The Honest Report

When a Toronto bookstore owned by Jewish philanthropist Heather Reisman was vandalized by anti-Israel extremists in late 2023, one of the perpetrators, a licensed immigration consultant named Mac Scott, received only a warning from his professional regulator, even after an admission of guilt. Lawyer and advocate Bryant Greenbaum says that’s not good enough. 

In this episode of The Honest Report, he explains why he’s taking the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to federal court, arguing they ignored the harm done to the Jewish community. 

Greenbaum discusses the broader implications for professional accountability and antisemitism in Canada’s legal world, and how he's taking action.

One high-profile lawyer is taking the city of Montreal to court over its failure to uphold the rule of law amid two years of pro-Hamas rallies. Neil Oberman, a partner at the law firm of Spiegel Ryan, on behalf of private clients, is suing the city and its mayor, Valerie Plante, to make sure that they uphold their legal requirements to ensure public safety and order.

In this episode of The Honest Report, Oberman joins us to explain the legal basis for his action, how he is compelling the city of Montreal to do its job, and the bigger message that his litigation is sending.

After two years of extremist anti-Israel demonstrations, often found in downtown cores, many pro-Israel events have come to avoid those areas altogether, effectively ceding them.

Avi Attali was not prepared to make that happen. The Toronto resident, along with a group of volunteers, has planned and executed a number of rallies for Israel and to raise awareness for the hostages, primarily based in downtown Toronto, with some of these events attracting thousands of attendees.

Avi joins us this week to tell us why he thinks such events are so critical, what motivates him to put them together, and what the lesson is for all supporters of Israel.

Since starting operations in late May, in large part because of the widespread theft of aid that was currently taking place by terrorist groups inside Gaza, the American-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has delivered nearly 200 million meals into the territory, using an innovative approach.

But just as huge numbers of meals have been provided, there has been a widespread effort by the United Nations and other groups to delegitimize the GHF and portray it as the problem, rather than a solution.

To help us understand the complexity on the ground, we are joined by Chapin Fay, spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Please note: This conversation took place before the current ceasefire agreement.

Tiferet Lapidot, a 23 year-old Canadian-Israeli, was known for her kindness and sensitivity, growing up in northern Israel.

On October 7, 2023, she was at the Nova festival in southern Israel, where she was murdered by Hamas terrorists. But even on that day, she put her life on the line to help others and protect them.

In this special podcast, we are joined by Tiferet's father Ohad, who tells us the story, both of who his daughter was, as well as what happened on that terrible day two years ago, but also the unexpected kindnesses that he experienced afterwards.

Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.

Sergio Karas is an immigration lawyer and a vocal supporter of Israel. So when he was called a genocide supporter - by a fellow lawyer, no less - he refused to take it sitting down.

Instead, he sued for defamation, and he won damages. Sergio joins us on our podcast this week to discuss his story, how and why he decided to litigate, and his advice for others, to help ensure that anti-Israel lies are not able to stand unchallenged.

News media outlets regularly claim that there is a famine or starvation in Gaza, and that Israel is refusing to allow food into the territory. But the actual evidence tells a very different story.

In recent weeks, Eitan Fischberger, an Israel-based open-source intelligence investigator, visited Gaza, where he saw first-hand the incredible amount of aid that Israel had permitted into Gaza, but was not being delivered by supposedly humanitarian organizations.

Eitan joins us this week to discuss what he saw, and what it says about the state of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

PART 2:

Most news media outlets have long given up on pretending to explain the truth of the Hamas-Israel war, and instead are doing little more than regurgitating Hamas claims of "genocide" without even a second thought.

But the truth is far different than sound bites.

In this podcast, we sit down with Dr Brian Cox for an in-depth discussion of how international law debunks "genocide" claims and shows the legality of Israel's counter-terrorism operations against Hamas in Gaza.

Dr. Cox is an adjunct professor of Law at Cornell University, where his expertise is international criminal law, the law involving armed conflict, comparative military justice and national security law. He spent 22 years as a military lawyer for the U.S. Army, and is currently enrolled as a graduate student at Carleton University's journalism school in Ottawa.

Most news media outlets have long given up on pretending to explain the truth of the Hamas-Israel war, and instead are doing little more than regurgitating Hamas claims of "genocide" without even a second thought.

But the truth is far different than sound bites.

In this podcast, we sit down with Dr Brian Cox for an in-depth discussion of how international law debunks "genocide" claims and shows the legality of Israel's counter-terrorism operations against Hamas in Gaza.

Dr. Cox is an adjunct professor of Law at Cornell University, where his expertise is international criminal law, the law involving armed conflict, comparative military justice and national security law. He spent 22 years as a military lawyer for the U.S. Army, and is currently enrolled as a graduate student at Carleton University's journalism school in Ottawa.

Adam Hummel is a Toronto immigration and estate lawyer by day, and opinion-maker by night, founding a substack called Catch, offering thoughtful commentary on issues related to Israel and Jewish causes.

In a recent manifesto, he laid out what he characterized as a much-needed overhaul in advocacy and activism. Less reactive, more proactive. Less apologetic, more demanding. Less meek, more vocal.

Adam is our guest this week where he discusses his vision for the future, and why he says so many obvious ideas are still yet to take root.