OTTAWA, Dec. 21 /CNW Telbec/ - Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) condemns Immigration Minister Kenny's politicized move to defund social-justice church-group Kairos, which received government funding for 35 years. Kenny said this occurred because, in 2007, Kairos offered a grant to Sabeel, a Palestinian NGO that doesn't mirror Conservative policy.
Not a particularly surprising statement, given the IJV's politics. Nevertheless...
IJV would oppose the policy even if the facts were as portrayed and KAIROS were part of the boycott, sanctions and divestment movement. In fact they would like federal government policy to be a BDS policy.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you, I would avoid mixing up a valid and obvious concern regarding KAIROS with larger, more contentious issues. Note that the press release you link to is up in arms against the Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism. This is an all party committee co-chaired by Mario Silva. Why would IJV oppose that?
ReplyDeleteQuite. But the 2nd link isn't to a news release but the IJV home page, if thats what you're talking about. Just for ref more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteAh. I only followed the first link, and noted the line "From this week's conference in Israel to the Canadian Parliamentary Committee to 'Combat Anti-Semitism'...".
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that the argument opposing Kenney's stupidity on this does not get hijacked by groups like IJV and used for other purposes. Otherwise, it will be impossible for more reasonable voices in opposition to Kenney to be heard because it will be simple for him to lump all of us together and thus avoid giving serious answers.
CPCCA is part of the problem. The aim is to criminalize criticism of Israel. What happened to KAIROS is a government warning shot.
ReplyDeleteI continue to disagree with the idea that representatives of all parties have come together to lock people up who criticize Israel. Nobody has even put in a submission that takes that approach.
ReplyDeleteI think we should see what they conclude. My sense from participating is that they all are acting in good faith and taking on a very appropriate and in fact long oversdue mandate with a reasonable approach.
BCL, So you agree with the findings of the Goldstone Report?
ReplyDeletehttp://ijvcanada.org/ijv-vji-statements-enonces/media-releases/re-branding-israel-will-fail-toronto-declaration-gets-two-thumbs-up/
IVI's Position of Israel
The truth is you can’t re-brand war crimes, human rights violations and illegal occupation. You can’t re-brand the illegal siege that continues against the people of Gaza and the illegal settlement construction that continues unabated in the West Bank .
...In short, war, occupation, and Apartheid can’t be re-branded – they can only be ended. Until that day comes, the movement to shine a light on the truth will continue to grow. Now is the time to join that movement....
Do you agree with IJV?
BCL,
ReplyDeleteCan you clear this matter up?
Are you in agreement with
1)Ms. Ralph view of 9/11?
The United Church of Canada said it should have exercised “greater scrutiny” before approving funding for the event that founded a controversial alternative Jewish group, according to an email sent to its congregations over the weekend.
The statement, which has since been posted to the United Church’s website, came after the National Post revealed the United Church’s $900 contribution to the March 2008 event that created Independent Jewish Voices, a group that challenges mainstream Jewish views and supports a boycott of Israel.
“We recognize there are extreme positions on all sides of this issue, and acknowledge that greater scrutiny may have been necessary in this case,” the statement said. “We are examining our approval mechanisms to ensure that all grants are consistent with our values and goals.”
Bruce Gregersen, spokesman for the United Church, said the organization received a number of emails and phone calls from concerned members about the published views of Diana Ralph, founder of the IJV and the event organizer who solicited funding from the United Church.
Ms. Ralph, a professor of social work now on leave from Carleton University, contributed a chapter to The Hidden History of 9-11, in which she argues that the Sept. 11 attacks were an American and Israeli conspiracy to “seize control of Eurasia, and thereby the entire world.”
http://www.cjc.ca/2009/09/22/united-church-vows-more-care-in-funding-criticized-for-grant-to-group-challenging-israel/
Ralph is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean she is wrong about absolutely everything?
Does that mean that every member of IJV is a Truther?
What is the "valid and obvious concern regarding KAIROS" that Cherniak is on about?
(We already know that Jason believes that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic and should be banned by force of law. So does the CPCCA. No wonder Jason shows up here to carry the line.)
We've seen this stupid, McCarthyite guilt by association before. A bottom-feeder whom I shall not name or link to discovered that an anti-Semite once posted favourably about an organization that KAIROS once funded. QED!
I lived through the fifties. People like Jason and the CPCCA are playing with fire.