It was a lovely, tasteful evening and the honouree this year was the Canadian filmmaker Robert Lantos, a very proud Jew, and a very staunch supporter of Israel who was born in Hungary.
I was profoundly moved by his remarks, and asked permission to republish them here.
Thank you very much to Hetty Shapiro for the wonderful evening, and for sending me the document and of course, to Mr. Lantos for his incredible history of creativity, philanthropy and moral fortitude. A very impressive individual indeed.
I would urge you to read the whole thing.
I'm not sure if we can 'recapture' the affections of the progressive left, but I certainly do believe that we Jews and all allies of Jews must show strength and fight our enemies tooth and nail. I don't believe antisemitism will ever be eradicated, but we must never make it easy for our enemies to live comfortable lives, and we must never let them get away with murder, or supporting murder.
