Arabs and Jews want and deserve peace.
The goal is achievable if and when they are supported and there is acceptance that both communities have rights to live in the area – in peace and security.
Unfortunately, for the greater part of the past 100 years, engaged and empowered leaders from both communities, with the help of others (sometimes interference), have been unable to achieve sustainable peace. Many people around the world have now lost track of what sustainable peace would look like.
This information sheds some light on the accusations and attacks directed to Israel and encourage a well-balanced understanding on the issues at play.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization, was inspired to create these pages in response to a series of campaigns, held or unfolding in Canada, attacking Israel and lacking adequate context, including the Toronto Declaration.
Why is our message important today?
In recent years, representatives from disparate groups have banded together to attack Israel and label it an Apartheid regime, a serious allegation. Does a country not have a right to defend itself from rockets, threats and other forms of violence? Did not nations, led by the UN and world leaders, endorse a resolution recommending the division of the area into two provincial states, one Jewish and one Arab? Hasn’t the leadership of one side denied the right of the other to enjoy nationhood? Is the dissenting leadership engaged in peace, or in guerrilla warfare, terrorism and aligned with despotic totalitarian regimes?
Before supporting boycotts, attacks and demonizing Israelis, can people of good faith not contemplate all sides and the real consequences of their actions?
If we continue to delegitimize Israel and its rights , what will happen to Jews, a people who cannot and should not forget the scars and pains of genocide? Will militant groups gain strength and continue teaching children to hate? Will innocent citizens, Jews or Arab, live better lives?
On behalf of the children of the region, both Jewish and Arab, the many supporters of our cause, and the good-natured people who may have boycotted too briskly, we will maintain this site.
Seeds of Hope
Resources for further reading and inspiration:
National Post Sept 10
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1977605
National Post Sept 10
http://www.nationalpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=1977490
Toronto Sun Sept 10
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2009/09/10/10820301.html
National Post Sept 4
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1960441&p=1
National Post Sept 3
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1960040
Toronto Star Editorial, 2009
http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/692083
Simon Wiesenthal Center article
http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=
lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=7459569
Jewish Virtual Library (Myths and Facts)
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html
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