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NEAR EAST CULTURAL AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION OF CANADA
Mr. Bernie M. Farber
Dear Mr. Farber, The Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation of Canada (NECEF) unequivocally condemns and abhors anti-Semitism, anywhere, anytime. It is a particular expression of racism and hatred, and has no place in Canada or anywhere else. We are deeply concerned that anti-Semitism reared its ugly head at demonstrations. We also condemn the firing of rockets into Israel. NECEF continues to support the aims of the demonstrations, which have been to demand application of protections of Gazan civilians required under the IV Geneva Convention. We respect and fully support the democratic right to free speech and legitimate peaceful protest. Organizers and supporters of any large demonstration have no control over who chooses to show up, be they the small minority who expressed anti-Semitism or those waving Israeli flags while shouting racial slurs and hateful slogans. Indeed, we are aware of several occasions of marshals asking police to deal with racist demonstrators. We will continue to educate Canadians on the Israeli invasion of Gaza and its illegal occupation. Israel’s military slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians including, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 1314 dead, amongst them 412 children and 110 women. The number of injuries stands at 5,300, of whom 1,855 are children and 795 are women. Israel’s military massacred 40 civilians in a United Nations school targeted with information of its GPS coordinates and defined purpose as a shelter provided by the UN, bombed a church-run women and children’s clinic supported with thousands of dollars of Canadian donors, left children to starve, and committed a number of War Crimes under the IV Geneva Convention including the indiscriminate raining of the chemical weapon white phosphorous on civilians. In unequivocally condemning all forms of incitement, hatred and racism we include the description on the Canadian Jewish Congress website, at your press conference and in your letter, of the rallies as “pro-Hamas.” This wilful falsification on the part of the CJC is insidiously defamatory of us and other NGOs and has been picked up by some media and reported as truth. We therefore call on you to issue a strong public apology for these vile expressions of defamation and hatred, and against all forms of racism and incitement specifically including anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim propaganda. We furthermore expect that this slander will be removed immediately from your website. We have thus issued this as a public letter and will not hesitate to report this to the RCMP hate crimes division. We look forward to your response.
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