For Immediate Release
Toronto, April 9, 2002… Following a week in which attacks on Jewish institutions and individuals have risen dramatically around the world, B’nai Brith Canada has asked Prime Minister Chretien to speak out publicly against attempts to use heightened Mideast tensions as a pretext for lashing out against the Jewish community here in Canada.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, B’nai Brith President Rochelle Wilner noted that the government did speak out in the post-September aftermath when a backlash against Muslims in this country was initially feared. She expressed her disappointment that the government has so far been silent in the face of similar incidents targeting the Jewish community, such as the recent spate of vandalism, harassment and physical assaults that culminated this past weekend in the firebombing of the sole synagogue in Saskatoon.
“The Jewish community has long been subject to a steady stream of racist attacks”, she stated, “and 9/11 only intensified this trend. The Audit of Antisemitic Incidents recently published by our League for Human Rights has documented an increase of 35% in incidents targeting our community over the last five years, with a significant increase after the terror attacks on the US. There was an 11% increase over the course of 2001 in Quebec alone. Just because Jews have been the traditional targets of such hate/bias crimes long before September 11, does not mean that we can afford to ignore continuing attacks against them.”
Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, cautioned: “The Jewish community views with great concern the alarming increase in violence against Jews that we have witnessed recently in Europe, especially in France. We trust that our government will not wait until the intimidation of Canadian Jews reaches similar proportions before going on public record to condemn it.”
-30-
For further comment, please call Ruth Klein at (416) 346-0114
B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s foremost advocacy and volunteer organization.
Institute for International Affairs
| Commission
on Jewish Culture
| Sports Corporation
| League
for Human Rights
| Publications
Press Releases
| Government Relations Office
| Centre for Community Action
| B’nai
Brith Foundation
The Jewish Tribune
| Links
| Canadian Jewish Law Students Association
| B’nai Brith Canada