Update On Roma Vs. Kenney

Members of Toronto’s Roma Community Centre will disassociate itself from a number of other groups protesting a reception for Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney--who will be honoured by the Canadian Friends of Haifa University (CFHU) on Nov. 4 at the Fairmount Royal York hotel-- to symbolically show that  they are not anti-Israel, merely oppose Kenney’s Bill C-31, which they feel unfairly targets the Roma community.

Everyone's favorite human rights activist and Jewish community leader Bernie Farber, who has been helping the RCC prepare their hate-speech complaint against Ezra Levant, will nevertheless be attending the Kenney presentation as a guest:

Farber, who will attend the university’s gala event as a guest, said he has a “deep and abiding respect” for Kenney’s stances on Israel and antisemitism.

“On those issues, we stand shoulder to shoulder, and I consider him a friend. But like all friends, we can have differences of opinion on some issues,” Bill C-31 being one such item, he said.

Farber added that he felt Kenney was being “very hard on the Roma” and that many respected representatives of the Jewish community are in agreement. Earlier this year the Toronto Board of Rabbis and Elie Wiesel, among others, had urged the minister to reconsider the legislation. 

Some of the other groups protesting the event include  Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Independent Jewish Voices, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and Jews Opposing Zionism.

PS. Its quite possible that Ezra, an official  "friend of Haifa", will be at the same reception.  If it comes to it, my money is on Bernie by TKO.