On behalf of the Ruth and Alex Dworkin Foundation for Tolerance, I wish to

express my sincerest gratitude for your decision to maintain the Ruth and

Alex Dworkin Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance through cinema.

 

 

Established in 1998 by Mrs. Ruth Dworkin, who has now reached the age of 90,

this foundation has initiated a number of projects designed to fight against

all forms of intolerance, including racism, xenophobia, prejudice,

harassment and physical or virtual violence.

 

We are proud that, despite our restricted means, we were able to provide

funding for many important projects aimed at fostering immigrant absorption,

intercultural exchange and inter-religious dialogue.

 

Allow me to list some of our numerous interventions and contributions:

 

- Funding of a dinner entitled “La rencontre des gens du Livre”, organized

by the North African community of Quebec to mark the end of the Ramadan

fast. The event was attended by a number of influential figures.

 

- Participation to the 20th Anniversary ceremony of the YMCA Peace Medal

Awards. The Foundation granted a scholarship to two award winners, former

Sierra Leone child soldiers who are currently traveling around the world to

share their experience and promote the universal values of peace and

tolerance.

 

- Grant allocation to Le Coffret, a Quebec organization devoted to the

integration of immigrants in the Laurentians.

 

- Financial contribution to Le Jumelé, the quarterly published by the Table

de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et

immigrantes.

 

- Funding for an innovative project implemented by Cyber Cap, a charity

offering youths at risk the opportunity to discover the world of digital

technologies, thus helping them to improve their condition on the personal,

social and professional levels.

 

- Funding for the Global Conference for the Prevention of Genocide,

organized by the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.

 

- Grant allocation to the Côte-des-Neiges Black Community Association, for

the promotion of dialogue and exchange between young leaders of the black

community and the police force.

 

The Foundation currently supports other projects, namely in cooperation with

the Cinema Department of Université de Montréal. I hope to have an

opportunity to discuss them with you in the next few days.

 

We are particularly pleased about our collaboration with Les Rendez-vous du

cinéma québécois, and delighted to see that your institution encourages and

rewards producers who, through their work, have promoted the values of

tolerance, dialogue and respect.

 

In this regard, we regret the recent controversy initiated by Mr. Malcolm

Guy, which we believe is totally gratuitous and unfounded. It would have

been more civil on the part of Mr. Guy to contact us directly in order to

obtain answers to his interrogations. Actually, his dubious accusations only

misrepresent the facts and serve neither the truth nor our common goal to

promote dialogue and tolerance.

 

For your information, and contrary to Mr. Guy’s allegations, the Canadian

Jewish Congress, Quebec Region, cannot be a vehicle of Israeli propaganda

for the sole reason that it is neither mandated nor authorized to speak on

issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

With regard to Mr. Dworkin’s personal gift to the Jewish National Fund, this

contribution was made in 1992, and was exclusively used to fund a retirement

home in the city of Eilat, a territory by no means contested since it is

located on the northern side of the official and undisputed border with

Egypt, a country with which Israel has signed a peace treaty.

 

For our part, we remain entirely available to answer any questions, and if

you deem necessary, to meet with the members of the jury and competing

producers in order to provide any clarification they may require.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Robert Kleinman, FCA

Executive Director