TORONTO — UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) have disassociated themselves from the Winchevsky Centre over an event held at the secular Jewish institution that featured an anti-Zionist speaker.
Len Rudner
But the two organizations left the door open to discuss the issue, and Maxine Hermolin, executive director of the centre, has requested a meeting.
The Feb. 1 event, titled “Never Again for Anyone,” featured Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer, a member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), which co-sponsored the evening with American Muslims for Palestine and the Middle East Children’s Alliance.
Meyer – whose appearance was his only Canadian stop on a North American speaking tour – was joined by Aboriginal writer Lee Maracle and Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation.
According to Howard English, the federation’s vice-president of corporate communications, Meyer crossed the line when he told his audience, “it [Israel] has grown much more aggressive and much less human than in the years after the Second World War. So that means that it can very easily lead to the destruction of Israel as a state from within. That is one of my hopes.”
English did not attend the event, but said that UJA Federation and CJC sent someone to monitor it, and that the quote was taken from a recording of Meyer’s speech. He said it was “particularly repugnant in our eyes and symbolized what this event was all about.”
In a Feb. 3 letter to Hermolin, representatives of the federation and CJC stated that the organizations had no alternative but to sever their affiliation because of the belief that “providing a platform for these views serves to strengthen those who work toward Israel’s destruction.”
The letter was signed by Sheldon Goodman and David Spiro, co-chairs of the federation’s committee on public affairs, and by Frank Bialystok, chair of CJC, Ontario region.
In a joint phone interview last Friday, English and Len Rudner, Ontario regional director of Canadian Jewish Congress, said they could not recall either organization taking such a step in recent decades.
However, roughly 60 or 70 years ago (depending who you ask), CJC expelled United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO) – an institution of the Winchevsky Centre and a co-sponsor of last week’s event – over concerns about UJPO’s support of communism and allegations of Soviet control of the organization. UJPO became part of CJC again until about half a dozen years ago, when CJC passed a bylaw allowing only for individual membership, not group membership, David Abramowitz, president of UJPO Canada, told The CJN.
Abramowitz said he hopes that UJA Federation and CJC “will recognize those who are responsible [for the event] and not put a shadow on those who had no responsibility.”
The Winchevsky Centre houses several organizations, including the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir and the Winchevsky School, which were not involved in organizing the event.
The school has, on occasion, received funding from the federation, and the choir has been part of wider community events, Abramowitz said.
He added that UJPO’s membership is wide-ranging, including Zionists, non-Zionists, and “believers who are in various other synagogues, but who belong for cultural reasons… There are very few places where there is Yiddish culture.”
According to the Winchevsky Centre’s website, its institutions are “guided by a celebration of secular Jewishness and Yiddishkeit, anti-racism and social justice principles, a respect for other cultures and a progressive outlook on world issues.”
English told The CJN that “criticism of Israel is perfectly legitimate, but when an individual goes beyond criticism of Israel to suggest or explicitly say that Israel should be eliminated, or when an organization provides a platform for an individual to say that, we will not be associated with that individual nor the organization.”
Rudner said that the two organizations first contacted the Winchevsky Centre when they learned of the program in early January.
In a Jan. 19 letter, Hermolin wrote to Goodman, Spiro and Bialystok, “The Winchevsky Centre is aware of the range of political views on the issue of Israel-Palestine. As a progressive venue, we feel it is important to provide opportunities for open political dialogue.”
