Canadian Institute for Jewish Research
Encyclopedia
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| Director | Frederick Krantz |
|---|---|
| Research Chairman | Baruch Cohen |
| Assistant Director | Joshua Peters |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Website | CIJR |
The Canadian Institute for Jewish Research (CIJR) is a non-profit, independent Montreal-based academic think-tank and educational foundation, devoted to bringing objective data and analysis of Israel, the Middle East, and Jewish issues to students, media, and university campuses, and to the Jewish and non-Jewish communities of Canada and the rest of the world.
CIJR was created by Professor Frederick Krantz, the Institute's Director, in 1988, primarily to strengthen public understanding of Jewish Israel as a progressive, democratic society in its complex Middle Eastern context. Now, with the help of a small but dedicated staff, CIJR manages a comprehensive database of news and opinions, hosts seminars and colloquia with internationally-respected academics, and publishes materials read the world over.
Creation and Early Years
Concerned by the sudden anti-Israel media of the first Palestinian Arab intifada, a small group of Montrealers began meeting at the home of Professors Frederick (intellectual history) and Lenore (art history) Krantz. The media's perspective of the conflict began reflecting a Palestinian inversion – Israel as Goliath, the Palestinians as David – paralyzing the organized Jewish community. The group began responding to the newspapers, radio, and TV stations, and eventually, received invitations to speak at community events to counter the anti-Israel wave.Following the proposed, secret Arab-Jewish "dialogue" conference in Montebello, Quebec, the Canadian Jewish News published a letter by Baruch Cohen, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, on August 4, 1988 in support of Prof. Krantz's strong position against appeasement. Krantz, noticing the letter, contacted Cohen to join his group. Today, Baruch Cohen is CIJR's Research Chair.
Without endowments from Montreal's or Canada's organized Jewish communities and functioning year-to-year on fundraisers, CIJR operates a small office that produces online and print publications, manages an extensive database, offers academic programming for college students, and sustains annual speakers' programs.
ISRAFAX
ISRAFAX is the Institute's quarterly research print publication. It provides CIJR members with key data and a digest of international analysis and opinion on relevant issues, mixing original content with articles from newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, official documents, and websites from around the world. The Israeli and Arab media are also scanned for timely reports, opinions, and other documents.The magazine is distributed internationally.
Middle East & Jewish World Databank
The DataBank, an archive of Israel, Middle East, and other materials related to the Jewish world, is accessible on CIJR’s website, with entries on issues ranging from Israeli society and regional politics to international Jewish communities, human rights, and the Holocaust.Dateline: Middle East
Published by the Student Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East, Dateline: Middle East, a journal on IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the Middle East and Jewish-world, is made possible by the support of the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research. Appearing several times per year on university and college campuses, it is distributed across Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. From an academic perspective, Dateline examines the Middle East and covers issues related to the politics, economics, and cultures of the region.
CIJR's Daily Isranet Briefing
As of autumn 2000, CIJR began sending Daily Isranet Briefings via email and fax to counter anti-Israel propaganda, and to keep readers informed of daily issues affecting the Jewish people. Each daily Briefing consists of multiple opinion pieces, articles, or other documents on specific, changing issues, except for Wednesdays, which feature a "News In Review" issue composed by the staff of CIJR and featuring news briefs and quotations that made headlines throughout the week.There is also a weekly French-language Communiqué Isranet bulletin published on Fridays.
Seminars & Colloquia
The Institute’s regular Insider Briefing seminars and Community Colloquia feature its own and other experts on Israel, the Middle East, Jews, and Jewish world issues. Recent speakers include noted journalist and political analyst Yossi Klein Halevi; Palestinian Media Watch Director, Itamar Marcus; Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman; Commentary magazine founder and editor-at-large, Norman Podhoretz, terrorism expert Steven EmersonSteven Emerson
Steven Emerson, is an American journalist and author, who writes about national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.Emerson is the author of six books, and co-author of two more. His television documentary Jihad in America won the 1994 George Polk Award for best Television Documentary, and...
, former Israeli IDF Chief of Staff, General Moshe Ya’alon; former CIA Director James Woolsey, Israel’s former Ambassador to Canada Alan Baker; and noted Jewish Diaspora leader and Jerusalem Post columnist Isi Leibler.