Israel
Is the way the CMHR tells the story of one tragic incident during Israel’s war with Hamas in 2008-09 lacking in context?
By BERNIE BELLAN (posted March 21)
It began with a casual conversation with a friend, University of Manitoba Professor Irwin Lipnowski, at the Asper Campus a couple of weeks ago.
He asked me whether I had seen the exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights that referred to Israel and Hamas. I said that I had been to the museum several times but hadn’t seen anything about that.
I was told that one of the exhibits was lacking in context in that it tells the story of a Palestinian physician (Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, who lost three daughters and a niece during an Israeli operation in Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead in 2009). Irwin said he had been alerted to this particular exhibit by Haskel Greenfield, also a U of M professor (also acting head of the Judaic Studies deaprtment), who was angry over how the CMHR was presenting this particular story.
Here is what Haskel wrote to me, when I asked him what it was about the exhibit that he found so upsetting: “It was a disgusting one sided portrayal of a complex situation. It completely ignored the fact that Hamas used yards and roofs of residences and schools and hospitals to launch their missiles. The Palestinian family portrayed was a tragic example of collateral damage in a war started by their Hamas government. I spoke to the man who was explaining the exhibit to visitors and was appalled by his total lack of knowledge of the incident and the larger context.”
I decided to take a look at the exhibit myself and contacted the media relations department of the CMHR. I asked where I could find the exhibit in question. Louise Waldman (who, as a matter of fact, used to write for The Jewish Post & News), a media spokesperson for the CMHR, responded:
“In terms of Museum content, we have an exhibit in the Rights Today gallery that features the story of Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish, who became a human rights defender and peace advocate after losing three daughters and a niece during an Israeli bombing. The exhibit tells Dr. Abuelaish’s personal story to examine broader issues faced by Palestinians in the region. (Also a heads up that Dr. Abuelaish is scheduled to speak at the Museum on the topic of reconciliation on April 20).
“Issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict more generally are also examined in three additional exhibits throughout the Museum, including a reference to the Arab-Israeli War in the human rights timeline exhibit, a short film that uses the theme of media literacy to examine this conflict, as well as a youth-oriented exhibit that explores the initiatives of children and youth in Canada to bring together Palestinian, Israeli and Canadian youth to build understanding and foster reconciliation.”
I went down to the museum to take a look at this exhibit myself. I must say I had quite a bit of difficulty finding Dr. Abuelaish’s story. It turns out that it’s one of 17 different stories that can be viewed on the fifth floor Rights Today gallery, but it sure wasn’t easy figuring out how to find one particular story among 17. Even when I found it, I had to ask for help in viewing it, as there were no instructions given how to navigate the interactive display.
That being said, I did watch the story and, after watching it a number of times, decided to video it myself. I’ve posted the video I took of how the CMHR presents Dr. Abuelaish’s story on our website. I should have lingered over one crucial part of the story though, when a sign appears telling that three of Dr. Abuelaish’s daughters and a niece were killed by an Israeli projectile in the Abuelaish home on January 16, 2009. If you watch the video it may seem disjointed when it flashes from a sign saying “January 16, 2009” to a video of an Israeli newscaster, who was himself a friend of Dr. Abuelaish and who, on live television, received a phone call from Dr. Abuelaish screaming wildly over what he had just seen (the deaths of three of his daughters and a niece).
I won’t offer an opinion myself as to whether this exhibit is lacking in context. But, I thought I’d put it out there for viewers of our website and readers of our paper to consider. By the way, Haskel Greenfield had much more to say about other aspects of the museum that he found badly lacking. Perhaps we’ll get into those at another time.
In the meantime if you want to watch the video I took of the Dr. Abuelaish exhibit, you can see it on our website in the video section at the bottom of the home page or by going to: http://jewishpostandnews.ca/categories-media/72-israel-specific/197-izzeldin-abuelaish
Post script (March 22): I sent this story both to Haskel Greenfield and Irwin Lipnowski, asking them if either had any comments about what I had written.
Haskel responded:
“It is very clear to me that the exhibit is not about human rights at all. It is an opportunity for Israel bashing and subtle anti-Semitism. It ignores the human rights of Israelis of all ages, genders, religions, and races to live in peace in their own country. The exhibit only focuses on what Israelis have done to Palestinians (and in particular to one Palestinian family) without any context of why it happened.
“I am disappointed in you, as editor and journalist, by your standoffish view about how the museum has used Dr. Abuelaish’s tragic story as a means to bash Israel and to convey a message that the Jews are responsible for what happened to him and his family. To me, this is a clear violation of the mandate of the museum since it creates an environment of hostility toward Jews in Canada and elsewhere in the world. The recent targeting of Jewish Israeli tourists in Istanbul (and the almost total silence by Canadian media that it was a purposeful and targeted terrorism toward Jews) is a good example of what happens when only one side of a conflict is portrayed. Unfortunately, the on-the-ground situation is complex. I believe that most people in the region are caught up in a cycle of violence from which there is no escape in the short term. But it is unfair to Israel and Israelis to bash them in such one sided exhibits.
“Peace will come only when the leaders of Hamas in Gaza are ready to build a just society and use the resources at their disposal to better the lot of the people they govern. It will never come if they continue try to fire missiles into Israel and try to invade it through tunnels. Israel has no troops in Gaza and no Israelis have lived in Gaza since 2005. There is no occupation of Gaza or Israeli troops in Gaza. Israel invaded Gaza in 2014 only after being subjected to over 4000 missiles over three weeks being shot from Gaza. After the short war, it withdrew all of its troops. It continues to allow in food and goods and supplies Gaza with electricity for free in spite of the continued hostility of the Hamas government toward Israel. Egypt continues to keep its border with Gaza closed and allows almost nothing in. Hence, the museum’s use of such tragic circumstances to talk about human rights violation is a misrepresentation of a complex situation.
“My rights and that of my children were violated in the summer of 2014 when we were subjected to numerous missile bombings by the Hamas government while we were in Israel. My youngest has still not fully recovered from the awful experience of missiles exploding and sirens going off around him as he searched for bomb shelters. Where are such stories depicted in the museum – Not At All!”
Irwin Lipnowski added:
“I agree completely with Haskel’s outrage at the de-contextualization of the account of IDF harm to civilians, although I have not visited the CMHR to see it personally. lt is my understanding that under international law, using human shields is absolutely prohibited and this standard, outrageous and unconscionable practice of Hamas is not mentioned as part of any display, even though it is clearly an egregious violation of the human rights of civilian adults and children, as is Hamas’s unrelenting missile launches against Israeli civilians over the years preceding the Gaza war. I also believe that the ignorance, undertraining or misinformed level of awareness of the guides is absolutely inexcusable.
“Thank you again, Bernie, for your investigative reporting! Personally I would be very interested in hearing Gail Asper’s assessment of the CMHR. She was, after all, instrumental (pouring her body and soul and many dollars) into realizing her father’s dream, which was (originally, I believe) to build Washington’s Museum of the Holocaust of the North in Winnipeg. This is not the politically correct monument that we got. Of course, the need to seek government funding meant relinquishing control and unavoidably entailed a very significant erosion of Izzy’s vision.”
Post script (March 27)
Now, to be fair to the CMHR, if one were to watch Dr. Abuelaish’s presentation, which concludes with a slide showing the title of a book written by Dr. Abuelaish: “I Shall Not Hate”, one might conclude that Dr. Abuelaish is the very model of someone who is willing to forgive and move on.
But, after reading Haskel Greenfield’s withering criticism of the CMHR – and how the exhibit featuring Dr. Abuelaish is totally devoid of any context, I decided to do a little more research on Dr. Abuelaish – to see whether he is quite the noble and forgiving chap that he makes himself out to be.
I discovered two interesting things about Dr. Abuelaish: 1. He himself has come in for severe criticism from his own fellow Palestinians for being a traitor to the cause for even willing to consider “ending the hate”; and 2. Dr. Abuelaish’s characterization of Israel in a 2014 article written for the Globe & Mail is not quite as benign as one might expect from someone who wants only to work for peace and “end the hate”. The article was written in the midst of “Operation Protective Edge” in the summer of 2014, after Israel had borne the brunt of thousands of missiles raining down upon her from Gaza.
Here is what Dr. Abuelaish wrote back then: “How much more killing, suffering and pain can Israelis do and Palestinians endure. There have been hundreds of strikes recently by Israel, with more than 50 innocent people killed and 500 severely wounded. Gaza Strip is being bombarded. It is war against women and children, who constitute 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip population; it’s human genocide.” (emphasis mine)
“I feel anger and pain as history repeats itself. The blood of my three daughters killed in 2009 did not dry, and the wound did not heal.
“For that we need the courage to admit we suffer from a disease that is antithetical to respect, justice, and peace. Battles should be directed against the occupation, which is the threat and enemy to all of us as – Palestinians and Israelis.
“Israel’s leadership must be courageous and admit its failure to end the conflict by military means. The way is to end occupation.”
(You can read the entire article at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/i-feel-anger-and-pain-as-history-repeats-itself-in-gaza/article19532295/)
So, there we have it: Once more Israel is accused of the gross distortion of committing “genocide” and the way to the end the conflict is to end the “occupation”.
Now, I don’t have to be a Myron Love to see through the hypocrisy of Dr. Abuelaish. Even a weak-kneed liberal like me can seen how difficult it now is to accept Dr. Abuelaish as the noble crusader for peace that he would purport to be. Perhaps he was cowed into writing something as exaggerated as he did by accusations that he had betrayed his own people; we might want to ask him that when he appears here April 20 at an event organized by the CMHR. In the meantime, let’s not shy away from criticizing the CMHR simply because so many Jews played such key roles in having it built. If it’s going to serve as a paean to political correctness, let’s be brave enough to expose its failings for not having the courage to address the contradictions between two opposing narratives, such as exist when the Palestine – Israel conflict is discussed.
Israel
Israel report by former Winnipegger Bruce Brown
10 minutes
(Posted Dec. 24, 2024)
02:11 AM: Sound asleep.
2.11.01 AM: Wide awake. Awoken by a blaring missile alarm. Incoming. Took me no time to react. Ivan Pavlov would be proud. I quickly scooped up my dog. Grabbed my glasses. An inhaler. My phone and power cord. And sprinted to the safe room. Right across the hall. My wife overseas on vacation. So did this one alone. Er with my dog. We have 90 seconds to reach safety so no real panic, relatively speaking.
2.11.09 AM: In my safe room. Slid shut the heavy steel slabs across the window. You can hear this happening throughout the building. Kinda like a horror movie. Screech. Slam. Screech. Slam. Screech. Slam. Then mine. Screech. Slam. Next I jumped across the room and slammed shut the heavy, reinforced, steel door. It also makes a slamming sound, a really loud one. Then slumped down on the couch with my dog. With some level of relief. Where is this missile coming from. Can’t be from Gaza, they don’t have the capability anymore…I hope. Nor Lebanon, living too far south…I hope. Yemen? Possible. Those dang Houthis?
2. 14 AM: Oh oh. Need to pee. Like really bad. Once in the safe room, you should stay there for ten minutes. Unless there is another siren. Each siren requires a ten minute respite. Respite? Odd choice of words as you are not really resting. Way too tense. Especially as you can occasionally hear the booms of intercepted missiles up above. Kind of unnerving. Back to my need to pee. Its quite dangerous leaving the room during this period. Should your place be hit by the missile or falling debris from the sky. You don’t want to be caught with your pants down, literally, hovering over your toilet. And condos have been hit in Rehovot with some death and much destruction. Hmmm. To pee or not to pee. That is the question. Whether tis better to suffer the pangs of having to pee or the missiles of outrageous fortune. You get the point.
2.14.10 AM: Peeing in the bathroom.
2.14.40 AM: Back in the safe room. With my dog. Sitting on the couch. Fiddling with the remote control. I work in hi tech. The semiconductor world which can be pretty complex. But I simply have not mastered the remote. Really want to see what’s going on. Where is the missile from. Are there more attacks elsewhere in the country. Pushing this button and that button But the TV still off. Okay. Will check my cell. Although the connection sometimes comes and goes when shuttered in the heavily reinforced concrete and steel safe room. Works! Ya! Showing three bars. Sometimes four. Checking my feeds. But no news yet.
2.17 AM: Seriously. I need to pee again. Like really bad. Dang prostate! To pee or not to pee. That is the question…. You get the point. I chose to pee. This time I don’t actually slam shut the heavy, reinforced, steel door. And my dog follows me out. This could get complicated. But first things first.
2.17.10 AM: Peeing in the bathroom.
2.17.40 AM: Chasing after my dog around the condo. Poncho!!! There he is. In the living room. Like master. Like pet. He too is relieving himself. Probably the tension. Dogs can sense these things. “Faster Poncho!. Faster!” I encourage him.
2,18.02 AM: We’re back in the safe room. The heavy, reinforced, steel door slammed shut. And then I start worrying. What if I have to pee again. Its really dangerous out there. Idea! I’ll bring a cleaning pail in here. And if worse comes to worse. Well, I am alone. Sans my dog.
2.18.22 AM: I dart for the cleaning cabinet in the bathroom to grab the pail. Making sure the heavy, reinforced, steel door is shut less my dog run out again. Wait! As it dawns on me at 02.18.22 AM. This is not the smartest thing to do. At least I could have combined grabbing the pail with actually having to pee again. Like maybe I could hold out for the next three minutes or so in the safe room. No urgent need for the pail. But I am already there….
2.18.25 AM: Grab the red cleaning pail
2.18.28 AM: Back in the safe room. The heavy, reinforced, steel door slammed shut again. Siting on the couch with my dog again. Red pail glaring at me from the side of the room…daring me. But my bladder is relaxed. I try the remote again. I feel like my 85 year old mother who often complains about getting her remote to work. I console myself thinking that it must be the batteries. Hmmm. Maybe a mad rush for the utility room to get some new batteries. But that would be mad. I’ll take care of it in the morning. Only a few more minutes and I can safely leave the safe room and go back to bed.
2.19.45 AM: I pour myself a glass of mineral water. This I store in the safe room per Homefront commands. Fresh batteries not, hrmph. As I down the water I realize this is probably not the best idea. Less it creates the urge to pee…. Alas no. Start surfing my feed again. The intercontinental missile was fired by those crazy, dang Houthis from Yemen. All of central Israel sent to their safe rooms. Dang Houthis! The next couple minutes go by pretty smoothly. Although seems like an eternity.
2.21 AM: Back in bed. Albeit sleep comes slowly as my adrenaline starts to reside.
As it were. Israel bombed the dang Houthis that night. For the third time since the outbreak of the war. In retaliation for them firing over 200 ballistic missiles and 170 drones at Israel, which fortunately had not resulted in much damage. We struck them with over 60 bombs in two air raid sorties. Destroying mainly military targets as well as ports and energy infrastructure. Maybe that will teach them for waking me -and a million other Israelis- in the middle of the night.
As it were. Falling debris from the dang Houthi attack landed on a school in central Israel, forcing its collapse. Fortunately and thank G-d it was the middle of the night. Sometime between 2:11 AM and 2.21 AM. So no casualties. Can’t even imagine the tragedy had this strike occurred mid-day.
As it were. I changed the batteries in the remote. It works just fine now. And I left the red cleaning pail in the safe room….just in case. But I hope the dang Houthis finally learned their lesson. Although probably not.
As it were. Two nights later. Another 2:00AM missile from the dang Houthis. . They just wont let me sleep….
As it is. Please continue donating to the Israeli war and revival efforts. You may have given earlier. But give again. The financial costs to Israel are and will be billions. Billions! Sderot and Metulla and Tel Avi and Haifa are Israel’s front lines. Israel is the diaspora’s front line.
Bruce Brown. A Canadian. And an Israeli. Bruce made Aliyah…a long time ago. He works in Israel’s hi-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. Bruce is the winner of the 2019 American Jewish Press Association Simon Rockower Award for excellence in writing. And wrote the 1998 satire, An Israeli is…. Bruce’s reflects on life in Israel – political, social, economic and personal. With lots of biting, contrarian, sardonic and irreverent insight
Israel
Join the Masa Canadian Professionals Volunteers Program!
You are invited on a 4-week volunteer program in Israel from October 14th to November 10th. Help rebuild Israeli society post-October 7th over Canadian Thanksgiving, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. Spend three weeks based in Tel Aviv and one week based in Eilat!
This program is exclusively for Jewish professionals aged 22-50, working at Jewish organizations or remotely in any field.
The cost of the program is $150 USD to the organizer and $50 USD to Masa. Participants will receive a Masa grant of $2650 USD that is applied to participation and to cover additional costs. The cost of the program includes housing, meals while volunteering, transportation on travel days, health insurance, leadership training, and more. Volunteers are required to commit to the volunteer schedule, with the understanding that there will be the flexibility to work remotely for 8 specific days during the program. Flights are not included but you get a 15% discount from El Al.
Sign up here: https://www.masaisrael.org/go/canada-jp/ space is limited!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to make a difference and connect with fellow professionals. For more information, contact Mahla Finkleman, National Manager of Partnerships and Outreach, Masa Canada, atmfinkleman@ujafed.org and/or Sam Goodman, Senior Manager of Israel Engagement, sgoodman@ujafed.org.
Save the Dates for Info Sessions:
- Thursday, September 5th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
- Wednesday, September 11th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
Join us in Israel for a meaningful and impactful experience with Masa!
weeks based in Tel Aviv and one week based in Eilat!
This program is exclusively for Jewish professionals aged 22-50, working at Jewish organizations or remotely in any field.
The cost of the program is $150 USD to the organizer and $50 USD to Masa. Participants will receive a Masa grant of $2650 USD that is applied to participation and to cover additional costs. The cost of the program includes housing, meals while volunteering, transportation on travel days, health insurance, leadership training, and more. Volunteers are required to commit to the volunteer schedule, with the understanding that there will be the flexibility to work remotely for 8 specific days during the program. Flights are not included but you get a 15% discount from El Al.
Sign up here: https://www.masaisrael.org/go/canada-jp/ space is limited!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to make a difference and connect with fellow professionals. For more information, contact Mahla Finkleman, National Manager of Partnerships and Outreach, Masa Canada, atmfinkleman@ujafed.org and/or Sam Goodman, Senior Manager of Israel Engagement, sgoodman@ujafed.org.
Save the Dates for Info Sessions:
- Thursday, September 5th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
- Wednesday, September 11th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
Join us in Israel for a meaningful and impactful experience with Masa!
Features
New website for Israelis interested in moving to Canada
By BERNIE BELLAN (May 21, 2024) A new website, titled “Orvrim to Canada” (https://www.ovrimtocanada.com/ovrim-en) has been receiving hundreds of thousands of visits, according to Michal Harel, operator of the website.
In an email sent to jewishpostandnews.ca Michal explained the reasons for her having started the website:
“In response to the October 7th events, a group of friends and I, all Israeli-Canadian immigrants, came together to launch a new website supporting Israelis relocating to Canada. “Our website, https://www.ovrimtocanada.com/, offers a comprehensive platform featuring:
- Step-by-step guides for starting the immigration process
- Settlement support and guidance
- Community connections and networking opportunities
- Business relocation assistance and expert advice
- Personal blog sharing immigrants’ experiences and insights
“With over 200,000 visitors and media coverage from prominent Israeli TV channels and newspapers, our website has already made a significant impact in many lives.”
A quick look at the website shows that it contains a wealth of information, almost all in Hebrew, but with an English version that gives an overview of what the website is all about.
The English version also contains a link to a Jerusalem Post story, published this past February, titled “Tired of war? Canada grants multi-year visas to Israelis” (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-787914#google_vignette) That story not only explains the requirements involved for anyone interested in moving to Canada from Israel, it gives a detailed breakdown of the costs one should expect to encounter.
(Updated May 28)
We contacted Ms. Harel to ask whether she’s aware whether there has been an increase in the number of Israelis deciding to emigrate from Israel since October 7. (We want to make clear that we’re not advocating for Israelis to emigrate; we’re simply wanting to learn more about emigration figures – and whether there has been a change in the number of Israelis wanting to leave the country.)
Ms. Harel referred us to a website titled “Globes”: https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001471862
The website is in Hebrew, but we were able to translate it into English. There is a graph on the website showing both numbers of immigrants to Israel and emigrants.
The graph shows a fairly steady rate of emigration from 2015-2022, hovering in the 40,000 range, then in 2023 there’s a sudden increase in the number of emigrants to 60,000.
According to the website, the increase in emigrants is due more to a change in the methodology that Israel has been using to count immigrants and emigrants than it is to any sudden upsurge in emigration. (Apparently individuals who had formerly been living in Israel but who may have returned to Israel just once a year were being counted as having immigrated back to Israel. Now that they are no longer being counted as immigrants and instead are being treated as emigrants, the numbers have shifted radically.)
Yet, the website adds this warning: “The figures do not take into account the effects of the war, since it is still not possible to identify those who chose to emigrate following it. It is also difficult to estimate what Yalad Yom will produce – on the one hand, anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews and Israelis around the world reminds everyone where the Jewish home is. On the other hand, the bitter truth we discovered in October is that it was precisely in Israel, the safe fortress of the Jewish people, that a massacre took place reminding us of the horrors of the Holocaust. And if that’s not enough, the explosive social atmosphere and the difference in the state budget deficit, which will inevitably lead to a heavy burden of taxes and a reduction in public services, may convince Zionist Israelis that they don’t belong here.”
Thus, as much as many of us would be disappointed to learn that there is now an upsurge in Israelis wanting to move out of the country, once reliable figures begin to be produced for 2024, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that is the case – which helps to explain the tremendous popularity of Ms. Harel’s website.
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