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The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, January 7, 1993-Page 7
World
By LEORA FRUCHT
JERUSALEM -
The Canadian Charter of Rights provides the best model in the world for Israel in its quest to adopt its own bill of rights, said Israel Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak at the opening of the Canada-Israel Law Conference in Jerusalem last month.
The bilateral conference on chartering human rights brought together supreme court justices, ministries and leading legal experts from both countries in a meeting that assumed uur anticipated timeliness as Israel's High Court of Justice wrangled with the legality of deporting 415 Palestinians.
The Israeli judges, including Chief Justice Meir Shamgar. uSed the recesses of their marathon deliberations to host their Canadian couiiter-parts. who included Chief Justice Antonio Lamer and Justices Claire L"Heureux-Dube. Beverley McLaughlin and Charles Gonthier of the Supreme Court of Canada. Justices Rosalie Abella and Walter Tarnpo'lsky of the Ontario Court of Appeal. Justice Herbert Marx of the Superior Court of Quebec, as well as law experts from the co-sponsoring institutions: McGill University. University of Toronto and the University of Alberta.
As a resuh. the Canadian delegation was given a rare close-up view of how the Israeli justice system struggles to uphold human rights in the face of security threats. Adinner for the Canadians at the home of Israeli Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak Was interrupted momentarily When a lawyer showed up witha petition, requesting that thedeportees" be allowed to return on humariitarian grounds. "Justice Barak returned to the table and proceeded to explain to us the issues involved." recalls McGill University law prdfessor Irwin Cotler. co-organizer of the conference., "We got a real sense of life of thelaw." -
Barak who earlier issued a tem-, porary restraining order stopping the deportation convoy in its tracks and also voted against the majority decision to allow the deportations to proceed — ex:pressed deep admiration
for the Canadian legal model. "The Canadian Supreme Court is the best Supreme Court in the common law world," he told conference participants. He praised the Canadian Charter of Rights as the most appropriate model for Israel tp adopt and expressed the hope that the conference would mark "the beginning of a new brotherhood in constimtional lawmaking" between the two countries.
Canadian Supreme Court Justice , Claire L'Heureux Dube called some of the difficulties the Court has faced in balancing constitutional rights. But she argued that the inherent merits of a humain i-ights; code and entrenched constitution are "irreftitable." In encouraging Israel to take a similar step L'Heureux Dube won over her audience by quoting Theodor Herzl. "If you will it. it is no dream." she concluded in well-rehearsed Hebrew.
Other sessions dealt with hale speech, minority rights and multicul-luralism^ women'srights and crimi-. nal justice.
Also participating in.the conference, held at the Hebrew Universi-
ty, were Canadian minister of citizenship and multicultural ism Gerry Wiener, Canadian ambassador to Israel Dr. Norman Spector. as well as a.contingent of law professors that included Lorraine Weinrib of the University of Toronto and Kathleen Mahoney of the University of Calgary.
The Israeli participants included several members of cabinet, among them. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Justice Minister David Libai and ministers Amnon Rubinstein and Shimon Shetreet, both law professors, as well as former Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir. Prof. Mor-dechai Kremnitzer. dean of the faculty .of law at the Hebrew University, organized the conference together with Prof. Irwin Cotler.
The conference also marked the establishment of the Canada-Israel legal co-operation program, which will provide opp>ortunities for further exchanges between legal experts from both countries! A follow-up conference in Canada — to'be hosted by the Canadian Supreme Court — is already planned.
American Jewish groups angered by U.S. decision
WASHINGTON (JTA) -
American Jewish groups have strongly protested the State Department's refusal to allow a U.S. ambassador to address an international conference in Jerusalem last week.
Morris Abram, who serves as ambassador to U.N. agencies in Geneva, was barred from addressing the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists," because jt convened at the Hyatt Hotel, which is situated on land that.was not part of Israeli Jerusalem prior to 1967.
The issue goes right to the heart of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, which has often been a point of contention between various U.S. administrations and the American Jewish community.
The United States never recognized Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967. While Washington believes the city
should remain united, it has said the final status should be determined in negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a statement saying it was "distressed and dismayed" by the State Department's action against Abram, who is a former chairman of the umbrella group.
It said the reason given, that the hotel lies in East Jerusalem, is ''inexplicable and linacceptable."
Arguing that the move: "violates, longstanding U-S. policy that Jemsa-iem remain an undivided city." the, group said the administration "appears to be prejudging the status of Jerusalem, which the United States has insistied should be the subject of discussion at the Arab-Israeli negotiating table."
[Cont'd. from page 6]
CJN; In your book, you argue that when American Jews criticize Israel, they do so with their gentile neighbors in mind. They 're taking a position that's not necessarily best for Israel, but what's best for themselves in the United States. That's a very cynical analysis: Don't you think there are Jews who criticize Israel who really do believe their critiques are justified on the merits?
Golan: Maybe. Saying 'all of them* was to generalize. But I'm saying that even to those Jews who really care about what's happening in Israel. . . they are not going to pay the price of that criticism: Jews tell me, 'Stop building settlements.' I say, 'You come and stop it. Don't tell me to stop it because you don't know what will be the result of stopping it.' And I'm against the settlements, by the way.
What infuriates me even niore are the rightist Jews who tellme, 'Don't give up any territory. Don't give up any ■ land.'' , ^ , ' ■ ' '■' '
If you don't want to give up the West Bank, come to defend the West Bank. Don't send my son to defend it. As long as you don't s;end yourself and your son to defend it, don't tell me what to do.
I believe tlwt most Jews also have in mind what ihjngs look like to the gentiles. Let's say that the setUgSLents were populai" with non-Jews. Tell me with your'fiand°on your heart, do you think American Jewry would criticize us for building settlements? . T
^o there is a veryihin line between really caring about '. Israel and really caring about what happens to North American Jewry.
CJ>f.- At tlie start of your book, you call Elie Wiesel and U.S. Jews 'enemies of Israel, more dangerous than the PLO:' How can you justify a statement like that?
Golan: Easily: Of course it was a figure of speech. The difference between Elie Wieserand every Jew and the PLO is that the PLO willingly wants to destroy Israel and Wiesel certainly does not wiUingly want to destroy Israel. American Jewry, including Wiesel, by its deeds and its non-deeds, by not coming to Israel, is causing Israel more harm than its enemies. And why is that? Because if someone declares himself my enemy, I can defend myself, 1 know what to do. But if somebody tells me he loves me but by his deeds and non-deeds cause me harm, I don't protect myself. I meant it in that respect.
CJN;./4s a political analyst, can you describe how the talk about Israel giving up part of the Golan Heights is being received in the country? Does Labor have a mandate for that?
Golan: Labor has a mandate to make peace and every Israeli knows, either consciously or subconsciously, that peace means territorial concessions. If you make peace with Syria you must concede territories. If you make peace with the Palestinians, you might concede territory. There is no other way. -
CJN.- You're sayihglHatpeople in IsraeLwantpeace so much they might make a bad deal?
Golan: Absolutely. I have no doubt about it.
Israelis are not willing any more to die for thelecurity of the country and they will do almost anything so that there will not be another war.
Especially now in the age of missiles:
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