IMPACT: With Avi Abraham Benlolo

Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor's Twitter handle says she is a Proud Zionist, a Feminist Advocate for Israel and the Co-Founded of the UAE-Israel Business Council.  But Ms. Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is much more. She is an energetic powerhouse who is advancing Israel in business, standing up proudly for her city, Jerusalem - and has some strong words for BDS advocates and antisemites.  She also has a warning for Joe Biden - look around the gulf to see who your friends and enemies are.  Join me for this engaging conversation. 

Its 2020 yet we are still struggling as a society with the problem of equality of opportunity for persons with disability.  Join me for a fascinating conversation with one of the world's top advocates for people with disability, the Honourable David Onley.  People with disability, Mr. Onley says, suffer the same form of discrimination as other groups.  The world still needs to change on how it views and responds to people with disabilities and provide this segment of the population with proper access so that it may have equal opportunity.  

On October 17, 2020, The Economist published a major feature about the plight of the Uyghurs.  In its introduction, it said, "The first stories from Xinjiang were hard to believe. Surely the Chinese government was not running a gulag for Muslims? Surely Uyghurs were not being branded “extremists” and locked up simply for praying in public or growing long beards? Yet, as we report in this week’s China section (see article), the evidence of a campaign against the Uyghurs at home and abroad becomes more shocking with each scouring of the satellite evidence, each leak of official documents and each survivor’s pitiful account".

Join me for an insightful conversation with Mehmet Tohti, the executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project to understand what today many are calling a crime of humanity.  He describes the plight of his people and a cry for help for an end to what he calls a genocide. 

On September 13, 1993 - Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords at the White House. On November 4th, 1995 he was murdered by an Israeli assassin.  The peace process was dead and Yasser Arafat launched into a horrific campaign of suicide bombing attacks against Israel. How do we reconcile what unfolded before our eyes 25 years later?  Let me walk you down memory lane to an often forgotten time, when the sun was shining upon us. It lasted only two years...but it seems now like a lifetime away. 

Originally published in the National Post on November 4, 2020

US Special Envoy Ellie Cohanim was born in Iran. She fled to America with her family following the 1979 Revolution. Now she says the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and antisemitism is the Iranian Regime.  She is determined to ensure the regime cannot fulfill its promise to march on Jerusalem and "wipe Israel off the map" as it has often stated. Ms. Cohanim is on the front lines in the fight against global antisemitism. Listen to this important and informative interview with one of the world's foremost advocates. 

In turbulent times, we all need hope. We can focus on the negativity or choose to champion positive improvements to the human condition. Among them are recent peace agreements in the Middle East.  Its easy to disregard them among the noise pollution, but in an area of the world that has been fraught by war and despair, this is a welcomed relief.  Yes, perhaps this picture is rosy.  But in psychology 101 we learn about positive conditioning - rewards. So - for all those who dream big. Who believe in peace. Lets champion this. Humanity can save itself from itself if it learns to be optimistic.