On October 26, 2009, The Ubyssey ran an article in which representatives from the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) Group and the Israel Awareness Club (IAC) both called for more constructive dialogue and a reduction of rhetoric on campus. The IAC was thrilled at this news and was extremely hopeful that the SPHR would end their long-standing practicing of inviting speakers to campus who spend the majority of their time on stage vilifying Israel and who have little to say about where real progress can be made in the peace process. It seemed a new era of cooperative dialogue was on the horizon.

Yet these dreams were dashed this month when the SPHR announced its January guest speaker would be none other than Dr Mads Gilbert, a man widely known for his outrageous and extreme remarks. He is not just a speaker who has lots to say against Israel and little to say about obtaining peace. He has actually attempted to justify and glorify the deaths of Canadian and American citizens.

Just a couple of weeks after the 9/11 attacks which killed thousands of civilians (including Canadians) Gilbert told the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that “The oppressed also have a moral right to attack the US with any weapon they can come up with.” When asked if he supported a terror attack on the US, Gilbert responded by saying, “Terror is a bad weapon, but the answer is yes, within the context I have mentioned.”

Gilbert is also a member of the Norwegian Maoist ‘Red’ party, a political group aimed at a “social revolution” in Europe, with strong ties to an organization called Palestinakomeiteen, which in January 2009 organized a violent event which saw the vandalization of the Israeli Embassy in Oslo.

There was genuine hope that constructive dialogue was coming to UBC, which would foster discussions of peace and reconciliation. Unfortunately it seems that the SPHR’s extremism is just beginning.