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Canadian Justice

Holocaust Center hosts human rights
activists at annual dinner.

T

he Holocaust Memorial
Center Zekelman Family
Campus will hold its 25th
anniversary dinner on Sunday, Oct.
18. The fundraiser begins at 5 p.m.
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield. Guest
speaker is the Hon.
Irwin Cottler, M.P.
He is a member
of the Canadian
Parliament and a
former minister of
justice and attorney
general in Canada.
Irwin Cottler
Guests will enjoy
cocktails followed by dinner. During
the program, a memorial will be
made to the museum's founder, Rabbi
Charles H. Rosenveig, who passed
away late last year. Gail Rosenbloom
Kaplan is the event honoree. The
event's chairperson is Arthur Weiss.
Proceeds raised at the event will
benefit the organization's program-
ming and operations.
Cotler is a law professor, constitu-
tional and comparative law scholar,
international human rights lawyer,
counsel to prisoners of conscience,
NGO head and a peace activist. He has
spoken recently on anti-Semitism.
Cottler serves as special coun-
sel on human rights and interna-
tional justice. He is a member of the
House of Commons Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on International Human
Rights and chair of the All-Party Save
Darfur Parliamentary Coalition.
As minister of justice and attorney
general, Cotler helped make Canada's
Supreme Court gender representative
by appointing two women justices
while bringing the first ever visible
minority and aboriginal justices to
appellate courts. He initiated legisla-
tion for the protection of children and
other vulnerable persons; the first ever
legislation to criminalize trafficking
in persons; made the pursuit of inter-
national justice a priority, including

the combating of mass atrocity and
genocide; initiated prosecution under
the Canadian War Crimes and Crimes
Against Humanity Act for incitement
to genocide in Rwanda; issued the first
ever National Justice Initiative Against
Racism and Hate; and quashed more
wrongful convictions in a single year
than any prior minister.
Cotler has served as counsel to for-
mer prisoners of conscience, includ-
ing Andrei Sakharov and Nathan
Sharansky, Nelson Mandela and
Jacobo Timmerman.
He has testified as an expert witness
on human rights before parliamentary
committees in Canada, the United
States, Russia, Sweden, Norway and
Israel.
He has lectured in both Arab coun-
tries and Israel for more than 30 years
and has been an active participant in
rapprochement dialogues between
Israelis and Palestinians.
Coder served as counsel to the
Deschenes Commission of Inquiry in
the matter of bringing Nazi war crimi-
nals to justice, filed amicus briefs before
the International Criminal Tribunals
for Yugoslavia and Rwanda and advo-
cated for the establishment of an
International Criminal Court.
Kaplan, a local glass mosaic and clay
artist, was instrumental in spearhead-
ing the permanent installation of the
museum's Kindertransport Memory
Quilt Exhibit. A Kristallnacht mosaic
of hers in exhibited in the museum's
lobby. Kaplan's artwork has been exhib-
ited in many venues.
Reservations for the dinner are
requested. Regular tickets are $200
each or $2,000 for a table of 10. Patron
tickets are $300; a patron table of 10
is $3,000. Cash, check and credit cards
are accepted. Sponsorship opportuni-
ties are available. For tickets or more
information, contact Selma Silverman,
(248) 553-2400, ext. 12, or send an
e-mail message to: selma.silverman@
holocaustcenter.org . ❑

The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, the first
freestanding Holocaust museum in North America, is at 28123 Orchard
Lake Road in Farmington Hills. Rabbi Rosenzveig founded the first
Holocaust Memorial Center in West Bloomfield in 1984 and was a
powerful force behind the move to its current location six years ago.
Visit www.holocaustcenter.org .

C' A'S

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The Holocaust Memorial Center
Zekelman Family Campus

Invites the community to attend
The Unveiling and Re-Dedication
of its Charter and
Continuous Charter plaques

Sunday, Septembei 13, 2009
at 1:30 in the afternoon
28123 Orchard Lake Road
Farmin on Hills
For further information,

Works to secure the
Jewish future?

Advocates Jewish concerns
to government officials?

Council's 2010
ACTIVIST OF THE YEAR

.

Contact the Council at (248) 642-5393, ext. 5,
or visit the Council website at detroitjcrc.org

Nominations must be received by

Friday, October 23, 2009

! . 4 _ i l p Jewish
Federation

of Metropolitan

Detroit

WERE PART OF THE TEAM

THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS VOICE OF
THE DETROIT JEWISH COMMUNITY

September 10 2009

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