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| September 26, 2004 Sample Letters sent to Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli regarding his planned attendance at JNF dinner featuring Alan Dershowitz as keynote speaker. Background: Jewish National Fund of Ottawa is pleased to invite you to an evening with Alan Dershowitz world-renowned lawyer, Harvard scholar and author who will be our Keynote Speaker at the 2004 Ottawa Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner The Westin Hotel November 15th 2004 at 6:00 p.m. Master of Ceremonies - David W. Scott, Q.C., D.U., LL.D. 2004 Negev Dinner Chairman - Stephen Victor, Q.C. Honorary Chair - Mayor Bob Chiarelli This is a message sent by the CCLA on behalf of the Jewish National Fund of Ottawa. For further information, please contact Muriel at (613) 798-2411 (Special corporate tables are available) From: Bahija Réghaï To: Bob.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 10:37 PM Subject: 2004 Fundraising Negev Dinner - JNF Dear Mr. Chiarelli: I sent you an e-mail yesterday about your participation in the Jewish National Fund fundraising dinner. Please take the time to read an article written by the keynote speaker of the evening, Dr. Dershowitz: Responding to Palestinian terrorism, by Prof. Alan M. Dershowitz - Published: Thursday, March 21, 2002 In another article about a lawsuit that is being brought up against him by Muslim lawyers, he is quoted as saying: " "It's ironic that this press conference occurs on a morning when Israeli schoolchildren are murdered — and they're worried about houses being blown up! Fazili began the telephone press conference by condemning the suicide bombing in Jerusalem, and in the next breath saying that three times more Palestinian youth than Israeli youth have died in the latest Intifada — as if there were a moral equivalence between Jewish children on a bus and Palestinian teenagers throwing projectiles at armed soldiers." I do hope that, as our mayor, you will find it difficult to be associated with some one whose tribal views blind him into believing that Israeli children's lives are far more valuable than Palestinian children's. It is a sad day when ideology and partisanship trumps humanity, justice and law. Sincerely, Bahija Réghaï Ottawa ************************** From: Linda Belanger To: Bob.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca September 28, 2004 Dear Mayor Chiarelli: I urge you to withdraw as Chair of the Jewish National Fund dinner. I'm sure the majority of Ottawans do not want to be have their city and their mayor associated with the likes of Alan Dershowitz. Enclosed is an article on Mr. Dershowitz for your information. Linda Belanger Barrhaven ********************* From: "Corinne Allan" To: Bob.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca Sent: Friday, September 28, 2004 Subject: Article: It's the Occupation, Stupid! Dear Mayor Chiarelli: Enclosed is an article sent to me for publication on my website "YayaCanada.com" by Am Johal, a Canadian who is currently living in Israel and working in an Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel. Please read this article to aquaint yourself with the reasons for and the effects of the Palestinian uprising which began four years ago today on September 28, 2000. Then, please imagine for a few moments how Ottawans would respond if Centretown were encircled by a military invader, with very little in the way of supplies, food and medicine getting in, the hospitals inaccesible, and the infrastructure destroyed, so that even the water is unfit to drink. Imagine that you are confined to your office in City Hall, the police stations have been demolished allowing the criminal element in our society to do as it pleases, and there is no military help available. Then, imagine yourself being branded as an "unsuitable partner for peace" because of your failure to police your people and keep them from retaliating. And finally, consider whether or not you should attend the JNF Negev dinner and be seen to endorse Alan Dershowitz, who would advocate torture and collective punishment should anyone dare to resist such an occupation. Yours sincerely Corinne Allan Address ******************************* From: "Corinne Allan" To: Bob.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 3:50 PM Subject: Visit of Alan Dershowitz Dear Mayor Chiarelli: I've just received a copy of a notice about an upcoming visit to Ottawa by Alan Dershowitz at a dinner meeting which you are scheduled to chair. May I ask you to please reconsider lending your support to this venture. Mr. Dershowitz is more notorious than renowned, and is a known proponent of torture to gain information, and of the collective punishment of innocent civilians for the suspected deeds of one person. In addition, his book "The Case for Israel" has been proven to contain a number of plagiarisms. You may read more about the case against him here. Is this the type of person to whom you wish to be seen lending your support? May I remind you that you made a similar mistake being photographed as a good friend of Corel's Cowplands before the insider trading scandal was exposed. You must choose your friends more carefully, Mr. Chiarelli, if you wish to be seen as having the qualities of perception, acumen and integrity expected from a person in your important position. Sincerely, Corinne Allan address ********************** From: Samah Sabawi To: Bob.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2004 12:52 AM Subject: Alan Dershowitz. Dear Mayor Chiarelli, I am an Ottawa resident, currently in Amman Jordan, doing field research at the Palestinian refugee camps. It has come to my attention that you plan to chair a dinner function for Alan Dershowitz. While I believe that everyone has the right to be in the company of whomever they choose, I strongly believe that you Mr. Chiarelli, our elected official, must be extremely selective of the company you keep because you represent a decent segment of Canadian society. Ottawans don't believe in extra judicial killings, an Israeli practice that defies international law yet is strongly supported by Mr. Dershowitz. Ottawans don't believe in brutality against un-armed civilians and collective punishment again in defiance of international law, yet strongly supported by Mr. Dershowitz. Ottawans don't believe in plagiarism, I am sure you've heard by now of Mr. Dershwoitz's plagiarized book "The case for Israel". In this book, Mr. Dershwoitz supports the claim that Israel was a land without a people. It is so puzzling to hear such claims when you are faced with the millions of refugees, some have resided in these camps for more than fifty years awaiting a solution which will never come without recognition of the horrid crime and injustice perpetrated against them at the moment of Israel’s birth. Mr. Dershowitz is not a respected scholar, nor is he a champion of human rights. If you choose to attend his dinner, you will be impressed by the big names who will attend and who will treat him as a god of intellect. Please don't be fooled by the crowd and remember who you are and whom you represent. You are a Canadian and if I've learned anything from my travels around the world, it is that Canadians are loved for their love of peace - not their support of the likes of Dershowitz: extremists dressed in suits, war-mongerers draped in intellect, hawks always in search of naïve, needy or un-informed politicians to recruit for their vicious campaign to annihilate a human population. I hope Mr. Chiralli, I sincerely hope that you will reconsider. Yours truly, Samah Sabawi Address ********************* From: Linda Belanger To: Bob.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca Cc: Jan Harder Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 5:31 PM Subject: Honorary Chair at Jewish National Fund Event Dear Mayor Chiarelli: I've just received a notice about an event on November 15th, hosted by the Jewish National Fund at which you are to be the honorary chair. I would ask you to familiarize yourself with the goals of this organization and with their special guest, Alan Dershovitz. Mr. Dershowitz is a proponent of torture to gain information and he considers Israel's practice of demolishing the family home of suicide bombers as legitimate self defence. This is collective punishment. Both torture and collective punishment are a contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Jewish National Fund is associated with B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress. These groups advocate for Israel not for peace and justice. As such they are an affront to Canadian values and to Arab and Muslim Canadians in particular and to their ever growing number of friends such as myself. If the above mentioned moral considerations are not enough to make you reconsider your decision, I suggest you consider that according to the 2001 Census Analysis series, "Religions in Canada", the Muslim population of Canada is now double that of the Jewish population and rising fast whereas the Jewish population is relatively static. Yours truly, Linda Belanger address ************************ From: Dr. Qais Ghanem To: Mayor Bob Chiarelli 9/25/2004 4:09 PM Subject: JNF Dear Mayor Chiarelli: We have met and spoken many times in the past several years, many times with Mr. Loubani, and the last time at the Christmas party of the Syrian Club, when I was with Mr. Broadbent. I've just received a copy of a notice about an upcoming visit to Ottawa by Mr. Alan Dershowitz at a dinner meeting at which you are scheduled to be guest of honor. This is a meeting organized by the Jewish National Fund of Ottawa, which has donated money to Canada Park, in Israel. This is a park built on the ruins of 3 Arab villages the population of which was ethnically cleansed. You should have been at the lecture of Dr. Uri Davis at Carleton U last night, when he described that in sordid detail in his lecture "Apartheid Israel". You are the mayor of a city with many ethnic communities, and should not be seen to be lending your name and weight to one group with a clear political agenda. You will be seeking re-election, one day soon, by ALL of the inhabitants of this city. I hope you will take our feelings into consideration, and withdraw from this function, and indeed distance yourself from the NJF. Dr. Q. Ghanem Ottawa Your Comments canpalnet-ottawa.org |