[ad_1]
Breadcrumb Trail Links
Toronto & GTA
Article content
When Laura Barkel graduates from Toronto Metropolitan University next year, she will leave with some cherished memories.
Advertisement 2
Article content
This one, however, will haunt the 21-year-old, fourth-year student — as it was meant to.
Article content
A pro-Palestinian protester outside the university yelled this at her: “It’s too bad Hitler didn’t finish the job,” and added, “You wouldn’t be here.”
It’s a heinous thing to say to anyone, let alone someone who’s great-grandparents were Holocaust survivors.
And since they survived the horrors inflicted by Hitler’s Nazis, Laura now lives in a free country where she is entitled to go to school without being dehumanized and terrorized. That’s not her experience right now.
While there are repercussions for someone like a conservative-leaning Don Cherry for something he did not say but is perceived to have said, there are no repercussions for statements like this on Canadian university campuses.
Advertisement 3
Article content
Your Midday Sun
Article content
Advertisement 4
Article content
Many Jewish students say they do not feel safe on university campuses after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of 1,400 Israelis – many young people like themselves – and the kidnapping of 240 others. For some students, the university experience includes being swarmed, spit on, belittled and threatened.
It’s not easy being Jewish on campus at this time. In fact, it’s terrifying.
Recommended video
“It’s extremely difficult coming into that hostile environment,” said Barkel, who is a StandWithUs Canada Emerson Fellow and vice-president of the TMU Hillel executive committee.
Second-year student Zach Rusonik, also a StandWithUs Fellow, called it intimidating. “I had one person say to me, ‘Take your Kippah off, you are not Jewish, you are Zionist,’” he said.
Advertisement 5
Article content
He told a story of a time when four Jewish students were surrounded by 50 pro-Palestinian supporters.
One of the protesters followed him and his friends, saying, “I wanted to kill you.” But then the protester relented and said he realized that he had been fed anti-Jewish propaganda and has softened his position to one of more understanding.
It was a strange, confusing set of circumstances for kids who should just be focusing on their studies.
Advertisement 6
Article content
None of this should be happening. But it is.
While some law students were admonished for their anti-Semitic statements, more than 400 lawyers have signed a letter standing up for their right to be anti-Semitic. It has resulted in tense times – and not just on the campus, but in classrooms and lecture halls, too.
Barkel said since protesters cover their faces, she often wonders “is this a person, who wanted me dead this morning,” sitting next to her?
Advertisement 7
Article content
It’s a fair question because the situation on many Canadian campuses is untenable, said Jesse Primerano, executive director of StandWithUs Canada and a graduate of TMU when it was still known as Ryerson University.
He loves that place. There are many great things happening, too.
In fact, it’s Holocaust Education Week with speakers and displays organized by Hillel which are unimpeded and protected. But there are troubling things as well that cannot be ignored.
He compiled a list of what Jewish students are facing at TMU:
— Swarmings by protesters at Jewish or pro-Israel events on campus;
— Threatening messages, including “My advice for you is to stay undercover on campus”, and “your time here is almost up;”
— Professors cancelling class or using class time to criticize Israeli “apartheid”, “colonialism”, “genocide” and more;
Advertisement 8
Article content
— Having their names and photos shared in large group chats with peers, in order to mock and criticize their support for Israel;
— Being told that their “claims about Oct. 7 are as valid as their claims about the Holocaust;”
— Being followed around campus after leaving Chabad;
— Being spat on;
— Receiving statements from school-affiliated groups, such as student unions, that amplify misinformation in a way that demonizes and isolates Jewish students on their campuses;
— Being called “Islamophobic” for speaking positively about Israel;
— Being doxed in social media groups of their classmates for their support of Israel;
“We are hearing about things like this at institutions right across the country,” said Primerano.
Advertisement 9
Article content
Advertisement 10
Article content
Advertisement 11
Article content
With an investigation of a murder of a rabbi in Los Angeles and of an alleged firebombing of a synagogue in Montreal, any escalation of hate toward Jewish people needs to be taken seriously.
“The hate that we are seeing on campuses started when weak-kneed administrators allowed Israel Apartheid Week to have public space,” said Toronto Councillor James Pasternak.
“This event was nothing but a hatefest lead and attended by people who spread conspiracy theories and disinformation,” he added. “The universities hid behind the Charter. Conversely, when a Jewish group would try to hold a peaceful event, the anti-Israel mob would riot and the administration would shut down the event for safety reasons.”
So what does Toronto Metropolitan University have to say?
Acknowledging they received our request, TMU responded it is “looking into it.” We will add any comments they offer.
Either way, Barkel and Rusonik say they won’t quit, no matter how difficult anti-Semites make it for them.
Recommended from Editorial
WARMINGTON: Pro-Palestine demos get younger as high school students hit city streets
WARMINGTON: Nasty mob at pro-Palestinian rally out to intimidate
Article content
Share this article in your social network
[ad_2]
Source link
