Latest / Kvetch & Release / Canadian Jewish institutions receive hundreds of bomb threats in one day

Transcript

Canadian Jewish institutions receive hundreds of bomb threats in one day · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to AM eight hundred KLW. John Liddkey here.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: It was about a week ago that hundreds of Jewish
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: institutions across the country received bomb threats Jewish schools, synagogues, hospitals.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: It was it was a mess, and fortunately there were
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: no explosions, but it was a day that rocked Canada's
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Jews to the core. And it was followed by another
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: day of bomb threats that were targeted at the Jewish community,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: or at least what appears to be the Jewish community.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: The media is reporting from the police that cultural institutions
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: were targeted, that these targeted Canadian institutions as a whole.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: But if you speak with members of the Jewish community
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: and you start to put together a list, you're really
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: able to see that there is a theme that went
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: through it. The Windsor Jewish Federation and Community Center issued
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: a state last week discussing this issue and how the
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Jewish community has had enough of what they are calling intimidation, attempts,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: attacks and threats. Joining me to discuss right now is
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the executive director of the Windsor Jewish Federation and Community Center,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Marian Zeller. Joins me right now and full disclosure. Marian
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: and I both do serve on the board together. Marian,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: how are you doing today?
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Good John, how are you doing well?
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you doing better this week than last week. But
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: of course the sentiment doesn't go away, the concern doesn't
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: go away. It feels as if these are just weekly occurrences.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: And I wonder, from your perspective as the executive director
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: of the Jewish Federation here in Windsor, I just I'd
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: love to just get your take on it.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Well. I think we definitely have that same sentiment that
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: since October seventh, twenty twenty three, just these ongoing threats
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: towards Jewish community just seemed to be occurring on a
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: week basis, on a daily basis, And I guess from
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: our perspective is we're just tired of it. We're tired
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: of these threats and we're tired of being attacked simply
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: for our religion. You know, we live in a country
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: where there's freedom for everybody to express their religion, their
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: belief and to be able to live safely in an
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: environment that allows that. But over the past nearly year,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Jews across Canada have been threatened and intimidated on a
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: daily basis for living their religion, which in twenty twenty
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: four in a country like Canada just seems unbelievable that
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: we are losing our freedom to a basic right.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: So, you know, I'll dive into this right now with
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: you because I think what a lot of the you know,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: protests that we're seeing on the streets. And I don't
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: at all want to conflate bomb threats with protests, but
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: we're seeing an outpouring of anti Israel sentiment, pro Palestine
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: sentiment on our streets, and I think that you'd hear
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: from a lot of people. Look, it's not the Jewish
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: community that's being attacked. You're not being attacked act because
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: of the religion. When there are protests on the street,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the community isn't being targeted. It's Zionists that are being targeted.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: I'd like to get your perspective on whether or not
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: there's a differentiation between the two and your perspective, well.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: I think that is open to debate based on who
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: you speak to. But I think a lot of Jews
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: do believe that they are Zionists as well, and that
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: there is a love for Israel as a place that
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: we see as a homeland to us, and some people
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: do believe that's one entity and they see being Jewish
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: as being Zionistic, and there are Jews who don't feel
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: the same way. I think in Canada large portion of
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: the population would believe themselves to be or see themselves
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: to be Zionistic. And whilst to understand that the protesters
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: believe that they are protesting against Israel specifically, they've come
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: into our home country, into our territory, and they are
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: intimidating their neighbors, the people they work with, and simply
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: for the fact that they have a belief in a homeland. Now,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I agree with you that we had a devastation in
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: October seven. This terrorist attack that took place was horrible
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: and there's been massive implications on both sides since then.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: But we have to be considered of the people who
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: are living in the country and who are now fearful
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: for their own lives in a country they grew up
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: in simply because they have a belief. And I do
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: believe that Zionism and being Jewish for a lot of
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Canadians is the same thing. And when you go in
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: you say that you're attacking the Zionist the view of
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: something or you know, because you support Israel. Well, for
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: most Jews in Canada, I do believe that is how
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: they take that as a personal attack, because their belief
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: for Zionism and Israel as a homeland is so strong. Yeah.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: And the vast majority of public poland that I've seen
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: when it comes to the Jewish community in Canada and
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: in the United States, vast majority upwards of high eighties
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: low ninety percent identify themselves as Zionists and support of Zionism.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: So I wonder what is it like here in Windsor
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: for the local Windsors Jewish community. Were any institutions targeted
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: down here?
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: We were very lucky that we were not targeted. No
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: institutions have been targeted, and we're very grateful for that.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: We think it kind of shows the community that we
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: live in as a bigger picture as well, that there
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: is support in the community and there are good relationships
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: in the community amongst the different cultures and religions who
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: live here in Windsor and the surrounding areas. However, there
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: is still a fear amongst some of the Jews and Windsor.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: There is still you know, when you're driving down the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: road and you see a protest or when they attend
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: an event and there is a blockage by protests, there
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: is still a fear that comes to life. And you know,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: we've heard firsthand from some of our Jewish members who
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: they see people in these protests that they know people
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: who are their neighbors shouting obscenities at them, and they think,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: but we've lived together in peace since I was a
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: child here in Canada, and now suddenly they have a
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: very different perception of these Jewish neighbors that they've lived
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: with their whole life, and that is scaring our community.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: It's putting a fear into their hearts that maybe people
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: actually are not willing to accept us, even though we've
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: been together this whole time. And I think that is
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: the concern. Why suddenly can we no longer get along.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: We may have a difference of opinion, as across any
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: factor in life. We have different opinions, but we should
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: be able to debate and talk and be respectful of
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: one another while having a difference of opinion.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: So you're talking about protests and blocking. There was the
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Negev dinner which was held a couple of weeks ago
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: at the Cabodo club received a sizable amount of protesters
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: demonstrators who were blocking access to the facility, causing a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: bit of a traffic situation on Tecumcye Road. There there
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: was also a large sizable contingent of windsor police that
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: were on sceen. What does it say that there is
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: a need for police at you know, just public events.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Like this, Well, personally, I believe that says that we
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: have lost a level of tolerance for one another, We
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: have lost a level of respect for one another, and
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: that we seem to be infringing on one another's rats.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: If we're having to bring in police forces to manage
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: an event and manage a protest, that should be able
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: to get alongside by side, and you know, you can
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: show your point a week and show our point. But
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: if we're having to bring police protection in to make
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: sure people are able to attend an event safely, it
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: shows us that we're crossing a line, we are infringing,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: and we are scaring people, and that for me is
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: where this becomes problematic.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: It feels like some of the protesters are taking tactics
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: from the labor movement and a legal strike, being able
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: to block people for up to like five minutes, for example,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: But of course that's not how it works when it
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: comes to individual and individual in the streets. Somebody isn't
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: able to limit your democratic rights. So I wonder, Marian,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: if there is a light at the end of this
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: per verbial tunnel that we're in. You talk about the
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: good relationships between the different cultures here and Windsor, and
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Windsor is one of the most culturally diverse and ethnically
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: diverse cities in the country. How do we get out
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: of this? I mean, are those relationships, how do you
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: have to keep working on them, managing them? How do
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: we make sure that things don't spiral out of control
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: here at home?
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Well, I think firstly, it's our job as community leaders
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: across all the various multicultures in Windsor to work together
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: and make sure we build our relationships. And it shouldn't
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: be a one so this should be an ongoing thing
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: where we're constantly in discussion with supporting each other and
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: we're working together to grow with the Essex as the
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: community for all of our subcommunities within that. And then
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: my second piece that I think is really crucial is
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: we need to be calling on our leaders of Canada.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: We need to be calling on our politicians to say,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: we have basic rights of Canadian citizens and we need
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: to be cracking down on people who look to take
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: away those rights from others. You know, we should be
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: focusing on we offer freedoms of speech, but where does
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: that line end? And really, if somebody is crossing that line,
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: they should be held accountable. And this is where politicians
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: need to come in and play a role to say
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: are they doing this correctly and are they overseeingers and
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: do they need to put more effort into making sure
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: that people have their freedoms as their constituents and if
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: people are unhappy, can they meet with various communities and
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: talk to them and see how we can move forwards.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: So I think part one is the multicultural community coming
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: together and meeting, and part two is politicians playing a
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: part from that as well. We are your constituents, come
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: and talk to us and work together with us to
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: create a way forwards.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: That's their role. It would be nice to see more
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: of that because I think for the sake of absolutely
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: everybody here. You know, Canadians don't want the situation at
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: home to devolve and I agree with you. It is
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: incumbent on all of us to do our part making
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: sure that that doesn't happen. Mary and I want to
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: thank you so much for your time today. I really
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you, John. We appreciate the opportunity.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Marion Zeller is the executive director of the Windsor Jewish
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Federation and Community Center. We're going to take a quick
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: break right now, but we'll be back right here on
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: AM eight hundred CKLW