Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
Today, as the world celebrates the 144th anniversary of Canada Day, I want to honor you because thinking of a Statesman of your caliber is for us an emotional moment.
As we, Americans join our cousins, the Canadian people, in the celebration of Canada Day, we want to express our admiration and our devoted friendship and eternal gratitude for standing there, right next to us as we, Americans, walk History through rough and tough.
Reading your bio should be an inspiration for many youngsters all over the world in search of moral guidance and in their quest for personal equilibrium.
You have been instrumental in reshaping Canada's Conservative Movement and Party, and under your leadership, Canada has showed strength in hard decisions and you have led your people, your children, with firm hand.
Canadians know they are safe with you.
One of the litmus tests for any statesman worldwide is their stance on Israel and the Jewish people, on Antisemitism and Zionism -all, the make or break of any politician's image of fortitude.
Reading the speech you gave at a conference on combating Antisemitism, in Ottawa, Ontario, November 2008, one cannot but admire the unshakable understanding you have of what's right and what's wrong.
Three years have gone by since then, and the unimaginable has happened.
The United States of America, whose Jewish population was the next strongest in any country in the world besides Israel, is moving in a diametrically opposite direction as we, Americans, look with dismay and horror at our leadership taking us through dangerous paths of a totally uncharted territory in our History.
Your words should serve us as consolation and inspiration to overcome our present situation:
"Remembering the Holocaust is not merely an act of historical recognition. It must also be an understanding and an undertaking. An understanding that the same threats exist today. And an undertaking of a solemn responsibility to fight those threats.
Jews today in many parts of the world and many different settings are increasingly subjected to vandalism, threats, slurs, and just plain, old-fashioned lies.
Let me draw your attention to some particularly disturbing trends.
Anti-Semitism has gained a place at our universities, where at times it is not the mob who are removed, but the Jewish students under attack. And, under the shadow of a hateful ideology with global ambitions, one which targets the Jewish homeland as a scapegoat, Jews are savagely attacked around the world – such as, most appallingly, in Mumbai in 2008.
We have seen all this before. And we have no excuse to be complacent. In fact we have a duty to take action. And for all of us, that starts at home.
In Canada, we have taken a number of steps to assess and combat anti-Semitism in our own country. But of course we must also combat anti-Semitism beyond our borders, - an evolving, global phenomenon. And we must recognize, that while its substance is as crude as ever, its method is now more sophisticated.
Harnessing disparate anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Western ideologies, it targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, Israel, as the source of injustice and conflict in the world, and uses, perversely, the language of human rights to do so.
We must be relentless in exposing this new anti-Semitism for what it is. Of course, like any country, Israel may be subjected to fair criticism. And like any free country, Israel subjects itself to such criticism – healthy, necessary, democratic debate."
And you went on to say this memorable, Historic words:
"And I know, by the way, because I have the bruises to show for it, that whether it is at the United Nations or any other international forum, the easiest thing to do is simply to just get along and go along with this anti-Israel rhetoric, to pretend it is just about being even-handed, and to excuse oneself with the label of honest broker.
"There are, after all, a lot more votes—a lot more—in being anti-Israeli than in taking a stand. But as long as I am prime minister, whether it is at the United Nations, the Francophonie or anywhere else, Canada will take that stand, whatever the cost."
Thus, Mr. Prime Minister, I take my heart in my hands to thank you more than any word could tell, as an American patriot and political commentator, as a committed Jew, a lover of Judaism and of Israel, the mother of a volunteer IDF soldier, for your steadfast commitment in support of Israel and the Jewish people.
May you always be an inspiration for leaders worldwide and may G-d continue blessing you as you take Canada to greatest spheres of History.
This is G-d's Blessing for Leaders: חזק וברוך HAZAK U BARUCH
It means "BE STRONG AND BE BLESSED."
G-d bless Canada!
Yours,
Eliana Benador
Goodwill Ambassador Eliana Benador is a national and international political adviser, global strategist and the former CEO and founder of Benador Associates.
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