Daniel Koren
National Post, Dec. 13, 2023
“… when a student asked the university why — at a time of intense antisemitism — it was hosting an event with a speaker who also justified the indiscriminate murder of innocent Israeli civilians and tourists, McMaster’s response was that it was “committed to protecting” the speaker’s “expression.””
The world watched in horror last week as the presidents of three major U.S. universities — Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — refused to refer to calls for the genocide of Jewish people as a form of harassment.
The interviews at an intense, hours-long congressional hearing spoke volumes about the state of anti-Jewish hatred in North America today and where this virus is most infectious: on college and university campuses.
For Canadians, it raised an interesting hypothetical question — how would the presidents of our distinguished academic institutions react to calls for the genocide of Jews? How would the presidents of say, the University of Toronto or McMaster University respond if asked whether violent anti-Jewish slogans violate the codes of conduct of their universities?
I’ve got news for you — they’ve already made their positions clear.
As executive director of Allied Voices for Israel (AVI), which unites students of all backgrounds against antisemitism and hatred, I have received lip service from university presidents and faculty at campuses across the country justifying hateful rhetoric or the glorification of terrorism emanating from students, professors and invited speakers.
Last month, our organization launched a letter-writing campaign calling on the University of Toronto to reprimand a professor by the name of Uahikea Maile who referred to the brutal and sadistic Oct. 7 Hamas attack as an act of “jubilation” and “anticolonial resistance.” In response to many concerned Canadians who sent letters, the university said only that their “message was received” and it understands “it has been a difficult time.” … [To read the full article, click here]