Local News
New JCFS office manager Mara Pellettieri has strong ties to our Jewish community
By MYRON LOVE For Mara Pellettieri, the Jewish Child and Family Service’s new office manager, community has always been of prime importance. One of eight children of Leslie and the late Les Nepon, she has truly been immersed in our Jewish community from birth.
Pellettieri – who was most recently the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg’s Engagement Coordinator – assumed her new position four months ago. “The posting was brought to my attention,” she says. “It sounded like a good opportunity to expand my horizons and further apply my breadth of experience.”
In introducing their new office manager, the JCFS management noted on its most recent Sherut newsletter that Pellettieri has worked in retail as well as public administration, and has managed a number of large engagement and administrative portfolios. She has “excellent creative and organizational skills”, is “community-oriented” and “committed to helping to make our Jewish community a better place”, according to the newsletter.
Pellettieri, along with all of her siblings, is a graduates of our Jewish school system (the former Talmud Torah School and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate). While in high school, she recalls, she went on one of the annual March of the Living missions.
“The March of the Living had a really strong effect on me,” she says. “It reinforced in me the importance of community.”
Pellettieri graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a B.A. in Psychology. Following university, she volunteered for a few months at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, helping to facilitate tours and acting as a guide for museum visitors.
Prior to joining the Federation staff, Pellettieri worked in retail at the management level. She first was manager at Stella’s Bridal and Evening Collection, followed by a stint as assistant manager for Sephora’s three Winnipeg outlets.
With three growing children however, (including 11-year-old Meir and eight-year-old twins Yael and Simi, Pellettieri felt that it was time to look for work with more regular hours (as compared to shift work and evening work hours).
She notes that she began working with the Federation as a receptionist. “Within a year, I was promoted to Engagement Coordinator,” she says.
In that capacity, her portfolio encompassed – pre-Covid – organizing the P2G programs (student and teacher exchanges between Gray Academy and Brock Corydon Hebrew Bilingual program and partner schools in northern Israel) as well as March of the Living missions, along with the PJ Library program.
She views her new role with the JCFS as ensuring that the office functions smoothly and providing assistance and support to other staff members wherever it is needed. “I am really enjoying working for JCFS,” she notes. “Although there are still things I have to learn here, I am working with great people in a fast-paced environment. It is always busy here.”
Outside of work, Pellettieri continues to contribute to the community on a volunteer basis. She is currently on the March of the Living committee. As well, she has begun sewing garments for the Chesed Shel Emes – our community’s non-profit mortuary service – and will hopefully soon be training in taharrah (the ritual preparation of the deceased for burial).
And of course, she is a busy mom. “I spend a lot of my after work hours chauffeuring my kids around the city to their various activities such as swimming and karate lessons and hockey and soccer practices,” she says.
Local News
Nakba exhbit at CMHR – you can see it right here and make your own assessment
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted June 26, updated July 19) The Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Exhibit for Human Rights opened to the public June 27. The morning before the exhibit was set to open to the public, (it had a private opening for invited guests the evening of June 26) we received a press release from the CMHR. That press release gave a very detailed description of what was in the exhibit, along with photos (supplied by Annie Kierans of the CMHR).
There is also a link right at the beginning of the press release that will allow you to watch the same videos that anyone attending the exhibit can watch. We reprinted what was sent to us without making one edit. We leave it to you to form your own opinion as to whether the exhibit is fair in its presentation, and whether it is lacking “context” – which is an accusation that has been levelled at the exhibit’s organizers by some representatives of Jewish organizations.
We have received many emails in reaction to the exhibit. If you have an opinion and would like to see it published on this website, you can send it to jewishp@mymts.net, but please indicate whether you would be willing to have it published on this website.
Here is what we received the morning of June 26:
Winnipeg, MB — June 26, 2026 — The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open a new exhibit tomorrow that explores human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian Canadians.
Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present will be on display in the Rights Today gallery on Level 5 until 2028. Featuring personal stories told through artifacts and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for human rights. The small exhibit reveals enduring patterns of loss and resilience, helping visitors understand more about this contemporary human rights story.
Palestinian Canadian stories are now included alongside many other stories of forced displacement and human rights violations featured in the Museum’s galleries. Each of these stories contribute to our visitors understanding of human rights and help the Museum fulfill its mandate to foster reflection and dialogue.
Exhibition highlights
Personal stories and artifacts: Experience firsthand accounts from Palestinian Canadians sharing their journeys of displacement and memory through a series of five artifacts. Cases display artifacts like property deeds, house keys, and a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, accompanied by short videos that deepen understanding of the impacts of displacement.
Powerful artworks: In her painting Bound Together in Gaza, Malak Mattar, a Gazan artist, captures the struggles and resilience of her generation shaped by conflict. Her work pays homage to Guernica, Picasso’s powerful masterpiece depicting civilian suffering during war.
Curfews and Closures, by Rajie Cook, bears witness to life under military occupation during the 2000–2005 Palestinian uprising, when curfews and closures were expanded and further limited basic rights and freedoms.
Cultural heritage: Discover traditional Palestinian embroidery called tatreez. Tatreez motifs and colours are tied to place, family history and regional identity. Patterns are associated with particular towns, villages or areas of Palestine. In this way, tatreez is a form of storytelling: a way of preserving memory, sustaining identity and expressing resilience across displacement and exile.
Poetry and reflection: Engage with Mahmoud Darwish’s evocative verses, inspiring personal reflection on exile, voice, and responsibility. Visitors can take a card containing Darwish’s poem and add a personal note, fostering ongoing dialogue beyond the exhibit.
Contemporary context: Witness striking images of current events in Gaza and the West Bank, connecting past displacement to ongoing struggles.
Quotes:
“No force can silence the truth we carry. Growing up in Canada, my children lived the Nakba through our stories. And now we watch it happen again, live, on our phones. When I see the images coming out of Gaza, I am not watching the news. I am watching my history repeat itself.” -Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian featured in the exhibit
“We developed this exhibit with a clear awareness that Palestinian Canadian voices have too often been marginalized, silenced or spoken over — and that anti-Palestinian racism affects whose stories are heard and whose suffering is recognized. That is why we intentionally centred Palestinian Canadian voices throughout the exhibit.” -Isabelle Masson, Curator of Palestine Uprooted
“Human rights matter precisely when they are inconvenient, when the question of who deserves the dignity of having their rights recognized is genuinely contested. These are the moments where having a national museum for human rights is most important.
There are people who believe this exhibit should not exist in its current form. There are people who believe it should have existed sooner. There are people who will visit this exhibit and feel that it does not say enough, and others who will feel it says too much.
We have listened to every one of these voices. We have reflected. And we have renewed our resolve to continue the difficult, sometimes contested, and often controversial work of building understanding about human rights. We are a museum grounded in Canada’s human rights framework, whose mandate requires us to bear witness to the full complexity of the human story. We are proud to open this exhibit because the story it tells will help achieve that mandate, and because this story belongs in the collective memory of Canadians.”
- – Isha Khan, CEO
Local News
A photo that’s being circulated on the internet about me
For those of you not familiar with nutjob Michael Kalo – the psycho who created the notorious “$hitler’s List” years ago and the same psycho who went after Ben Carr, well – now he’s obviously taken a strong disliking to the stance I’ve taken on the Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (You can read elsewhere on this website how I simply posted the entire exhibit as it is – and asked readers to form their own opinions.)
Kalo likes to send out emails to various individual using phony names – such as Frank Ostrowski. When people ask me (or asked Ben Carr) why we don’t take action against him, my answer is: What’s the use? He only basks in the attention.
So Michael – enjoy the attention you’re receiving. I know how much of an embarrassment you are to your wonderfully talented daughters.
Local News
Ami Hassan returning as owner of Falafel Place
By BERNIE BELLAN In a surprise move – and after more than a six-year absence as owner of Falafel Place (Corydon at Wilton) the legendary Ami Hassan has decided to return as owner of one of Winnipeg’s most famous eateries.
Long known for his sometimes irreverent attitude to his customers, e.g., “If you’re finished, get out!”, Ami decided to return to running Falafel Place after having retired years ago (or so he thought) from running the Corydon Avenue restaurant.
We asked Ami whether he’ll be sending a special invitation to Julia Roberts to come visit him at Falafel Place. He asked again: “Who’s Julia Roberts?” (Just kidding – he really does know how Julia Roberts is.) Read the story how Ami told her to leave the restaurant and come back later at Julia Roberts turned away from Falafel Place
Ami did note that when customers saw him inside the restaurant one recent day as he was getting it ready for the reopening Monday, August 10, over 20 of them came in asking him if he was open already.
We asked Ami whether the menu will be the same as it was when he last ran the place and he said everything will be the same.
Falafel Place will be open 7 days a week from 7 am – 2 pm. Remember, if you’re finished – get out!
