Ellin Bessner

Journalist, Author. Host of The CJN's flagship news podcast "North Star". Outlander Fan. Canadian Jews in #WWll

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

I attended @MarkJCarney highly-anticipated antisemitism speech at @holyblossom Temple on Monday, and interviewed nearly a dozen Jewish leaders afterward for their reaction. All welcomed his recognition of the crisis. But most questioned why he never mentioned Israel, Zionism, Hamas, Oct. 7 or Iran, which they believe is central to understanding today's antisemitism. Hear how Carney's speech hit or miss, on @thecjn's "North Star" podcast.
[https://t.co/3RAWlo4TZc]

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Who’s who of Jewish and law enforcement and political elites arrived at Holy Blossom synagogue for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s address on antisemitism. Supposed to start at 5 pm.@TheCJN

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

"That word absolutely needs to come out of the exhibit."
Philanthropist Gail Asper is publicly challenging a forthcoming #Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. She helped build the federal museum founded by her late father, Israel Asper.
She fears the June 27 show tells a one-sided, anti-Israel narrative about the 750,000 Palestinians who lost their homes during the 1948 Arab Israel war. She and other Jewish leaders are calling for a review of the exhibit content to broaden the context.
Asper & constitutional law scholar Bryan Schwartz join me on @TheCJN's "North Star" podcast today. 🎙️
[https://t.co/JE6kgyDTya]

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒: 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝟑 𝐩.𝐦. 𝐄𝐓. @TPSOperations @TheCJN @Shomrimtoronto @Help_Find_Esti Our reporter is heading to the news conference.

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

@TObabe64 @Shomrimtoronto I shared it with the search team
of Shomrim

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

🧵Most of them had never met her.
Yet as the search for missing Toronto autistic teen Esther (“Esti”) entered a second week, volunteers came Sunday to the @Shomrimtoronto civilian command post to pick up fresh posters. Then they fanned out from Thornhill to downtown streets, subway stations and public spaces in hopes of bringing her home safely.

Now with a $25,000 reward, a Toronto police new website and tip line, plus some new sightings from the night she ran away May 15, the search has escalated.
I spent Sunday afternoon at the command centre talking to volunteers. 📽️ New @TheCJN #estherismissing

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

What happens when someone experiences "Fiddler on the Roof" for the very first time, purely in Yiddish, at a moment when Jewish identity, safety and belonging feel newly fragile in Canada?
After long lineups to pass through security, because Jewish productions now must deal with these concerns,
the show "hits you in the kishkes".
On today’s @TheCJN "North Star" podcast, reporter Jonathan Rothman joins to discuss going behind the scenes of the acclaimed off-Broadway revival, now open in Toronto, under the direction of Academy Award winner @joelgrey @folksbiene Theatre.
🎻[https://t.co/4MZGbil6lS]
📸 Dahlia Katz / Harold Green Jewish Theatre

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

@TObabe64 @Shomrimtoronto Did you hear anything further?

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Volunteers searching for missing Toronto teen Esther (“Esti”) say her posters have repeatedly been torn down across the city even as the search for the 14-year-old autistic girl entered its 11th day.
In a new statement today, Esti’s family called the incidents “deeply disturbing and cruel.” They say they are “devastated and terrified” and fear some incidents may be motivated by antisemitism. Watch how volunteers went across the city re-postering @thecjn "North Star" podcast. @Shomrimtoronto #helpfindesther #MissingGirlAlert @TorontoPolice
🎥 https://t.co/p6mpgBnVIW

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

@TObabe64 @Shomrimtoronto I saw something on FB too just now. We are checking.

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

@TheCJN @cwaa_national @TPSOperations @TPS32Div Full feature article here: https://t.co/r0HDKbZoUS

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

2/2 Learn more in tonight's @thecjn "North Star" podcast.
https://t.co/XCgigekrbj
@cwaa_national @TPSOperations @TPS32Div

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Stephen Lewis once made @TIME magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. At his recent @TorontoMet memorial service, people from 54 countries tuned in virtually especially from Africa, where he saved millions during the #HIV #AIDS epidemic.
In very different ways, all 5 Canadians remembered by @thecjn this spring on the "Honourable Menschen" episode believed success meant responsibility. From Lewis’s @OntarioNDP roots to @UNICEF & activism in Africa; Holocaust survivor Wolf Bronet’s Montreal running club that bought 14 ambulances; Sara Vered's support for Israeli and Jewish culture and the arts in Ottawa; Calgary singer Al Osten who donated millions to the city's museums and hospices, plus journalist Sondra Gotlieb helped others with words and deeds.🎙️New podcast:
https://t.co/9UGYaLpv50

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Why did 1,000 🇨🇦Jewish women dance, pray and make challah this week with 🇮🇱-Canadian influencer Anat Ishai, aka "TheChallahMom"? I spoke with her for @TheCJN about bringing her Jewish joy, faith and her family's aliyah story to Diaspora Jews looking for connection post-Oct. 7.
https://t.co/Y7o24LbPAJ

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Anti-Israel chalk messages (and stickers) have repeatedly appeared across Vancouver’s Oak Street, the historic Jewish corridor, since Oct. 7. From @scharatze to the VGH.
Residents say they clean the slogans, report to @vancouverpolice @CityofVancouver but the solo pro-Palestinian activist they say is behind the campaign hasn't been charged.
“I just want to go to the bus stop or walk around the park and not have to see this hate.”
On @TheCJN's "North Star" podcast we go inside Vancouver’s Israel-Gaza chalk war. 🎧https://t.co/1Ez6tlc4wk

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

“I thought I could be stabbed.”
Ottawa Jewish leader @TheDavidSachs speaks out after protester @DeanaSherif was sentenced May 6 for criminal harassment, and assault with a weapon (piercing electronic whistle) in connection with some 2024 anti-Israel confrontations near Parliament Hill. The judge gave her 17 months in prison but she's already served that, so aside from a criminal record, she got 1 yr. probation, a ban on noisemakers or weapons, and "no contact" orders. Police originally laid 8 charges including two hate-related ones. Sachs is disappointed the Crown chose not to pursue the hate angle at trial. New on @TheCJN North Star podcast.
🎧 [https://t.co/UOBr1fKvBj]

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

5 years ago this week @TheCJN launched a daily news podcast about Jewish life in Canada. 800+ episodes later, "North Star" has documented how profoundly that story changed because of Oct. 7. In this anniversary episode, I go deep as producer Zachary Judah Kauffman turns the🎙️around to interview me about covering #antisemitism, protest movements, politics, personal grief, Israel and the transformation of 🇨🇦’s Jewish community in real time. Hear what #Jewish #Canada sounds like today. 🎧 [https://t.co/NLNH0k7xbc
#cdnpoli #Journalism #Podcast #JewishCanada

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

With Toronto police announcing an arrest in connection with the March synagogue shootings investigation, this moment from my @TheCJN interview with former homicide commander @hank_idsinga feels especially timely.
“Some people have suggested I’m lying about the whole thing.”
Full interview on our YouTube channel:
https://t.co/cz6kdwTFEx

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Idsinga says he reported incidents while serving—and saw no meaningful action.

[Ellin Bessner @ebessner]

Retired Toronto homicide inspector @hank_idsinga warns Toronto’s Jewish community to hold @TorontoPolice accountable, after his antisemitism allegations about how things work in Canada's largest police force. He retired shortly after Oct. 7 but believes the bigotry he witnessed explains the lack of police response to protests, hate crimes, shootings. Hear more incl. his own family's Holocaust legacy @TheCJN. 🎧Full interview: https://t.co/b1tP8LuYJI
#Toronto #Policing #Antisemitism