The Canadian Zionist Federation (CZF) has approved as its 13th member a youth group which requires all of its members to make aliya within six years of joining the organization. The group, Telem, a Hebrew acronym, for the Movement for Zionist Fulfillment, is dedicated to promote aliya, the Hebrew language, Jewish education and the absorption of immigrants into Israeli society.
Telem, whose representatives promised to “change the stagnant status quo of the Zionist movement,” was admitted during the two-day CZF 15th national convention at the Harbour Castle Hotel. Philip Givens, chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission, was reelected to his third three-year term as CZF president.
Some CZF members said there was little need for the new group, which was founded last year, since aliya is fundamental to Zionism. But the Telem representatives replied that “the Zionist movement has last sight of its original goals of education, Jewish identification and aliya.” They said these goals had been replaced by politics, fund-raising and lack of commitment to Zionism.
“Maybe it is because we have lost this courage of pursuing aliya that we are so preoccupied with selling Israel to the world,” Howard Weiss, a Telem representative, said.
Irwin Cotler, a law professor at McGill University in Montreal, warned the delegates that Zionism must face a new wave of anti-Jewish feeling at a time when they must also deal with internal problems. “The problem facing Jews is not the assault from without, that is a permanent-part of Jewish history,” he said. “The problem becomes a confrontation from within.”
Cotler, said that in the face of worldwide-hostility, some Jews are beginning to debate whether a Jewish State is on obstruction to peace. He warned Zionists living outside Israel not to be content with an affluent lifestyle rather than accepting the rigorous life of Israel.
In resolutions adopted at the CZF policy-making session, members were urged to enroll their children in Zionist youth movements, establish scholarship funds for Zionist youths and send their children to Jewish day schools. The CZF commended the Israel government for its peace treaty with Egypt, condemned terrorism and asked the Canadian government to help bring to Israel the estimated 25,000 Falasha Jews living in Ethiopia.
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