B’nai Brith Canada officials to brief UN Representativeon antisemitism in Canada

Ottawa, September 16, 2003

For Immediate Release

Ottawa, September 16, 2003’ B’nai Brith Canada will present briefs on antisemitism to Doudou Diene, the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia, during his official visit to Canada. The introductory submission will take place today in Ottawa on the first round of the Rapporteur’s discussions with civil society, with further consultations scheduled across the country.

“Mr. Doudou specifically asked for input from our community on this issue, based on concerns that antisemitism is a growing threat worldwide,” said Rochelle Wilner, National President of B’nai Brith Canada. “We are cooperating with other Jewish community organizations to ensure that he gets a full picture of what’s really happening here in Canada. Antisemitism is very much on the rise.”

Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, agreed. “Our Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents has been cited by Statistics Canada as the most comprehensive data available on the subject. It is natural, therefore, that we would have been invited to brief the Special Rapporteur on such a vital topic. We only hope that he will be able to impress on the UN Commission on Human Rights that antisemitism has once again become ‘respectable’ in the world, and that Canada is no exception.”

Submissions will be made to Mr. Doudou by Ruth Klein, B’nai Brith’s National Director of Advocacy; Yoni Petel, its Quebec Region Community Outreach Coordinator; and Rubin Friedman, the lead trainer of its Taking Action Against Hate antiracism educational program.

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For more information call Joseph Ben Ami, Director of Communications at (613) 294-7313

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish community’s foremost human rights agency. Through its Institute for International Affairs, it monitors war crime cases worldwide.