B’nai Brith Canada’s 2019 Year in Review

Click here to make a tax-deductible donation

Dec. 23, 2019

Dear Friends,

As we celebrate the happy holiday of Chanukah, we also illuminate the year 2019. It was long, tumultuous and at times horrifying and unfathomable for the Jewish world.

Antisemitism and violent Jew-hatred rose. It emanated from all corners – including white supremacists, radical Islamists and even Hebrew Israelites.

For B’nai Brith Canada, it certainly was a year to remember. Our small-but-potent team was always there to tackle the threats faced by this country’s Jewish community, while also showing solidarity with those facing human-rights abuses abroad.

Many of our initiatives and campaigns were successful in thwarting racism, antisemitism and hatred. We produced important precedents for the future of our community.

If you support our vital work, please click here to make a tax-deductible donation so we can continue our diligence and strong efforts.

In honour of the Eight Nights of Chanukah, here are our Top Eight highlights of 2019:

In September, we blew the whistle on a star federal candidate and revealed his history of antisemitic and anti-Israel comments. Within hours of our press release, he was dropped as a candidate.

In June, our initiatives and advocacy informed the federal government’s adoption of the vital International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.

In March, a TV show called “Muslim Perspectives” was removed from the airwaves within 24 hours of our petition exposing its antisemitic content.

In August, our complaint about antisemitic sermons by an Edmonton Imam resulted in his ouster from preaching at a community centre.

B’nai Brith was the only group that rallied the community by taking Elections Canada to court over the date of the federal election, which fell on a Jewish holiday. Thanks to our advocacy, significant accommodations were made to meet the needs of observant Jews.

In July, following our public complaint, a Toronto church cancelled a scheduled event intended to honour the mastermind of a terror attack in Israel.

In August, the publisher and editor of Your Ward News were given harsh sentences for wilful promotion of hatred. B’nai Brith had long advocated for the strong sentencing of the two.

A Montreal taxi driver was fired and charged after B’nai Brith reported the violent assault of a Jewish man in a parking garage.

But our work is not done.

The deportation of ex-Nazi Helmut Oberlander, defending Israeli wines against discrimination, fighting for the freedom of Jewish students on campus and in the cafeteria and combating the crimes of the Iranian regime are just a few of the important cases that remain atop our priority list.

In order to continue fighting for these and other important causes, we need your aid. If you support the work we do, p lease support the work we do.