Jewish civil rights group founder calls out derogatory, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic comments in PARIM group chat

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The founder of a Jewish civil rights group is calling out derogatory, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic comments allegedly directed at her by members of the Professional Association of Residents and Interns of Manitoba (PARIM) uncovered in a Winnipeg Sun story Friday.

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The group also demanded that PARIM identify and take action against those who participated in the group chat.

“Nothing shows you are a Jew-hater better than responding to complaints about anti-Semitism with anti-Semitic tropes,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder of the #EndJewHatred civil rights movement (EJH), in a statement sent to the Winnipeg Sun Friday. “That conversations like the one exposed by The Sun can take place openly in a group setting speaks volumes about how deeply ingrained Jew-hatred has become in Canadian society. Just like casual racism or homophobia are no longer tolerated in society, we need to eradicate casual Jew-hatred by ensuring consequences for those who engage in it. It is precisely this kind of casual Jew-hatred that has radicalized our youth to support a foreign terrorist organization in its murderous ambition to commit genocide – and to march through our streets and college campus, terrorizing the Jewish community.”

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The Winnipeg Sun on July 17 received screenshots of a July 16 internal conversation from PARIM where officials from the 2023-2024 academic year use derogatory language against Canadian Jewish activist Brooke Goldstein.

“Because why does the founder of the #EndJewHatred look like the vampire spokesperson?,” wrote a PARIM official in a group chat with colleagues. “OMG. CUZ MAYBE SHE A VAMPIRE. ‘SLURP SLURP’ goes the blood. She’s out to get all our blood.”

In May, Dr. Gem Newman delivered a controversial speech to fellow medical school graduates at the University of Manitoba, where he referred to the Israel-Hamas war as “genocidal.” He urged the audience to “stand in solidarity” with Palestine and Canadian Indigenous people. He asked the audience to oppose “settler colonialism both at home and abroad.”

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The speech prompted PARIM President Dr. Matthew Bzura to call out Newman on social media. Bzura subsequently told the Winnipeg Sun that he was strong-armed by PARIM officials, who demanded his resignation and threatened to take more action if he did not. Bzura, who says he now fears for his safety, stepped down.

#EndJewHatred activists reached out to PARIM asking them to address the issue, but instead PARIM officials took to an internal chat to “target” Goldstein, EJH said in its statement Friday.

“Organization by organization, school by school, and city by city, we need to confront this bigotry head-on and join in support of enforcing the civil and human rights of the minority Jewish people to live without oppression and fear,” said Goldstein in the statement. “We need to take our country back from radicalized racists who would destroy the rights and values we cherish. In our mission to end Jew-hatred in our lifetime, we are encouraged by people of good moral character, such as the person who was so troubled by the text exchange that they blew the whistle on this outrageous conduct. This gives all of us hope that whatever personal attacks may come our way, we will not allow our minority community to be further marginalized, traumatized, and dehumanized by people whose hearts weigh heavy with hatred.”

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EJH called on PARIM to immediately disclose publicly the identity of each person who participated in this text exchange, along with a full, unredacted copy of all text messages that have anything to do with Goldstein, #EndJewHatred, Jewish people or identity, Gem Newman’s speech, and subsequent actions by Dr. Bzura as well as those taken against him.

“#EndJewHatred requires transparency, followed by accountability,” EJH said in the statement. “The termination of all people who contributed to or ignored Jew-hatred is not enough. PARIM must take action, agreed upon with EJH, to implement training in antisemitism and adopt policies to prevent conduct like this from occurring ever again.”

A spokesperson from PARIM sent the following statement to the Winnipeg Sun for its story Friday.

“We are not able to confirm the authenticity of the comments, but we do know that they did not come from any PARIM board member. We also know the group chat has been shut down.”

glen.dawkins@kleinmedia.ca

X: @SunGlenDawkins

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