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December 13, 2002
Hillel to fight CSU edict
Concordia's Jewish club demands an investigation.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
The Hillel chapter at Concordia University in Montreal is preparing
to take the school's student union to court to fight a suspension
of funding and privileges, according to Hillel's co-president, Noah
Joseph.
Joseph said the case would concern a motion raised at a Concordia
Student Union (CSU) council meeting Dec. 2 that led to the suspension.
The motion referred to Section 11 of the Foreign Enlistment Act,
which states that it is illegal on Canadian soil to actively recruit
any Canadian to a foreign military program. The motion alleged that
Hillel broke the law by allowing a flyer, which promoted a volunteer
summer program with the Israel Defence Forces, to be made available
on a Hillel information table.
With only nine of the 30 CSU council members in attendance at the
meeting, an 8-1 vote resulted in the immediate suspension of Hillel's
$3,000 funding from Concordia, along with their rights to operate
as a university club.
At Concordia, the student union executive and council is legally
responsible for the actions of the many student associations on
campus and has the power to suspend any group that acts illegally.
Among a variety of areas of contention on this matter, Joseph explained,
Hillel's biggest grievance is with what he called the "ambush
tactics" used to unfairly find guilt and declare the suspension.
Joseph said that Hillel was given little warning from the CSU that
the motion would be raised, receiving only what he called a "heads
up" a few hours prior to the meeting from CSU president Sabine
Friesinger about an issue she would not identify. At the meeting,
after requesting time to research and discuss the matter with his
executive board, Joseph was told by the council that only an immediate
apology could prevent the suspension.
"They brought it up in an unethical fashion," Joseph told
the Bulletin. "We had absolutely nothing to apologize
for and it's completely immoral to blackmail someone into apologizing
by threatening their club privileges, their freedom of association,
their freedom of religion and their freedom of expression, and to
freeze our funds if we refuse to apologize.
"They didn't give us any notice of [the motion] nor had they
told us it was an issue at the time," Joseph continued. "[The
council] acted as judge, jury and executioner in the span of about
an hour."
Though the council was almost completely united against Hillel in
the vote, two members of the CSU executive board have publicly expressed
their dissatisfaction with how the matter was handled.
Aaron Maté, vice-president of campaigns, and Ralph Lee, vice-president
of academic and advocacy, said they can't veto the council's decision,
but are campaigning against what they think was unfair treatment
of Hillel. Maté, a Vancouverite living in Montreal, and Lee
are both Jewish and both are supporters of the Palestinian people.
"To say they were guilty off the bat was totally unfair and
I was against that from the very beginning," said Maté.
"Even if they had suspended them pending an investigation,
that would have been more reasonable than what they did, which was
suspending them pending an apology.
"Hillel was given about an hour notice prior to the council
meeting and that, in my view, wasn't following due process."
Lee agreed with Maté, saying that he was disturbed with the
process the council used to hand down the suspension.
"I thought it would be understood in the principles of natural
justice that someone has the right to be notified of their charge,"
he said, laughing in disbelief. "You should notify the group
and give them time to at least understand what it's about. I think
you're innocent until proven guilty in this country."
Lee and Maté said they hope the council will reconvene in
the next few days, agree to lift the suspension and begin a proper
investigation into the matter. Joseph said that Hillel and the CSU
are often challenging each other's policies. While he did not state
that anti-Semitism was involved in the council's vote, he did believe
that there was malicious intent against Hillel.
"We are their chief and pretty much only political adversaries
on campus," he said. "It seems perfectly clear by now
that the CSU was looking for a way to get us and this was the excuse
that they found."
Joseph said that a lawyer for Hillel issued a letter to the CSU
demanding that the suspension be lifted unconditionally. As of the
Bulletin's press time, the CSU had not responded to the letter
.
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