Anti-Semitism flares

DANA BOOKMAN

Security has been tightened on five Toronto university campuses after hundreds of disturbing anti-Semitic pamphlets were discovered last week.

The two-page brochures, entitled "Jewish Supremacism Unleashed," contained graphic themes of anti-Semitism, including long-standing anti-Semitic references ranging from George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to Henry Ford. They also referred to more contemporary arguments against Israel.

"The themes in the pamphlet attack our deepest personal identity and it foments a sense of fear and horror at the very core of our religion, ethnicity and spirituality," said Zac Kaye, executive director of Hillel of Greater Toronto. "In the 11 years that I have been working on campus in Toronto, I have never seen anything this disturbing."

The majority of the hate literature was found in the libraries at York University, Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. Some of the materials were placed in between books on the stacks.

"The material has no place in a university. It has no place in society," said Bruce Piercey, a spokesman at Ryerson University.

The pamphlets were discovered as the United Jewish Communities General Assembly prepares to hold its annual meeting in Toronto, Nov. 11 through 15. The conference attracts about 5,000 people from around the world, including political and business leaders, professionals and students. There is no indication yet of who is responsible for creating or distributing the pamphlets.

David Farrar, deputy provost and vice-provost for students at the University of Toronto, said he hoped "no member of our U of T community would stoop so low as to distribute anti-Semitic literature."

According to Hillel International, this hate literature has so far been isolated to the five Toronto campuses and has yet to spread across Canada or the United States. But there are concerns that the Toronto universities are the first of many that will be exposed to the pamphlets.

Canadian Jewish Congress says it is clear that the individuals behind this are either affiliated with or have a political/spiritual bond with white supremacist organizations in the United States.

"We will be working with campus security to ensure that individuals of this ilk and their organizations are not infiltrating our Toronto campuses," said Steven Shulman, regional director of CJC Ontario Region.

With the appearance of this hate literature on the campuses, Hillel of Greater Toronto says its first concern is for the security of the students, both physical and emotional. The group will be working with university security and administration at all three schools to limit the spread of the pamphlets and minimize their impact on both the Jewish and non-Jewish students.

"The universities have taken this very seriously. They are acting swiftly and, because of that, the majority of students have not been exposed to this hateful material," said Tilly Shames, director of Israel Affairs for Hillel of Greater Toronto.

Hillel's main focus now is to ensure that the universities are creating a safe space on campus for students. They are also working with the various university administrations to continue with anti-racism programming. Most of the pamphlets have now been destroyed. The question of who is behind the material and how they were able to distribute it has been turned over to police in Toronto. Investigators are focusing their efforts outside of the academic community, and don't believe any students or staff at the universities are involved.

Dana Bookman is a Toronto freelance writer.

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