B’nai Brith

B’nai Brith slams UNHRC over Syrian candidacy

TORONTO – B’nai Brith Canada has condemned the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for allowing Syria’s candidacy for a seat on the UN’s human rights body. Due to the UN’s fixed, regionalized election process, Syria’s bid could well secure a seat for the blood-soaked regime at the UNHRC, which shields and rewards the world’s worst human rights abusers, while chastising beacons of democracy and freedom, such as the US, Canada and Israel.

Falk is biased provocateur, says B’nai Brith Canada

TORONTO, 3 July 2012 - B'nai Brith Canada has expressed its outrage over comments by United Nations Special Rapporteur Richard Falk at the 20th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council labelling the Jewish State's response to Hamas rockets as unjustified. Falk is known for his ongoing statements justifying the terror activities of Hamas and for his obsessive demonization of the Jewish State.

Urge the German government to challenge discriminatory circumcision ban

TORONTO, – A German court recently ruled against circumcision, effectively banning a core tradition of immense significance to the Jewish faith. Circumcision is not merely a ritual that has been carried out since Judaism’s inception; it is a fundamental principle of the Jewish religion.

RCMP asked to help prevent Islamic radicalization

TORONTO, - B'nai Brith Canada has called on the RCMP and Calgary police to monitor next weekend's Power of Unity conference organized by the Muslim Council of Calgary, and in particular, the scheduled address by conference headliner Bilal Philips. Philips is an Islamic lecturer who has reportedly expressed antisemitic and homophobic views including a call for the murdering of gays. He has been banned from a number of countries due to concerns regarding radicalization of Muslim youth and allegations concerning links to terrorism.

Denounce Hamas rocket attacks, says B’nai Brith

TORONTO, - B'nai Brith Canada has called on the international community to unequivocally condemn the recent surge in Hamas rocket attacks targeting southern Israel.

Boycott Ahmadinejad’s address to UN conference, says B’nai Brith Canada

TORONTO, – B'nai Brith Canada has voiced its concern to the Canadian Government over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's scheduled address at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil later this week. The Jewish human rights organization expects the leader will use this platform to attack Israel, America and the West, and is calling on the Canadian Government to take the lead in coordinating a wall-to-wall boycott of his address by Western democracies.

B’nai Brith Canada Exposes Anti-Canadian Muslim Website

TORONTO, – Following last week's reports of anti-Jewish content in curriculum used in a Toronto-area Islamic school, B’nai Brith Canada is calling for a much wider investigation, pointing to postings on the website of the al Madinah Academy of Victoria, B.C. as one glaring example. The website specifies that it is supervised by the Academy's founder, Sheikh Younus Kathrada, the same individual that was the subject of a complaint by B'nai Brith Canada in 2004 regarding posted sermons in which he stated that Jews are "descendants of pigs and monkeys" and "the brothers of pigs and swine" as well as calls to jihad. The website states that Sheikh Kathrada is a frequent lecturer in schools and universities throughout the country.

Jewish Community commends Canadian Government on helping to preserve Auschwitz

TORONTO, – B'nai Brith Canada leaders meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk today in Ottawa have commended the Canadian Government for its contribution to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. The B'nai Brith delegation will personally thank Prime Minister Harper at a reception this evening in honour of the Polish Prime Minister.

B’nai Brith Canada Denounces United Church’s Newest Attack on Israel

TORONTO, – B’nai Brith Canada has denounced the newest report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the United Church of Canada (UCC), an organization that has become notorious for its rhetoric against the Jewish State. The human rights organization states that the UCC report belittles the suffering of the Holocaust victims by comparing the genocide of the Shoah with the situation of the Palestinians. In addition, the call to dismantle areas where Jews have historically lived amounts to ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancestral, Biblical homeland.

Antisemitism in Canada Remains at All-Time High, New Report Finds

TORONTO, - The Jewish community organization charged with monitoring antisemitism in Canada has announced that, once again, Canada has seen record levels of antisemitism according to its Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada's annual Audit has been recognized for the past thirty years as an authoritative study of patterns of prejudice in the country.

B’nai Brith Calls on Quebec Police to Investigate Recent Vandalism as a Hate-Motivated Crime

MONTREAL, – B’nai Brith Canada is calling on Sûreté du Québec (SQ), Quebec’s provincial police, to investigate as a hate-motivated crime this weekend’s break-ins and vandalism targeting Jewish cottages in Quebec. At least 14 Jewish-owned homes in Val Morin were vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic messaging in a series of break-ins over the weekend. In 2005, a similar incident occurred at the nearby Val Morin Synagogue.

B’nai Brith Canada to anti-Israel agitators: “Change your flight”

Toronto, 12 April 2012 – B’nai Brith Canada is calling on French anti-Israel activists to change the destination of their proposed ‘flytilla’ protest from Tel Aviv to Damascus, where the real human rights abuses are taking place, or to abandon their plans altogether.

Passover Highlights Current Challenges Facing the Jewish People

TORONTO, Passover, the annual Jewish recounting of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, commences Friday night at sunset with Jews around the world commemorating their ancestors’ exile from slavery in ancient Egypt to a national and religious rebirth in the Land of Israel.

B’nai Brith Asks Why ‘Global March to Jerusalem’ Ignores Real Human Rights Abuses

As the Jewish State prepares for clandestine border intrusions planned by protesters from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries, B’nai Brith Canada is challenging the proposed destination of the 'Global March to Jerusalem.'

COMMUNITY ALERT: End the Funding of Palestinian Terror Organization by International Aid Groups

Toronto, - B’nai Brith Canada is urging Canadians to vocalize their concern over the reports that international aid groups are actively providing funds to a Palestinian terror group in Gaza. Evidence provided by Israeli civil rights group, Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center, reveals that World Vision Australia and AusAID are funding the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), which the Center maintains is an arm of terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

B’nai Brith Canada Says Arrest in Toulouse School Massacre 48 Hours Too Late

Toronto, - The Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada has stated that the French government’s imminent arrest of Mohamed Merah, suspected of murdering four French Jews and three French soldiers, has come too late for the victims. The organization, which regularly consults with the RCMP and CSIS on issues relating to security threats and safeguards, is questioning whether the deadly attack might have been prevented if French authorities had shifted from a policy of merely observing homegrown terrorist suspects to actively pursuing those planning to perpetrate terrorist acts.

B’nai Brith Canada to UN: Say no to “settlements” resolution

TORONTO, 19 March 2012 – B'nai Brith Canada is calling on state members of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to unanimously reject the proposed Palestinian Authority resolution that calls for the establishment of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate the "implications of Israeli settlements." The Jewish human rights organization is calling this move an exercise in prejudging a situation before the evidence is even gathered.

B’nai Brith Canada reissues call for increased security for Jewish institutions

TORONTO,– The Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada has reissued its recent call for increased vigilance at Jewish institutions following the tragic shooting in Toulouse, France, this morning.

Increased vigilance and heightened security measures urged for Canadian Jewish community

TORONTO, 1 March 2012 – With the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Canada tomorrow, and the upcoming holiday of Purim when large numbers of celebrants attend synagogue and other celebrations in an atmosphere of informality, B’nai Brith Canada urges all Jewish organizations to be vigilant and heighten all security measures.

$40,000 Police Reward To Solve Antisemitic Hate Crime Welcomed By B’nai Brith Canada

TORONTO, – B'nai Brith Canada welcomed the announcement by York Regional Police that it has doubled the reward for information regarding an unsolved 2004 hate crime spree, raising it to $40,000. Thirteen Vaughan homes, including that of a Holocaust survivor, were defaced with swastikas and other antisemitic messages overnight on March 14, 2004.