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Kanee Lecture Series Speaker Rachel Fish dissects roots of antisemitism on North American campuses
By MYRON LOVE In a thorough-going analysis of antisemitism and anti-Zionism on North American campuses, Rachel Fish Ph.D., this year’s Jewish Heritage Center of Western Canada Sol and Florence Kanee Distnguished Lecture Series speaker, left her audience of at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue on Thursday, April 30 with some hope that the situation is actually improving.
The Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture series was inaugurated by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada in 2006 to celebrate Sol Kanee’s 95th birthday. In welcoming the audience at that first lecture, co-chair Harold Buchwald paid tribute to Kanee, who died on April 23, 2007, at 97, as a man who “cast a giant shadow” on world Jewish history in the second half of the 20th century. The former resident of Melville, Saskatchewan, who spent almost all of his adult life in Winnipeg, was a leader in the development of Israel and the Free Soviet Jewry movement as well as a “macher” in our Jewish community and across Canada.
Previous Sol and Florence Kanee lecture series speakers have included: historian Sir Martin Gilbert,CNN’s Jake Tapper, South African jurist Albie Sachs, New York Times columnist Brett Stephens, human rights advocate Irwin Cotler, former Mossad Director Efraim Halevy, Haaretz writer Ari Shavit, and Honest Reporting’s Mike Fegelman, (Ed. note: Now there’s an interesting juxtaposition: Ari Shavit and Mike Fegelman. I wonder what would be the odds of the Jewish Heritage Centre ever inviting someone as critical of Israeli government policy as Ari Shavit here again – or for that matter Efraim Halevy, who has also been a staunch critic of Israeli policy toward Palestinians.)
The evening began with a welcome from Rabbi Carnie Rose, the Shaarey Zedek’s senior rabbi. Rose was followed to the podium by Harlan Abells, the president of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, who issued a special thank you to the evening’s gold sponsors – the Asper Foundation and MaryAnn Kanee (Sol and Florence Kanee’s daughter-in-law), while also acknowledging the lectures series’ many other generous sponsors.
“We would also like to take a moment,” Abells continued, “to remember a longtime board member who passed away recently – Mel Myers, KC, of blessed memory. Mel was a true powerhouse of a man and a guiding light to our organization. We appreciated his wisdom, guidance, and steadfast support, and will truly miss him.’
In his memory, Abells reported, his family has established the ‘Mel Myers Endowment Fund’ (in support of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada) at the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.
He pointed out that the Jewish Heritage Centre collects and preserves the records, artifacts and traditions of our community. “We play an integral role in the life of our community,” he said.
“In fact, we are the custodians of our collective memory, identity, and cultural heritage. Thanks to us, the stories of the people – the events – the news – are preserved for today’s and future generations. Our collection includes a treasure trove of more than 70,000 photographs, beautifully illustrating more than 125 years of community life. We also provide essential education and training on the Holocaust and antisemitism to teachers, students and the general public throughout the year through our programs and training sessions.”
In introducing the guest speaker, Abells noted that Rachel Fish is currently the Director for The Brandeis University President’s Initiative on Antisemitism as well as an associate research professor at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, and teacher of Israeli history and society at The George Washington University, where she is Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
She is the co-founder of the nonprofit “Boundless,” a think-action tank partnering with community leaders across North America to revitalize Israel education and take bold collective action to combat antisemitism.
The theme of her timely lecture was “How the Academy Has Created a Fertile Ground for Antisemitism,” a topic in which she is well versed.
Fish observed that antisemitism and anti-Zionism on North American campus are not new phenomena. She recalled that she first experienced antisemitism in academia as far back as 2001 when she began her studies at Harvard’s Divinity School.
“Orientation day was September 11, 2001,” she remembered. “Unlike other Harvard faculties, there were few Jewish students in the Divinity School. In the lecture hall for orientation, a faculty member and future Dean of the Divinity School said that although he was not yet aware of all the details behind the attacks, he was certain that American support for Israel was behind 9-11.
“To me, I could see that it was already apparent where campus trends were going,” Fish said.
She explained in detail the ingredients that have combined to create this toxic stew of antisemitism and anti-Zionism – a mix of modern neo-Marxism, post-colonialism, Orientalism and post-modernism. The superficial framing that emerges is that Jews are identified as “White,” and “Palestinians” as “People of Colour” – so Israel is deemed to be negative because it is a country of “White People” and, therefore, is perceived as a “settler-colonist” enterprise that oppresses people of colour.. Further, therefore, any Jews associated with Israel are also portrayed negatively.
She further pointed out the lingering contributions to this by the former Soviet Union – which introduced the ideas that Zionism is “racist” and that Israel is an apartheid state.
While the situation may seem dire, Fish did report that a recent survey found that, while 3% of American university students are extremely hostile to Israel, and another 30% are hostile toward Israel and hostile toward Jews, two-thirds of students are indifferent.
The problem is that faculty – mainly in the humanities, has become a monoculture where intellectual diversity is suppressed. Some professors use their classrooms as a bully pulpit to promote their extremist views, while any faculty members who may dare to challenge the current zeitgeist risks being ostracized, may have difficulty getting published, risk losing out on grants and, ultimately – their jobs.An additional problem that she commented on is that a lot of people don’t really know what Zionism is and how it relates to Judaism.
On the positive side, Fish observed, compared to the situation in 2002, Jewish activists are fighting back and making some headway. “There are a lot of people doing serious work to change the university environment,” she reported. ‘There are several organizations over the last ten years that have been working on multiple levels to bring about change.
“There is still a lot of work to be done though,” she cautioned.
Fish further pointed out that, despite the hostility to Israel on many campuses, there are still joint research ventures taking place between Israeli universities and counterparts in North America, Israeli researchers are still welcome to share their findings with North American colleagues, and Hillel chapters continue to function – largely without incident.
“Our people have found a home in many societies and we have pursued our love of learning,” Fish noted. “We cannot allow our institutions of higher learning to be hijacked. We must remain vocal though, and hold university administrators’ and board members’ feet to the fire.”
As for her own career, Fish said that she is determined to continue to pursue her career, both inside of academia and beyond, because she believes that education matters. “As well,” she concluded, “I appreciate the opportunities that teaching at the university level gives me to share what I have learned at public forums such as the Kanee Lecture.”
One other highlight of the evening was a special presentation by JHCWC board member and Past President Dan Stone to Stan Carbone, who is retiring after 25 years as the Director of Programs and Exhibits.
Local News
Quick action by archivist Ava Garfinkel saves Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada archives from disaster
By MYRON LOVE The downpour that struck our city on Tuesday, June 9, left a trail of basement flooding and other damage in its wake. As reported elsewhere in this issue of the Post, Temple Shalom, our community’s Reform Congregation, has been forced to relocate its services to other venues because of water damage that has made its building unusable for the foreseeable future.
Another of our institutions that was affected by the storm is the Asper Jewish Community Campus – and specifically the lower level, where the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada stores a good portion of its archives. It was the quick action of archivist Ava Garfinkel and her brother, Max, as well as a number of volunteers in the following days – and the miracle of modern technology – that saved those archives from destruction.
“This was a potentially devastating and irreversible crisis,” notes Belle Jarniewski, the JHCWC’s executive director. “Thanks to the quick and diligent work of our staff and a team of kind volunteers, we were able to implement an emergency disaster plan, separate the affected material and move the damp archives to a frozen storage facility within 48 hours. These crucial actions successfully saved the archive, avoiding any mold growth that would have spread throughout the entire collection at a rapid pace, eventually destroying even the parts of our collection that were left untouched by the flood.”
Jarniewski reports that Garfinkel reached out to conservators across Canada for help. The frozen materials have now been transferred to an out-of-province facility where they will be vacuum freeze-dried in a restoration process overseen by a conservator.
“Our dry and unaffected archives and artifacts were also quickly removed from the basement and brought upstairs to be stored in several places around the Campus,” Jarniewski says. “The directors of the Gray Academy and the Asper Community Campus were kind enough to offer us the space we required to temporarily store our collections.
“The JHC Archive,” she points out, “preserves the precious history and physical memory of our community, also that of the communities across Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario whose histories have been entrusted to us. It dates back to the late 1800s. Information about the delicate, old, and irreplaceable items is frequently accessed by students, researchers, educators, genealogists, and community members. Simply put, the archive constitutes the very heart and memory of our community.”
Jarniewski recounts that when the Campus first opened almost 30 year ago, several rooms on the first floor were specifically designed with climate control suitable for an archive or museum. But, as different community needs arose, the archives were moved out of the specialized spaces and into the basement.
“With space at a premium in the building, we have had to do our best with the cards we were dealt,” she says.
For security and other reasons, Jarniewski points out, moving the JHCWC archive out of the Asper Campus has never been a viable option. “Our museum, our offices, and the other half of our archive are all firmly situated in this building on the main floor,” she notes. “We work within our basement archive daily and we rely on the safety that the security within the Asper Campus affords us.”
To prevent this kind of near disaster again, she added, the lower level storage area has to be renovated for safety while maintaining the standards of practices for long-term preservation. “We have already put a plan into motion for more effective humidity control and the sealing of the room,” Jarniewski reports.
“All of our textual records must be placed in specialized archival enclosures, our artifacts must be re-boxed/wrapped according to their individual preservation needs, and we must purchase adequate shelving that will keep our collections away from the ground and the walls while allowing for effective air circulation. These protective measures will be costly, requiring specialized materials, but they are necessary.”
The overall estimated budget for this project, Jarniewski says, is approximately $100,000. So far, she reports, the JHCWC has received a quarter of that amount through donations..
She expresses the hope that Post readers will consider donating to this essential project so that the JHCWC can continue protecting the priceless history of Western Canadian Jewry for generations to come. A tax receipt will be provided to all donors.
“With the funding in place, we should be able to have everything in place in less than six months,” Jarniewski says.
Readers who may want to consider donating to the JHCWC in support of this vital project can either phone 204 478-8590 or go online to jewishheritage@jhcwc.org. Donations can also be made online though Canada Helps: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/jewish-heritage-centre-of-western-canada-inc/
Local News
A response to Isha Khan’s op-ed in the August 1st, 2026 issue of the Winnipeg Free Press
By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Ed. note: Isha Khan is the CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In the August 1st issue of the Winnipeg Free Press Ms. Khan wrote an op-ed defending the museum’s decision to mount the exhibit titled “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present.” The Free Press has published many letters about the exhibit, but some readers of that paper are frustrated that their letters were not published. We were asked by Simone Cohen Scott whether we would print a letter that she had sent to the Free Press, but which was not published.
Since there is always room on this website to publish as many articles as we’d like, we agreed to publish Simone’s letter, which follows here:
Isha Khan states in her op-ed piece that the choices of what to exhibit, what to examine, what to feature, were made according to certain parameters, which she called a “framework.” What, specifically, comprised this so-called framework? It is obviously exclusive of elements relative to the history of the period displayed. She said the purpose of the exhibit was….”to promote reflection and dialogue.” Reflection and dialogue about what? Did the Arabs who left the area know that the United Nations had offered them a state too? If they had known, would they have wanted to accept? If, given the choice, would they have stayed and lived beside the Jews? Or, did they indeed, want five Arab nations to attack the Jews? Such questions as these would have promoted “reflection and dialogue.”
What is the understanding implicit in the exhibit? Khan quotes from a banner that hangs in the museum: Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “We are all born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Should the Jews have rights? If so, what should they be? May they have a state? When a people is attacked by 5 nations, as Israel was in 1948, wherein lie the human rights?
Why did Khan’s advisors choose to use the word Nakba in the exhibit title? The original use of the Arab word ‘nakba’, meaning disaster, was intended to depict, that in spite of being assured by the Arab/Islamic leaders that it would be a quick war and that they would win, that did not happen. The word disaster was meant to mean the shock and the disappointment. The real disaster, or tragedy, ‘Nakba’ if you will, is that the Arab/Islamic countries in the world, (and there are plenty of them), have refused to welcome refugees of a war their own leaders chose to start. They have allowed these displaced persons to stagnate in UNRWA, an industry in itself. Where are the stories of the people in UNRWA housing? Another group it would have been enlightening to hear from is today’s Israeli Arab population – the doctors, dentists, nurses, lawyers, judges, entrepreneurs, business moguls and more, the descendants of those who stayed in the country in 1948, who had and whose offspring have had the same opportunities as every Israeli citizen. There is much easily accessible research that has been neglected in the preparation of this exhibit. This blatant lack of effort is shameful.
Kahn explained, when asked, that the context of the conflict of the time is too complex to have been included. Is she saying that people who go to museums can’t handle broad, multi-faceted ideas… that she deliberately designed a walk-though soundbite, not a process for mind-expanding grasp of history?
Simone Cohen Scott,
(sent to the Free Press August 13th, 2026)
Post script from Bernie Bellan: This website has never refused to carry any post that may be critical of the CMHR, despite what some readers of this website might think. We do allow comments to articles, but anyone commenting through our “Comment” portal has to register by giving their name and email address so that we can confirm they are a real person. In addition, we welcome longer contributions from readers. Many of the posts you will find on this website come from regular contributors, such as Henry Srebrnik. If you have something you’d like us to consider publishing – and the only criteria are that it be reasonably well written and void of slanderous remarks, email to us at jewishp@mymts.net.
Local News
Young Winnipegger Dr. Yale Michaels receives $550,000 Canadian Cancer Society research grant
By MYRON LOVE It has been shown on many occasions that a teacher can have an outsized role in shaping a young person’s life. Dr. Yale Michaels’ life story is one example.
During a recent interview with the young cancer researcher – the son of John Michaels and Karen Stern – Yale recounted how a Grade 7 teacher at Grant Park High School was largely responsible for his decision to pursue a medical career in medicine.
The young Michaels attended Brock Corydon Elementary School and was a long time Massad camper. In junior high school at Grant Park, however, he recounts, “I was having a tough time staying on task. Thankfully, my Grade 7 science teacher suggested that I might find it interesting volunteering to help in a cancer research lab. He had a contact and got me in. I loved it. It was a good fit for me. I never looked back.”
Michaels (whose zaida, Leon Michaels, was a leading cardiologist here) spent much of his free time during his high school years volunteering in the lab. After graduation, he enrolled in Harvard –with help from the university’s financial aid program – where he earned his Bachelor’s degree. He followed that up with a Ph.D. from Oxford in 2019, followed by three years as a post-doctoral Fellow – before returning to Winnipeg in 2023 to work at Cancer Care Manitoba, as well as teach at the University of Manitoba.
“I enjoyed my time both at Harvard and Oxford,” he says. “What made England even more enjoyable is that Yale has family there. His grandparents – Leon and Joan Michaels – were born and raised in London and Yale’s time there overlapped for a few months with his brother Jamie (about whom there was a story in a July issue of the Post), who earned his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing at the University of London.
This past June, the young researcher learned that he was to be the recipient of a $550,000 Canadian Cancer Society Emerging Scholar Research Grant, covering five years of research.
Michaels’ field of research focuses on new ways of combating blood cancers – specifically in the new area of immunotherapy. He is being aided in his research by lab tech Dana Segal and graduate student Serena Dembowksi.
Michaels adds that he is collaborating with a number of other researchers from Winnipeg – and throughout Canada, including Drs. Harinad Maganti, David Szwajcer, Jody Haigh, Versha Banerji, and David Knapp.
Using the patient’s own immune cells – specifically CAR T cells -to treat blood cancers was first approved in 2017, Michaelsreports. “The treatment has shown itself to be really successful. Many patients go into remission and some may have the potential to be cured.”
One of the drawbacks, he explains, is that the treatment is prohibitively expensive. Each dose costs about $500,000 U.S.
“What we are trying to do in my lab and elsewhere is find a way to greatly reduce the cost,” he explains. “It becomes a matter of scale. Other drugs used in treating cancer can be produced in amounts of 1,000 doses per production run. But right now CAR T therapy is made on a one-off basis with an individual manufacturing run for each patient. We are attempting to instead make CAR T cells from stem cells – which can be grown in large quantities. We are trying to use genetic engineering to manipulate them so that they can be administered safely to patients.
“We (Michaels and fellow researchers) are making good progress in this area,” he adds.
He cautions that the research is still in the formative stages and that clinical trials are still several years away. “Our research so far though has shown that our treatment would seem to be effective at killing cancer cells,” he reports. “This grant from the Canadian Cancer Society will help us to further that research.”
Outside of work, Michaels notes, much of his time is spent with his family – Dr. Allison Marmel and their two-year-old daughter, Rose.
(Ed. note: We should note that Yale Michaels was also the punter for the Harvard University football team – by far his greatest achievement.)
