Words from Chair Mina Cohn
The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES commends the action taken in August by Hon. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion regarding the anti-racism advocacy group, Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) and Laith Marouf’s highly disturbing antisemitic tweets. In his statement, Minister Hussen said “antisemitism has no place in this country.” We support the suspension by the Government of Canada of funding to the CMAC after it learned that Mr. Marouf, a senior consultant and CMAC speaker, used social media to post antisemitic comments.
| CHES is pleased to welcome Jessica as our Executive Assistant. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs and dedicated her major research project to examining memorialization and collective memory of World War II and the Holocaust. She has significant volunteer experience for organizations such as StopGap, which built physical ramps in the community in order to build metaphorical ramps to dialogue about accessibility. She comes to CHES as a former banker, who has also honed her website development skills. She strongly believes in the strength of education and cooperative efforts for the betterment of our communities.
We are pleased to welcome Kara Goodwin to CHES. Kara brings with her over 20 years’ experience in communications and program/project management. |
CHES continued working for you throughout the summer months, fighting antisemitism and supporting Holocaust Education in the Ottawa area. It has been a busy summer, and much has been accomplished.
Further to the three sessions of Unpacking Complexity in the Classroom, provided by CHES to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) last spring, a significant step forward took place on August 16th when Artur Wilczynski and I met with Ontario Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce and Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Michael Ford. We discussed the rise of antisemitism in Ottawa schools and the importance of strengthening Holocaust education across the province. The Ministers were joined by MPPs Patrice Barnes and Matthew Rae and members of their staff. The engagement of both ministers is significant, and CHES will be following up with each to continue the dialogue. We firmly believe that coordination and cooperation between Jewish organizations is essential to effectively address antisemitism in our city, province, and country. As always, CHES will advocate for a united approach. Read the full article.
The For the Child Kindertransport exhibit will be on display at City Hall, October 17th to 31st . The exhibit is free of charge during City Hall’s opening hours. Meaningful and moving, the exhibit provides powerful and relevant connections to ongoing issues which people today will undoubtedly recognize, including the lived experience and impact of being a refugee. CHES’ Education Committee developed a special lesson plan to encourage students and educators to reflect upon this important Holocaust story. The lesson plan includes information about the exhibit, the historical background, possible activities, and snapshots of various people associated with the Kindertransport, including two children of Kindertransport survivors living in Ottawa. While it remains uncertain if classes will be allowed to go on field trips due to COVID, the lesson plan is posted on the CHES website and will be shared with educators in Ottawa. Read the full article.
We are very pleased that our wish to leave a legacy at Carleton University has been achieved. PhD student, Megan Hollinger, won a competition to teach an online Holocaust course sponsored by CHES. The course, entitled The Holocaust: Historical and Religious Dimensions, will be offered for three years starting this fall. Read the full article.
As we continue to develop the IWAlk project, we are offering Pre IWalk group visits to the National Holocaust Monument. As part of this initiative, I was invited by Eli Lipshitz, First Secretary – Head of Public Diplomacy, at the Embassy of Israel, to speak to a group of 80 Israeli students of Israeli Victims of War families (IVOW) and their 20 supervisors who visited Canada in August. During our meeting at the Monument, the students were attentive and engaged and raised many pertinent questions. The IVOW program offers participants the unique opportunity to spend a month in Canada during the summer and includes attending a Jewish community camp and visiting Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. Additional Pre IWalk tours are scheduled for September 12th with a group from AJA50+ and on October 14th with Dr. Sarah Casteel and students from her fourth-year seminar at Carleton University, The Holocaust and Literary Form: Memory, Atrocity, Aesthetics. Read the full article.
Planning for Holocaust Education Month events is nearing completion. With presentations by award winning historians, the events, all of which will be virtual, promise to be educational and thought-provoking. To read more about the Launch Event and the Descendants program click here.
Addressing antisemitism through education is a long-term investment. Contemporary antisemitism, like all forms of intolerance and discrimination, has a profound impact on the whole of society, undermining democratic values and human rights. As the school year starts, plans for this fall’s Teachers’ Workshop are being guided by the insight we gained last spring into the issues affecting Jewish students and staff at Ottawa schools. Our experience clearly shows the need to continue to address their safety and help educators deal with sensitive issues affecting their schools and students.
Rise Up Ottawa is a community-wide event scheduled to take place in November. It will bring together the Ottawa Jewish community to discuss creating safe spaces and advocating for our concerns. Read more.
A warm thank you on behalf of everyone at CHES to Barbara Crook and Dan Greenberg of the Danbe Foundation for the generous support of our education work and the Unpacking Complexity in the Classroom project.
CHES needs your help to continue our mission to promote respect for diversity and human rights, and to fight prejudice, racism, and antisemitism. Donate now.