Physical/Mental Disabilities/Trans/Visible Minority? Have We Got A Job For You!!!!

"[Positions are] designated to candidates who self-identify as women with a disability or gender equity-seeking persons with a disability."

"The preference given to equity-deserving groups in recruitment processes is based on self-identification." 

"[To qualify as] racialized [applicants must identify as] non-white."

"[Members of a] gender equity-seeking [group must confirm that they] identify as anything not fitting cultural norms around gender identity, expression, and/or sexuality."

"Disabled [applicants include anyone who self-identifies as having] a chronic, long-term or recurring physical, sensory, mental, learning or intellectual impairment." 

Dalhousie University position-seeking criteria

DEI isn’t just widespread, it’s practically ubiquitous, encompassing 98% of all academic job postings. Aristotle Foundation

 

It starts with Canada's Liberal government's grants into research chairs at Canadian universities. Men who are able-bodied are by virtue of their unqualified descent from 'colonial powers' regardless of the time that has passed from that distant past, are considered themselves to be 'colonialist imperialists', thus ineligible for positions in science at Canadian universities funded by government largess. These $100,000+ plus positions are simply off limits to any candidates who do not fall into the prescribed categories of women with disabilities, or gender equity-seeking individuals with disabilities.

 

In their peerless wisdom, government has decreed -- and universities have agreed -- that positions in leading science chairs within academia cannot be filled any longer with people qualified in their field of science. They must move on elsewhere to make room for replacements who will tackle complex scientific formulae from the perspective of queers, Indigenous and female perspectives. At Dalhousie, one of the most deeply equity-involved universities in Canada, the search is on to find the ideal candidate to apply artificial intelligence to 'healthy aging', within the new focus of using artificial intelligence in research and development.

 

To be fair, candidate screening based on colour or sex has become standard practice at universities right across Canada. Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy's January report reviewed 489 academic job postings in Canada, to find that 98 percent contained a condition that "directly or indirectly discriminated against candidates". Dalhousie was identified as one of the most enthusiastic practitioners of identity quotas in hiring. Multiple positions explicitly turning way candidates based on race, gender or sexual identity have been advertised by Dalhousie in the last year. 

 

prioritizing DEI over excellence

From the school's Canada Research Chair in marine carbon transformation,  another in Indigenous prosperity and economic reconciliation, another in observational chemical oceanography, yet another on engineering where applicants are required to generate new technologies to work in deepwater ocean environments, candidates must have an Indigenous, 'racialized women' or 'racialized gender minorities' background to succeed in convincing Dalhousie they would be the ideal candidate for the job. 

 

There is the risk at Dalhousie, as at other universities across Canada, that a share of the federal government's financial support for science funding will be withdrawn unless some  hires remain based on these characteristics. Canada Research Chairs represent funding to the tune of $310 million annually and remain bound to strict quotas on researchers' colour pigment and gender. By the timeline of December 2029, it is expected that 50.9 percent of all Canada Research Chairs be comprised of women and gender minorities; 22 percent visible minorities; 7.5 percent people with disabilities, and 4.9 percent Indigenous.

 

The origins of 'equity quotas' in hiring practises began in the United States where the widespread method of identity-based quotas was eventually hobbled when legal challenges conducted under the terms of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination in any program that receives federal funding, led to its cessation. In Canada, Section15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms explicitly permits discriminatory hiring as long as the practice ameliorates "conditions of disadvantaged individuals".

 

Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus

 e

To measure the prevalence and severity of DEI in academic hiring, we reviewed approximately 50 active, academic job postings from the largest public university in each Canadian province. The review was based on eight research questions that each gauge a different DEI strategy—from acknowledging DEI ideologies, to compelling intellectual conformity, to reverse racism (e.g., excluding white males from applying).

All 10 universities sampled—and 477 of the 489 job advertisements reviewed—employed some form of DEI requirement or strategy in filling academic vacancies. In other words, 98 percent of the academic postings directly or indirectly discriminated against candidates and/or threatened academic freedom.

Some noteworthy instances include the following:

• All University of Toronto job postings and 96 percent of Dalhousie’s mentioned or implied a candidate’s “contribution to DEI” was an asset.
• McGill and the University of Saskatchewan required all applicants to complete a DEI survey.
• Nearly two-thirds of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) and 55 percent of the University of Manitoba’s job postings required candidates to submit a DEI statement or essay.

Interestingly, the institution most likely to exclude candidates outright was also the least likely to employ any DEI strategies. At UBC, nearly one out of every five academic job postings explicitly restricted the job to a particular race, ethnicity, group identity, or other inherent trait. However, it was also the university least likely to call for specific DEI strategies; they were absent from 12 percent of UBC’s postings.

Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy

Palestinian History/Reality Re-Write

"McGill always had some antisemitism. Always. It has a long history of it, and it's always been there."

"I've been shocked at two things. One, is the level of antisemitism. But, number two, is the total abandonment by all of my progressive colleagues and friends; erstwhile close friends."

"It's not even politically incorrect to be antisemitic anymore. All of the forces that make people behave ... none of that is in place." 

Dr. Gerald Batist, professor, former chair oncology department, McGill University

"We witnessed troubling situations last year that impacted students, faculty, and staff on our city's campuses. Among these was the deeply concerning encampment at McGill, which raised serious concerns within the Jewish campus community about their safety and well-being."

"Universities have a responsibility to ensure all students feel safe on campus."

Federation CJA/campus group Hillel

"[The] University will pursue disciplinary processes against individuals, who have been identified, participating in the encampment or other similar activities to the full extent outlined in our policies."

"We are also investigating the full spectrum of legal recourses available to us, including the potential recovery of damages."

McGill University spokesperson

Demonstrators outside the Bronfman Building (Feb. 22, 2024)

In a never-ending round of what is old is new again, Jews once more find themselves unwelcome on some Canadian university campuses to the extent that the extraordinarily flawed decisions by university authorities to negotiate with pro-Hamas groups on campus while feeling it is quite normal for Jewish students and professors to look after themselves to ensure that threats don't mount to become reality. Finding the McGill University detached by indifference to campus antisemitism reaching viral proportions, the message to Jews is obvious; you no longer belong here.

 

Demonstrations broke out in Canada with raucous pro-Hamas supporters celebrating Palestinian 'resistance' against the 'occupying' Israelis. A resistance that was demonstrated in an October 7 day of unrelenting  barbarism as 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered amidst the chaos of mass rape, mutilations, and abduction of Israeli children, the elderly, women, IDF soldiers, and foreign farm workers from farming communities close to the Gaza border with Israel.

The gore of sadistic savagery, the unspeakable odium of hate-filled berserkers loosed on civilian populations with orders to exact as much pain and fear as possible on people going about their normal lives only to be disabused of the notion that normalcy is permissible when neighbours mount violent assaults with the goal of committing atrocities geared to extract as much agony and pain as possible in pursuit of mass murder, events that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank celebrated while those abroad cast their net wide in scorning civilizational mores and verities in favour of bestiality.

Chanting "Viva, viva, intifada", "Go Back to Poland", and "Resistance is justified when people are occupied", demonstrators on campus, comprised of students as well as outsiders who organize these terrorist-supporting rallies such as Solidarity of Palestinian Human Rights, influential as a student group in inflaming latent antisemitism among parts of the student bodies and faculty prepared to help launch a massive rejection of Jews as 'outsiders' representative of a nation accused of 'genocide' against poor helpless Palestinians.

 

Flyer distributed at McGill University by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill

‍

Escalating demonstrations led to campus encampments, where Jewish students and faculty were abused, harassed and threatened and refused entry to campus. A coalition of anti-Israel groups organized a "Day of Shutdown", coinciding with the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht in Germany and Austria, preparation for civil exclusion and ultimately leading the way to the 'Final Solution', now emulated by Palestinian terrorists and lauded by Palestinian-supporting groups in Canada. A poster for the event featured demonstrators shattering window glass.

Following the Kristallnacht rally, the undergraduate student union at McGill voted 78 percent favouring a resolution that demanded divestment boycotting of Israel by McGill. The measure, university administrators warned, represented a breach of the school's constitution that could lead to the student body's affiliation and funding with McGill being jeopardized. During the winter the Bronfman building -- funded by Jewish philanthropy -- was blockaded, entrances were obstructed and classes were forced to move online.

In the spring, campus events deteriorated even further when 'activisits' -- aka terrorists-in-training -- defaced properties on campus and renamed buildings after Palestinian towns. "We are at a pivotal moment in our fight against settler colonialism and its violent legacies", wrote the group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. The encampment that followed was the very first one established throughout universities in Canada. McGill University administrators seemed incapable of restraining the activities and supporting its Jewish faculty and students.

"The resistance advances through occupied land with one goal: liberation. We salute our brave people on the ground", appeared on an Instagram post dated October 8 by SPHR, in celebrating the atrocities committed by Hamas. By June, McGill administrators were 'negotiating' with the encampment leadership; in other words giving them the gift of legitimacy, despite their illegal and criminal actions. At that time SPHR produced a poster featuring young people wearing keffiyehs, armed with an AK-17, to advertise a "youth summer program".

McGill politely requested the student union to "sever their relationship with SPHR"; that failure to do so "will be interpreted as their endorsement of SPHR's activities". The student union's website still listed the group, regardless. Prior to the set up of the encampment, anti-Israel activists marched through the university library while students were cramming for exams. No action was taken by the university in reaction to these provocations, leaving the 'activists' with the impression that nothing would ever be done to deter them in their disruptive, threatening and illegal actions.

"My research is highly dependent on the goodwill of my lab mates and if they knew I had these views [as a Jew], they would likely refuse to work with me", said a McGill medical student asking for anonymity in view of the fact that his lab has Arab and Palestinian researchers unaware that he is Jewish, although he has been called "kyke", and "Jewboy" on occasion since the beginning of the war.

Montreal police control McGill University's Roddick Gates ahead of a pro-Israel counter-demonstration near the anti-Israel encampment on the campus on May 2, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

"As we walk to class and pass signs calling for another intifada, a violent uprising to murder Jews and Israelis, we feel threatened."

"As we walk to the library and hear protests glorifying Hamas, we feel terrified."

"We feel alone."

Nicole Nashen, McGill University law student

Research by Ari David Blaff

Canadian Hamas Proxies' Entitlements

"[Some of the protesters' graffiti and signage] comes very close to, and occasionally crosses, the lines into discriminatory speech."

"None of this is peaceful protesting; it is designed to threaten, coerce and scare people. It is completely unacceptable. In each case, we have reported what has happened to the police and urged them to act."

"[The effigy (of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) was dressed in] a striped outfit that resembled a prisoner's uniform. That outfit also bore a close likeness to the uniform that millions of Jews and other marginalized peoples who suffered and died in concentration camps during the Second World War were forced to wear."

"[Montreal police] as we understand it, watched the events unfold without preventing them. This baffles us, and we have asked them to take every action possible under the law."

McGill University President Deep Saini

"Despite students voicing through the available institutional channels and so-called 'democratic' processes, we have been shut down at every opportunity."

"[McGill is prioritizing] donor interests and funding over the safety and collective will of its students."

"[The administration is unleashing] a propaganda and defamation campaign against all pro-Palestinian activism on their campus.

McGill chapter, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR)

A banner that said, 'injunction-proof' went up outside the McGill pro-Palestinian encampment on May 15, after a Quebec Superior Court judge rejected a second injunction request to remove the camp. (Jennifer Yoon/CBC)

 

Intensifying intimidation has been engaged in by supporters of a pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University's downtown campus. The university's president is experiencing difficulty attempting to determine why it is that police in Montreal have failed to step in, and make a stop to the ongoing harassment despite his having called upon them with the intention of spurring them to react to illegal, dangerous behaviour on the part of demonstrators, a substantial portion of whom are not students or anyone having a legitimate link to the university in any capacity.

 

The homes of school administrators, along with a senior official have been targeted by masked demonstrators. Masked protesters from the encampment harassed a senior university official. On the university campus itself profane graffiti proliferates. One McGill faculty team was faced with a table set at their offices with rotten food along with "a sign that named each team member with red handprints painted to look like blood", and a sign that read: "Food You Deserve".

An effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hung from the Roddick Gates of the school on Sunday, in full view of police officers who made no effort to intervene, simply watching the proceedings. The incident, considered a hate crime, was referred by two McGill students to Montreal police for an investigation. Of which nothing further was heard. When questioned, the response was that "Since an investigation is underway, we cannot comment so as not to interfere with its progress", the police responded.

University President Saini disclosed his administration's offer to the protesters; rejected, despite its similarity to proposals that have seen resolutions succeed at other universities. In the interim, McGill seeks a court injunction to dismantle the encampment, in place since April 27. Midweek, Universite du Quebec a Montreal announced that a similar camp would see their protest end following most demands having been met by the university.

Escalation, points out Mr. Saini, occurs irrespective of the efforts by his administration to engage with those students involved in the McGilll protest relating to demands for the university to divest from companies with links to Israel. Those negotiations have been difficult, stressed Mr. Saini. The SPHR responded with a statement of their own, essentially that their impression is that McGill is "pretending to be engaged in 'good faith" dialogue with protesters, yet the administration declines the suspension of legal and disciplinary actions.

Consequences for the protest groups' illegal, disruptive, hatefully slanderous, threatening behaviour is off the books as far as the protest organizers are concerned. McGill offered in its attempted negotiations of appeasement to:

• Examine 'divestment from companies whose revenues largely come from weapons';
• Increase 'McGill's links to scholars and institutions in Gaza and the West Bank, and provide urgent support to displaced students and scholars'
• Publicly list the companies in which it has equity holdings under $500,000, where that is permitted.

Somehow, it has failed to penetrate in the minds of academic administrators that dealing with irrational demands through appeasement rarely works when minds fixated on their views of reality as opposed to actual reality view attempts to defuse situations by offering concessions, just as occurs in the political arena, as capitulation, signalling to the protesters that issues they can 'win' are ripe for expansion; that if some of their demands can be met, there is no reason for them to accept a partial victory when they can demand all their demands be met. Taking a page out of the book of intransigent Palestinian negotiators for peace with Israel.

 

McGill University president Deep Saini has been calling on Montreal police to intervene against protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment that went up on the university's campus one month ago. (CBC)

"We have met multiple times with the McGill students representing the encampment and presented offers in good faith These representatives walked away from the table at our last meeting."

"[The university has made an offer that aligns] with McGill's mission and principles of academic freedom, integrity, responsibility, equity and inclusiveness."

"[Calls for divestment based on geopolitical issues] serve to divide, not unite. Experience has taught us that maintaining a neutral institutional stance best supports [members of the McGill community] who hold varied political views, represent diverse identities, origins and beliefs, and ardently espouse various causes."

"In many other institutions, we've seen encampment leaders work with campus administration to find some common ground that represents positive change, despite disagreements."

"Yet, McGill's offer, which is comparable to that made by other universities [that] have reached resolutions, has been rejected by the encampment on our campus."

McGill University President Deep Saini

Around the world, students are calling on their universities to 'disclose and divest' their investments in companies and organizations linked to Israel.

Breaking the Law on Canadian University Campuses

"I am writing to remind you of the University of Toronto's commitment to free expression and lawful and peaceful protest, as well as the necessary limits that accompany those freedoms."

"[Students are allowed to] engage in peaceful assemblies and demonstrations [however anti-Israel protests such as tent encampments do not fall under the protections scope of university policy]."

"Any student involved in unauthorized activities or conduct that contravenes University policies or the law may be subject to consequences."

 Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students, University of Toronto

 

"We understand that some in our community want to protest the violence and war they see unfolding. These actions must always be taken with respect for others and within the boundaries of university policy and the law."

"We also remind everyone that hate and intolerance have no place at UBC. The university must be a place of reasoned debate where conflicting views can peacefully coexist."

Matthew Ramsey, acting senior director, media relations, University of British Columbia 

"[McGill has seen video evidence of] some people using unequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour, which is absolutely unacceptable on our campuses."

"We condemn this in the strongest possible terms and will act quickly to investigate."

"The number of individuals who have set up tents on campus has tripled since Saturday. We have become aware that many of them, if not the majority, are not members of the McGill community. [While we support] the rights of our campus community to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly [we do so] with the understanding that these must be exercised within the bounds of McGill's policies as well as the law."

"We have been clear that these encampments violate both."

Fabrice Labeau, deputy provost, student life and learning, McGill University

By Monday morning, the group of people gathered on McGill campus had grown. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

"[While welcome to protest, student] encampments and occupations will not be tolerated."

"We have forcefully and repeatedly affirmed that no incitement to violence or incidents of harassment or hate, including Islamophobia and Antisemitism, will be tolerated on our campuses."

Eric Bercier, associate vice-president of student affairs, University of Ottawa

University administrators have suddenly become aware that their august institutions have become hotbeds of antisemitism, even though that ancient curse on the Jews has been manifesting its presence for months, in the wake of the October 7 atrocities committed by Palestinian terrorist groups in Israel and the predictable Israel Defense Forces response by invading Gaza for the purpose of annihilating the Hamas government's terrorist infrastructure and eliminating its terrorist operatives. Even before October 7, for years antisemitism on Canadian campuses have slithered out of the woodworks, a reflection of Canadian universities' courting of foreign students and the influx of immigration from North Africa and the Middle East.

Some of the current responses from the universities in the face of swelling, blatant and vicious antisemitic intimidation of Jewish students, along with the condemnations of Israel and its response to the October 7 bloodbath perpetrated on Israeli citizens have been carefully worded with the intention of both decrying the illegal acts of protest occupation yet causing as little community offense as possible. It is telling that concerns of offending the new and burgeoning Muslim-Canadian population sees university administrators following the example of prime minister Justin Trudeau who cannot condemn antisemitism without including 'Islamophobia'.

Now, finally, after months of viral and sometimes violent university protests, Canadian universities are paying attention to the stress and fear these protests engender among Jews and Jewish university students, in the face of protest occupations of university campuses. The University of Toronto has issued a warning that protest tents on campus would be considered "trespassing"; that while the school supports freedom of expression, assembly and protest, occupations of student buildings and encampments would not be permitted.

The trouble with these warnings finally being issued, is that they've come too late. Previous assemblies complete with violent language, intimidation and disorder were permitted to occur, unremarked upon, with each succeeding iteration being more irrational, threatening and chaotic than the last. The result of which has been a growing sense of entitlement by 'pro-Palestinian', 'anti-Israel' agitators, many of whom have finally been recognized as not emanating from the student bodies of  the universities themselves, but outside organizers.

The protesters insist it is their right under the Canadian constitution to behave in a way that disrupts normal life of the university and most certainly the lives of Jewish students whom the protests tend to target for criminal harassment. Lawyers acting on their behalf have informed school administrators that the protesters refuse to disperse and dispense with their agitation until all their demands have been met by the university; condemnation of Israel, and de-investing in any ventures in which Israel would be involved, as well as outlawing interchange with Israeli academics. Their lawyers have informed school administrators that the students "have instead [of removing their tents], indicated that they intended to remain on campus indefinitely".

A man reads a sign of demands posted outside a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on McGill University's campus in Montreal, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

"[I have been] very preoccupied and concerned about the situation on campus because we've seen what happened in the last couple [of] weeks and days in the United States and Europe."

"I don't want the situation to degenerate, to get out of control."

Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Dery

A pro-Palestinian encampment has grown since it began Saturday at Montreal's McGill University, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations held on campuses across the United States. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

"Undesirables" Blacklisted by the Kremlin

"[Anyone affiliated with Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs] could be subject to criminal punishment, including a possible prison sentence [if they travel to Russian territory]."

"We strongly advise anyone with a NPSIA affiliation [faculty, students, staff and alumni] to avoid travelling to Russia or Belarus and to curtail research and other partnerships with anyone based in Russia or Belarus at this time."

"We are working with our community and partners to review any implications the decision may have."

Carleton University media representative

Carleton University in Ottawa. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

"Due to the impacts of the armed conflict with Ukraine and the risk of terrorism [Canadians should avoid all travel to Russia]."

"If you are in Russia,  you should leave while commercial means are still available. If you remain in Russia maintain a low profile."

"Canadians holding Russian citizenship may be subject to call-up for mandatory military service."

Global Affairs Canada travel advisory 

 

"Putin has long tried to regulate activities of NGOs receiving foreign funding."

"[Russian citizens may be fined or imprisoned for engaging with blacklisted entities]."

"Undesirable [organizations have to cease operating in Russia and may face fines if they do not]."

Nicole Jackson, associate professor of international studies, Simon Fraser University

Carleton University's international affairs program has been labelled an 'undesirable organization' by Russia's Ministry of Justice. Russia's General Prosecutor's Office has also issued a press release alerting Russians that the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at University of Toronto has been deemed by Russian authorities to be 'undesirable'. The Kremlin states that both these Canadian universities are part of a broad Western campaign to "discredit the Russian Federation and incite anti-Russian sentiments".

According to the Kremlin's statement both universities have met with leaders of "unfriendly countries with anti-Russian orientation". The Canada-based non- governmental organization, Russian-Canadian Democratic Alliance is also listed by the Kremlin as 'undesirable'.

 

Since Russia's invasion of February 2022 launched into Ukraine, its two-year-and-counting assaults have killed and injured thousands in Ukraine. Canada imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and organizations, provoking Russian condemnation and ire. Along with the United States and the United Kingdom, Canada also recently announced a new group of sanctions in the wake of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death, when ten individuals and 153 entities increased Canada's Russian-sanction list.  

Canadian public figures, in turn, including provincial and federal politicians, Governor General Mary Simon and Canadian athletes who support banning Russian athletes from competing in the 2024 Olympics, have been sanctioned by the Kremlin. 

Reports by Radio Free Europe have it that the Kremlin adopted its "undesirable organizations" law in 2014 for the purpose of targeting media outlets and organizations engaging in political, cultural and educational activities, along with their support for democratic institutions. As one of more than 140 organizations on the 'undesirable' list Radio Free Europe enjoys the distinction of being in the Kremlin's bad books.

The "undesirable organization" label has been applied to dozens of foreign groups since Moscow began using the classification and effectively bans organizations outright.

"Essentially it is about control -- [Vladimir] Putin consistently increasing actions to clamp down on dissenting views and attempting to control the narrative."

"More broadly, it is another way that Putin is showing his anger and impotence at being unable to change Canadian foreign policy."

"[Russia's move, targeting post-secondary institutions, could also be seen as an] assault on academic freedom."

"[Canadian institutions should] warn their people not to travel to Russia, and be careful how they communicate with those inside Russia [so as to avoid] administrative and criminal responsibility."

"[Carleton and University of Toronto are] just the latest in a very long list of Putin's targets."

Nicole Jackson, associate professor of international studies, Simon Fraser University

 

Academia: Erasing Scholarship -- Embracing Woke Ideology

Canadian student unions, from York University to the University of Toronto, are facing backlash over anti-Israel statements issued amid Israel facing deadly Hamas attacks. True North

"We condemn the erasure of trans and queer Palestinians as integral to their communities, along with the many ways powerful politicians and the media refer to all Palestinians as terrorists or dehumanize them through forms of animalization."

Queen's University Department of Gender Studies 'solidarity' statement

"[All students are invited to an] emergency [lecture on the subject of] decolonizing [mathematics]."

"In particular we'll focus on Palestine and the idea of academic boycott."

Tarik Aougab, Haverford College, Pennsylvania Zoom lecture

"As anthropologists, we know that it is essential for scholars to situate the current war in its broad historical and social contexts, including those of settler colonialism."

120 anthropology students and faculty from major universities in Canada

 

"Freedom of expression has limits and comes with responsibilities. It must never reach into promoting or justifying violence against unarmed civilians."

"To suggest otherwise is abhorrent and does not reflect the views of York University, nor the perspective of many thousands of York University students." 

York University statement

Vari Hall at York University in Toronto. York student groups recently posted a letter offering solidarity with the Palestinian people against "so-called Israel." Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Postmedia

Logic and justice along with basic reasoning seem to have gone AWOL in universities of late. All appear to have wholeheartedly embraced Critical Race Theory, and draw close to their hearts the sacred ideology reflected by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and all appear to have agreed that Jews are exempt from DEI considerations since, although an ethnic and religious minority they are part of the 'imperialist' white 'colonial-mentality' mainstream. 

Both reality and logic are totally absent in the dearly beloved solidarity statement of the gender studies group promoting the trans and queer community among Palestinians where in fact were any gays, trans and queers to out themselves in either the 'West Bank' or Gaza, their immediate death throes would be guaranteed.

But then, any cock-eyed ideology that frames Israel as an illegitimate colony, and that in its self-assigned role of 'occupying' both Palestinian territories it is entirely their fault if those suffering Palestinians in Gaza saw fit to invade Israel on October 7 to rampage violently through towns, villages and kibbutzim bordering Gaza in Israel, slaughtering 1,400 Israelis of all ages, raping girls and women, and taking well over 200 vulnerable civilians from infants to the elderly, hostages.

Moreover, Hamas 'freedom fighters' designated by the nomenclature of violent terrorists slanders the nobility of their cause -- to liberate 'Palestine' from Israeli exploitation and humiliation, when the real abusers of human rights is the government of Israel whose agenda is to accomplish its plan of destroying Palestinians, from babies to courageous martyrs for the 'cause' of liberating Palestine.

In Canada, the civilian massacres of Israelis was welcome news to a great swath of academia who view it as Palestinian heroism in finally exacting a penalty from their persecutors. 'Palestine will be free!' they gloat on social media. Tenured professors, faculty unions and student societies signed on to public statements cheering on the murder of over 1,400 Israelis as an act of 'resistance'. Adding it was time for similar such raging violence to take place on the entire world 'settler colonials'.

A "strong act of resistance" was how the York Federation of Students with their history of support for Palestinian fanaticism, characterized the October 7 savage assaults, finally leading York University to launch a process of de-registering the group. That reaction of the university's long-overdue move saw the federation speaking of themselves as victims of "defamation".

 

The names of the York students involved were entered into the Province's legislative record by Ontario's minister of colleges and universities, noting they had endorsed Hamas and supported "rape, torture and mass murder". Which elicited a response from the University of Toronto Mississauga student union claiming the action was akin to "bullying" and "doxing". As for Queen's University in Kingston, their Palestinian Solidarity for Human Rights frame the October 7 massacres as "decolonization and Indigenization" in action.

"They are a rightful practice of Indigenous people across the world", they responded. To which Queen's Principal responded with a vague statement decrying a rise of "antisemitism and Islamophobia" on campus. "Your silence on this matter speaks volumes and is very concerning to us parents ... Terror is not neutral. It must be stopped in its tracks", wrote over 200 Jewish alumni and 700 parents of Jewish students questioning that Queen's was "conflicted in its position on something so absolute".

"We stand in solidarity with Palestine and support all forms of Palestinian resistance and efforts toward liberation" wrote students from Toronto Metropolitan University's Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Prompting an uncharacteristic statement of condemnation from TMU administrators who themselves then wrote: "We unequivocally condemn the sentiments of Antisemitism and intolerance expressed in this message."

To which came a rejoinder from a group of Toronto lawyers decrying TMU's "weak" reply in the face of a group of potential Canadian lawyers endorsing terrorism and war crimes. The lawyers recommended suspension, at the very least, public recantation to be permitted to remain in the program. Law firms in Toronto have gone further on their own initiative, noting the names of the signees and pledging that none among them will find employment with them.