TORONTO (CUP)—For Daniel Bader, being a Jewish student at the University of Toronto during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is like walking on eggshells.

“It was as if people were too afraid to speak out against it, in fear that they would be assaulted,” Bader said of his past experiences. “It made me very uncomfortable.”

Students like Bader welcomed the news that the Ontario legislature unanimously passed a motion condemning Israeli Apartheid Week on February 25.

Approximately 40 campuses worldwide will be holding IAW events this year with the intent to, according to its organizers, “educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement.”

At least two provincial governments and the federal government are making known their displeasure with IAW’s organizers.

Peter Shurman, a Progressive Conservative Legislator—who represents Thornhill, which is home to York University, as well as Ontario’s largest Jewish population—presented a motion to condemn IAW to the 30 sitting members in the 107-seat Ontario legislature on February 25.

Shurman said he went forward with the motion after receiving a lot of pressure from his constituents, who live, work and study around Toronto’s York University and were getting increasingly frustrated by the racial tensions at the school.

“People in the community said, ‘I wish we didn’t have to have this,’” he explained.

“There’s something inherently wrong with an event that has that name. There’s nothing wrong with people expressing opinions—right, wrong or otherwise. That’s one of the great things about Canada, but there is something wrong with beginning the dialogue with a premise that’s one-sided,” he added.

“My attitude is you have to get rid of this word, ‘apartheid,’ because that’s not what Israel is,” Shurman said, noting that he believes the current dialogue curtails his own freedom of speech on the subject.

Shurman said reaction to his motion has been immense.

“We’ve stimulated others to do likewise. This thing has taken on a life of its own, far beyond what I expected when I filed the resolution,” he said.

But not everyone is pleased that politicians are getting involved in a student movement in this way.

“We think it’s outrageous that the motion was passed without any knowledge of the situation in Palestine in general. None of the (Ontario legislators) ever attended any of our events or asked questions,” said Yafa Jarrar, spokesperson for Carleton University’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid.

“We think it’s an attempt to suppress freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” she added.

Shurman said he’s received word that a member of the Manitoba legislature is interested in pursuing similar debate in that province because of the Ontario motion.

But condemnation of the provocative awareness week isn’t only happening at the provincial level.

Edmonton MP Tim Uppal is also planning on introducing a similar motion to the House of Commons, having said in the past that the week itself, as well as the position that Israel is a racist state, is “one-sided, intolerant and unbalanced.”

“This has helped create a public opinion environment where Jewish students who happen to also support Israel are subject to condemnation and opprobrium,” Uppal said in a statement on February 26.

In a statement issued by federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff on March 1, he said his party also condemns IAW actions.

“The very premise of Israeli Apartheid Week runs counter to our shared values of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of nationality, race or creed,” Ignatieff wrote. “It is an attempt to heighten the tensions in our communities around the tragic conflict in the Middle East.”

Students Against Israeli Apartheid spokesperson Jarrar said that her group is planning on writing letters to the politicians who will vote on the matter in the House, as well as university professors in hopes of garnering support for their cause.

“I don’t think politicians have the right to condemn or ban or make statements about student activism,” Jarrar said.

“The irony is that they failed to condemn when Israel was attacking Gaza in December [2008],” she added. “They’re not putting their energy in the right place.”
Bader believes that the government made the right move.

“The government has an obligation to promote free speech and freedom of religion,” he argued. The protest week, he said, “is hateful to Israel and to the Jewish population of Canada, who should not have to walk by people calling for the destruction of a country.”

Despite its negative associations, Jarrar said that IAW is very important because much of the world is complacent when it comes to Israel-Palestine relations.

Israeli Apartheid Week began six years ago in Toronto. The week’s events feature lectures, panel discussions and celebrations of Palestinian culture from March 1 to 7 on some campuses and March 8 to 14 on others. In the past, though, it has sometimes been linked with violence, aggression and hate.

A handful of students at the University of Western Ontario reported receiving death threats this year after joining the “UWO Students against ‘Israel Apartheid Week’” Facebook group.

Last year, altercations were reported at UBC between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli students in a residence building. And at New York University, students were suspended following a two-day occupation of their school’s cafeteria to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

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