An X post about an antisemitic takeover of the Simon Fraser University library downtown, named after Jewish philanthropists Samuel and Frances Belzberg. Khalida Jarrar is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Canada listed as a terror entity in 2003. (screenshot)
More than 250 members of the Jewish community gathered at Congregation Beth Israel last week to learn more about antisemitism occurring on BC campuses. The discussion was led by a panel of Jewish students representing the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University, as well as educators and a spokesperson from Hillel BC. Panelists spoke about how pro-Palestinian activists have created an environment that has made Jewish students and educators feel unsafe, and that their concerns are, by and large, not being taken seriously by university administrators.
“Hillel has shifted from being a place where students explore their identity to being an emergency room for antisemitic incidents,” said Ohad Gavrieli, executive director of Hillel BC. “What we’re encountering is unprecedented, and our main role has been to protect and defend Jewish identity.”
Hillel is focused on safety, education, programming and advocacy, said Gavrieli. It is assisting students as they try to file complaints about antisemitism, while continuing with events like Shabbat dinners and bagel lunches, critical components that allow for the continuity of Jewish life during this crisis.
Gavrieli said universities’ approaches to antisemitism have been very ineffective.
“While they understand we’re hurting as a community, they’re politicians and they care about their institutional reputation. They want to please both sides,” he argued. “So, when we talk with them about the encampments, they tell us to be patient, that they’re working on it and will come up with a solution.”
Member of the Legislative Assembly Selina Robinson described a similar “deafness and silence” when she spoke about antisemitism with her political colleagues.
“I heard stories from Langara students who were afraid to leave the bathroom because there was marching in the hallways. I got calls from students whose instructors were telling them they needed to participate in a march, and from educators whose administrators were involved in BDS [boycott, sanction and divestment] activity,” she recalled. “I felt I needed to say something, so I said lots – to the attorney general, the solicitor general, the chief of staff. And I got silence, or responses like, ‘we’re looking into it’ – but nothing happened.”
For Aria Levitt, a Jewish student leader entering her second year at UVic, the campus environment is daunting.
“When an encampment was established in the Quad at UVic, the university issued a statement that overnight camping there was not allowed. But the encampment is still there, and they’re not doing anything about it, which is a statement in itself,” said Levitt. “I heard the marches, protests and chants and it was very scary. I don’t feel proud to wear a UVic sweater,” she added.
At Simon Fraser University, Rachel Altman, an associate professor, said the Faculty for Palestine group has been relentless about holding anti-Israel events, and that those events even count towards the educators’ professional credit. “I attended one of their events and I was shaking by the end of it, it was so deeply unsettling,” she confessed.
“The hatred in the room was palpable,” said Altman. “They were clearly talking about me and my colleagues, misrepresenting my responses and not giving me a chance to defend myself. I felt hated by colleagues who have never spoken to me face-to-face. One person made a claim that Israel is stealing organs. This group is large and it’s having an impact on the general climate at SFU.”
Altman is trying to get her faculty association to adopt a neutrality policy and to develop institutional neutrality. Dr. Estie Ford, a professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC, is working with her colleagues to establish the Jewish Academic Alliance of BC, with the goal of being a face for Jewish faculty who are not anti-Zionist, across the province. “This is a new time when people are coming together and there’s so much amazing work being done,” Ford said.
Gavrieli fields calls from Jewish parents wondering how safe BC campuses are for their children. He tells students to continue to hold their heads high, to not be afraid and to tackle the issues head-on.
“Antisemitism right now is being driven from campus and it’s rooted on campus,” he said. “Any parent with a child entering university should encourage them to engage in Jewish life on campus, to make it more vibrant and to deal with this issue fearlessly, because this is the time to fight.”
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond.