The State of Affairs

"If You Lose Hope, You Will Lose Humanity in Us"

As we commemorate the third anniversary of October 7, Avi Abraham Benlolo welcomes his good friend Remo Salman El-Hozayel to The State of Affairs. A Bedouin Muslim Israeli police officer, Remo repeatedly returned under fire at the Nova music festival, helping rescue more than 200 young people from Hamas’s massacre. Each journey offered someone another chance to return home.

This ...

The Honourable Justice Harry S. LaForme broke new ground as the first Indigenous person appointed to an appellate court in Canada and the Commonwealth. Why does this prominent Indigenous leader stand firmly with Israel, and why does he oppose Canada’s additional $100 million pledge for Palestinian assistance?

In this episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo explores those convictions with LaForme in a conversation ...

What does it take to stand with Israel and Jewish Canadians when doing so may carry a political cost?

On The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with MP Shuvaloy “Shuv” Majumdar, whom AGPI will honour with The Defender of Israel Award on October 5. In AGPI’s view, Shuv has been one of the few non-Jewish voices in Parliament to speak with such consistent conviction and allyship for the Jewish community and ...

On Yom Kippur, worshippers at Belleville’s Sons of Jacob Synagogue dropped to the floor as gunfire tore through its stained-glass windows. Outside, Constable Jeff Smith exchanged fire with a man carrying a shotgun and was seriously wounded. The gunman later died. There is no question, this is antisemitic terrorism.

In this urgent conversation, synagogue president Norman Weddum takes Avi Abraham Benlolo inside those terrifying...

In this powerful episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks candidly with Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, His Excellency Iddo Moed, about the unprecedented deterioration of relations between two longstanding democratic allies.

How bad is the relationship? Is meaningful dialogue still taking place between Ottawa and Jerusalem? Has domestic politics overtaken Canadian foreign policy? And can the damage be repaire...

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Drawing upon Viktor Frankl’s defining insight, Avi Abraham Benlolo explores how the Jewish people can confront hatred without allowing it to define who we are.

From Abraham and Sarah to Moses, Ruth and the generations that rebuilt after the Holocaust, the Jewish story is one of courage, responsibility, compassion and hope. Ref...

Twenty-five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, The State of Affairs speaks with Maureen Basnicki, whose husband, Ken, was murdered on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

Maureen recounts the terror of that day, the devastating impact on her family and her continuing quest for justice. How did she transform unimaginable grief into the Canadian National Day of Service? Why are victims of terrori...

Why is Israel the only country permanently singled out by the United Nations Human Rights Council? Can democracies defend human rights when authoritarian regimes sit in judgment of them? And what happens when international law is weaponized, special rapporteurs abandon neutrality and the atrocities of October 7 are subjected to moral inversion?

In this compelling episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with Ambas...

In this episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger about the military intelligence, defence technology, battlefield experience and economic innovation Israel provides the United States.

Their discussion examines the F-35 program as a powerful example of an alliance that works in both directions. How much is that contribution worth to the United States and the wider F-35 program?

...

A federally commissioned study of approximately 900 Jewish postsecondary students found that 95.7 per cent had experienced or witnessed antisemitism. Seventy per cent said their institution does not take antisemitism seriously, 68 per cent described campus as unsafe for Jewish students, and 22 per cent reported experiencing or witnessing physical violence directed at Jews.

In this episode, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with the Preside...

Can an Arab Muslim defend Zionism while warning the West about the dangers of political Islamism? In this episode of The State of Affairs, Saudi-born peace advocate Loay Alshareef joins Avi Abraham Benlolo for a fearless discussion about Israel, antisemitism and the battle between peace and extremism.

How did learning Hebrew and studying Jewish history transform Loay’s understanding of Zionism? Why does anti-Zionism so often ...

Could the next October 7-style attack come from Judea and Samaria? In this episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch about his warning that the Palestinian Authority has built a military-capable force of approximately 70,000 armed personnel.

More than 70,000 are reportedly stationed in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) —compared with only 12,000 permitted under the Oslo Accords...

“JEWS AREN’T ALLOWED HERE”

A Montreal woman told a Jewish father at La Fontaine Park that dogs were allowed despite a nearby ban, launched an expletive-filled rant and declared in French: “Jews aren’t allowed here.”

How did Montreal reach this point? Why have Jewish schools been struck by gunfire, synagogues attacked with incendiary devices and visibly Jewish residents assaulted and intimidated? Ar...

Do Israelis want a third round of war against Iran? In this episode of The State of Affairs, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel Vivian Bercovici, joins AGPI's Chairman and CEO, Avi Abraham Benlolo for a candid assessment of Israel at a crossroads. How are Israelis coping after war, terrorism, trauma and political division? What do the current demonstrations by the Haredi community mean for Israel’s future, military service ...

The future of Toronto is consequential for the Jewish community. Many are wondering if they should stay. Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford joins Dr. Avi Abraham Benlolo on The State of Affairs for a conversation about leadership, courage and Toronto’s future. Addressing antisemitism, Bradford says that standing up for people targeted because of their faith may sometimes be difficult, but it is consequential and importan...

From wearing a Keffiyah as a teen in England to working Gaza to changing her mind about Israel, Development economist and Aid Inferno author Dr. Emily Brearley has witnessed Gaza’s aid system from the inside—and what she saw challenges the world’s assumptions. In this explosive episode of The State of Affairs, Dr. Brearley joins Dr. Avi Abraham Benlolo to expose how Hamas exerts influence over humanitarian operati...

Malcolm Hoenlein has stood in the middle of global Jewish diplomacy for more than five decades. As Vice Chair and CEO Emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, he has advised presidents, prime ministers, and world leaders through some of the most consequential moments in modern history. In this exclusive episode of The State of Affairs, we examine his views about the rise of Zohran Mamdani, Ra...

Has the democratic world lost its moral clarity? In this compelling episode of The State of Affairs, Dr. Avi Abraham Benlolo examines the growing double standard applied to Israel and the broader implications for democracy and human rights. Responding to Rahm Emanuel's controversial remarks in Israel, Avi argues that it is not Israel that has become isolated—but a world increasingly unwilling to distinguish terrorism from sel...

What happens when one of the principal architects of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights says, "My trust has been completely shattered"?

In this compelling episode of The State of Affairs, Dr. Avi Abraham Benlolo sits down with Gail Asper—Officer of the Order of Canada, Member of the Order of Manitoba, lawyer, philanthropist, and one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Drawing on ...