“WE WILL NOT DESERT ISRAEL”: CANADIAN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS VOW TO LEAVE ON JOINT SOLIDARITY MISSION AS PLANNED

Toronto, June 5, 2002

For Immediate Release

June 5, 2002 — Jewish and Christian leaders leaving on a joint solidarity mission to Israel this weekend have vowed to go ahead in spite of today’s Palestinian suicide bombing. B’nai Brith Canada and Christians for Israel will be in Israel June 9-16, 2002 on a specially designed mission that will bring both faiths together in a demonstration of support and empathy. The delegates will meet victims of terror and the workers who come to their aid, as well as government ministers, security experts and community leaders in areas that have been hit repeatedly by terrorist attacks.

Rochelle Wilner, National President of B’nai Brith Canada, denounced the latest attack as “a vicious and inhumane assault that strikes at the very core values of western civilization. At times of shock and outrage that naturally follow such atrocities, we take comfort that there are true friends of Israel who are willing to show their solidarity in an honest and tangible way. Going to Israel at this difficult time is the most potent method of demonstrating that support.”

Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, stated: “We trust the Canadian Government will denounce the perpetrators of this massacre as well as the ruling Palestinian regime which has allowed the escalation of such attacks against innocents. That is the message that our joint solidarity mission will take to Israel on behalf of Canadians of both the Jewish and Christian faiths. If our government will not speak out, then ordinary citizens must do so. In the tradition of B’nai Brith, we will continue to build bridges domestically in support of Israel.”

-30-

For further comment, call Rochelle Wilner at (416) 254-1010 or
Frank Dimant at (416) 802-1057

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s foremost advocacy and volunteer organization.