Leslie had previously mentioned to me that the night we had planned to see each other was also the night Alan Dershowitz, noted Harvard law professor, was keynoting at a rally designed as a response to the Holocaust Denial Conference staged recently by the Iranian President. I didn't really have any interest in attending. In the end I changed my mind, curiosity getting the better of me. I'm glad I went. The event was intense, and included federal and provincial government representatives, Holocaust survivors, and other speakers. The MC was Linda Frum (see video here from 1996 interview) Sokolowski, a columnist for Canada's National Post newspaper, and daughter of much loved news achor, Barbara Frum (see earlier post re Barbara Frum, and her son, former Bush speech writer, conservative bugaboo, David Frum). Dershowitz was certainly in his element, forcefully promising that he would indict the Iranian President on the charge of inciting genocide, and press the UN and other international institutions to prevent him from developing nuclear weapons. The night began with the lighting of Hannukah candles by a group of surivors, and ended with the singing of the Israeli national anthem, which is really an ode to survival, called "HaTikva" or The Hope. It was certainly sung by Jews long before the establisment of the modern state of Israel and testifies to the determination of previous generations to survive and live free of persecution. I sang along thinking more about the commonality of the themes of HaTikva with the plight of all persecuted peoples, than its present use as the modern Zionist ballad. There was a lot said tonight, in good faith and with strong conviction, about the need to learn lessons from history. One speaker, a respected Roman Catholic priest and academic, spoke eloquently of the commonality shared by Christians, Jews and Muslims. Edmund Burke's elegant observation that "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" hung over the evening like a constant reminder. Churchill and Eli Weisel ("to remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all") were also among the quoted, though my favorite Churchillism was not repeated: "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." There was talk of Rwanda and Darfur, and the importance of remembering and understanding history, so that we are not doomed to repeat it. I remembered going to rallies as a child to champion the freedom of captive Soviet Jewish Refusniks, and Syrian Jews, and I saw similarities in the calls for action by tonight's speakers. As I left the synagogue, I thought about my grandfather's family left behind in Latvia, executed in a forest in 1941 as part of Hitler's program to render the Ostland (literally "east land") Judenfrei. In their memory, I hold on to hope that we will never see a repeat of slaughters witnessed in the 20th century, and that we will find a way to bring peace to blood-soaked Darfur, among other places.

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