1. Emmanuel Macron Elected President of France,Israeli Politicians Relieved at Le Pen Loss

EmmanuelMacron has been elected the next President of France after capturing over65 per cent of the vote yesterday in the final round of France’s pivotaltwo-stage presidential elections, beating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Politiciansin Israel expressed relief following the vote and pledged to work withMacron on security issues surrounding radical Islamic terrorism, and increasingeconomic ties between the two countries. Israelis, as well as France’s Jewishcommunity, had been on edge as Le Pen had pledged to ban French citizens fromholding citizenship to another nation (including Jewish-French citizens whoheld Israeli citizenship), as well as concerned over the ugly antisemitic pastof her National Front party - which was founded in the early 1970s bysympathizers of Vichy France and the German Nazi Party.

2. Bernie Sanders Comes Out AgainstBDS, Says It Will Not Help Solve Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – who remains wildlypopular among progressive youth in both the United States and Canada – hascome out strongly against the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions(BDS) campaign against Israel during an interview late last week with AlJazeera. In response to a question on whether he supported the BDS campaign,Sanders stated, “No, I’m not a supporter of that… I think our job as a nationis to do everything humanly possible to bring Israel and the Palestinians andthe entire Middle East — to the degree that we can — together. I supportIsrael’s right to exist.”

3. Holocaust DenierErnst Zundel Denied Immigration to U.S.

According to a recent story in The Washington Post, ErnstZundel - a German publisher who is known for his denial of the Holocaust andincitement of hatred against Jews while living in Canada - has been deniedentry into the U.S., despite the fact that his wife is a U.S. citizen.According to a decision issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) onMarch 31, Zundel is inadmissible because he committed foreign crimes thatresulted in a conviction of five years. In 2007, he was sentenced to five yearsin prison in Germany for "14 counts of incitement to hatred and one countof violating the memory of the dead." The decision states that Zundel'spublications "agitated for aggressive behavior against Jews" and he"has shown no remorse for his actions," making these negative factorsoutweigh any hardship faced by Zundel and his wife. 

4. Chrystia FreelandDenounces Hate Crimes Against Jewish Groups, UNESCO Vote

During her speech at last week’s Embassy of Israel YomHa’atzmaut reception, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland emphasizedCanada’s close friendship with Israel and denounced hate crimes targetedtowards Jewish groups in Canada – where 17 per cent of hate crimes in Canadaare committed against Jewish people, even though the Jewish population is onlyapproximately one per cent of the Canadian population.

“It is incomprehensible that so many years afterthe Shoah, we still see incidents of hatred against religious groups,” shesaid. “I am sad to say that Jewish people are the religious group in Canadamost likely to be targeted for hate crimes. That is a shame and something wemust denounce.”

She went on to discuss her stance on the recentUNESCO vote, stating, “I publicly denounced the attempt to politicize thisinstitution - whose responsibility is to strengthen cultural and religiouscoexistence, not weaken it - with yet another one-sided resolution.”

5. Dallas-Based Comerica Bank ShutsDown Account Linked With BDS

In an unprecedented move, Dallas-basedbank Comerica has stated its intent to ‘terminate’ the account of the so-calledInternational Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), which has links with the BDS campaignagainst Israel. Despite Comerica’s insistence that the decision to close theaccount was a “business decision,” many are linking it to Texas’ new anti-BDSlegislation signed into law last week on Israel’s Independence Day. Jewishgroups in Texas had long been demanding that Comerica close the account of theIADL, and have welcomed the bank’s final decision on the issue. 

6. Hamas Chooses New Leader

Followingtheir recent rebranding effort, the Hamas terrorist group – which also servesas a pseudo-government in the Gaza Strip – has chosen Ismail Haniyeh to become its newpolitical leader. Haniyehis seen by many Palestinians as being a “man of the people,” in contrast to theimage portrayed by Hamas’ previous political leadership, which had beeninfamous within the Palestinian community for living and operating in therelative comfort and luxury of Qatar, while their subjects in Gaza suffered inpoverty and internal conflict. Despite being seen as a relative “moderate”within Hamas, Haniyeh maintains much of Hamas’ core message – which is asingular focus on the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people.

7. India-Israel Alliance About MoreThan Defence

As IndianPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s July visit to Israel nears, an interesting piece in The Diplomat examines the ever-growing alliance between the JewishState and India – and notes that ties between the two countries gomuch deeper than a simple security agreement forged over the common enemy ofradical Islamic terror. The Diplomatnotes that Israeli-Indian trade now exceeds $5 billion a year - with over $100billion in Israeli investments made in India since 2002. Although the piecenotes that Israel and India still do not see eye-to-eye on the issue of Iran’snuclear program, the relationship between the two nations is poised to take offin the next decade, and Israel can now be confident it has a reliable – andpowerful - friend in South Asia.

8. FSWC at Work

FSWC’s annualSpirit of Hope Gala is fast approaching, and limited registrationremains open! We have only TWO tables left for May 18th! This year’sGala features former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and our keynotespeaker, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron. Ourannual gala helps support FSWC’s ground-breaking initiatives such as thestate-of-the-art, award-winning, mobile learning classroom - the Tour for Humanity - our tolerance and diversity training workshops forgovernment officials and front-line public service workers such as local policeand teachers, and our community support and awareness campaigns. Be a part ofchange and a brighter future for Canada – register today!

PHILANTHROPY CORNER

FSWC is adesignated Canadian charitable organization that provides tax receipts forcharitable contributions. A donation to FSWC is tax deductible and provides anincredible footprint of direct action in our community. If you want to changelives and provide for positive community development, consider extending yourphilanthropy to Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center this fall. Make it count.