Is it Safe for Jews to Attend Canadian Universities?
by Eli Yissar, High School Intern
Recently, antisemitism in universities has been on the rise and seems to be a very difficult matter within our lives. As high school students, we are urged to think about our futures very early on. Adults are constantly telling us to think about which universities in which we want to study after graduating high school. This makes the recent antisemitic events in universities across Canada extremely important for all of us, since we need to consider where it will be safe for us to learn and grow as proud Jews.
This past semester, the incidents that occurred in the University of Toronto and York University were the most publicized. Many people posted videos on social media in order to spread awareness of the issues, but there is a lot that is still unknown regarding these events.
Hillel is a Jewish campus organization. On November 11, they brought a notion to the Graduates Students Union, requesting to make Kosher food available for Jewish students on campus. Hillel then received a response saying that the Union “might be reluctant to bring the notion as a result of Hillel being ‘pro-Israel’.” This brought up feelings of discrimination and isolation among the Jewish students, whose need for Kosher food has nothing to do with Israel. Many Jews vocalized their strong opinions on this topic, calling it antisemitic and therefore clearly unacceptable. One of these people was a Torontonian lawyer named Guidy Mamann, who strongly advocated for a boycott from funding and supporting the university for “as long as they allow institutionalized #antisemitism on its campus.” This received lots of support and many people continued vocalizing about the issue, influencing the Union to come out with an apology to Hillel. They wrote in an email, “The external commissioner did not intend to do harm in using this language, but recognizes that this is not an excuse for the harm that the wording of this response caused to the individual receiving it, as well as to Jewish students at U of T… The UTGSU Executive Committee is deeply sorry for the harm that this response has caused.” Following this email, Hillel and the Graduates Students Union set a day when they would meet, in order to start the discussion regarding this request.
The event in York University was a little different, but just as antisemitic. A non-profit organization started by IDF veterans called The Reservists on Duty was scheduled to make an appearance in the university. They planned to talk about Israel “with confidence and knowledge.” A student group called the Students Against the Israeli Apartheid put up posters, declaring “No Israeli soldiers on our campus!” They did not succeed in canceling the event, and instead the university called officers from the Toronto Police Service, as well as private security officers in order to ensure the safety of all the students who wished to hear from The Reservists on Duty. The Students Against Israeli Apartheid group showed up to protest against this event and among them was a well known Holocaust denier named Nazih Khatatba, a man who praised the 2014 Jerusalem massacre and has called the Jewish Religion a “Terrorist religion.” The protesters began shouting, “Viva, Viva, intifada!” which refers to times in Israel where there were horrid Palestinian attacks targeting Israeli civilians. This protest became violent and the police and security officers were thankfully there to intervene. As much as police should be honored for stepping in, we should all be questioning how exactly an organized student group could disrupt a peaceful event by praising terrorism and frightening the peaceful students who simply came to hear a speaker.
These two events are important for us all to understand that we must continue fighting, continue standing up so that our truth is heard- because no one will do that for us. We must show the world that humans do learn from our history. “Never again.”
