Volume 4 No 1 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2012] HONORS 347
2009
Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, which led
to the development of new research and educational tools.
• Stephen Harper visited the sites of the Mumbai attacks and memorializes
the Jewish victims.
• When Venezuela expelled Israel’s ambassador, Canada stepped in to
represent Israel’s diplomatic and consular interests, and also to
encourage Venezuela to ensure the security of its Jewish community and
end state-sponsored antisemitism.
• Canada was first to boycott Durban II after its predecessor conference
descended into an anti-Israel antisemitic political opportunity.
• Prime Minister Harper sent minister Jason Kenney to Prague to submit
Canada’s participation as a full member in the International Task Force
on Holocaust Education (Canada will chair the task force in 2013).
• Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made special mention of
Canada in a speech to the UN General Assembly when he said, “I wish
to extend my thanks to Prime Minister Harper for his staunch support
for Israel’s right of self-defense.”
2008
• On the occasion of Israel’s 60th anniversary, Prime Minister Harper
said:
All of my life, Israel has been a symbol of the triumph of hope and faith.
After 1945, our battered world desperately needed to be lifted out of
postwar darkness . . . needed to be inspired. It was the people who had
suffered most who provided that inspiration . . . From shattered Europe
and other countries near and far, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob made their way home.
In the sixty years that followed, Israel blossomed into one of the most
successful countries on earth . . .
Israel at 60 remains a country threatened by those groups and regimes
who deny to this day its right to exist . . .
Canada stands side by side with the State of Israel, our friend and ally
in the democratic family of nations. We have stood with Israel even
when it has not been popular to do so, and we will continue to stand
with Israel, just as I have always said we would . . .