In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
Community Events and Announcements
Carleton's Religion and Public Life program presents the first lecture in the 2021 Edgar & Dorothy Davidson Lecture Series on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.: Annamie Paul, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, will discuss her experience as a Black Jewish woman in politics and the lessons she has learned. Her talk, titled Intersections of Identity in Politics, will be followed by a moderated Q&A session. To register visit: https://carleton.ca/fass/event/intersections-of-identity-in-politics-with-green-party-leader-annamie-paul/
* The Institute for the Contemporary Study of Antisemitism at Indiana University presents “Iranian Antisemitism: The Islamic Republic's Ongoing Defamation of Israel and the Jews” by Mark Silinsky, Sunday, January 24, at noon EST. Please register at https://isca.indiana.edu/conferences/webinars/Mark-Silinsky.html
For more information and to access recordings of past webinars, please click here.
* Canadian Friends of Peace Now presents, “Taking Action for Peace: Palestinian Perspectives” – a webinar with Nidal Foqaha and Mohammad Asideh, January 31, 11:00 am Eastern Time. Nidal Foqaha is the Director General of the Palestinian Peace Coalition (PPC), a non-profit Palestinian organization that works on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through non-violent means and based on the two-state solution. Mohammad Asideh is the Projects Director of Zimam Palestine, a grassroots youth organization that aims to build a more democratic, engaged and pluralistic Palestinian society and build the foundations for a peaceful future. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SWWs8B7FR4qAREJhx1Drdw
Invitation from KBI to demonstrate on behalf of the Uyghurs. This year, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, members of Kehillat Beth Israel (KBI) demonstrated every weekday afternoon opposite the Chinese embassy on St. Patrick Street on behalf of the oppressed and
persecuted Uyghur population of China. At the conclusion of the week they decided to continue the demonstrations and protests on a weekly basis – they continue to meet and demonstrate one day a week, on Thursday afternoon. They have also reached out to other faith communities to join them in this stand and their numbers have grown over time.
The mistreatment of the Uyghurs, including forced labor and “re-education” camps, is reminiscent of the Jewish experience with concentration camps of the Second World War, in the opinion of campaign organizer Andre Brantz, which inspired him to start the protests in September. Since then, a committee of the Parliament of Canada has described the Uyghur persecution as a form of genocide.
This week, the Guardian newspaper published an article by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis: "As chief rabbi, I can no longer remain silent about the plight of the Uyhgurs." The subtitle is: "An unfathomable mass atrocity is being perpetrated in China. The responsibility for doing something lies with all of us."
(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/15/chief-rabbi-silent-plight-uighurs-atrocity-china)
We invite all members of the Ottawa Jewish community to join us on Thursday afternoons at 3 PM opposite the Chinese Embassy on St. Patrick Street. It is our hope and our prayer that this action, taken in conjunction with other political and economic actions, will raise awareness and will lead to the end of these atrocities.
