Letter to Brock University President from Y.B, Toronto re: hosting of an anti-Zionist panel that promotes antisemitic political positions

October 17, 2025

To the President and Faculty of Brock University,

Zionism is the centuries old radical belief that Jews should be able to live in Israel without the constant fear of being exterminated. 

Brock University is scheduled to host a panel on October 30 titled “ Antisemitism: Law , Justice and Decolonization in a Time of Genocide “

The speakers at this October event protect and promote anti-Zionist, antisemitic political positions that embolden those who turn political disagreement into harassment and real word violence against Jews.

We commend Brock University for hosting the “Symposium on Antisemitism" from May 5-7, 2025: https://www.antisemitismsymposium.com

We run the risk of undoing the progress made by hosting an anti-Zionist panel on October 30, 2025.

Universities must adopt robust, consistently enforced policies and codes of conduct that distinguish political debate from hate and harassment, and they must protect the safety of Jewish students who affirm Israel as our ancestral homeland . Tolerating anti-Zionist events that question Israel’s right to exist will have real consequences for campus safety and for the rights of Jewish students.

If we succumb to the temptation of hateful scholars who blame all the problems in the world on a country that takes up one one-hundredth of one percent of the surface of the earth, and one fifth of one percent of the of the Arab world we run the risk of losing our academic freedoms and institutions.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Y.B. Toronto

• https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/womens-studies/2025/10/09/antisemitism-law-justice-and-decolonization/

• https://thej.ca/2025/10/11/brock-to-host-anti-zionist-panel-framed-by-critics-as-anti-israel-and-antisemitic/

• https://canarymission.org/professor/Alejandro_Paz

• https://canarymission.org/individual/Sheryl_Nestel