For Immediate Release
Toronto, July 24, 2002… B’nai Brith Canada reacted to the closure of the Israeli Consulate in Montreal with a strongly worded letter to Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, which called this decision “both short sighted and ill advised”.
Rochelle Wilner, National President of B’nai Brith Canada, noted: “There is little doubt that in practical terms, the Jewish community in Montreal is being abandoned by the Israeli Government just at a time when supporters of Israel are most under attack and most in need of the support and resources of the Consulate. Closing Israel’s representative offices at this critical moment will leave a tremendous vacuum in the public relations strategy of the government.”
Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, stated: “This decision does not take into account that it is in Montreal — out of all of Canada — that the anti-Israel campaign is, perhaps, the most virulent. As our work with Jewish students on campus and in high schools has shown us, Montreal universities have been at the epicenter of a virulent anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda campaign that is being directed towards young people — and society in general — across Canada. We hope the government will reconsider this short sighted and ill advised decision.”
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For further details contact 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.
The entire Audit is available online at:
http://www.bnaibrith.ca/publications/audit2002/interim2002.html
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