[rad-green] Academic freedom at UBC threatened by false allegations of anti-semitism

https://thetalon.ca/academic-freedom-at-ubc-threatened-by-false-allegations-of-anti-semitism/

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*UBC's Alternative Student Press*

*February 12, 2020*


Academic freedom at UBC threatened by false allegations of anti-semitism
*By Paul Tetrault <https://thetalon.ca/author/paultetrault/> and Sid Shniad
<https://thetalon.ca/author/sidshniad/>*

In 2018, six members of the UBC community were the subjects of an
investigation based on allegations that they had engaged in antisemitic
behaviour after they declared their opposition to holding the Geography
Department’s year-end party at Hillel UBC.

Their email comments explaining this opposition became the subject of a
six-month investigation that ended with an outside investigator finding
there had been no expression of antisemitism. Although the 52-page report
was completed in October 2018, UBC officials have refused to publicly
acknowledge the fact that the case was dismissed. In addition, they have
not released the investigator’s findings.

As members of Independent Jewish Voices Canada
<http://www.ijvcanada.org/> (IJV),
a grassroots organization that opposes all forms of racism and advocates
for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine, we provided support to
the students who were the subject of the investigation. Because we were
participants, we were given redacted copies of the investigator’s report.
After careful consideration, we have become convinced that the findings in
this investigation are too important to be kept secret.

The redacted version of the report that was provided to us by the
University, which had the investigator’s recommendations blacked out*,* can
be found here
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IZVMuZlPeTEF_iwG-DOMTQFvjcth6e2s/view?usp=sharing>.
IJV’s response to the UBC report can be found here
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KTj8byb38rIbuU5Fb0SlTWRAGTE8OKOx>. In
order to respect the privacy of everyone, we have removed the names of the
faculty and students who were involved.

*Here, in brief, is what happened.* In February 2018, the executive members
of the Geography Students Association (GSA) announced in a departmental
email discussion group that they had decided to hold their annual party,
the Geogala, at a rental space owned by UBC Hillel. After several
professors and students objected to renting from Hillel because of its
unqualified support of Israel despite the country’s horrific treatment of
Palestinians, the GSA executive members chose another venue for the party.

The email discussion leading to the decision to change venues included
reference to Hillel’s “ongoing role and politics,” mention of the
“controversial nature of Hillel,” “being all too familiar with Hillel’s
politics,” and the statement that “I found article …that outlines growing
Zionism in organization (and its fervent opposition to Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions)”.

Much of this is not contentious. Hillel’s website
<https://www.hillel.org/jewish/hillel-israel> prominently declares that
“Israel is at the heart of Hillel’s work.” Hillel is so dedicated to
supporting Israel that it proudly declares it will not host organizations,
groups or speakers that “support boycott of, divestment from, or sanctions
against the state of Israel.
<https://www.hillel.org/jewish/hillel-israel/hillel-israel-guidelines>”

It was Hillel’s political stance that the Geography students and faculty
were opposing when they made their critical comments. There was never any
evidence that either these comments or the GSA decision to change venues
had been motivated by hatred of Jews, which is the standard definition of
antisemitism. Nevertheless, the local chapter of the pro-Israel group known
as the Center for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) waded into the matter
<https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/geography-faculty-boycott-hillel-at-the-university-of-british-columbia>,
responding to the decision to change the party venue by setting up a special
website and launching a letter writing campaign targeting the UBC
administration <https://cija.ca/ubc/> to take action against what they
alleged to be a blatant instance of antisemitism at the University. It is
no coincidence that CIJA is promoting a “new” definition of antisemitism
which targets activists who criticize or organize against Israel’s
treatment of the Palestinians. More on that below.

What happened next was that the Ubyssey reported in March 2018
<https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/ubc-investigates-cancellation-of-event-at-hillel/>
that
a UBC geography student, a member of Hillel, had filed a UBC Policy 3
complaint against certain members of the Geography Department faculty,
alleging that the behaviour of those who had argued against holding the
departmental party at Hillel constituted discrimination, harassment and
antisemitism. UBC responded by appointing an outside lawyer, Lindsay M.
Lyster, to investigate the charges.

When Ms. Lyster issued the report of her investigation in October 2018, she
found that there had been no violation of UBC’s Policy 3 and no expression
of antisemitism on the part of the respondents.

Ms. Lyster wrote that “The participants on the listserve were expressing
their opinions about the advisability of the Geogala being held at Hillel
House, in light of their understanding of Hillel House’s political
opposition to the BDS movement. Expressing concern about an event being
held at a location as a result of one’s understanding of the political
beliefs of the operator of that location is not discrimination.”

The students we represented were greatly relieved that the accusation of
antisemitism was dismissed, but the process took a heavy toll on them. Both
found that their academic work suffered during the six-month investigation.
More than a year later, they continue to feel anxiety about the
potential impact
of having been accused of antisemitism on their future careers. *They are
also concerned about a wider chilling effect: that members of the UBC
faculty might react to this investigation by steering clear of hard
discussions around Israel/Palestine in order to avoid being accused of
antisemitism.*

Unfortunately, the situation that arose at UBC is far from unique.
Internationally, pro-Israel campaigners are lobbying national, provincial
and municipal governments as well as universities, school boards and police
departments, to adopt CIJA’s “new” definition of antisemitism. Known as the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, it includes
a list of 11 examples of antisemitism. Seven of these relate to Israel
and/or Zionism. The campaigners hope that the IHRA definition will focus
the conversation on instances mislabelled as antisemitism in order to
discourage criticism of Israel’s egregious behaviour.

We agree with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, which
declared that the IHRA definition is “extremely vague, open to
misinterpretation and a threat to freedom of speech because it conflates
criticism of Israel with antisemitism”
<https://bccla.org/our_work/the-bccla-opposes-the-international-campaign-to-adopt-the-international-holocaust-remembrance-association-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism/>.
Independent Jewish Voices notes that the supporters of the IHRA definition
are using society’s concern about real antisemitism to suppress criticism
of Israel and support for Palestinian rights. In so doing they are actually
undermining the fight against genuine antisemitism, which is increasing
with the spread of the Alt-Right and white nationalism.

Regrettably, Canada’s Liberal government chose to include the IHRA
definition in its anti-racism strategy adopted this past year. But when the
IHRA definition was brought before Vancouver’s city council in July 2019*,* the
council referred the matter to the city’s Racial and Ethno-Cultural Equity
Committee, asking the committee to make recommendations on how to oppose
*all* forms of racism, including antisemitism. Recently, the Calgary City
Council was asked to simultaneously recognize January 27 as Holocaust
Remembrance Day and adopt the IHRA definition, but the IHRA definition was
deleted when the final version of the resolution was passed. (See item 10.1
in the November 18, 2019 Combined Meeting Minutes.
<https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=cabaa103-3940-4279-aafa-2eeba26abb9c&Agenda=PostMinutes&lang=English&Item=53>)
And most recently, when the IHRA definition was brought to the Montreal
City Council, it generated sufficient opposition that demands were made to
give the matter further study. Instead, the motion’s sponsor withdrew it
altogether.

We believe that it is legitimate to voice criticism of an organization that
provides unqualified support to Israel and its mistreatment of the
Palestinians. That graduate students at an institution like UBC were
investigated for expressing such critical views constitutes a violation of
the very fundamental purpose of the university.

In a time when concern for the plight of Palestinians suffering repression
at the hands of Israel is growing dramatically, it is incumbent upon
university officers and administrators to resist demands to investigate
specious charges of antisemitism that are designed to suppress the
expression of these legitimate concerns.

To support Independent Jewish Voices Canada, visit their Facebook page
<https://www.facebook.com/IJVcanada/> or contact them at
[email protected]. To get in touch with the UBC chapter, contact
[email protected].

*Sid Shniad is a member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada. Paul Tetrault
is a supporter of Independent Jewish Voices Canada.*

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