Isi Leibler, the former senior vice president of the World Jewish Congress and the organization's harshest critic, never hesitates to take up the gauntlet. He embarked on a path leading to the downfall of WJC's executive director, and the subsequent departure of Edgar Bronfman. Following a brief visit to Canada last month, Leibler has now set his sights on the Canadian Council on Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) in a frontal attack against that organization.

While we have often agreed with the positions that Liebler articulates vis-à-vis Israel and its foreign policies, we find it disturbing that, after a short visit to this country, it appears he is now preparing to enter into a major confrontation with CIJA. As well, to support his thesis that Canadian Jewish advocacy is in a sorry state, he underestimates the tremendous strides that have been made in terms of Canada-Israel relations and the major part that B'nai Brith Canada has played in these advances.

It is apparent from Liebler's writings that he has not done any significant research on his subject matter. He appears oblivious to the fact that the Canadian government today is certainly among Israel's strongest allies - if not the strongest - in the battle against political Islam. The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was among Israel's staunchest defenders during the ill-fated Second Lebanon War against Hizbullah terrorist forces. It was the first of the Western powers to cut off direct aid to a Hamas-led PA government. It is all too often the sole voice of opposition at the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council and the Francophonie on resolutions targeting the Jewish state.

Liebler should also be aware that Canada's Israel advocacy efforts were not the purview of Canadian Jewish Congress, as he suggests, even prior to 2004. Canada-Israel relations were governed under the committee known as the Canada-Israel Committee comprised of B'nai Brith Canada, the Canadian Zionist Federation, the federations and Canadian Jewish Congress. B'nai Brith Canada was a most active participant in this body, representing the interests of grassroots Canadian Jewry.

WITH THE creation of CIJA, the Canada-Israel Committee was disbanded as a coalition body consisting of Jewish community organizations. Instead, it reconstituted under the same name, as a committee of ad personam appointees that take their policy direction from CIJA. It was at this juncture that B'nai Brith Canada, which chose to retain its independence, decided to continue its own grassroots Israel advocacy pursuits.

This "plucky" organization has been at the forefront of Jewish advocacy in this country. Our strong pro-Israel voice is clearly heard in the corridors of Ottawa, with the influential Embassy Magazine citing Frank Dimant, B'nai Brith Canada's executive vice president, as one of "top 40 names influencing Canada's foreign policy."

B'nai Brith Canada's prominent position at the vanguard of the Jewish community's advocacy agenda is widely acknowledged. It was the only Jewish organization to call on the Canadian government to boycott Durban II. Only after our voice was heard and the government pulled out - even before Israel and the US - did others follow our lead.

For years, we have publicly demanded that governments live up to their responsibility to protect all communities by providing necessary additional funding for security for Jewish institutions. We pleased to be able to relate that such funds have now been made available by the government.

For years B'nai Brith, through the Canada-Israel Committee, worked to change the policy of the government as it pertained to the boycott of the Israeli arms industry, depriving Canadian soldiers of the best possible armaments simply because Canada insisted on being "neutral" when it came to the conflict in the Middle East. Following recent discussions that B'nai Brith Canada conducted with the current political leadership, the government has just announced, for the first time, the acquisition of Israeli drones for our armed forces in Afghanistan.

CIJA and the Canada Jewish Congress will undoubtedly speak for themselves, but your dismissive reference to B'nai Brith Canada simply has no place in the reality of Canadian pro-Israel advocacy.

The writer is national director of advocacy for B'nai Brith Canada.

Isi Leibler responds:

The author totally misread my article. I expressly distinguished between the CIJA and the Bnai Brith, whom I praised together with the CIJR as "plucky organizations." My criticisms were targeted against the Canadian Jewish establishment which has allowed professional PR operators to effectively hijack official Hasbara activities under the rubric of the CIJA and assume a "Sha, shtil" approach, unwilling even to protest against those promoting moral equivalency between Israelis defending their country and terrorists.

My views are shared by the Israeli ambassador and many Canadians, especially pro-Israel activists, including a former president of the Canadian UIA and Canada-Israel Committee.

I also praised Stephen Harper's government for its courageous support of Israel but predicted that if the official arm of Canadian pro-Israel advocacy promotes policies exemplified by the obscene "10 commandments," the Jewish community should not be surprised if the tide turns against them, and their children opt out of Israeli advocacy.

I would therefore urge Jewish organizations and individual Canadian Jewish activists who assured me that they condemned the "Sha Shtil" approach, not to remain silent but to openly repudiate such attitudes and demand a change in policy.

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