WINNIPEG — A recent appearance here by anti-Israel activist Jeff Halper highlighted the presence of a new player on the pro-Israel side in town. 

Almost half of the 50 or so people who showed up at the Free Press Café for Halper’s interview with Jewish Post & News publisher/editor Bernie Bellan were affiliated with the new Winnipeg Friends of Israel.

“We are a grassroots organization that was established by individuals who are passionate and care deeply about Israel” says Winnipeg Friends of Israel co-founder Yolanda Papini-Pollock. “Our organization is made up of various people from all walks of life, including people from several religious groups.”

An Israeli-born teacher and documentary filmmaker who has lived in Winnipeg for the past 24 years, Papini-Pollock got the ball rolling on Winnipeg Friends of Israel last summer after the Gaza War.

“I was frustrated by the media bias, the coverage without context, the attempts to delegitimize Israel and deny our people the right of self-defence,” she said. “Violent demonstrations, hate crimes, anti-Semitic comics, blood libels allegations and hostile media coverage were a daily event that led people to question whether Israel has the right to exist or defend herself against repeated terror attacks.

“During the Operation it became evident that we can no longer observe the matter as bystanders and watch a ‘big lie’ grow bigger without challenging it with dissemination of the truth. I started emailing friends and found that there were many others who shared my frustration.”

The group held its first program at Papini-Pollock’s home this past December. The guest speaker was Kasim Hafeez, who was at the time doing outreach and education programming for B’nai Brith locally. As reported last year in The CJN, Hafeez is a British-born Pakistani Muslim who switched from being virulently anti-Israel to supporting Zionism after reading Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s The Case for Israel. Because of his understanding of Islam and the anti-Israel perspective, he is able to counter many myths and teach Israel advocates how to more effectively counter anti-Israel arguments.

Hafeez has now spoken three times to Winnipeg Friends of Israel at the homes of Bernie Bellan and Papini-Pollock, most recently on Feb. 24. Winnipeg Friends of Israel supporters also heard from Steve McDonald, associate director of communications for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), who came from Toronto to address the group. 

In addition to these programs, the group has been encouraging supporters to buy Israeli products that are locally available. Members have also been monitoring local media for anti-Israel bias and advocating for Israel on social media.

“Our objectives are to proactively promote Israel during peaceful periods, to effectively defend Israel during times of war or when Israel is misrepresented in the media, disseminate true information about Israel thought mainstream media and expose the true Israel that we all love and admire,” Papini-Pollock said.

Papini-Pollock said the organization has a Twitter account and a Facebook page, with more than 145 followers so far, and is working on developing a website. She said as many as 30 individuals have attended the speakers programs and interest is growing.

“We have been getting a lot of help from Shelley Faintuch [community relations director for Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and CIJA’s associate director of local partner services] as well as support from Bridges for Peace [a Christian Zionist organization with branches across Canada],” Papini-Pollock said. “We are prepared to work with whoever wants to work with us.”

Winnipeg Friends of Israel’s next program will be an evening learning about minority groups in the Muslim world. The event will feature a presentation by a local Yazidi woman. The Yazidis are a minority group based in northwestern Iraq whose lands have fallen under the control of ISIS and whose people have been murdered in large numbers over the past few months.