Specter Of Week Of Anti-Israel Programs Rattles Canadian Jewish College Students

[Purveyor]

Israeli Apartheid Week - an eight day international marathon of lectures, films and other activities held to decry the "barbaric" policies of the Jewish state - begins on Sunday, and Jewish groups around the world are bracing for a wave of hostile and even violent outbursts at college campuses and other venues.

Jewish communities in Canada are particularly worried, after a recent near-riot at Toronto's York University required police intervention. Tensions between Jewish and Muslim students at a number of campuses across the country remain high.

Two weeks ago, anti-Israel protesters besieged Jewish students in York University's Hillel office after they took part in a press conference held to call for an impeachment of the student government - an issue unrelated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but which dealt instead with ending a long strike by teachers assistants.

An angry mob that included members of Students Against Israeli Apartheid, a main IAW organizer, banged on the glass doors of the Hillel office, shouting anti-Semitic epithets at the Jews inside, including, "Die, Jew, get the hell off campus."

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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410717342&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[iamjoy]

1. Apparently, In Some Cases

it would seem that in some cases anti-Israel does equate to anti-Semitism.

[jody]

2. Would those protests be legal in the US if HR 256 & HR 262 pass?

David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009
David Ray Ritcheson Hate Crime Prevention Act

[azurnoir]

7. So a anti Israel rally equates to a hate crime?

would you say the same about a anti Iran rally which could and almost certainly would have an anti Muslim element?

[cali]

10. let's see: "Die Jew..... "" is merely anti0-Israel in your book? Wow.

That's just amazing. Amazingly pathetic and a disgusting denial of blatant bigotry, that is.

[azurnoir]

11. Did you watch the JPost video?

I did- the chanting was unintelligible if it did happen yes it was bigotry but if is the word here, there were also lots of people with Israeli flAgd walking around no one was harassing them

but I guess it was a chance for someone here to spew bile as usual

[Scurrilous]

3. The Fifth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week March 1 - 8, 2009

"Mark your calendars - the 5th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week will take place across the globe from March 1-8, 2009!

First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, more than 25 cities around the world participated in the week's activities, which also commemorated 60 years since the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and land in 1947-1948. IAW 2008 was launched with a live broadcast from the South African township of Soweto by Palestinian leader and former member of the Israeli Knesset, Azmi Bishara.

This year, IAW occurs in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault against the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions will make the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid. IAW 2009 will continue to build and strengthen the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a global level."

http://apartheidweek.org/

(video at link)

[LeftishBrit]

4. At some British universities, there are joint Muslim-Jewish dialogue groups...

to bring Jews and Muslims closer together and prevent conflict. The one in my university is called 'MuJews'!

It is not clear to me how much of this situation at York University represents Muslim/Jewish conflict, and how much represents indigenous xenophobia/antisemitism. Someone called 'Sid Ryan' is unlikely to be Muslim!

Protesting against Israel and its actions is not antisemitic, but obviously antisemites will make use of real or imagined misdeeds by Israel as an excuse for their behaviour. "Die, Jew, get the hell off campus!" is certainly not merely anti-Zionist.

[rockymountaindem]

5. That event started at the University of Toronto

I believe they were kicked off campus because they originally required participants to sign some kind of declaration of belief, and therefore the administration ruled that they were not a free-and-open event and were not entitled to use campus facilities. I don't know if they've dropped that and moved on campus now, but back in 2004 this was a huge deal and there was a clash of some kind off campus. It got pretty ugly. The last couple of years I went there it wasn't too big on the radar though; I don't know about this year.

[drogheda]

6. In defence of Sid Ryan

http://canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/35911.shtml


Re: Front-page editorial cartoon by Gary Clement, Feb. 24.

It is beyond the pale for the National Post to equate Sid Ryan's stance on Israel with support for the Holocaust. Your vilification of Mr. Ryan is premised on the false proposition that Israel is being singled out and being treated differently because it describes itself as a "Jewish state." The fact is that the union movement has called for sanctions in the past against countries or states that violate human rights. The union movement boycotted Chile for its human rights abuses. Does this make it anti-Hispanic? Furthermore, it is normal for sanctions to be imposed on countries that violate UN resolutions.

Israel is violating a number of resolutions regarding both the occupation of the West Bank and the continued construction of settlements. If the National Post is serious in wanting Israel to be treated like every other nation, you should be applauding Sid Ryan, not calling him names.

[azurnoir]

8. The video was interesting

especially because by reading the JPost article one would think those students in the crowd carrying Israeli flags were risking their lives except no one seemed to pay much attention to them

[Scurrilous]

9. Canadian Jews condemn suppression of criticism of Israel

<snip>

"This statement was rejected by both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail (as an op-ed). Please help this important statement get into broad circulation - pass it on to your networks (faculty, community, MPs, university presidents, unions etc.). You may also wish to write to the Star and Globe editorials and express your dismay that they have chosen not to publish it.

Jewish Canadians Concerned About Suppression of Criticism of Israel

James Deutsch, M.D., Ph.D.

Judith Deutsch, M.S.W., R.S.W.

Miriam Garfinkle, M.D.

Over 150 Jewish Canadians signed a statement expressing their concerns about
the campaign to suppress criticism of Israel that is being carried on within
Canada. The signatories include many prominent Canadians, including Ursula
Franklin O.C., Anton Kuerti O.C., Naomi Klein, Dr. Gabor Mate, and
professors Meyer Brownstone (recipient of Pearson Peace Medal), Natalie
Zemon Davis, Michael Neumann, and Judy Rebick. *

The signatories are particularly concerned that unfounded accusations of
anti-Semitism deflect attention from Israel's accountability for what many
have called war crimes in Gaza. They state that B'nai Brith and the
Canadian Jewish Congress have led campaigns to silence criticism of Israel
on university campuses, in labor unions and in other groups. Immigration
Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff unquestioningly
echo the views of these particular Jewish organizations.

They strongly state that they are against all expressions of racism. While
firmly committed to resisting any form of prejudice against Jewish people,
their statement explicitly states that these spurious allegations of
anti-Semitism bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind.
The statement underlines the immeasurable suffering and injustice to the
Palestinian people due to the severe poverty, daily humiliations, and
military invasions inflicted by the State of Israel."

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