Memory and politics are inherently intertwined and can never be fully separated in post-atrocity and post-genocidal contexts. They are also dynamic and ever-changing. The interplay between memory and politics is, therefore, prone to manipulation, exaggeration or misuse by clever actors to meet a range of political ends.

This applies too to Rwanda’s commemoration period (Kwibuka). It runs from April to July each year,… (Full Story)

No fossilised pangolin tracks had been recorded anywhere in the world until a track was found in South Africa, dated to between 90,000 and 140,000 years ago. (Full Story)

President Donald Trump triggers chaos among America’s closest allies by starting a full-blown trade war with Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union. Trump uses Machiavellian and Nixon’s madman techniques to destabilise the world order. This will likely cause a recession by mid-2025 in North America and around the world. At the same time, the Trump administration favours the Putin regime while trying to coerce Ukraine to sign a peace deal with Russia. Trump wants to divide and rule nations within NATO. Moreover, President Trump tries to trigger economic and political crises around the world. Still, Trump’s actions could be part of a well-planned agenda to rally Americans to his personal agenda. Trump could manufacture a political and economic crisis to gain more power, restrict people’s freedom, and rally people to his own personal causes. All together, Trump gets along very well with Russia; since then, Trump has been trying to damage the national economies of NATO members and cut funding to Ukraine. Afterwards, Russian government officials told the media that Washington’s policies were allied with Russia’s. Privately, Trump and Putin might want to work together to get some territorial expansion. Trump wants to rule over Canada, Greenland, and Panama, while Putin wants to rule over Eastern Europe. Thus, Trump creates winning conditions to achieve his political agenda by hurting NATO members’ economies through tariff imposition. Trump cuts funding and intelligence to Ukraine to support Putin’s war. As well, Trump considers America is being exploited by its allies, and he wants America to no longer have trade deficits with its trade partners. In a time of global crises manufactured by Trump, the U.S. President expects to be perceived by Americans as a great leader putting America’s interests first. He wants to fix what are, in his view, some of the past mistakes, expanding the American territory, and isolating the U.S. from its closest allies to enhance his powers as a U.S. president. (Full Story)

By Robert Nelly

The reasons for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigning have now been made irrelevant, since he stepped down because of his drop in support. However, the EKOS polling firm, which gave Trudeau a lousy 19.4% level of support only three days after the traitor Chystia Freeland resigned, now gives Trudeau 32%, only 1.9% less than his rival Pierre Pollievre. If the election were called today, it would be a toss-up. It's any man's game. Other polls are also showing Trudeau is nearly tied with Pollievre. Furthermore, Donald Trump has backed away from his threats so there is no need to send Freeland over there, which was the original reason that Trudeau gave for demoting this unappreciative, backstabbing ingrate.  (Full Story)

For information on Tolerance.ca and the articles published on this site, please contact : victorteboul@tolerance.ca

As part of a series of articles on major personalities who have furthered the cause of tolerance in Canada, Tolerance.ca® presents the world-renowned Montreal philosopher Charles Taylor, 2007 winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize. Mr Taylor co-chairs the Québec Commission on reasonable accommodations created by the Charest government in February 2007. (Full Story)

Every year for several weeks before November 11, a field of scarlet poppies appears on coat lapels across Canada. This wearing of the poppy has a complex history ... (Full Story)

By Dr. Göran Adamson, Associate Professor in Sociology, PhD,  London School of Economics

Sweden has undergone a radical transformation in recent years, marked by surging violent crime, political tensions, and cultural clashes. The source of this transformation? A dangerous combination of mass migration and the ideology of multiculturalism. (Full Story)

The War Against the Past: Fighting for our History

10:00 - 17:00

Wednesday 16 October 2024

EU District Brussels (Full Story)

Montreal Jews rely on non-Jewish academics, writers and filmmakers to present and even explain, in French, Jewish realities to the Quebecois public and within Francophone academia. The considerable number of publications on Jewish themes, both in fiction and non-fiction, written in French by non-Jews is certainly unequaled in the Francophone world and most likely in the West, contends writer Victor Teboul. But do these works encourage or dissuade critical assessment of Quebec and of Quebec–Jewish relations, asks Tolerance.ca’s editor, whose most recent book also questions Quebecois identity. (Full Story)

Valentine’s Day rituals often begin in the classroom, where the holiday serves both as an enjoyable arts and crafts activity and as a pedagogical tool, teaching children about structuring love and friendship into a concrete, prescribed form. The ritualization of love continues throughout our lives, not only on Valentine’s Day, but through weddings, anniversaries, and Mother’s and Father’s Day. (Full Story)

By Georgy Poroskoun

The mercenaries led by businessman and former underworld figure Yevgeny Prigozhin surprised the world with their mutiny and their threats to reach Moscow in an armed column. Who is Prigozhin, whose name is now familiar to all of us? How will this historic event affect the stability of the Russian establishment? And at this point, should Jerusalem look differently at its relations with Moscow? (Full Story)

BBAM! Gallery is proud to present the exclusive Montreal premiere of Essential Noise Volume 1 - a new and immersive film and music experience telling the story of the 1960s Toronto Yorkville music scene (the coffeehouse/folk era). The Montreal screening will be an exclusive director's cut with emphasis on Leonard Cohen's influence on the era. (Full Story)

By Pnina Sharvit Baruch and Udi Dekel

The Israeli government prefers to undermine the rule of law, violate Israel’s commitments to the United States, and pay the price for the escalation of terrorism in the northern West Bank in order to advance the ideology of the radical right. (Full Story)

ALBERTA – On May 29, Alberta celebrated an important milestone for women's representation in Canadian politics. The results of the Alberta provincial election revealed a notable increase in the number of women joining Alberta's Legislative Assembly, marking a momentous step forward in achieving gender equality in political leadership. (Full Story)

Dear Josh,

You are always picking on Quebec’s language laws because you know little or no French. Have you ever written to your readers about a French film or a French book that you liked ? I remember how you praised Michael Applebaum’s command of the French language when he was serving as our Interim Mayor, while everybody laughed at his broken street French. (Full Story)

London, U.K.  Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch whose rule spanned seven decades, died on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace has announced. (Full Story)

Web magazine Tolerance.ca, founded by writer Victor Teboul, marks its 20th Anniversary in 2022. Visit the event marking its 10th anniversary at la Librairie Zone Libre, on Thursday, November 29, 2012. (Full Story)

The United Nation’s General Assembly adopted on Thursday January 20, 2022, by consensus, a resolution that condemns denial and distortion of the Holocaust.  (Full Story)

A lifelong resident of Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, Ekua Holmes (b. 1955) is an artist and community activist whose body of work explores themes of childhood, family bonds, memory, and resilience. This exhibition focuses on her award-winning children’s book illustrations—vibrant collages revealing stories of self-determination, love, and community that reflect the artist’s distinctive vision and commitment to Black imagery and representation. (Full Story)

By Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE)

Dr. Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), underscores the role of antisemitic concepts and rhetoric in the ideology and activities of major far-right groups in the United States, just after extreme right-wing groups, stormed Capitol Hill the day Congress certified Joe Biden as President-Elect. Dr. Beirich outlines the theoretical and organizational evolution of antisemitism amid the ranks of America's right-wing extremists. (Full Story)

On the morning of September 4, 2020, Ms. Surnaa, a Mongolian employee of the Alshaa Left Banner Chinese Communist Party Committee in western Southern Mongolia, jumped from her residential building to her death in protest of the Chinese authorities’ new language policy called the “second generation bilingual education”. (Full Story)

Is Diversity about empowering people who have been victims of exclusion or an expression of resentment? Resentment, argues McGill University professor Marc Angenot in his  most recent Senior College Lecture, inspires defeatist behavior by pretending  to march towards the future, to avenge the real or mythical wrongs undergone in the past. (Full Story)

In 1976, the nationalist Parti Québécois came to power in Quebec and governed the province until 1985. A tense period followed its election within business circles and among the Jewish community. In the midst of this crisis, Victor Teboul’s Mythe et images du Juif au Québec had just been published and it exposed a negative portrayal of Jews in Quebec’s most well-read novels and history books. The book had a strong impact on the Jewish leadership and created some controversy among Quebec’s francophone intellectual elite. (Full Story)

To many observers, the Jewish community in Quebec is highly integrated into Quebec society, yet to others it appears insular. How can this apparent contradiction be explained? How do religious groups, including Jews, deal with the trend towards secularization in Quebec? We raised these questions and others with Dr. Morton Weinfeld. Professor of Sociology at McGill University in Montréal, Dr Weinfeld holds the Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies. He is the author of Like Everyone Else, but Different: The Paradoxical Success of Canadian Jews (McClelland & Stewart, 2001), a study of the Jewish community in Canada. Dr. Weinfeld is also a recognized authority on Quebec’s Jewish community. (Full Story)

On Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:00 pm at the Gelber Centre, veteran British journalist Ian Black will be speaking on “Israelis and Palestinians: Contested Past, Uncertain Future.” (Full Story)

By Pnina Sharvit Baruch
 
The discussion surrounding the Nation State Law has sparked a heated debate in Israeli society. One side claims that the law is a proper and necessary legislative anchor for the national character of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, against those who seek to deny the Jewish people’s right to a national home in its homeland. The other side argues that this is discriminatory legislation, which undermines the democratic nature of the State of Israel. In reviewing the Nation State Law, it is important to consider additional processes at the political and legal levels. An examination of the Law in the context of these processes indicates that it is too early to eulogize Israeli democracy. (Full Story)

Many Canadians take pride in the fact that their country is a world leader when it comes to multiculturalism. Yet things have shifted in the past few years. 9/11, the ‘war on terror’ and religious manifestations in the public domain have raised some worries and hostility in regard to multicultural policies and specific minorities. Tolerance.ca interviewed specialists and spoke to students and recent graduates on questions raised by this new reality. Does multiculturalism reinforce our feeling of belonging to Canadian society or does it exacerbate our differences? (Full Story)

Jewish Writer Reviews His Diary And a Wonderful Book Is Born. Review on my novel La Lente découverte de l'étrangeté

By Nancy Snipper

The Chronicle, West End Edition, Montréal

When Victor Teboul was a young boy, he began writing a diary. The time was 1956 when England, Israel and France began the protracted conflict against Egypt over the Suez Canal. At the age of 11, he witnessed his father being shut away in jail and the subsequent expulsion of his family, along with thousands of other Jewish families.

Still, he kept on writing in his diary. He stopped at the age of 18 when he came to Montreal.

"We ended up in France as refugees in a monastery near Grenoble. Then we moved to Paris, and lived there for six years," said Teboul, noting his family was given one week to get out of Alexandria when war broke out - a place that nurtured his cosmopolitan outlook and ebullient spirit.

"In Alexandria, my family spoke so many languages: Arabic, Greek, French, Italian - whatever suited the moment at hand. I had many Arab friends, a friend from Malta, friends from all over Europe. Alexandria was a mini world ", said the 57-year-old writer who went back to the city many years ago to visit the place that gave birth to his novel.

"Everything had changed. You could only hear Arabic on the streets; life wasn't at all the same." (Full Story)

When he assumed office, President Obama lent his weight and prestige to jumpstart a process that would lead to an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, shunning the advice of many within and outside his administration who argued that the gaps between the sides were too wide to allow a comprehensive agreement. On the brink of a substantive rift between Israel and the United States, President Obama ultimately accepted a compromise on the issue of construction in the West Bank settlements. This opened the door to a limited thaw in United States-Israel relations. (Full Story)