CAEF letter to Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal re biased opinion piece by Gary Sweeny

Dear Editor,

The article by Gary Kenny published August 9th carries every anti-Jewish canard that has floated on social and traditional media of late. While it is an "opinion" piece, spreading lies and antisemitism ought not to be featured in the Chronicle Journal.

There is no genocide in Gaza--note the population has increased year over year. There is no starvation in Gaza--note the enormous amounts of food taken into Gaza by Israel and successfully distributed by the new distributor, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which took control of food aid away from the slaughtering barbarian Hamas organization. The UN and UNRWA failed to distribute aid or allowed Hamas to steal it, sell it on the black market and hoard it for terrorists. There are no weapons going from Canada to Israel--note that Foreign Affairs Minister Joly unwisely cancelled that a year ago. Israel is not an apartheid state--21% of the population is Arab, and over 50% of the Jewish population comes from Arab countries ie is not white European in origin. All citizens of Israel have equal rights, which is not the case for non Muslims in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.

Jews come from Judea. Jews are indigenous while Arabs are invaders; colonizers that came to Israel in the 7th century, and also colonized most of North Africa. Kenny and his colleagues ought to read history rather than repeat lies. Arab countries expelled their Jews, over 800,000 between 1947-67, and paid no reparations. They stripped people of citizenship after over 1500 years of living in these lands. Israel did not strip Arabs of citizenship. On the contrary, Israel encouraged those living there prior to Israel's independence, to stay. Arabs who were dislocated were so because the 5 invading Arab armies urged them to flee until the armies could successfully murder all the Jews. They failed! Then they declared a Nakba, a word to describe their humiliating defeat. There was no mass extermination of Arabs, nor of ethnic cleansing. All such claims are invented antisemitic fictions.

Kenny strays wildly from the truth, sows seeds of Jew hatred, dismisses the carnage and cruelty meted out by Hamas against Jews, Arabs and dozens of foreigners who were in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel is defending Western values of democracy, the rule of law, minority rights, equality for women, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, as well as the ancient culture of Judaism which arose in the Middle East and has embued the world with Judeo-Christian values of mutual respect, tolerance, and justice. There are none of these qualities in place under Hamas nor under the Palestinian Authority, both of which deny Israel's right to exist. Hamas's charter calls for eradication of all Jews, and the PA pays Arabs a life time salary for killing a Jew--even an infant or elderly person. This is a sick ideology and doesn't become less sick because it is fostered under the banner of anti-racism and diversity. Kenny is spreading lies, and contributing to a campaign of Jew hatred in Canada. The Palestinian Solidarity Thunder Bay organization, and all its sister entities across Canada, have zero real interest in the well-being of Gazans or they would call for the elimination of Hamas to free Gazans from tyranny and oppression.

Sincerely,

Andria Spindel

Executive Director

Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation