CAEF Letter to University of Victoria President Re: Shutting out the Jews | University Responds

Dear University of Victoria President (Interim or permanent);

Reading in the SSI news bulletin that your university has again voted NOT to register a Jewish student organization is alarming. While it may be the student body that voted, you need take a deep look in the proverbial mirror and ask, What are you doing that engenders Jew hatred? What are your faculty teaching that supports isolating and intimidating, excluding and denigrating Jewish students? You are the Adults, we assume. It is your leadership that sets the tone, and it should include demonstrating ethical conduct, modeling inclusiveness, tolerance, understanding, democratic values, civil discourse, and a commitment to truth.

For Jews across this country and globally, the rise in antisemitism is very clearly understood to be rising from institutions of higher learning. It is the most educated who are singularly leading our young people down a path that leads to disharmony, disunity, discrimination, dishonesty and disregard for historical lessons and facts.

Zionism is the belief in the right of self-determination of Jews in their ancient homeland. It is not a colonial movement, but rather the oldest liberation movement in the world. It is not an apartheid movement. In fact over 51% of Jews in Israel are not from Europe, but from Africa and the Middle East. It is not an occupying state as the facts are that Jews have lived in the land of Israel for millennia, and following WWI the land was under a British mandate for the purpose of re-constituting the Jewish homeland. The UN voted to recreate the land for the Jews and the Jews accepted its partition, allowing for an independent Arab state. These are basic incontrovertible facts. SSI helps Jewish students learn these facts, love their ancient homeland, support it, and express their identity as Jews. There is no Judaism without Zionism, so a vote against a Zionist club is a vote against the Jewish people.

The University of Victoria now has the distinction of supporting what the Nazis called Gliechshaltung, Jew hatred in institutions such as universities. It is shameful, and it is your responsibility. If students are misguided, the administration must step in. If a student body decided no black organization or no gay organization or Muslim organization would be registered, how long would it take for you to intervene, call it out, shut down the leadership of such a hateful action?

The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation expects you to educate your student body on the errors they are making. We expect to see leadership denounce this decision, demand its reversal, demand justice for Jewish students, and demand that faculty cease any indoctrination of hatred and lies against the Jewish state. We will investigate further to learn what faculty, what courses and departments are misleading the young people on your campus.

Respectfully,

Andria Spindel

Executive Director

Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation