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Rochelle Wilner |
Frank Dimant |
Prof. Stephen Scheinberg |
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Rochelle Wilner |
Frank Dimant |
Prof. Stephen Scheinberg |
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Several public education campaigns continued throughout 1999 to promote awareness of antisemitism, racism and hate and to stress the importance of reporting incidents. Posters, public service announcements, and newspaper advertisements encouraged Canadians to rally against antisemitism and hate, and to report all incidents. The League’s bus shelter posters and 1-800 Anti-Hate Hot Line continued to be important vehicles for raising awareness and facilitating reporting.
The League for Human Rights continues its dedication to Holocaust education and awareness. In 1999, 13 students and two teachers toured Israel with the League’s Holocaust and Hope Student Study Tour. This diverse group of teenagers returned to their home provinces with a better understanding of the Holocaust and a renewed commitment to fighting Holocaust denial, antisemitism and racism and to promote human rights in their schools and communities. In the coming year both the Educator’s Study Tour and the Student Study Tour will add to the growing network of teachers and students involved in the struggle.
In 1999 the League for Human Rights completed a study for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) on the impact and effectiveness of public education campaigns in raising awareness and promoting positive race relations in Canada. Recommendations from the League’s study formed the basis of a major public education campaign launched in December by the Foundation, entitled See People For Who They Really Are - Unite Against Racism / On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur - unis contre le racisme. The League’s research study on Race Relations Training, conducted throughout 1999 with funding from the CRRF, will provide recommendations about guidelines for effective training programs as well as criteria for effective trainers.
Throughout 1999, work continued on "Taking Action Against Hate", a project, designed to provide practical strategies and training for communities to respond to and counter hate group activities. The Training Manual and Resource Materials will be available in the coming year. In the meantime, the League continues to provide training for school boards, policing services, government agencies and community groups, through our Education and Training Centre.
B’nai Brith continues to maintain that asking print publishers and electronic media not to publish racist, sexist, homophobic or antisemitic content is not about censorship but rather is about maintaining editorial standards. All media have to make decisions based on merit as to what is broadcast and what is not. Denying press coverage to people whose beliefs are generally considered to be morally repugnant is no more an issue of freedom of the press than if a radio station denied air time to horrible music that requires no talent and, as such, is undeserving of being played. Allowing some material to be broadcast while other material is not, is the duty of responsible broadcasting networks to guarantee quality control and standards.
The League is actively involved in trying to inform and alert the media about the victim impact of racist activity and to highlight the problem of giving legitimacy to racist groups who are granted air time. Every year, the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada rewards those members of the media who best use their various media outlets to educate and inform the public about racism and to promote human rights. The Media Human Rights Awards are a way for the League, which is often critical of the media for bias, to reward and congratulate those who report violations of human rights in a responsible and constructive way.
Throughout 1999, the League continued to participate actively in community coalitions for more inclusive curriculum in education, for improved police protection from hate, for more legal remedies against hate activities, and for intercultural and interfaith dialogue and co-operation among community groups.
With the amalgamation of the City of Toronto, the Toronto District School Board was charged with the duty of harmonizing the equity provisions of the various school boards that it now represents. The League for Human Rights was one of the groups that made submissions to the Board regarding many of their new policies including anti-sexism and gender equity, disability accommodation and anti-racism. As a result, the school board specified antisemitism as a separate ground for discrimination. Efforts continue to ensure school boards provide sufficient resources to implement human rights policies.
The League supports the anti-hate initiatives by Police Services specifically in Toronto and in London, Ontario, and generally across the country. In the City of Toronto, the Hate Crimes Unit implemented the Divisional Hate Crimes Co-ordinator program, ensuring that there is a specially trained officer in each division to respond to calls regarding hate-motivated crime. The League hosted a gathering of the divisional co-ordinators and leaders of the Jewish community to facilitate communication between the two groups. The continued activity by the Toronto Hate Crimes Unit affords the residents of Toronto a more efficient response and thorough follow-up to complaints. The police in London, Ontario have acted aggressively against hate groups by going public with warnings to the community. A request for a meeting with some of the members of the Northern Alliance, a racist group active in the region, brought forth praise from the anti-racism community.
In 1999, the Canadian Human Rights Commission started a process to reform and strengthen the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Commission itself. This recognition of the changing nature of our society, and thus the changing necessity of protection of human rights, was lauded by many activist organizations. The League for Human Rights was invited to participate in a round table discussion regarding the proposed changes to the Act and the Commission. The League also made written submissions on the code, including a specific emphasis on changes necessary to counter hate on the Internet.
The League continues to work co-operatively with the Black community in Toronto in the Black/Jewish Dialogue and with women from various faiths in the Women’s Interfaith Dialogue program. The League also continues to support the efforts of the Aboriginal community in pressuring the Ontario government for a full public inquiry into the 1995 death of Dudley George at the hands of the Ontario Provincial Police during a protest at Ipperwash Park.
In the past year the League has become aware of a trend whereby extreme right wingers engage in libel law suits, attempting to impose a "libel chill" on human rights advocates. Most notably, Eileen Pressler and her husband have successfully sued anti-racist activist David Lethbridge in British Columbia for exposing their activities; notorious New Brunswick Holocaust denier, Malcolm Ross, has successfully obtained a judgement against editorial cartoonist, Josh Beutel and the New Brunswick Teachers Federation where Beutel spoke; and British writer David Irving (who was expelled from Canada and convicted of defaming the dead in Germany) has sued American historian Deborah Lipstadt and her publishers for describing him as a Holocaust denier. The eyes of the world are on this highly publicized case.
A number of other similar law suits have taken place. Fromm is suing Canadian Jewish Congress and in another case is suing Karen Mock and the League for Human Rights for damaging his reputation. Roger Rocan is suing Warren Kinsella, a well-known author and former journalist who has documented the activities of the far right in Canada. MacDonald is also suing Kinsella and the CBC, and the list goes on.
A number of these decisions are under appeal including the Pressler case. In the Malcolm Ross case, B’nai Brith has recently submitted to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal that human rights advocates should be afforded a defense of qualified privilege if, acting in good faith, they attempt to carry out their duty to defend human rights.
If the far right wingers are successful, there is a risk they could impose a "libel chill" on human rights advocates. This is a trend that the League will be watching closely in the coming year, a trend that could greatly undermine the struggle against antisemitism and hate in Canada and worldwide.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
| DEFINITIONS AND DATA COLLECTION
| SUMMARY OF DATA
ANTISEMITISM IN CANADA — REGIONAL CLIMATE AND TRENDS
| HATE IN CANADA: AN OVERVIEW
ANTISEMITIC BIAS AND SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION
| CONVERSION CRAZE — MILLENNIUM MADNESS?
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST ANTISEMITISM AND HATE
| APPENDIX A: The Jewish Community in Canada — A Brief Overview
Table 1: NATURE OF ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS BY YEAR
| Table 2: GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF INCIDENTS
Figure 1: Nature of Antisemitic Incidents by Year
| Figure 2: Three Year Average of Incidents
| Figure 3: Antisemitic Incidents by Region