Toronto Star, Canada
March 8 2009
All’s well in the kingdom of Canada
Mar 08, 2009 04:30 AM
Haroon Siddiqui
In the five years since it was established by some students at the
University of Toronto, Israeli Apartheid Week has spread to 40 cities
around the world, according to its organizers.
Dr. David Naylor, U of T president, famously called it "the worst week
of a president’s life." Administrators are bombarded with demands by
pro- and anti-Israeli camps:
Ban the name; abolish the "hate-fest." It creates "a toxic
environment" for Israel advocates, who are "intimidated" by "mobs"
peddling anti-Semitism.
Uphold freedom of speech and assembly. Stand up to "pressure." Don’t
equate criticism of Israeli policies with anti-Semitism or use it as a
club to kill off debate.
This year, Carleton and Ottawa universities banned a pre-event poster
showing an Israeli helicopter firing a missile at a Palestinian child
labelled Gaza.
At York University, a dispute over the student union’s role in the
strike by teaching assistants became a proxy battle over Israel, given
the union’s pro-Palestinian tilt.
Two rallies, Feb. 12 and 17, prompted York to impose penalties on four
student groups for disrupting classes. An ugly Feb. 11 incident led to
an inquiry, still ongoing, into the behaviour of three students.
All this happened before the designated week.
On Monday, the U of T student paper, The Varsity, carried two columns:
"Why Israel is not an apartheid state," by Jeremy Bluvol, and "Why
Israel’s actions constitute apartheid," by Ahmed Mahmoud.
The kickoff event was that night at Ryerson University. I counted 14
people waving Israeli flags. Two guys were having an argument, drawing
no audience.
Inside a packed hall, the atmosphere was collegial, with the feel of a
1960s anti-Vietnam war rally. The audience was a mix of ethnicities
and, more pleasantly, of all ages.
The MC, Golta Shahidi, a U of T student, laid down the rules: No
heckling, no disruptions, no anti-Semitic or other racist remarks.
Author Naomi Klein said she was proud to be there "as a Jewish
Canadian, to stand in firm solidarity" with the Palestinians.
"We are here to speak about a great unspeakable. You can tell by all
the people telling us to shut up.
"Talk. Talk a lot. Debate. Make talking normal. Every transformative
movement goes through this stage: The silence is broken, long
suppressed truths are spoken. There is great rage and denial. And then
change begins."
On the banned poster: "You have heard the argument that the image of
the child under an Israeli missile incites hatred. It is the bombing
of civilians that incites the hatred. That poster makes our stomach
turn because it shows us something that’s true. Seeing those kinds of
images doesn’t incite hatred. It inspires righteous indignation."
Omar Barghouti, the well-known Palestinian activist, spoke next. He
also spoke softly but delivered a tough message about Canadian
complicity in Israeli "war crimes."
Events over the next three days at the U of T and York also went off
smoothly ` flag-waving; a mock wall here and barbed wire there,
depicting the Israeli security barrier; some sloganeering (against
both Hamas and Israel at York Thursday), but no untoward
incident. Police did not lay a single charge.
"All in all, a quiet week," said Robert Steiner, assistant
vice-president at U of T. Robert Tiffin, vice-president at York, and
Heather Lane Vetere, vice-provost at Ryerson, reported the same.
Naylor said campuses are places for passionate debate, within reason,
be it pro-choice and pro-life, or over the Armenian genocide, Sri
Lanka, the Middle East, etc.
He said the term apartheid could not be banned ` "if you Google it,
you’ll find 300,000 entries." Nor could he impose censorship. "We’d
rather focus on maintaining a reasonable climate." Which they did.
I found the officials at all three universities to be reasonable,
even-handed and calm in the face of provocation and pressure.
Contrary to all the claims and counter-claims, at times repeated by
gullible media, all is reasonably well in the kingdom of Canada.
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