CANADIAN JEWS ASK WHY GOVERNMENT ONLY OUTLAWS TERRORIST GROUPS THAT TARGET AMERICANS

“Does Canada value the lives of some victims more than others?”

Toronto, July 31, 2002

For Immediate Release

Toronto, July 31, 2002… In the wake of today’s horrific carnage at the Hebrew University, for which the Hamas terrorist organization has claimed “credit”, B’nai Brith Canada leadership issued a call to Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Foreign Minister Bill Graham to stop vacillating on terror. The organization has already noted with concern that the list of “entities knowingly engaged in terrorist activity” issued by the Solicitor General just last week, failed to name any of the terror groups that routinely and intentionally target Israeli civilians. Only organizations targeting Americans have been included.

Rochelle Wilner, National President, stated: “We are appalled that, once again, our government has chosen to beat around the bush on the issue of terrorism. We believe that omitting terrorist organizations that kill Israelis has nothing to do with weight of evidence, but is a based on a value judgement that illustrates the lesser significance of these victims to Canada. There is certainly as much proof of terrorist activity attached to such entities as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as there is for Al Qaeda — in fact, they gloat openly over each of their atrocities.”

Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President recalled that when Bill C36 was first being debated, B’nai Brith Canada specifically requested a non-discrimination clause. “This would have ensured that the government could not have discriminated in this way by only singling out some terrorist groups, and thereby saying that some victims deserve more protection than others. Today’s tragedy is particularly bitter as it shows yet again how these terror groups want to smash any hope of peaceful co-existence. The Hebrew University epitomized that dream, with 1,500 Arab Israeli and Palestinian students at the Mount Scopus campus alone. Foreign students from Canada and around the world specifically chose to study there for that reason. As we have witnessed today, however, terrorism knows no boundaries and it is time for the Canadian government to stop tiptoeing around terror.”

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For further comment, contact 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.