In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
Community Events and Announcements
A message from Phil Kretzmar (philkretzmar@gmail.com) about the protests of China’s treatment of its Uyghur population: Please join us during Kol Hamoed Pesach on Thursday, April 1, from 3 to 4:30 PM, outside the Chinese embassy, 515 St. Patrick Street, to stand together in support of the Uyghurs. And please join us in the following weeks, as we continue to demonstrate in support of the Uyghurs.
The Climate Crisis and Peace Building in the Israeli-Palestinian Context with Gidon Bromberg, Israeli Director, Eco-Peace Middle East and guest moderator, David B. Brooks, Monday April 5, 2021, 12:00 pm (noon) EST. Water is at the centre of an environmental crisis in the Middle East. But can this extreme challenge also create extraordinary opportunities? Gidon Bromberg will speak about how the mutual need for water resources can help nudge Israelis and Palestinians towards the road to peace. The event is sponsored by the Canadian Friends Of Peace Now, the largest Jewish organization in Canada that is Zionist and dedicated entirely to promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace on the basis of the two-state solution. REGISTER HERE.
The Zelikovitz Centre at Carleton University presents a lecture by Dr. Emanuel Rosen, author of If Anyone Calls, Tell Them I Died, Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at 7:30 PM (EST). In 1933, Dr. Hugo Mendel, a successful Jewish lawyer, escaped Germany along with his family and moved to Tel Aviv. They were some of “the lucky ones” who made it out alive. Two decades later, he and his wife Lucie returned to Germany to take stock of all that was stolen from them: Hugo’s career and reputation, their country, their sense of belonging. A few months later, after returning to Israel, Hugo jumped to his death.
Now, Hugo’s grandson Emanuel Rosen retraces his grandparents’ fateful European trip and its aftermath in his memoir IF ANYONE CALLS, TELL THEM I DIED (Amsterdam Publishers; March 22, 2021). Register by email to michaelabaxleaney@outlook.com.
Upcoming free webinars of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University:
Yana Grinspun, “New Forms of Antisemitism in Contemporary France,” Sunday, April 11, 2021, noon EST. Registration
András Kovács, “Antisemitism in post-Communist Hungary,” Sunday, April 18, 2021, noon EST. Registration
Anthony Julius, “Anti-Semitism as a Hostile Environment – Theory and Contemporary Instances,” Sunday, April 25, 2021, noon EST. Registration
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.
