Celebrate Trees, Freedom, Wins | CAEF Bulletin, Feb 01, 2026
- CAEF
- 4 minutes ago
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Chag Sameach
Wishing everyone good health and happiness as we celebrate Tu B’shevat, the New Year of the Trees
Ran Gvili Returned to Israel
Israel and Jews worldwide are celebrating the return of the body of Ran Gvili. The final hostage. He was buried with honour in Israel, in the presence of his family, friends, police officers, IDF soldiers and fellow Israelis. All who prayed for Ran to be found and rescued were finally grateful to have his body returned, to see the end of phase I of the Hamas/Israel deal, but the war is not over. Continue to pray for Israel, for the IDF and for victory.
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Canadian Hindus Remembered. CAEF Thanks COHHE for Sincere Friendship
Holocaust Remembrance at Toronto City Hall
A small but moving program was held at Toronto City Hall on January 27, sponsored by Councillor James Pasternak. Speakers included the Israeli Consul General, Idit Shamir, Councillor Mike Colle, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy, Rich Robertson, Rabbi Meir Dubrawsky a Holocuast survivor, and prayers sung by Cantor Simon Spiro.
Advocacy Update
CAEF initiated a petition to the House of Commons countering an antisemitic/anti-Israel e-petition introduced by Heather MacPherson, NDP MP, that discriminates against Jews/Israelis in Canada. The new e-petition, initiated by Michael Teper, President of CAEF, has been introduced by Conservative MP Roman Baber. Please follow the link and sign.
Stand with the People of Iran
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has circulated a petition that we urge everyone to sign.
CIJA writes urging “the Canadian government to strengthen accountability for Regime officials committing human rights abuses, unequivocally condemn the massacre of Iranian civilians, remove and ban IRGC-linked individuals from Canada, and assist multilateral action to transition Iran toward a better future for the Iranian people.”
Legal Update
As reported by the Canada-Israel Friendship Association, “Yves Engler, a rabid anti-Israel activist and self-described 'agitator,' was found guilty Friday of harassing an investigator with the Montreal police hate-crimes division last year by arranging to have her email box flooded with messages from his followers.
Quebec Court Judge Guylaine Rivest found Engler, 46, guilty of all three charges he faced in his trial, which was held in November. On Feb. 20, he was charged with obstructing the work of Det.-Sgt. Francesca Crivello and two counts of harassment.
Engler has has been a fanatical hater of the Jewish State and a maniacal opponent of Israel’s military response to the October 7 massacre of 1,200 innocent people in southern Israel by Palestinian terrorists.
Engler has been arrested in the past at protests. The case will enter the sentencing stage in March.”
CAEF will submit a Community Impact Statement.
About a month ago, the Israeli government passed a precedent-setting decision that ended the legal gray zone enjoyed by international organizations in Gaza. A clear red line was established: any organization refusing full transparency would lose its license to operate.
Statement by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada In Response to the planned Nakba Exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights
This press release was issued November 19, 2025 but probably not reported in all major media. CAEF has submitted a freedom of information request in regards to all communication about this proposed exhibit which we categorically oppose. We urge others to write and express their concern about a publicly funded Canadian museum spending time, resources, and good will on a subject that has no documentary evidence of any war time illegal measure, especially not a genocide.
This proposed exhibit will essentially misrepresent history, cast aspersions on Israel and demonize Jews. "Nabka" was a term applied by a Muslim to the defeat of 5 Arab armies by the rag tag IDF in 1948 when it humiliated the well armed Arabs whose intent was genocidal, when they initiated an unprovoked invasion of the nascent Jewish state, following a UN resolution to re-constitute the Jewish homeland. The defeat was a miracle in itself. The surrounding Arab countries did not immediately make peace, nor did they even years after defeat. For 19 years Jordan illegally occupied Judea and Samaria, Egypt illegally occupied Gaza. Both were liberated by Israel in subsequent defensive wars.
Read excerpt from the release: “We are tremendously concerned that the planned exhibit will lack balanced scholarly research and will ignore key issues of the historical and current geopolitical reality that is Israel, such as the multi-millennia history of successive colonization and enslavement, beginning in 586 BCE and which continued until 1947, the events such as the Arab Revolts of 1936 to 1939 that led up to the War of Independence, the offer of partition that was accepted by Israel and rejected by the Arabs, the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of more than 850,000 Jews from Arab countries, and the October 7th, 2023 attack by Hamas.”
Read the full statement, in which the Jewish Heritage Centre announces it will not collaborate with the CMHR, noting its now playing with fire, stoking antisemitism.
Islamic Antisemitism Challenged in France
France’s National Assembly has passed a resolution labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, urging the EU to do the same.
Why it matters: This move aims to curb the influence of Islamist ideologies in Western democracies, particularly in France, where lawful Islamism has encroached unchecked for decades. The resolution highlights the Brotherhood’s “subversive ideology” and calls for legal recognition of Islamist separatism’s political dimension.
Read the article by Jules Gomes in Focus on Western Islamism Bulletin of the Middle East Forum and read other articles on Islamism’s creep across the West.
Islamic Antisemitism Challenged in France
France’s National Assembly has passed a resolution labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, urging the EU to do the same.
Why it matters: This move aims to curb the influence of Islamist ideologies in Western
democracies, particularly in France, where lawful Islamism has encroached unchecked for decades. The resolution highlights the Brotherhood’s “subversive ideology” and calls for legal recognition of Islamist separatism’s political dimension.
Read the article by Jules Gomes in Focus on Western Islamism Bulletin of the Middle East Forum and read other articles on Islamism’s creep across the West.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Success in Canada
Watch Brian Crowley, Macdonald Laurier Institute, at Toronto Democracy Forum, speaking about the environment in Canada which permits expansion of Islamism. November 17th, 2025.
Demographics Make a Difference Among Jewish Voters
Read first ever national study of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews in America. This report was released by JIMENA, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, the voice of Mizrachi and Sephardic Jews from Arab countries and Iran.
Read article about this study by Simone Saidmehr in Forward, January 22, 2026.
“In the greater New York City area, 10% of Jews identify as Mizrahi or Sephardic, two groups that report stronger connections to Israel and more conservative political views than Ashkenazi Jews, according to a new national study.”
“According to the study, conducted for JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, 31% of Mizrahi Jews and 28% of Sephardic Jews in the U.S. hold Israeli citizenship, compared with just 5% of Ashkenazi Jews. And 80% of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews say they feel somewhat or very emotionally connected to Israel, compared with 69% of Ashkenazi Jews.”
Recommended Reading
Read Melanie Bennet, Juno News, October 10, 2025 on the misrepresentation of “jihad” in Ontario high school curriculum.
Read full report on the history of Jews in Syria and how their community was destroyed. Learn historical and economic analysis produced by Justice for Jews from Arab Lands.
Read Moshe Philips in Israel365News, January 26, 2026, pointing out that there is no difference between the PA and Hamas.
Read report from Impact-SE on changes to the Tunisian education curriculum that adopted more constructive humanitarian concepts, except where Jews and Israel are concerned.
Read Joe Adam George in Focus on Western Islamism, about Canadian Islamist demands in the workplace, assailing neutrality, wanting special treatment, January 22, 2026.
Read Graeme Gordon in theHub writing about Jewish students in Canada detailing their experience with rising antisemitism on Campus since October 7, January 23, 2026.
Read the Elder of Ziyon on the Chinese Canadian instructor who pushes antisemitism in his teaching, January 11, 2026.
Read Amichai Chikli, MK on The Jerusalem Post on the failures of political correctness in addressing antisemitism, January 24, 2026.
Read Noam Lehman in Times of Israel, January 20, 2026 on Israel’s demolishing of UNRWA headquarters, the agency has many ties to Hamas.
Read Adrian Skolnik, January 24, 2026 in American Thinker writes about the anti-Christian, Antisemitism increasing on YouTube and its potential signalling of terrorism.
Read Israel365News, January 23, 2026, on Oklahoma legislation mandating correct use of the name Judea and Samaria!!
Recommended Viewing/Listening
Watch video of German Soccer Clubs standing for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Watch ITV story of Israel’s demolishing of UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem.
Watch the Conflict Room’s excellent update on the Iranian conflict and the secret bunker of the Iranian Supreme leader and his Plan B.
Listen to interview series with Jesse Brown on Canadaland, entitled Is Life for Jews in North America Forever Changed?
Watch Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, Israel365News, on the failure of the west to support the Kurdish people of Syria who are being massacred by the new ruling Islamist tyrant, former ISIS leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa
Advocacy and Action
Jewish Social Work Consortium Statement on the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Targeting of Israeli Social Workers
“After formally censuring the Israeli Union of Social Workers last year, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) is now moving toward suspension or expulsion. “
READ this Press release, send a letter, to stop discrimination against Israeli Social Workers.
Read Letter from Ruth Abrams to Prime Minister Mark Carney questioning his decision to encourage investment from Qatar in Canada, further risking the undermining of Canadian values, January 26, 2026.
Read Letter from Richard Sherman to the Editor, Columbia Spectator challenging the student body to answer the question: Why no encampments, demonstrations, protests against Iranian regime which has killed over 30,000 Iranian citizens? Obviously, No Jews, No News, January 26, 2026.
Read Letter from Larry Shapiro to Oliver Zinn, Forward Magazine, regarding his article suggesting Palestinians want peace, & two states. No evidence of this exists, historically or currently, Jan 26, 2026.
Children are Being Brainwashed
Ron East, editor of TheJ.ca, posted this image and the story behind this children’s book published by Penguin Random House, December 12, 2025. Clearly, the image portrays an old trope, demonizing the Jews as child killers. This book should be banned from educational institutions and libraries; it will lead to more victimization of Jews, spreading lies, and demonizing the Jewish state.
Read excerpt:..” Penguin Random House Canada has drawn condemnation from Jewish advocacy groups who say it contains antisemitic imagery that misrepresents the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and risks harming young readers. The book, titled “Human Rights,” includes an illustration of a cartoon soldier marked with a Star of David holding a rifle and grasping a Palestinian child. The illustration was widely circulated online this week and prompted outrage from organizations monitoring antisemitism.
StopAntisemitism, a U.S.-based watchdog group, stated that the image recycles classic antisemitic tropes and falsely depicts the Israel Defense Forces as predatory. In a public response, the group wrote that “our kids deserve better than to be brainwashed with this bigotry disguised as human rights.” The organization urged schools, libraries, and community institutions to avoid the work of author Yayo Herrero and illustrator Luis Demano, noting that the imagery echoes historic propaganda used to vilify Jews.”
Community Events
If in Halifax, Nova Scotia, register to hear two National Post celebs:
Rob Roberts, Editor in Chief, Recipient of the 2024 CAEF Advocate Award of Excellence, and Dave Gordon, journalist and proud Zionist.
Zoom on Sunday February 15th at 7 pm Eastern Time for an important update on antisemitism/antisemitism from nationally acclaimed author and expert on antisemitism, Dr. Andrew Pessin. Register here.
Andrew Pessin is Professor of Philosophy at Connecticut College and was for many years Campus Bureau Editor for The Algemeiner. He also most recently founded the Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism. Author of many academic articles and books as well as works of philosophy for a general audience, his books include Israel Breathes, World Condemns (2 vols.); Refuting the Lies Told About Israel; Anti-Zionism on Campus: The University, Free Speech, and BDS; Poisoning the Wells: Antisemitism in America; and The Jewish God Question: What Jewish Thinkers Have Said About God, the Book, the People, and the Land. His articles address many aspects of the campus environment for Jews and for Israel supporters, including the question of whether anti-Zionism is antisemitism (the short answer is that it is). Most recently he has been producing a weekly ten-minute podcast on the highlights (and lowlights) of that week’s campus antisemitism, available via his substack. He has also published four novels, including Nevergreen (2021), an academic satire about campus cancel culture and its deleterious effects on the Jews which, unfortunately, proved prophetic when campuses exploded against Israel and the Jews after the October 7 massacre. His most recent novel, Bright College Years (2024), is about how colleges used to be before they all went crazy.
