Blog – Page 2 – Suzanne Berliner Weiss

Suzanne Weiss, Holocaust Survivor, Speaks on Her Life and Activism

This article is taken from the McGill Daily dated Feb. 26, 2020.

by Abbas Mehrabian. On February 18, Holocaust survivor and social activist Suzanne Weiss spoke at Concordia University about her life, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Islamophobia, and the climate crisis.

“Back in 1942, Adolf Hitler marked me down for death. I was only one year old. Why did Hitler want to kill me?’’ Weiss started her speech by recalling the first time her life was at risk. Born into a Jewish family in Paris in Nazi-occupied France, she answered the question herself: “Because he was a racist, a white supremacist.”

It took her several decades to find out how she was saved: “There was a civilian resistance which obstructed the Nazi rule and provided refuge for thousands of Jews, including me,” she told the attendees, adding, “It was also a multitude of individuals who helped [in various ways]. A multitude of small individual acts of courage and kindness forged a chain of solidarity across the country, which helped defeat the Nazis.” Her parents did not survive – Weiss’ mother was deported to Auschwitz, while her father died of war wounds, leaving her an orphan.

After the liberation of France, at age nine she was adopted by a Jewish American family in New York. Her stepfather had a narrow view of women, believing their destiny was to “find a mate, marry, and take care of [their] husband and household and their children.” She rejected this stereotype, and at age 17, she left home and took refuge with a girlfriend. Weiss recalled, “It was illegal for a girl of my age to leave home without permission. My parents had me arrested and charged my girlfriend’s mother for influencing me to be a lesbian!”

Rabbi Rosen of Tzedek Chicago hosts Suzanne Weiss, author of ‘Holocaust to Resistance’

Here’s the video record of a talk I gave September 2 hosted by the Tzedek congregation in Chicago. Thank you to Tzedek congregation Rabbi Brant Rosen, my friends Linda Loew, Guy Miller, and my life partner, John Riddell for organizing this event.

Rabbi Rosen says: “I urge friends to watch and listen to the special program, attended by participants from across the country, Canada, and beyond…. It’s a powerful conversation with Holocaust survivor/activist Suzanne Weiss, who shared her story of wartime survival and discussed how she applies it to the solidarity struggles of today.”

As reviewer, Naomi Allen says of Suzanne Weiss’s memoir: It is a “Thrilling and sometimes harrowing account of her life, from war orphan to immigrant to socialist activist, can be read almost as a catalog of liberation struggles from the post-World War II era through the first decades of the 21st century…. Reaching deeply into her Jewish heritage, she pulled out the traditional solidarity of Jews with oppressed people everywhere, paying tribute to her parents’ sacrifice as part of their struggle for human values. Thus, she understood that her support of Palestinian human rights flows directly from the best values of her Jewishness…”

Here’s the video:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=738959426952382&extid=SR4rLxpcRXwKZ9kc

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: From Holocaust to Resistance w/Suzanne Weiss. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Watch the video on my presentation featuring my book: Holocaust to Resistance: My Journey – (you can purchase it from Fernwood Publishers).

Book Review: A Lifetime for Liberation by Naomi Allen

Solidarity: A Socialist, Feminist, Anti-Racist Organization — https://solidarity-us.org/atc/207/holocaust-to-resistance/

by Naomi Allen

*Raincy-le-Plateau orphanage 1946: Suzanne (second from left) with other children and their dog, Zezette.*

Holocaust to Resistance: My Journey
by Suzanne Berliner Weiss
Roseway Publishing (Nova Scotia and Manitoba), 2019, 311 pages.

SUZANNE WEISS’S THRILLING and sometimes harrowing account of her life, from war orphan to immigrant to socialist activist, can be read almost as a catalog of liberation struggles from the post-World War II era through the first decades of the 21st century. Her personal story meshes almost seamlessly with the political history of those years.

For her contemporaries, some of the fascination in reading this account will come from a shared experience — growing up in the stifling 1950s, the sudden expansiveness of the ’60s, the life-altering embrace of radical politics, then navigating a route through the thicket of political life without a compass.

But the core of the story is not one that most of her readers will have experienced — born in 1941, the war refugee child of Polish and Russian Jewish resistance fighters, raised in French orphanages, adopted by Jewish American “progressives,” seeking her place in the world. Nevertheless, the writer’s voice is so engaging that her personal story grabs the reader from the very start, and becomes a compelling guide through her life and adventures, both personal and political, to almost the present day.

Continue reading Book Review: A Lifetime for Liberation by Naomi Allen

Canada Must Oppose Illegal Israeli Annexations

I represented Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Toronto in the coalition against Israeli Annexations. A rally was also organized on Bloor and Yonge in Toronto, in front of the Israeli Consulate on Sat., June 27, 3 p.m.

Image may contain: text that says 'RALLY AGAINST ISRAEL'S ILLEGAL ANNEX ANNEXATION' — SIGN PETITION BELOW: **https://tinyurl.com/ya6hc748**

After 40 years of the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and 53 years of illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced its intention to annex large portions of the West Bank starting in July, with full backing from the Trump administration.

Israeli control of Palestinian territories is illegal under international law, which is clear in its emphasis on the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.” Despite numerous UN resolutions urging Israel to end its occupation, Israel has chosen to continue on the path of settler-colonialism, apartheid, land seizure and forcible displacement of Palestinians.

Indeed, annexing territory without granting full citizenship rights to the three million Palestinians in the West Bank constitutes apartheid; Palestinians would be left in nominally autonomous and disconnected enclaves under Israeli rule.

We call on the Trudeau government to condemn the annexation and take action against it.

Canada must abide by its stated commitment to international law and the rules-based order by pledging meaningful steps against Israel’s unilateral annexations. This must include the imposition of sanctions, such as suspending the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement and prohibiting all trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

If recent history is any indication, verbal rebukes are insufficient, and only concrete action can ensure that Israel is deterred from its imminent violations of international law.

We can no longer stand by and be complicit.

SIGN THIS PETITION: https://tinyurl.com/ya6hc748

Resource: Facts and Opinions on the Israeli Annexation

Canada must consider a forceful response, including revisiting the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement and other bilateral agreements and the imposition of economic sanctions against Israel.

Below is a list of articles and statements by organizations and individuals on the annexation, which represents the continuation and expansion of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Each resource can be reached by one click.

Assessing the Limits of Civil Society in the Palestine State ... — Civil Society in the Palestine State …belfercenter.org

This Will Be the Heavy Price of Annexation for the Israelis

Canada’s Unions call on the Canadian government to fight to stop the annexation of Palestinian lands

Palestinian civil society calls for effective measures against annexation

‘Annexation leads to massive expropriation’ (David Sfard)

Independent Jewish Voices Canada: ‘Sanctions on Israel: If not now, when?

NDP MP Charlie Angus calls for sanctions

Khaled Mouammar to Justin Trudeau: ‘Canada must take firm actions’

Former diplomats call for Canada to speak out

NDP calls for ‘strong opposition’ to annexations

Green MPs condemn Israeli plan

CJPME: ‘Canada will be compelled to reconsider agreements with Israel’

Electronic Intifada: ‘Canada offers empty words’

Israeli annexation, Canadian confusion (David Kattenberg)

Palestine politics after annexation (Abdul Sattar Kassem)

Leaked Memo Details Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Annexation Response

The Anti-Defamation League, a major U.S. Zionist organization, says (in effect) that there is no way they can defend Israel’s annexations but they should try to prevent legislated sanctions.

‘We need a strong Canadian statement opposed to Israel’s annexation and its violation of international law’

by Khaled Mouammar, longtime Palestinian activist in Toronto

Israeli annexation explained: What is Netanyahu planning for the ... — Haaretz.com

The Right Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister for Foreign Affairs

I am writing this email to express my deep concern about Israel’s planned annexation of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank (see map above).

This land is rich agricultural West Bank land. If annexation occurs it would completely destroy the possibility of the two-state solution contrary to Canada’s long-standing policy. Unilateral annexation would be illegal under international law and would not respect or recognize the international consensus on the 1967 borders.

A Life Full of Adventure and Discovery, Review by Arthur Maglin

Posted byArthur Maglin

Posted in Amazon with a five star review

June 7, 2020

This review was written December 11, 2019 as an Amazon five-star review. I have since expanded it. The book made a powerful impact on me. I still find myself thinking about it.

Holocaust to Resistance: My Journey by Suzanne Berliner Weiss. Halifax and Winnipeg: Roseway Publishing, 2019. 320 pages. $21.31.

Suzanne Berliner Weiss has written a compelling autobiography that begins in France where she was saved from the Nazi Holocaust and then adopted by progressive Americans only to grow up in the witch hunt 1950’s and to emerge into the 1960’s with a lifelong outlook, in her words, of “solidarity, generosity and love.”

Continue reading A Life Full of Adventure and Discovery, Review by Arthur Maglin

Solidarity with Kashmir

The following was given in a webinar to Socialist Action on May 24, 2020 in Canada, as part of a panel on India and Fascism.

This is the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, a threat to all humanity, and a time for solidarity and support.

In this spirit, we reach out to victims of apartheid Israel’s occupation of Gaza.

We must do the same for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory occupied by India. They are majority Muslims, who have suffered under complete lockdown and communications blackout.

It’s a question of land. India occupies Jammu and Kashmir and scrapped a constitutional ban on sale of Kashmiri land to non-residents. Now, all the land can be bought by anyone: Kashmir is up for grabs.

The Holocaust and Defense of the Palestinians

Reading a new book Israel, Palestine and the Politics of Race: Exploring Identity and Power in a Global Context, by Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Abigail B. Bakan (I.B. Tauris), I noticed a reference to an article I published online written in 2006. Regrettably the link is to a website that has since closed. I am taking this opportunity to republish the referenced article, The Holocaust and Defense of the Palestinians.

Today in 2020, the political situation has changed only in that Iran is not only again under threat by the United States and its satellites but also in greater danger as is the world’s people. — Suzanne Weiss

Forces responsible for slaughter of Jews now oppress the Palestinian people

By Suzanne Weiss

This article is based on a talk given to a meeting of Muslim Unity of Toronto on December 23, 2006.

Sixty years ago, a mass slaughter – a holocaust – was carried out against European Jews. Today its memory is being misused to build support for Zionism and to oppress and murder the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that Canada must not talk with Hezbollah or Hamas, organizations that defend the Palestinians, because they “advocate wiping Israel off the face of the Earth” — an objective that he says is “ultimately genocidal,” that is, another holocaust. (Globe & Mail, Dec. 21, 2006) He uses this excuse to justify punishing Palestinians for electing Hamas by cutting off aid to their government.

This is the Stephen Harper who on July 14, 2006, called Israel’s slaughter of the Lebanese a “measured response” to the abduction of two Israeli soldiers.

A Life Saved, and Lived, by Solidarity, Review by James Clark

Review by James Clark

Suzanne Weiss begins her recent memoir with these words by W. B. Yeats: “There are no strangers here, only friends you have not yet met.” More than just an epigram, they describe a practice of solidarity that saved Weiss from the Holocaust and later shaped her more than six decades of activity as a life-long socialist. It is this critical link, between the courageous acts that spared thousands of Jewish children during World War Two and a life committed to the struggle for human liberation, that forms the central message of Weiss’s text: solidarity inspires solidarity.

Breathtaking in its sweep of history, Holocaust to Resistance: My Journey (published by Roseway in 2019) follows Weiss from her childhood in Nazi-occupied France during World War Two to some of the most momentous struggles of the last 60 years: the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the rise of Black Power in the United States in the 1960s and 70s, the anti-imperialist movements in Latin America in the 1980s and 90s, the Palestine solidarity movement in the 2000s, and today’s fight for climate justice and Indigenous sovereignty—among many others.

Continue reading A Life Saved, and Lived, by Solidarity, Review by James Clark