Afleveringen
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If you're reading the headlines, or the chatter on social media, it would be easy to conclude that for Jews in the Diaspora, it's little different than 1930s Germany: Brownshirts are on the move, and antisemites under every rock.
But fortunately, that's not the truth at all, at least in Canada, according to a new study which examined recent data around antisemitism, and found - perhaps surprisingly - very positive results.
While there has been a marked increase in antisemitic incidents, primarily graffiti and the like, the attitudes of Canadians towards Jews remains almost unchanged since October 7, with only a miniscule percentage of Canadians expressing anti-Jewish views.
In this week's podcast, we sit down with Professor Robert Brym, one of Canada's leading sociologists and demographers studying the Canadian Jewish community, to discuss his new study which evaluated Canadian attitudes towards Jews and Israel, finding that anti-Jewish incidents emanate from a tiny proportion of society, and that overwhelmingly, Canadians do not embrace such hatred.
Brym's study does not preclude the need to combat anti-Jewish hatred in society, but as he explains in the podcast, it should help to focus the Jewish community's energies.
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It is hardly an exaggeration to say that over the last eight months, there has been a marked increase in the amount of anti-Israel activism in the news media, on university campuses, and in many other fronts, much of it organized by pro-Hamas gangs.
What about the efforts to combat those insidious hate campaigns, particularly on a grassroots level?
In this week's podcast, we sit down with someone who didn't just see a problem and complain about it, he took charge and created what is possibly the largest ongoing pro-Israel rally outside of Israel since October 7.
Guidy Mamann is an immigration lawyer in Toronto by day and an active Israel advocate, serving as the president of the Toronto Zionist Council. Days after the October Hamas attacks, when the terrorist group declared a day of rage across the world, Mamann and a group of others launched a weekly pro-Israel rally in uptown Toronto, which has continued now for nearly 40 weekends in a row without interruption.
Guidy joins us as a guest to explain not just his initiative, but how it can serve as an inspiration for others to take responsibility, too.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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While it rarely makes headlines in the Canadian news media, Israel is facing an onslaught from multiple terrorist groups at once. Not just Hamas, Yemen's Houthi movement, and Islamist groups in Iraq.
But without question, the most capable of the terrorist groups is Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which, like the others, receives extensive training, weapons and funds from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is a genocidal Islamic terrorist group. But it is far more powerful, and is deeply embedded within the Lebanese government. Since October 7, it has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, and has forced upwards of 60,000 Israelis from their homes for more than eight months, with no end in sight.
To help us understand the Hezbollah threat, and Israel's options, we are joined by Sarit Zehavi. Sarit is the President and Founder of the Alma Research Center, a nonprofit and an independent research and education center specialized in Israel’s security challenges on its northern border.
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The Islamic Republic may be a theocratic totalitarian regime which executes homosexuals, persecutes women, and attempts to destroy Israel, but those fanatical ideologies are not shared by a large majority of Iranians, either in Iran, or in Canada, home to one of the world's largest Iranian diaspora communities.
Contrary to the fanaticism of the Islamic Republic's leaders, most Iranians oppose the regime's existence, as well as its dangerous murderous support for terrorist organizations.
In this week's podcast, we sit down with Negar Mojtahedi, a Vancouver-based journalist with Iran International, to offer her insights into the mood on the street among Iranians in Iran, and here in Canada.
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How quickly the world has forgotten October 7. Not just the brutality and bloodthirsty massacres of the Hamas terrorist attacks, but the significance of them: unmasking the Palestinian terrorist group for all to see, not as a party that can be reasoned or negotiated with, but as a party with whom there can be no compromise because it seeks nothing less than the total destruction of Israel.
In early May, I visited Israel alongside a group of Canadian journalists in a weeklong program organized by the Exigent Foundation.
While there, we were able to get a first-hand look at the Israeli communities massacred on October 7, which remains closed to the general public, as well as visit Israel's north, battered by attacks from Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization which fires rockets into Israel on a daily basis.
In this week's episode, rather than a guest, I reflect on the lessons gleaned from our visit to Israel, seeing what too many news media outlets have chosen to forget.
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The facts are as undeniable as they are unreported by the news media: that Israel has done more to protect civilians in war, particularly in an urban warfare setting, than any other military in the history of warfare.
Despite a widespread and well-funded disinformation campaign, from actors ranging from South Africa to the Islamic Republic of Iran to professional protesters, Israel is not only definitively not guilty of the crimes it is accused of, but it has taken extraordinary steps to protect civilians in Gaza, going far beyond what is required by international law.
Israel has paid for this care dearly, losing more than 270 soldiers fighting Hamas terrorists in close combat, rather than - doing as virtually any other country would do - minimizing risk to soldiers and simply using overwhelming aerial firepower.
To help us understand Israel's extensive protections of civilians in Gaza, we are joined by John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and one of the world's top experts in urban warfare.
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This much is clear: in far too many corners of the news media, attention spans are short.
The moral clarity that existed in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' October 7 massacres have dissipated in many places, replaced by a desire to draw a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
But the October 7 terrorist attacks aren't just a singular event; they make clear Hamas' motivations, tactics, inhumanity, and perhaps above all: the fruitlessness of negotiating with a group that will commit such acts.
In this week's podcast, we speak with Warren Kinsella, a lawyer, political strategist, and columnist at the Toronto Sun, who was recently in Israel with a group of journalists, as well as HonestReporting Canada's assistant director, Robert Walker, to get a first-hand look at Israel, and to understand what the news media should be reporting, but often isn't.
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Israeli society has often been called one big family, where in times of crisis, all segments of society come together to pull for the common good.
Since Hamas' massacres of October 7 and the subsequent months, that common mission has been on full display, despite Israeli disagreements over politics, religion and more.
As the war began seven months ago, launched by Hamas on a Jewish holiday, Israel was in turmoil. Shock and anger soon gave way to a realization that the country was unprepared to take care of its front-line defenders, those soldiers fighting Hamas.
One organization was soon born, Soldiers Save Lives, which worked to help equip those on the front lines, even when seemingly other safety nets failed. In this episode of The Honest Report podcast, we sit down with Ike Bodner, the organization's COO.
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Anti-Israel and antisemitic hate mongers have rarely sought to hide their true feelings, a reality that has been readily apparent for the last 6.5 months around the world.
But the response to it by Jewish and pro-Israel organizations have left much to be desired; beyond social media condemnations, little more has been done.
Fortunately, there are many options available.
Howard Levitt is a senior partner at Levitt Sheikh LLP, and a prominent media commentator on issues of combating antisemitism and anti-Israel hate using legal means, and he joins us on this week's podcast to discuss his template for creating a muscular, assertive and successful campaign, and why it's long overdue to be implemented.
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It's a claim that is taken almost as an unassailable truth by a huge number of news media outlets around the world: that some 33,000 people died in Gaza, and that two-thirds of them are women and children.
While the source of that claim is Hamas, and its "Gaza Ministry of Health," which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, or those killed by Israel or by errant Palestinian rockets, there is an even more fundamental way to recognize the data is unreliable: by statistics.
Abraham Wyner, a professor of Statistics and Data Science at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, recently penned a report where he pointed out that Hamas' casualty numbers don't add up, just from a statistical perspective, rendering them extraordinarily unlikely to be true.
Professor Wyner joins us as a guest to walk us through his research showing how statistics have shown Hamas' claims to be propaganda.
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For years, Israel has accused UNRWA, the disgraced United Nations agency, of ties to Palestinian terrorism and incitement and glorification of violence.
But only after the massacres of October 7 did the UN agency, officially tasked with providing aid to Palestinians, get into the larger spotlight.
Israel has accused - and provided evidence for - UNRWA staff of participating in Hamas' massacre, and has pointed to a huge Hamas data centre built directly underneath the agency's Gaza City headquarters, as well as satellite photos of schools built on top of Hamas bunkers, and much more.
Every year, UNRWA receives funding from international donors, including Canada, meaning Ottawa effectively is funding Hamas terrorism.
As a result, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) recently announced it was taking legal action against the Trudeau government, saying funding UNRWA contravenes Canadian anti-terrorism legislation.
Richard Marceau, CIJA's VP and General Counsel, joins us as a guest.
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Ian Ward is a Councillor in Colwood, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, a suburb of Victoria, population just under 20,000 people.
He has also become a leading voice of moral clarity, advocating for both Israel and the Jewish People, even though as an elected official in a municipality with a relatively small Jewish community, there is little electoral benefit in doing so.
Ian joins us as a guest on this week's podcast to discuss what prompted him to become so vocal, the feedback he has been getting from constituents, and why he thinks more municipal politicians need to stand up and make their voices heard.
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In the immediate aftermath of Hamas' invasion of southern Israel on October 7, it became evident that Israel lacked the ability to scale up its procurement of military and civilian gear, both for the IDF in its operations, and for Israeli civilians forced from their homes and displaced refugees in their own country.
In the face of fast-changing events, one Israeli man, Michael Freedman, saw an opportunity to help.
The Israel-based businessman quickly launched what became known as Project Shushan, a complex effort to deliver much-needed gear to Israel, working faster than official channels could provide. Michael joins us as our guest this week.
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It's a fact largely ignored by anti-Israel activists: that 20 percent of Israel's population are Arabs, largely Muslim. They enjoy the same democratic rights as Israeli Jews, can vote and stand for election, and hold citizenship as Israelis.
The Bedouin of Israel's south are part of this population, and they are unique in their own right, distinct from the Bedouin in Israel's north, the Druze community in Israel, and the Jewish majority.
In this week's podcast, we are joined by Ariel Viesel, the CO-CEO of Desert Stars, an Israeli organization that works to provide educational, vocational and other opportunities to members of Israel's Bedouin population in the country's south, and in so doing, help further integrate them into Israeli society, benefiting them, and Israel at large.Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.
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It is very easy to consume news in a bubble. Human nature is to read, listen and watch information that fits our preconceived ideologies and ideas.
Breaking out of that bubble is easier said than done, and when it comes to the hundreds of millions of Arabic-speakers around the world, getting accurate information about Israel can be next to impossible.
Rawan Osman is looking to change that. Following October 7, the Syrian-born, Lebanese-raised commentator, now based in Germany, became an outspoken advocate for Israel and the Jewish people.
Through her active social media presence, including her accounts, Arabs Ask, Osman has used her native Arabic language to share the truth about Israel to audiences who rarely had the opportunity to get that perspective.
Osman joins us as our guest this week.
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October 7 was more than just a terrorist attack, or even the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
It represented, perhaps more than any other event, the truest opportunity to see the real face of Hamas, not just its rhetoric, but its actions.
Not only the rapes, murders, tortures, and kidnappings, but the gleeful manner in which they were carried out, filming it all for posterity and out of pride.
But October 7, now more than five months ago, seems like ancient history, certainly to much of the news media, which now has widely lost interest, including in the Israeli hostages still in Gaza.
Seeing the sites of Hamas' massacres first-hand help to bring the reality home, not just of what happened that day, but of the moral necessity in fighting Hamas.
In late January, Toronto businessman Larry Maher brought a group of Canadian journalists to Israel for a short visit, where they bore witness to what Hamas carried out, and he joins us to discuss why he brought these individuals, and what he wants such a visit to achieve.
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Over the last five months, Rahim Mohamed has become one of Canada's most recognizable opinion columnists. The Calgary-based commentator, writing in The National Post, has also made a name for himself as a vocal advocate for Israel and a harsh critic of the moral turpitude that has allowed disinformation to fester.
While commentators are entitled to their own views, but not their own facts, that simple yet profound difference has been nevertheless been lost by so many reporters and columnists alike, regardless of the platform.
In this week's podcast, Rahim joins us to discuss his perspective on the state of the news media when it comes to covering the Hamas-Israel war, how he would rate their coverage, and what his predictions for the news media in the near future look like.
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As the war rages in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel, following the simple narrative is easy.
And that narrative, that Israel is a murderous state hell-bent on genocide, may be a simpler message to understand, but it is an inversion of reality.
While some politicians take the easy path, others put facts before ideology.
In recent weeks, Kevin Vuong, an independent Member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort York, located in downtown Toronto, has become one of the country's most vocal supporters, both of Israel, and of Canada's Jewish community at large.
He joins us as our guest this week to discuss what prompted him to become such a stalwart ally, his message for other politicians, and what the feedback from his constituents has been like.
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Egypt plays a towering role in the Middle East.
Not only is the country the most populous in the region, home to more than 100 million people, it is also the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, in 1979.
Egypt also plays a critical role in the current war between Israel and Hamas, bordering Gaza.
What is Cairo looking for in its relationship with Israel, with Hamas, and what role is it trying to play in the Middle East at large?
To share his expertise in the area, we are joined by Dr Ofir Winter. Dr. Winter is a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, where he specializes in Arab-Israeli relations and contemporary Egypt.
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In the current Hamas-Israel war, things are very different than before.
In previous conflicts, Israel practiced what was called "mowing the lawn," which meant degrading Hamas' capabilities, but avoiding all-out war. That is no longer the case.
But in an asymmetric war, how does that look long-term, and what power vacuum will take hold if and when Hamas is no longer in charge in the Gaza Strip?
To provide insight, we interview Efraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.
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