Mainstream Jews, who support Israel and consider themselves Zionists, feel like they are under attack. When they see people wearing keffiyehs and storefronts stamped with Palestinian flags, they hear an implicit attack: "You are not welcome here."

But for Palestinians, watermelons and keffiyehs aren't anti-Jewish icons at all: they're symbols of national pride.

How can everyday Canadian Jews and Muslims even start a conversation when words and symbols have such different meanings to different people? Telling people they're overreacting isn't an effective tool, nor is public shame, arguing over historical facts or posting online memes.

What might work: navigating difficult conversations. On today's episode of In Good Faith, The CJN's interfaith podcast miniseries, we speak with two people who are working toward exactly that.

Niki Landau and Bashar Alshawwa both came to conflict resolution through trauma. Landau lost a close friend, Marnie Kimmelman, to a terrorist pipe bomb on a Tel Aviv beach at age 17; Alshawwa was shot by an Israeli army sniper during a protest in 2014. Now they're touring Canada, bringing Jews and Muslims together for lengthy closed-door dialogue sessions, with a singular goal: create a toolkit to guide Canadians through conversations they desperately don't want to have.

Credits

• Hosts: Yafa Sakkejha and Avi Finegold

• **Producers: ** Michael Fraiman and Zachary Judah Kauffman

• Editor: Zachary Judah Kauffman

This podcast is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, with support from the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation.

In The Devil’s Arithmetic, a historical fiction novel of a young Jewish woman during the Second World War, Jewish author Jane Yolen famously wrote, “If we do not laugh, we will cry.” The quote ends: “What you laugh at and make familiar can no longer frighten you.”

Everyone knows that war, death and destruction are no laughing matter. But humour can help in fundamental ways. It can bring people together, helping them bypass the barriers that prevent them from understanding different perspectives. For Jews and Muslims over the past two years, humour has done even more: it has become an essential buffer against despair and a way of reclaiming agency in a world tragically beyond our control.

In that spirit, In Good Faith, The CJN’s interfaith podcast miniseries, brought two Jewish comics—Dan Rosen and Adrienne Fish—together with Arab stand-ups Nour Hadidi and AJ Bate for a night of live comedy at Youngplace in downtown Toronto on Oct. 22, 2025. After their stand-up sets, each joined hosts Avi Finegold and Yafa Sakkejha for a panel discussion about what it’s like spotlighting their identities onstage and why they feel comedy is important during difficult times.

Timestamps

• 00:00 - Introductions

• 03:47 - Dan Rosen

• 09:20 - AJ Bate

• 18:34 - Adrienne Fish

• 27:06 - Nour Hadidi

• 32:52 - Panel Discussion

Credits

• Hosts: Yafa Sakkejha and Avi Finegold
• Producers: Michael Fraiman and Zachary Judah Kauffman
• Editor: Zachary Judah Kauffman

This podcast is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, with support from the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation.

Ever since Oct. 7, if you're a Jewish Canadian, odds are you've had a personal falling out. If you haven't personally, you likely know someone who has. Across the world, Jews have seen and heard shocking posts and comments by friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

This isn't a left-right issue. As we explore on today's episode of In Good Faith, The CJN's interfaith podcast miniseries, even within left-wing activist circles, friends have been torn apart in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel.

On today's episode, you'll hear from two longtime friends: Ronit Yarosky and Ehab Lotayef. They've been friends for 20 years. She's Jewish; he's Muslim. She's lived in Israel, and served in the Israeli army before founding the Canadian branch of the Women in Black anti-war group; he's Egyptian and married a Palestinian woman, sitting on numerous Arab and Muslim Canadian councils. But despite having marched side-by-side in progressive protests for decades, a single comment on Oct. 8, 2023, caused what seemed like an irreparable rift in their lives for a year.

Hear how they fell apart—and came back together—on In Good Faith.

NOTE: This podcast has been developed in partnership between Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian community members to foster dialogue between our communities. Some listeners may find parts of this program offensive. All opinions belong to the participants, and do not reflect the views of The CJN staff, its board members or its donors.

Credits

• Hosts: Yafa Sakkejha and Avi Finegold
• Producers: Michael Fraiman and Zachary Judah Kauffman
• Editor: Zachary Judah Kauffman

This podcast is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, with support from the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation.