine, full glasses of which kept finding their way into my hand. A friend of Jewish Tribune reporter Joanne Hill, who was there covering the event, had the temerity to ask me how many I'd had, necessitating an etiquette reminder that one doesn't ask such questions in polite company.

And the company was indeed polite despite the assortment of characters ranging from mushy Liberal censorship advocate and rumoured-to-be new Ontario Human Rights Commissioner Bernie Farber to Mark Steyn fan and uber-Zionist blogger Laura Rosen Cohen. Plus there was a healthy smattering of citizenry from around the world with consulates in Toronto representing their nations.

Outgoing Consul General Amir Gissin looked almost Hefneresque as he was flanked on stage by two very attractive, young, shapely, short-skirted consular officials while delivering his speech and presenting awards to local philanthropists. As it turned out, the beautiful consular employees were more than just eye candy. The Consulate's Communications Director, a stunning blond named Natalie Weed, was an articulate, poised mistress of ceremonies for the presentation. Her onstage female colleague, Cultural Affairs Director Simone Blankstein, who spoke briefly, was equally impressive. She is a raven-haired beauty who wore a frilly, low-cut, high-hemmed frilly black dress that made her look like a Bond girl dressed by the wardrobe mistress on a Gothic Tim Burton movie. Frankly, I don't remember much of the awards, because the two female presenters were far more appealing than the recipients and my empty wine glass was making me impatient for an opportunity to escape. There was a noteworthy, unusual moment when Astral Media's Sidney Greenberg declined to speak after being presented with a totem pole shaped, glass mosaic award statue.

Consul Gissin's  remarks combined an emotional personal farewell, a celebration of Israel, and a heartfelt expression of affection towards the Canadian government which has become Israel's best friend and most steadfast supporter.

The affection was enthusiastically reciprocated by Joe Oliver, who spoke on behalf of the government and described the Canadian relationship with Israel in the most effusive terms. His speech was much more than the usual tribute to a friendly nation. It reflected an understanding possessed by leaders in a world besotted by undemocratic Islamic radicalism that remains elusive to an archaic media and educational hierarchy  - that democracy  requires vigilance in the face of implacable enemies. While Canada is firmly committed to the defence of liberal democracy, Israel stands guard on the front line of a battle that is far from over.

That idea is a significant component of the new reality of Canada's relationship with Israel. The academic and media domination by useful idiots devoted to a neo-Marxist world view who see Israel as a "capitalist, imperialist outpost in the Middle East" is starting to give way to the sensibilities that the truth presents. The enmity towards Israel was an outlook that was and is promoted by the likes of radical dinosaurs such as Judy Rebick, who has admitted in a biography that her and her fellow travellers' activism is as much as anything else motivated by their own emotional and psychological deficiencies.

But Rebick and her outdated bigotry didn't make the invitation list on Thursday, and the evening was one of pure celebration.

After it was over, with my roller blades retrieved from the coat check and back on my feet, I snaked my way through the city's streets. Loud music and a friendly vibe made me pause outside a funky, very narrow bar on Spadina south of Richmond Street with what I assume is the ironic name Wide Open. A voluptuous blond woman in her 20's who had stepped outside for a cigarette decided she should help me to a bench because she thought I looked unsteady on my wheels. I wasn't, but I took the help anyway because as a matter of principle, if hot blond women want to take hold of me and guide me somewhere, I think it makes sense to say 'yes.'

She suggested I come inside the bar, and as a corollary to the aforementioned principle, I took her advice, and the night just got stranger from there. All-in-all, it was a rather entertaining Yom Ha'atzmaut in Toronto.

Provincial Liberal candidate Farber politically exploits sister-in-law`s death against husband`s wishes.

Bernie Farber, the former head of the Canadian Jewish Congress, has been the default spokesperson the Toronto media has utilized for comment on issues related to the Jewish community for so long, he has become known as "The King of the Jews" in some circles.

An affable, decent fellow, Bernie has a right to his personal opinions, just like any other Canadian. But a number of people in the Jewish community, very few of whom have any direct involvement with the Canadian Jewish Congress, have taken umbrage at the idea that Bernie represents them.

Farber has been a major proponent of Hate Speech laws that restrict expressions of criticism directed at ethnic groups. But these laws are used selectively and only apply to `sanctioned` groups. Hate speech laws and the quasi-judicial Human Rights Commissions, staffed with appointees unqualified to make judiciary decisions, are being used against critics of radical ideologies that have used the fog of multiculturalism to obscure their undemocratic, racist, misogynist agendas.

With the Canadian Jewish Congress about to be folded into an umbrella group of Jewish community organizations, Farber has taken a leave of absence to run in Thornhill as the candidate for the Liberal party in the upcoming provincial election.

It appears Bernie`s presumption for speaking for others without their consent has run him into hot water again. Writing in Shalom Life, Faber criticises Tim Hudak, the leader of the provincial Opposition, trying to tie him to Health Care policies enacted by former Conservative Premier Mike Harris. Farber goes so far as to suggest the cancer-related death of his sister-in law in 2003, was related to Harris`policies and resulting poor hospital service when he wrote:

"my sister-in-law, suffering from breast cancer, found herself caught in the mire of Conservative hospital closures, nursing lay-offs and other cuts specifically to the cancer care sector. Joanne passed away in 2003. Had she been diagnosed today, with all the newly-funded resources in Ontario cancer care, with hospitals back up and running, with over 11,500 full time nurses now hired or re-hired, her chances of survival would have increased dramatically."

Farber should have checked with his sister-in-law`s husband first.

Commenting on Farbers`opinion piece, Michael Robitaille responded:

The sister-in-law Bernie Farber wrote about in this article was my wife. Contrary to what Bernie states, my wife Joanne received excellent health care at every level during her over 3 year struggle with cancer. From the staff at Credit Valley Hospital to Princess Margaret Hospital to Toronto Western Hospital, she received speedy, professional and excellent care. I honestly can't say anything negative in the overall treatment Joanne received. Sadly, Joanne succumbed to cancer but I want to state categorically, her death from cancer had nothing to do with any lack of health care or any deficiencies in her care. I find it callous, cold-hearted and opportunistic for Bernie Faber to use Joanne's death for political gain. Joanne is missed by me and my son Jack everyday and it is a shame to have her struggle with cancer thrown around like a political football by a candidate who knows better.

          Michael Robitaille

Between this and the resurfacing of his referring to his party leader as a `fear-mongerer`, Farber`s campaign is off to a less than auspiciuos start.

h/t Sassy Wire

Anti-Semitism and a Classroom 'Jew Count' at University of Toronto's Social Work Faculty

Picture the following: A discussion in a post-graduate university class on the topic of Jews turns ugly. The professor is uncritical when one student says he doesn’t want to be around Jews. Another student complains about “rich Jews,” implying their excessive power.  In a subsequent class, the same professor, as if to validate those points, says half her department faculty are Jews and with her approbation, students conduct a ‘Jew count’. 

While this sounds like an episode in Germany leading up to the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws, it occurred more recently and much closer to home, at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work. Now, more details are emerging under the exceptional circumstance of two U of T professors publicly criticizing a colleague for facilitating classroom anti-Semitism and the university administration’s inadequate response.

The controversy began when some visible minority students in a Social Work Master’s program at the University of Toronto expressed discomfort about being around “rich Jews,” in Professor Rupaleem Bhuyan’s class, regarding a proposed outing in 2009 to the Baycrest Centre, an internationally renowned Jewish geriatric and research facility.  They were undoubtedly confident of a sympathetic ear from her. The previous year, Bhuyan denounced Israel as a satellite of the United States, unworthy of distinction as a separate country.

The few Jewish students in Bhuyan’s Master's Program class were intimidated into silence for much of the discussion by a classroom culture slanted against them. Finally, one young woman spoke up, protesting her grandparents had come to Canada with virtually nothing and she was proud her family could now afford the fees for them to reside at Baycrest.

That must have rung an alarm bell for Professor Bhuyan, because startlingly, she then admonished her students not to divulge what transpired in class to outsiders.

But her classroom was not Las Vegas and what happened there did not stay there.  Some outraged Jewish students approached Professor Paula David, who in turn consulted senior professors Ernie Lightman and Adrienne Chambon.

“Students are in a vulnerable position and dread officially attaching their name to complaints against a professor in a program like Social Work” said Lightman. “Aside from determining grades, they fear one bad word from a professor to a social agency can eliminate their employment prospects.”

In the face of such circumstances, Lightman assumed the voice of the Jewish students who endured the vitriol in Bhuyan’s class.  He, with Chambon spoke to Faye Mishna, the Dean of Social Work about the incidents.  A letter Lightman wrote to U of T President David Naylor about the matter also became public. 

By way of response, Mishna, without specific reference to the incident or Bhuyan, sent out a pair of letters to the Social Work department generically condemning anti-Semitism. 

Lightman believes the university’s response was absurd.  “The department’s approach seemed to imply a widespread problem with anti-Semitism– which there wasn’t – and that everyone is potentially a racist when one professor promoted anti-Semitism and was never held publicly accountable.” 

The Canadian Jewish Congress declined to participate in resulting seminars on anti-Semitism held for the Social Work Department.  According to the CJC’s Bernie Farber, “We were not satisfied in the end with the entire process.” 

Chambon, a Jewish professor who is Director of PhD programs in the Social Work department, was particularly pained by these events. Originally from France, she relates that “I am from Europe and of a generation with bad memories of the sinister results of Jew counts.”  After hearing about the incident, Chambon arranged to meet with Bhuyan. 

“I was flabbergasted” Chambon disclosed. “She told me ‘racialized’ students come from underprivileged backgrounds and were justified in not wanting to be around old Jews because they are rich and would make them uneasy.  I couldn’t believe my ears.  I took some paper and wrote down what she said in front of her.  Bhuyan then said the donor plaques at the university were all from rich Jews, which she felt proved her point. Aside from being factually wrong, it reflects an attitude that polarizes groups and reinforces stereotypes that do not belong in the teaching of Social Work.” 

Professor Bhuyan did not reply to a request to comment for this article and the University refused to add to Social Work Department Dean Mishna’s response that, “the Faculty took all steps to address the matter appropriately at the time of the incident and thereafter.”

Nothing could be more false in the opinion of Lightman, Chambon and others. While patiently waiting for the wheels of justice to grind slowly, they instead saw them go off the rails. 

Bhuyan, an untenured Assistant Professor, who never offered a public apology for her behaviour, was rewarded by the University with a contract renewal . 

That development has frustrated a number of professors in a dysfunctional Social Work Department that remains divided in opposing camps.  Lightman insists this matter must be exposed and wrote a recent article about it for The Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism.

Lightman asserts, “It’s ironic that a department purporting to teach anti-racism is incapable of dealing with racism in its own house. We have a responsibility to students to ensure faculty do not abuse the power inherent in their positions, and to the community-at-large to ensure all the Social Workers it graduates reflect and promote the values of the field. That hasn’t happened here."


UPDATE: Ontario's Minister for Colleges and Universities is John Miloy. The Progressive Conservative Critic for that portfolio is Jim Wilson. Why not let them know what you think? 

UPDATE 2: An attempt to intimidate bloggers?

UPDATE 3: Why is it no surprise that someone with Bhuyan's prejudices would be attracted to radical left groups like No One Is Illegal and a teach-in at OISE?  

Which Ontario provincial Liberal candidate accused his party leader of "fear-mongering"?

And the answer is:

Liberal candidate for the provincial riding of Thornhill..

Bernie Farber

The York Regional Police's rabbi and the homophobia controversy

I didn't even know the York Regional Police had a rabbi before this!

According to the Gay community newspaper Xtra:

York Regional Police (YRP) inspectors have wrapped up an internal investigation of their in-house rabbi, launched in response to a complaint about a "very homophobic"sermon.  

The "letter of concern" was filed by Kulanu Toronto, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews, against Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, the Jewish chaplain for YRP. In his sermon, given just before Toronto Pride 2010, Kaplan instructed his followers to not support Kulanu or the Pride parade, referring to gays as "an abomination," says Justine Apple, executive director of Kulanu... 

Ricky Veerappan, an inspector in the diversity and cultural research bureau of YRP, says police could not substantiate the allegations of hate rhetoric. 

“We looked at it from a purely religious perspective,” he says. “Experts agreed that the content was technically correct. I’m in no position to judge if that’s hateful.” 

...Kaplan gave his sermon after Kulanu published a full-page advertisement in the Toronto Star just before the 2010 Pride parade. “The rabbi got a hold of the ad and presented it to his synagogue members while he spoke.

“The ad was a call-out to people to come and march with us because of the whole QuAIA [Queers Against Israeli Apartheid] controversy, so we wanted community support,” she says. But Kaplan used that advertisement to blast the gay community.

Kaplan tells Xtra he stands by his comments. “I took exception to [homosexuality] and I continue to take exception to it.”

The Xtra article includes an interesting email exchange between Kaplan and the Canadian Jewish Congress' Bernie Farber.

Like Apple, Farber questions whether Kaplan is the most appropriate choice to represent YRP. "That's what has to be answered."

"It's not enough to say, 'It's in the Bible and that makes it OK,' even if that may be true," Farber says. "Does it make it right to take it one step further and take that position as a public official? That's a serious question that deserves a thoughtful answer, and we have not heard that yet."

Veerappan says the police investigation concluded in January with the decision that Kaplan would remain a police chaplain.

The Jewish Tribune also did a report on this which can be seen here.