WINDSOR, Ont. (Dec. 1, 2020) – In response to the culture of antisemitism that clearly exists on campus, Hasbara Fellowships Canada is calling on the University of Windsor to immediately adopt the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism.
Last week, U of W students were shocked to discover that students in the Delta Chi fraternity were disparaging members of the Black, Jewish, Indian, LGBTQ+, and other communities in an online chatroom.
Texts compared Jews to “roaches,” used the vilest and most offensive of racist and antisemitic epithets, and said that members of the Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities should be “lynched.”
Antisemitic texts shared by members of Delta Chi fraternity at University of Windsor
Yet, after screenshots of the texts were unearthed, U of W only addressed “manifestations of anti-Black Racism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.”
It was only after a letter detailing the pervasive antisemitism on campus sent by the Windsor Law Jewish Students Association (JSA), which includes two of our Hasbara Fellows, did U of W President Robert Gordon and Dean of the Faculty of Law Christopher Waters circulate an updated statement that also condemned “antisemitism.”
Please find a snippet of the letter sent by JSA below.
Let us be clear: Jewish students have and continue to face antisemitism both on campus and in the wider Windsor-Essex community. Antisemitic epithets and swastikas have been carved into the washroom walls of the CAW and graffitied onto the walls of buildings. Just last summer, an Amherstburg resident actually mowed a swastika into their lawn. At no point did the university make any effort to condemn these hateful actions in their community or, at the very least, check in with Jewish students residing on campus and in Windsor-Essex. Today’s “statements” are symptomatic of the same disregard. They erase and undermine the experiences of Jewish students (and Jewish people) on and around the uWindsor campus. Today, once again, the University has failed to engage in any sort of dialogue or consultation with its Jewish community.
By leaving antisemitism unnamed, Dean Waters, President Gordon and the entire University of Windsor administration have sent the painful message to Jewish students that their experiences can be brushed away without thought. In addition, the statements of both Dean Waters and President Gordon have deluded the broader student body into thinking that antisemitism doesn’t exist. There are many Jewish students on campus – our voices should be heard and the prejudice we face should not be minimized by the thoughtless actions and words of the University.
The Delta Chi scandal isn’t the first case of anti-Jewish hatred or bias on campus, as detailed in the letter above. Students who live in residences near campus have also recently reported their buildings being defaced with “Free Palestine” and “F**k Israel” graffiti, while anti-Israel posters accusing Israel of genocide have often been found on campus.
IHRA provides a thorough framework on why such vandalism and targeting of Israel would pass the threshold of legitimate criticism into outright antisemitism. It is here where it could aid the University of Windsor in properly addressing antisemitism on campus.
“Jewish students are demanding accountability so that future generations can study on campus without being subjected to harassment,” said Daniel Koren, Executive Director of Hasbara Canada. “U of W recently took a critical and commendable step to counter racism and discrimination on campus by establishing a new Anti-Black Racism Task Force. In the same vein, it should take the next step by immediately adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism to curtail its presence on campus.”
