Harper's Moment at the Kotel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 21, 2014, Toronto — Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the Kotel
(Western Wall), Judaism’s holiest site, earlier today. Mr. Harper received a
hero’s welcome as he visited the Kotel Plaza and stopped to place a note in
the wall as he took a moment of silent introspection. The Prime Minister had
also planned to visit the Dome of the Rock located on the Temple Mount, a
site holy to both Muslims and Jews. That part of the tour was called off
after Mr. Harper was told that his Jewish guards would not be allowed to
enter the area.


“This trip has been an amazing experience with the visit to the Kotel being
one of the most touching,” said Eric Bissell, national president, B’nai
Brith Canada. “As Prime Minister Harper approached the Western Wall, I could
not help but think about how the Jewish people struggled for thousands of
years for the freedom to pray at our holiest site. As a child survivor on
the run during the nightmare of the Holocaust, this moment is more than I
could ever have imagined or hoped to have been part of. To witness such
support is a true miracle."


“It is a shame that the Prime Minister’s visit to the Kotel was marred after
he learned that his security detail would not be allowed in to the Dome of
the Rock because they are Jewish,” said Frank Dimant, CEO, B’nai Brith
Canada. “B’nai Brith delegations have also faced moments of discrimination
and harassment on previous missions. We have raised this issue with Canada’s
Office of Religious Freedom. Equal access must be given to Jewish worshipers
wishing to ascend the Temple Mount. This incident serves as a stark reminder
of the religious discrimination going on at the hands of the Islamic Waqf
responsible for administering the site."

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For more information please contact: Sam Eskenasi, Communications Officer at
(647) 780-8490 or communications@bnaibrith.ca
B’nai Brith Canada has been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish
community’s foremost human rights agency.

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