For Immediate Release
Toronto, December 10, 2002… B’nai Brith Canada wishes to express its indignation over the statement issued yesterday by the Canadian Arab Federation in support of the terrorist groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
Given that people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds are endangered by the extremism and violence of such groups, the Canadian Arab Federation’s call for their terrorist activities to be ignored — and even excused — is completely irresponsible. The considerable body of evidence that CSIS has documented on the activity of terrorist groups — including Hezbollah — in this country, and the danger this poses to all Canadians, makes such attempts at justification even more reckless.
The Canadian Arab Federation defends Hamas and Islamic Jihad, groups that by their own admission intentionally target civilians for death and mayhem in order to advance their goal of annihilating the Jewish State. The sheer brutality of their operations has singled them out as deadly purveyors of the type of blind rage and violence that threatens all civilized countries. Hezbollah’s leader has threatened Jews worldwide and recommended exporting suicide bombing globally, intimidation which presumably includes Canada, and yet the Canadian Arab Federation expresses no concerns whatsoever about the implications of such threats here in this country.
In fact, B’nai Brith considers that the Canadian Arab Federation is showing blatant disregard for the safety and security of all its fellow citizens. It would have been more fitting for the Federation to have distanced itself from extremist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and to have denounced unequivocally the use of terrorism as a most basic evil that threatens us all.
As for the Canadian Arab Federation’s complaint over B’nai Brith Canada’s ad campaign on this issue, it is simply dishonest for the Federation to complain that B’nai Brith has depicted the unfortunate manner in which Islamic symbols have been hijacked by extremist fundamentalist groups. Rather, it should be the Federation’s responsibility to speak out against the blatant abuse of these religious symbols by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah to justify murder and terror.
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For information, call Rochelle Wilner, President (416) 254-1010 or Frank Dimant, Executive Vice-President (416) 802-1057.
B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s foremost advocacy and volunteer organization.
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