Thank you.
I'll be speaking for about eight minutes and then we can do some Q and A, if you'd like.
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for providing me with this opportunity to speak here today.
My name is Avi Benlolo, and I'm the president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. It's an organization that was created to advance humanity in the name of Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who lost some 80 members of his own family. Wiesenthal dedicated the rest of his life not to vengeance but to bringing war criminals to justice and to educating against anti-Semitism, hate, and intolerance.
Indeed, social advocacy and education is the mandate of my organization.
In a special session on anti-Semitism in the House of Commons on February 23, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center was appropriately recognized for its dynamic programs countering anti-Semitism through education and promoting tolerance for everyone.
Today, 50% of the global population lives in unfree conditions as a result of oppressive ideologies. Freedom House has calculated that only 12% of the 957 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are free, as are only 5% of the 410 million people in North Africa and the Middle East.
Democracy and our world as we know it are under threat by groups such as the Islamic State, or ISIS, Boko Haram, al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, and others who practise ruthless ideologies of hatred and intolerance.
According to the global terrorism index produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, in 2013 there was a 61% increase in the number of terrorist attacks from the previous year. With the emergence of ISIS, one can only expect a significant increase in 2014.
The last 10 months have demonstrated that the western world is not exempt from these statistics and the Jewish community feels particularly vulnerable. The attack on the Jewish museum in Brussels in May 2014, a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015, followed by the shooting of a Jewish guard in front of Copenhagen's main synagogue in February 2015 are only a few examples of the growing trend of terror against the Jewish community.
Indeed it has become common practice for terrorists to target Jews either directly, as was done in Bulgaria in the bombing of a Jewish tour bus in 2012, or as part of a larger attack, as was the case in Mumbai in 2008 which left six people dead in a synagogue and 160 others dead. Of course we'd be remiss if we weren't to mention as well the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, which again followed suit with the kosher supermarket.
Thus an assault on the Jewish community in Canada and the potential for a mass atrocity is not beyond imagination. According to Toronto Police hate crimes statistics released just last week, the Jewish community is the most frequent target of hate crime, citing an 11% increase in 2014. Therefore, the Jewish community remains most vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
The trial of convicted terrorists Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, for instance, revealed plans to derail a VIA train and to use a sniper to kill, and I quote from the police intelligence records, prominent members of Canadian society and “rich Jews”.
The devastating attack on Parliament Hill and the murders of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo should serve as a wake-up call for all Canadians.
The recent detention of Jahanzeb Malik, who planned to bomb the U.S. consulate in Toronto among other buildings in the financial district, demonstrates that this threat is real and persistent.
It is the responsibility of our government, first and foremost, to ensure the physical security of Canadian citizens. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
Security of the individual is a basic human right and the protection of individuals is, accordingly, a fundamental obligation of Government. States therefore have an obligation to ensure the human rights of their nationals and others by taking positive measures to protect them against the threat of terrorist acts and bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center stands behind the spirit of Bill C-51 and the effort to enhance the safety and security of our country. In particular, we welcome the decision to increase information sharing between Government of Canada institutions and the creation of a criminal offence for knowingly advocating or promoting the commission of terrorism offences.
My concern is that many of those who have opposed this bill simply are not aware of the increasing threat of terrorism and the rising tide of hatred here in Canada, particularly on university campuses, but not exclusively.
I want to give you some examples. York University in Toronto serves as a case in point. Hanging in York's student centre is a mural depicting a Palestinian poised to throw the rocks that he is holding behind his back. On his scarf is an image of a blank map of Israel. This violent image complements the Facebook profile photograph of the current president-elect of York's student union, which states “Smash Zionism”. These examples are, in my opinion, a clear call to violence against the Jewish people and supporters of Israel.
I was recently advised by a student at York that when he passed a table of Palestinian supporters, he was asked if he wanted to “go to paradise”, a known code for jihad recruitment. Additionally, student organizations that allegedly advocate for human rights hang flags of known terrorist organizations at their events without consequence.
I fear that the growing climate of anti-Semitism and hate on campuses is leading to the next logical step and inspiring students to recruit for and join terrorist organizations. While my organization encourages freedom of expression and open debate, permitting the spread of hostile ideology that targets one specific group and creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation at our institutions of higher learning sets a dangerous precedent.
In the book Radical: My Journey out of Islamic Extremism, author Maajid Nawaz explains how he used his position as president of the student union at London's Newham College to recruit students for his radical cause. The book provides remarkable insight into the issue of recruitment to terror on university campuses, and supports the need for legislation such as Bill C-51 in Canada.
As such, we encourage the bill to take into account the growing radicalism on Canadian campuses. This includes financing of terrorism, either directly or indirectly, and consideration of what I refer to as economic terrorism. This may include, for example, the sponsoring of flotillas to support and encourage terrorist groups and for campaigning to economically boycott, divest, and sanction democratic states that are allied with Canada.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center recognizes concerns over the impact that Bill C-51 may have on peaceful protests and freedom of expression, and supports the call for clarity in defining such terms as “lawful advocacy”. However, we also hope that the bill will assist in preventing public protests and advocacy from fuelling hatred, radicalism, and violence, as we have seen at such events as the Al-Quds Day Rally, an annual summer event at Queen's Park that was established and is openly supported by Iran.
While we do not want to see a conflation of peaceful protest with terrorism, this type of incitement to violence is an example of the activities we believe Bill C-51 should address. In addition, we welcome the bill's efforts to increase the level of scrutiny of terrorist propaganda distributed over the Internet. The ubiquitous nature of online hate should not be accepted as a fact of modern life, but must instead be challenged by those who are charged with safeguarding our liberties from those who seek to destroy them.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center strongly supports the goals and intentions of Bill C-51 as we bear witness to the reality of terrorism in our country. We see this bill as an unfortunate necessity to ensure greater safety for all Canadians. That being said, it is of critical importance that sufficient legal and procedural mechanisms are put in place to ensure that our rights to privacy, peaceful protest, and freedom of expression are in no way diminished. I'm confident that we can find an appropriate balance.
I want to end with a statement from our founder, Simon Wiesenthal, who famously said, “Freedom is not a gift from heaven; we must fight for it each and every day.”
I truly do believe that is what Bill C-51 is about.
Thank you very much.