[To find out why and how to sign this letter, click here]
[For media advisory and contact details, click here]
[For media advisory and contact details, click here]
Prime Minister Harper, Minister Kenney and Minister Toews,
We are members of the Jewish community who are outraged at your government's proposed 'Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act'. As people of conscience, who care deeply about Jewish history, social justice and human rights, we are appalled that your government is claiming to have Jewish Canadian support for legislation that so blatantly criminalizes refugees and targets them for imprisonment and/or deportation.
Some of us are immigrants ourselves, while others are the children and grandchildren of people who came to this country fleeing persecution. We know either firsthand or through the lessons passed down to us, that Canada has longstanding tradition of refusing entry to immigrants deemed undesirable by the State. Today, Jewish immigration is no longer seen as a threat to the Canadian state, but it was not so long ago that Canada's attitude towards Jewish immigrants was 'none is too many'. Perhaps the best known result of this policy was the 1939 decision by the Canadian government to turn down a request for landing of the refugee ship, St Louis. Its nine hundred Jewish refugees were sent back to their deaths in Europe. The recent detention of nearly 500 Tamil refugees in British Columbia shows that Canada is proudly continuing its legacy of racist discrimination against people fleeing persecution and genocide.
If this legislation passes, more refugees will be incarcerated, many will be deported and most will face torture, imprisonment or death upon their return. We refuse to be silent as your government - under cover of support from B'nai Brith and other conservative organizations claiming to represent diverse communities - increases its attacks on migrants and refugees.
Your government cannot claim to have the support of the Jewish community as you launch your latest campaign against migrants and refugees. We are honouring our history by denouncing this legislation and joining in the fight for the rights of refugees. We are declaring loudly that no one is illegal.
Signed:
- Aaron Lakoff, Montreal
- Aaron Morrell, Toronto
- Abby Lippman, Montréal
- Ada Mullett, Kingston
- Adam Policzer, Vancouver
- Adam Saifer, Toronto
- Adele Diamond, Vancouver
- Alisa Gayle-Deutsch, Toronto
- Alison Sawyer, Gibson
- Alon Weinberg, Winnipeg
- Amy Gottlieb, Toronto
- Amy Katz, Toronto
- Andrea Summers
- Andy Lehrer, Toronto
- Anita Block, Toronto
- Ariel Troster, Ottawa
- Asher and Esther Zapf, Vancouver
- Ashley Chimovitz, Hamilton
- Avi Dolgin, Vancouver
- Avi Grenadier, Kingston
- Avril Orloff, Vancouver
- Ayden Isaac Scheim, Toronto
- Ben Saifer, Ottawa
- Ben-Zion Shek
- Bernard Katz, Toronto.
- Bob Bluman, Vancouver
- Bob Rosen, Vancouver
- Bobbie Ogletree, Nelson
- Bonnie Baker, Nelson
- Bonnie Klein, Vancouver
- Brenda Cossman, Toronto
- Cara Goldberg, Toronto
- Carol Pearlstone, Vancouver
- Carole Dahan, Toronto
- Caroline Sand, Toronto
- Cathy Gulkin, Toronto
- Celina Dycke Toronto
- Charlie Lior,Toronto
- Cheryl Gaster, Toronto
- Clayton Ruby, Toronto
- Corey Balsam, Toronto
- Corey Levine, Ottawa
- Daniel Fine, Toronto
- Daniel Levinson, Calgary
- Daniel Radin, Toronto
- Daniela Escolar Bach, Vancouver
- Daniella Moss, Toronto
- Danielle Bobker, Montreal
- Dara Culhane, Simon Fraser
- David Cohen, Hamilton
- David Florkow, Toronto
- David Mandelzys, Toronto
- David Shulman, London UK
- David Taub Bancroft, Vancouver
- David Zinman, Toronto
- Deborah Guterman, Montreal
- Deborah Rachlis, Toronto
- Debra S. Lary, Toronto
- Denise Glasbeek, Ottawa
- Diane Meredith
- Dr. Barbara Landau, Toronto
- Dr. Ben-Zion Shek, Toronto
- Dr. Mark Federman, Toronto
- Eden Nameri, Toronto
- Eileen Gross, Guelph
- Elaine Carol, Vancouver
- Elana Geller , Windsor
- Elise Eisenkraft Klein, Toronto
- Elizabeth Block, Toronto
- Elizabeth Shefrin, Gabriola
- Ellen Buchman, Toronto
- Ellen Eisenberg, Toronto
- Ellen Shifrin, Toronto
- Ernie Yacub
- Evan Dycke Toronto
- Frank Guttman, Montreal
- Frank Segal, Vancouver
- Freda Guttman, Toronto
- Gabriel A. Gorman, Toronto
- Gene Simon
- George Pope, Richmond
- Gilda Katz, Toronto
- Gilda Outremont, Montreal
- Gillian Reiss, Toronto
- Gordon Doctorow, Toronto
- Greg Starr, Port Moody
- Griffin Epstein, toronto
- Hannah Wizman-Cartier
- Harold Shuster, Winnipeg
- Harry Glasbeek, Toronto
- Helen Aqua, Vancouver
- Helen Mintz, Vancouver
- Helga Mankovitz, Kingston
- Herman Rosenfeld, Toronto
- Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)
- Ingrid Philipp, Toronto
- Jacob Bayless, Toronto
- Jacob Dycke Toronto
- Jacob Nerenberg, Toronto
- James Deutsch, Toronto
- Jane Heyman, Vancouver
- Janis Alton, Mississauaga
- Jason Kunin, Toronto
- Jeannie Kamins, Vancouver
- Jeff Carolin, Toronto
- Jenny Katz, Toronto
- Jenny Peto, Toronto
- Jeremiah Gaster, Toronto
- Jeremy Finkelstein, Toronto
- Jesse Salah Ovadia, Toronto
- Jessica Lyons, Toronto
- Jessica Roher, Toronto
- Joanna Zilsel
- Joanne Naiman, Vancouver
- Jonathan Fedder, Toronto
- Jordan Topp, Montreal
- Jordana Greenblatt, Toronto
- Jordy Cummings, Toronto
- Josh Lane, Toronto
- Joshua Wiener, Toronto
- Judith Deutsch, Toronto
- Judith Weisman, Toronto
- Judith Weisman, Toronto
- Judy Haiven, Halifax
- Judy Hellman, Toronto
- Julia Horel-O'Brien, Toronto
- Karen Guttman, Montreal
- Karen Schucher, Toronto
- Ken Klonsky, Vancouver
- lan Sears, Toronto
- Larry Butkowsky, Toronto
- Laura Mandelbaum, Toronto
- Lauren Goodman, Toronto
- Lawrence Boxall, Vancouver
- Leah Gold, Toronto
- Lee Tenenhouse, Toronto
- Lindsay Czitron, Toronto
- Lindsay Shane, Toronto
- Liora Johnson, Kingston
- Lisa Feinberg, Ottawa
- Lisa Forman, Toronto
- Louise Waldman, Winnipeg
- Lynn Worrell, Montreal
- Madeleine Gorman, Toronto
- Malcah Friedman, Kingston.
- Marion Pollack, Ottawa
- Mark Golden, Winnipeg
- Marty Roth, Vancouver
- Mary Adlersberg Vancouver
- Mary Adlersberg, Vancouver
- Marylin Kanee
- Max Silverman, Montreal
- Maya Thau-Eleff, Kingston
- Melissa Drutz, Toronto
- Melissa Harendorf, Montreal
- Mia Amir, Vancouver
- Michael Blazer, Toronto
- Michael Bossin, Ottawa
- Michele Landsberg, Toronto
- Mira Khazzam, Montreal
- Mira Khazzam, Montreal
- Miriam Eguchi, North Vancouver
- Miriam Garfinkle, Toronto
- Miriam Kramer, Toronto
- Miriam Spies, Hamilton
- Moira Canes, Toronto
- Mordechai Wasserman, Toronto
- Morris Mass, Delta
- Naomi Angel, Toronto
- Naomi Klein, Toronto
- Naomi Rankin, Toronto
- Natalie Kouri-Towe, Toronto
- Natalie Zemon Davis, Toronto
- Neil Naiman, Vancouver
- Neil Naiman, Vancouver
- Neil Naiman, Vancouver
- Nikki Gershbain, Toronto
- Nili Kaplan-Myrth, Ottawa
- Noa Shaindlinger, Toronto
- Noah Fine, Vancouver
- Ofira Roll, Vancouver
- Olga Liberchuk, Vancouver
- Paul Copeland, Toronto
- Paul Harrison, Toronto
- Penny Goldsmith, Vancouver
- Peter Driftmier, Vancouver
- Philip Pinkus, West Vancouver
- Rachel Berger, Montreal
- Rachel Corber, Montreal
- Rachel Gotthilf, Montreal
- Rachel Gurofsky, Ottawa
- Rachel Rosen, Toronto
- Raoul Boulakia, Toronto
- Rebecca Applebaum, Toronto
- Rebecca Main, Montreal
- Renata Fuchs Militzer, Montreal
- Robert Eisenberg, Toronto
- Roberto Carrasco
- Robrt Silverman, Val David
- Roslyn Doctorow, Toronto
- Ryan Katz-Rosene, Ottawa
- S. Drysdale, Sudbury
- Sally Thorne, Vancouver
- Sam Bick, Montreal
- Sam Znaimer, Vancouver
- Sandra Rose, Vancouver
- Sandra Glasbeek, Toronto
- Sandra Ruch, Toronto
- Sara-Marni Hubbard, Toronto
- Sarah Jane Saska, London
- Schuyler H Smith, of Halifax
- Shaindl Diamond, Toronto
- Shannon Salisbury, Toronto
- Sharry Aiken, Toronto
- Sheryl Nestel, Toronto
- Shlomit Segal, Toronto
- Sid Shniad, Surrey
- Simone Brightstein, Kingston
- Smadar Carmon, Toronto
- Stephen Aberle, Vancouver
- Stephen Hellman, Toronto
- Stephen Sheps, Edmonton
- Sterling Stutz, Toronto
- Suzanne Weiss, Toronto
- Tamar Kalfa, Toronto
- Tamara Herman, Toronto
- Tov Mason, Toronto
- Tyler Levitan, Ottawa
- Vlada Bilyak, Kingston
- Yom Shamash, Toronto
- Yom Shamash, Vancouver
- Zach Fleisher, Winnipeg
- Zvi Gaster, Toronto
