Canadian Council For Israel And Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) Taken Over By Corporate P

Canadian Jewish Outlook September-October 2007 At the June 17 plenary of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) completed its corporate takeover of the (CJC), requiring it to jettison its democratic structure and abdicate any remaining independence from CIJA. CIJA was created in 2002 by Canada’s Jewish corporate giants, notably Izzy Asper, Gerry Schwartz, and Heather Reisman, to coordinate Canada’s Israel lobby and manage the “strategic direction” of the CJC. In 2005, CIJA formed the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC), a counterpart to the U.S. AIPAC, in time to back the Harper election. It received in exchange unprecedented loyalty to Israel from the Tories. i Since 2002, the CJC has been treating any criticism of Israel as an attack on all Jews: “Jews and Israel, Judaism and Zionism are inextricably intertwined and an antisemitic attack on one is an attack on the other.” ii It explicitly labels as anti-Semitic anyone (Gentile or Jew) who criticizes Israeli policy or Zionism. Last summer, as Israel rained destruction on Lebanon and the people of Gaza, the CJC attacked the United Church of Canada as anti- Semitic for considering a divestment motion in protest of Israeli war crimes. Until 2004, any Jewish person over the age of 18 was eligible to become a member of the CJC, and the CJC membership spanned the spectrum of social class and attitudes toward Zionism. To prevent membership by Jewish groups or individuals opposed to the Israeli Occupation, the CJC amended its constitution (By-law 66) in November, 2004 to limit membership to any Jew “who concurs with or supports the aims and objectives of Canadian Jewish Congress,” and to give the National Executive “absolute discretion” to exclude those deemed to be “opposed to the aims and objectives of Congress.” The CJC refuses to publish these “aims and objectives.” This gives the CJC Executive the dictatorial power to decide who is Jewish enough to be represented by the CJC. Unquestioning loyalty to Israel becomes the main criterion of “Jewishness”: Inasmuch as the CJC claims to represent all Jews, by rejecting those who have criticisms of Israel, they are treating them as “non-Jews.” So much for representing all Canadian Jews! Fortress CJC: The CIJA take-over http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2007/09/25/1348/ AIPAC North : "Israel Advocacy" in Canada http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10485 Canada-Israel Committee http://www.cicweb.ca/aboutcic/bod.cfm

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