Suspect in Paris Shul Bombing Gets Bail

OTTAWA — A Canadian-Lebanese man suspected of bombing a Paris synagogue in 1980 has been freed from jail on $290,000 bail but will be confined to strict house arrest, an Ottawa court ruled last week.
Hassan Diab, 55, was freed from prison March 31 and will remain under house arrest for several months, living with his common-law wife, until judges decide whether he must be extradited to France for his suspected role in planning a terror attack against the Copernic Street synagogue in Paris. Four people were killed in that bombing.
Prosecutors said Diab might try to escape while under house arrest, despite the court’s ruling that he wear an electronic tracking bracelet and report weekly to police.
French police told reporters they have evidence that Diab, a former pro-Palestinian activist, is responsible for the attack, and they requested his extradition in order to try him in in Paris, Associated Press reported.
Diab was arrested in November in Ottawa at the request of French police. At the time he had been working part-time as a professor at Carleton University.
The October 1980 bombing of the Copernic Street synagogue occurred during Sabbath evening prayers, when it was packed with more than 300 people.

Network Lobbies CJC

TORONTO — Al-Jazeera is lobbying Canadian Jewish Congress in its bid for regulatory approval to hit the airwaves. Tony Burman, a former CBC executive who is managing director of Al-Jazeera English, met last week with CJC representatives to reassure them that Al-Jazeera’s two-year-old English service is independent from the controversial Arabic service. In 2003, the CJC and B’nai Brith Canada opposed Al-Jazeera’s application for a broadcast license, saying the Qatar-based network broadcasts anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, and glorified suicide bombers. They said the network’s Arabic service would violate anti-hate laws. In 2004, the CRTC approved carriage of the Arabic service but imposed restrictions that made airing it difficult. Cable and satellite providers were ordered to “alter or delete” programming to ensure that no “abusive comment” would air. CJC is “struggling with” the English service’s approval, CEOBernie Farber told the Toronto Star. “We recognize the need for free speech to be paramount and the right of broadcasters to ensure they can reach audiences” but “there’s no walking away from some of the disgusting, anti-Semitic, Jew-hating broadcasts [Al-Jazeera has] engaged in,” Farber said

CIE Gets U.S. Grant

TORONTO — The Canada Israel Experience has received a $150,000 grant from the U.S.-based Covenant Foundation to help train leaders of Birthright Israel trips and develop programming for Birthright alumni, the CIE announced last week. CIE, a division of UI Federations Canada, is Canada’s largest provider of Birthright Israel trips, which sends young adults ages 18 to 26 on free, first-time trips to Israel. The grant, to be paid over three years, will help train trip leaders in public speaking and group facilitation, and help trip alumni plan community projects.