York University and CUPE Distinguishing Themselves Again

"Let us collectively divert this week's tutorials to teaching on Palestinian liberation."

"[Tutorials should be diverted to condemnation of the] Zionist Israeli state [regardless of the course that the TA is supposed to be discussing]."

"It is a medical issue. An arts issue. A feminist issue. A society issue. A political issue. A cultural issue. A geography issue. An engineering issue. An architecture issue."

15-page document issued by CUPE 3903 union representing contract and part-time faculty at York University, Toronto

Detail from an official "toolkit" distributed to York University contract and part-time faculty which claims that their employer is complicit in "genocide" by the mere tolerance of Jewish groups on campus. Photo by A Toolkit on Teaching Palestine

The document considered to be a new tool kit circulated to York University teaching assistants gives them instructions on denouncing Israel, and to make their own opportunities to do so, ignoring such condemnations' lack of relevance to any academic study's subject matter. The document points out a salient fact, that the very presence of Jewish groups on campus presents as evidence of "complicity" in genocide at York University.

The very existence of sanctioned "Zionist cultural institutions" in explicit reference to a Hillel chapter, one of a multitude of such chapters around the world on university campuses representing the interests of Jewish students, is indication enough of the university's culpability, points out the document. But then, it also calls out York as an accessory to genocide related to its research links with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

 

Part of a speech that TAs are given to read out before informing students that regular discussions of course work have been cancelled. Photo by A Toolkit on Teaching Palestine

A script is provided for teaching assistants to read out while informing students the tutorial is to be cancelled in favour of a substitute "teach-in ... for liberation". "Today, I open up our classroom to bring our attention to Gaza, to speak up and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement, and contribute in ending Canada's and York's complicity with genocide and the settler-colonial occupation of Palestinian land and life", the introductory line reads.

The document comes complete with the CUPE 3903 logo, redrawn to include the Palestinian flag. Should students object to their "political work" and "community organizing", the TAs are  told the union will come to their aid to protect them from reprisal: "If you are facing reprisals, harassment, or discrimination -- or believe that you might be -- get in touch with CUPE 3903 as soon as  you can", it urges.

CUPE 3903 has a long history, predating the current Israel-Hamas conflict, of organizing events and publishing literature slandering Israel and harassing Jewish students. Its literature accuses Israel of genocide, "apartheid", and alternately as an illegitimate colony whose fate should be annihilation. Following hard on the heels of the October 7 attacks in southern Israel, the union asserted Israel had brought the massacres on as a result of "apartheid, genocide, and state-sanctioned violence".

Canada, by association, was a purveyor of "settler-colonial violence". A local representing McMaster University -- CUPE 3906 -- issued an overtly pro-terror statement even as the October 7 killings were ongoing: "Palestine is rising, long live the resistance", a social media post issued by the ocal in concert with the first news reports arriving in Canada about mass shootings in Israel close to the Gaza border.

Both union locals claimed to have been subject to "intimidation and silencing of pro-Palestinian voices in Canada". The very day following the sadistic savagery of October 7, CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn posted a Thanksgiving Day message that he was thankful for "the power of resistance around the globe. Resistance brings progress, and for that I'm thankful", he stated. 

 

York University stands out as a hotbed of pro-Hamas activities.The York Federation of Students characterized the October 7 attacks as a "strong act of resistance", adding "resistance against colonial violence is justified and necessary", hinting at the same time that Canada itself is deserving of such actions. "This is 'decolonization' and 'land-back' actualized", said the statement.

York University's Osgoode Hall Law School saw faculty hugely represented in a November petition signed by over 700 Canadian lawyers and law students, the petition message being that the attacks required to be 'contextualized'.

On Oct. 23, an “All Out for Gaza” protest began outside of Vari Hall, led by the Palestinian Solidarity Collective (PSC). Other unions, like the York Federation of Students (YFS) and CUPE 3903, attended the protest.   Photo Jeanette Williams