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Music ‘N’ Mavens Celebrates 25 Years! 

Music ‘N’ Mavens, Winnipeg’s foremost afternoon concert and speaker series is celebrating its 25th year, with a blockbuster lineup of incredible musicians and fabulous speakers. All concerts and speakers are live, at the Rady JCC.

Opening the series on Thursday January 19, is the Editor of the Winnipeg Free PressPaul Samyn. Paul will be speaking on An Insider’s View on the History of the Winnipeg Free Press. Paul has been part of the Free Press newsroom for more than a quarter of a century, working his way up as a rookie reporter in 1988. As the Free Press celebrates its 150th year, Paul will share some insights. 

On Tuesday January 24, Central Sound Wave is a duo comprised of Jeremy Koz (Indian City, Ron Paley Band) and Derrick Gottfried (Harlequin, Doc Walker). Popular Songs from the 70s to Today will be performed by these high energy singers and musicians. If you rocked out in the 70s, you could start your vocal warm-ups now. 

On Thursday January 26, please note that there has been a program change from what is listed in the brochure. TheMonika Wall Band brings old and new vibes of jazz standards sung by the “First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald. From Ella with Love will be performed with some traditional and some new interpretations of songs that have stood the test of time, first made famous by the “Queen of Jazz.” Expect to hear numbers like Mack the Knife, Cry Me a River, Summertime, and other melodies from the canon of the late, great, Ella Fitzgerald. 

On Tuesday January 31, the topic is How the War in Ukraine Ends. Myroslav Shkandrij is Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba where he taught in the Department of German and Slavic studies from 1987. Recently he has been teaching at Columbia University in New York. Shkandrij’s research is focused on Ukraine’s cultural history, the avant-garde, nationalism, and Jewish-Ukrainian relations.

We are grateful to our sponsors for the 2023 Music ‘N’ Mavens series: Babs Asper Centre for Cultural Arts, The Asper Foundation, Winnipeg Arts Council, Lampe Family Fund, Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, United Way, Winnipeg Free Press, Jewish Post and News, Classic 107, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Music ‘N’ Mavens is produced by Karla Berbrayer.

For tickets, concert passes, and a full listing of events, please go to radyjcc.com There is no charge for attendance at speaker presentations, although donations are welcome at the door.

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These days a single complaint can lead to silencing pro-Israel voices

By BERNIE BELLAN As the war in Gaza drags on Jews are finding themselves coming under regular threats in a myriad of locations around the world.

Every day seems to bring a new report – either of pro-Palestinian protesters disrupting an event or of actual clashes between pro-Palestinians and pro-Israelis.

Just this past week we heard about pro-Palestinian protesters in Toronto forcing the cancellation of a dinner on March 2 at the Art Gallery of Ontario where Prime Minister Trudeau was supposed to have hosted an event for visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

According to the Globe & Mail, “The event was called off abruptly after several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the venue, blocking doorways and making it difficult for guests to enter.”

Then, on the evening of March 4 – this time in Montreal, pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the main entrance to the Jewish Federation building in that city – trapping employees inside, and forcing them to escape through a back entrance.

As a result of that event, according to an article written by Judy Maltz in Haaretz, “A number of key Jewish organizations and institutions in Montreal have obtained a court injunction that prevents anti-Israel groups from holding protests outside their premises.”

Those are just two of the most recent events that followed upon other similar events where pro-Palestinian protesters have engaged in threatening behaviour.

There has been a constant flow of reports of Jewish students being harassed, often physically threatened – both on university campuses and high schools throughout the world, even in younger grades, as early as Grade Two in some cases.

Although I have written previously that Winnipeg Jews shouldn’t think that the level of danger for Jews is as high in our own community as it certainly appears to be in cities such as Toronto or Montreal, anyone following reports of Jews being harassed – and occasionally physically attacked in cities around the world, can be forgiven for wondering about the possibility of that also occurring in Winnipeg.

It’s for that reason that I chose to focus an article on the event at the University of Manitoba on February 26 that led to the banning of a pro-Israel organization known as Students Supporting Israel.

Regardless what the guest speaker at that event may have had to say about Islam, the notion that the University of Manitoba Students Union was quick to suspend that Jewish organization says volumes about where we’re at these days in terms of Jews being put on the defensive.

In my article about the event and the subsequent suspension of Students Supporting Israel by UMSU I referred to something called a “trigger warning” – without going into any detail what a trigger warning actually is. Here’s how the Oxford Dictionary defines trigger warning: “A statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc., alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material (often used to introduce a description of such content).”

While it may be totally acceptable for a Muslim student to claim that they have been upset by something said at an event – such as the event held at the U of M, the corollary certainly doesn’t hold for Jewish students.

Thus, when a group of eight University of Winnipeg teachers held that notorious hatefest on Israeli “imperialism, colonialism, and genocide” on November 24, and many individuals – both from within and without the Jewish community here, complained that holding such an event would be extremely distressing for members of the Jewish community, especially students at the U of W, did anyone from the U of W administration take steps to have that event cancelled?

Of course not. When it comes to moving to protect the rights of university students to feel safe on campuses, it’s a one-way street: A Muslim student at the U of M complained that she felt unsafe as a result of comments made on February 26 by a speaker at the university who himself was a Muslim – and UMSU took immediate steps in reaction to that complaint in what I would hold, any reasonable person would argue was a totally unjustified overreaction.

As the CBC report of what happened notes, Bassim Eid, the speaker at the event, made some critical comments about Islam, including that “When it comes to ideology, the Muslims are blind,” and the ideology of Muslims is ‘a major problem,’ saying they aren’t ready for change.”

But, “Belkis Elmoudi, a Muslim student at the university who attended the event, says she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

” ‘I knew I had to get out of there, because I did not feel safe,’ she told CBC News on Thursday” (February 29).

” ‘I mean not only were those comments made, [but] no one stood up and said anything, so it just made me feel very isolated, alone and scared.’ “

Omigod – someone says something negative about Muslims at an event sponsored by a pro-Israel organization and, whether or not those comments were justifiable, the pro-Israel organization is suspended from being allowed to be active on campus.

We know that the pendulum has swung so far in one direction that anyone saying they were offended by a comment made by someone who was pro-Israeli can expect to have their complaint acted upon almost immediately.

Yet, I am not advocating that Jewish students should also be able to suppress in advance any comments that they would regard as threatening their safety. Tolerance of ideas that we may find uncomfortable has long been an intrinsic element of what those of us who consider ourselves liberal would defend.

But, as the atmosphere surrounding discussion of Israel’s war in Gaza has become poisonous for anyone wanting to defend Israel, intimidation tactics of the type used by Belkis Elmondi – along with the strong and immediate support she received from the president of UMSU, is only likely to be repeated any time that someone tries to mount a defence of Israel on a university campus anywhere there are Muslim students.

One of the great ironies of this entire conundrum is that a great many Jews in the diaspora are themselves deeply critical of Israeli government policies, including what’s happening in Gaza, but because of the virulence – often accompanied by threats of physical violence and actual acts of physical violence, we keep the level of criticism of Israel relatively muted.

Instead we talk among ourselves at how badly Israel is doing in the court of public opinion – and then react with dismay when anti-Israel demonstrators engage in the worst sort of intimidation tactics.

As diaspora Jews, we’re sort of shell shocked by what we’re seeing – and when one student’s complaint gets an entire organization suspended, we simply shake our heads and wonder what’s next when it comes to intimidating pro-Israel supporters?

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“Students Supporting Israel” suspended by University of Manitoba Students Union

Bassim Eid

By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted March 6, 2024) In October 2022 an art history teacher by the name of Erika Lopéz Prater was fired from her position at a small liberal arts college in Minnesota, Humline University, for having the temerity to show depictions of the Prophet Muhammed to students in her art history class

Lopéz Prater had warned students in advance that images of holy figures, including the Prophet Muhammed and the Bhudda, would be shown in the course and had asked students to contact her with any concerns, but she said no one did.

Aram Wedatalla

One student in the class, Aram Wedatalla, who was also president of the Muslim Student Association, however, claimed to have been deeply offended by the image of Muhammed that was displayed and complained to the university administration. Subsequently Lopéz Prater was fired from her position. As an adjunct professor, however, she did not have the protections granted to tenured professors.

Lopéz Prater later sued Humline on several grounds, including unfair dismissal and emotional distress, but a judge has since dismissed almost all elements of her lawsuit.

What happened to Lopéz Prater though and the ensuing controversy provided a salutary lesson in political correctness running amuck – and the power of members of certain groups to intimidate university administrations and student groups into total acquiescence to their demands to silence any type of discussion that some members of those groups may deem objectionable.

Such apparently was also the case recently at the University of Manitoba where a Muslim speaker by the name of Bassim Eid spoke to students at that university on Monday, February 26. The event was sponsored by two groups: Bridges for Peace and Students Supporting Israel.

According to a CBC report describing what happened at that event and subsequent to it, “Political analyst Bassem Eid, a Palestinian who is a regular commentator on Israeli TV and radio, gave a lecture at a Monday event at the University of Manitoba, organized by Bridges for Peace and Students Supporting Israel, called: ‘What led to the recent war between Israel and Hamas.’

” ‘When it comes to ideology, the Muslims are blind,’ Eid is heard saying during the event’s question period, in audio reviewed by CBC News. He can also be heard calling the ideology of Muslims ‘a major problem,’ saying they aren’t ready for change.

“Belkis Elmoudi, a Muslim student at the university who attended the event, says she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

” ‘I knew I had to get out of there, because I did not feel safe,’ she told CBC News on Thursday (February 29).

” ‘I mean not only were those comments made, [but] no one stood up and said anything, so it just made me feel very isolated, alone and scared.’

Following Eid’s talk and the subsequent complaint made by Elmoudi, the University of Manitoba Students Union decided to suspend Students Supporting Israel, according to UMSU President Tracy Karuhogo, “while an investigation into the event takes place.”

We have attempted to obtain a response from someone from UMSU as to the reasons that Students Supporting Israel has been suspended.

We posed the following questions within an email on Monday, March 4:

“1. Is the suspension still in effect?

“2. If the answer to 1 is yes, can someone explain the reasons behind the suspension?

“3. Is it now UMSU’s policy to suspend an entire group because one student has a complaint about something related to that group?

“4. If UMSU does believe it was justified in suspending Students Supporting Israel, is there anything that would prevent any other student from asking that the Muslim Students Association at the University of Manitoba be suspended for any activities that a student might consider threatening? In other words, where do you draw the line?”

To date, we have not received a response. If we do hear back from someone from UMSU we will update this article.

We also emailed Jeff Lieberman and Adam Levy of the Jewish Federation, along with Gustavo Zentner, CIJA representative for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, asking them whether anyone from either group had attempted to intervene in the matter. (We also cc’d Haskell Greenfield, Head of Judaic Studies at the U of M.) In addition, we have reached out to a representative for Students Supporting Israel. Again, if we hear back from that person we will update this article.

We wrote:

“I’ve been trying to get more information about the suspension of Students Supporting Israel…the notion that the group has been suspended by UMSU is pretty outrageous. Does anyone know what the status of that suspension is?

“This all reminds me of a story I read last year about a Minnesota college professor who was fired from her position teaching art history at a very small college because she dared to show depictions of Muhammed.

“Apparently, even though she had told students in advance that she would be doing that – and asked whether anyone in the class objected, a Muslim student (who hadn’t spoken out prior) later claimed that they were traumatized by seeing those images.

“It all has to do with “trigger warnings”‘ and how any student can silence discussion by saying they’re traumatized by that discussion.

“Has the Federation or CIJA intervened in this matter?”

We received the following response from Adam Levy, Public Relations and Communications Director for the Jewish Federation:

“Hi Bernie,

“Thank you for reaching out regarding the suspension of Students Supporting Israel (SSI).

“Federation and CIJA have been actively advising and supporting SSI as they navigate this challenging time. We are hopeful that the investigation that has been undertaken by UMSU will clear SSI of wrongdoing, and not hold them accountable for Bassem Eid’s comments.”

We also received the following email from Haskell Greenfield:

“In his talk, Bassam made some generalizations about the ideology of Muslims. He has issued an apology since then. But the student union at the University acted precipitously, I would say rashly. They suspended SSI pending an investigation without contacting the SSI student club first. It is a recognized club for the University of Manitoba Students Union.  They suspended the SSI because a Palestinian student made a complaint. They did the suspension solely on the complaint and without contacting SSI to get their point of view. We believe that SSI is working toward explaining their side of the story and hoping for reinstatement. SSI did not make any negative statements about Arabs or Muslims or Palestinians. In fact the moderator at the event disavowed the statement afterwards, saying this does not represent SSI or his own beliefs.

“The same day SSI was suspended, a motion was also put forward by the executive of the University of Manitoba Students Union that would define a new form of anti-Palestinian racism. This very problematic motion prevents anyone from denying the ‘Nakhba.’ It would make denying the ‘Nakhba’ a racist act.”

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Working with late night talk show stars Colbert and Stewart dream job for former Winnipegger

By Myron Love When the Jewish Post last touched base with Raffie Rosenberg in the summer of 2020, she was back in Winnipeg for a few months during the Covid lockdown reconnecting with her father, Lewis Rosenberg (her mother, the late Dr. Fran Steinberg passed away ten years ago) and other relatives while looking forward to returning to New York in the fall to continue her studies at Columbia University.

As far back as she can remember,  she noted in that earlier interview, she has had her sights squarely set on a career in the entertainment industry.   “I started dancing lessons when I was two years old,” she recalled.  “I loved it.”

She added that her interest in the theatre was also stimulated by her parents, both of whom had been involved in the arts. Prior to pursuing a career in medicine, her mother studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.  She also taught dancing and further studied dance at York University.  Her dad also has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree – Theatre Design and Technology – from the University of Minnesota.

Having graduated previously (in 2016) from Western University’s  Ivey School of Business, Rosenberg earned her second degree – an MFA – with a focus on theatre management and producing –  from Columbia in 2022.

And she is very happy to report that, over the past two years, she has had the opportunity to work behind the scenes with two of her heroes in the entertainment business – none other than the king of late night television, Stephen Colbert, and his predecessor, Jon Stewart.

She got on with Colbert’s “The Late Show” as a production intern during her final semester at Columbia shortly after graduation from Columbia for a five-month period (January-May, 2022) and followed up on that coup by being hired as a production assistant on Stewart’s return to the air waves via Apple TV with “the Problem with Jon Stewart,” a weekly series featuring hour-long single subject episodes.  The show launched in the fall of 2021.  Rosenberg joined the production team in the fall of 2022. 

(The show was recently cancelled.)

Those were my dream jobs,” Rosenberg notes – “to work with both Stewart and Colbert on televised shows that include elements of live theatre (such as a studio audience and band).”

She points out that entertainment internships are difficult to get – especially in late night. “The team at Colbert is really proactive about interviewing a huge number of candidates and taking a look at people from the online applicant portal,” she reports. “I got lucky and the timing was right for that internship.” 

She notes that, being in an entry level role at The Late Show and at The Problem, she didn’t work with either host directly.  “The staff of The Late Show is over 100 people and at The Problem there were around 60 of us,” she says, “but both Jon and Stephen are incredible bosses. They’re kind, focused, and great leaders. Even though I never worked with either directly, being able to work on their shows was a huge highlight and definitely a childhood dream come true.” 

Her role was different for each of the shows – reflecting the different responsibilities in her job titles and the fact that Colbert is nightly and Stewart’s show was weekly.

As a production assistant, I was more involved in areas such as research, working on the podcast and deeper dives into current events ,” she points out.  “Also, we were working with a longer lead time on Jon’s show – which gave us more room to expand on individual subjects.”

In her independent work as a creative producer, she points out, she is more involved in sourcing funding to help get the project off the ground, crafting the narrative, working with the script writers and hiring lead actors and the director.

For the past two summers,  Rosenberg has produced the Arts in Action Festivals for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition.  The BAC was founded in 2016 by a group of actors and activists with the goal of using the arts to try to create as a vehicle to help create a more just world.  The two-day Arts in Action festivals present workshops, performances, panels and screenings in furtherance of its goals.

With the conclusion of production for the “The Problem With Jon Stewart” last fall, Rosenberg is open to new projects – one of which is a collaboration with a couple of other Jewish artists on a coming-of-age comedy.

It would seem that Raffie Rosenberg has a bright future to look forward to in theatre and film production.   

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