Clarifications from Toronto Hillel

Letters

Editor: Referring to your article "Nasty incidents mar campuses" (Bulletin Campus Life, April 2), I would like to correct some impressions conveyed.

1. Hillel at York was not banned as a disciplinary measure. The correct information is contained later in the same paragraph, whereby Hillel's club privileges were withdrawn after one week. Hillel at York continued to organize activities, and its centre and offices at York University remained open during that time.

2. In the discussion with your reporter, I emphasized that, while Israel advocacy remained the major priority for Hillel's work in Toronto, a number of students are engaged in other meaningful Jewish activities, including our social action program – Tzedek Hillel – which received the Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel International at the recent Spitzer conference in Boston, Mass. Hillel of Greater Toronto received the award in competition with Hillel organizations across the globe.

3. The article infers that I differentiated "Zionists" from others in commenting on pro-Palestinian support on campus. Personally, as a committed and active Zionist working for an organization that is pro-Israel and Zionist, it would be wrong to suggest that I would assert that "Zionists may be inclined to overestimate the strength of pro-Palestinian support." What I was suggesting is that we as a Jewish community may be overestimating such support.

In Toronto at least, the number of students of an actual Palestinian background is relatively small, with most of their support coming from left-wing groups. The growing Muslim population on campus at the various Toronto schools is largely focused on religious observance; and tends to adopt a more conservative approach to political issues. The Imam at the University of Toronto, for example, Abdul Hai Patel, counsels his students very strongly to adopt a more moderate approach to political affairs. From time to time, however, they have supported events such as a recent discussion on Islamaphobia, which did turn into an anti-Israel forum, the content of which has resulted in a formal complaint being made to York University, where the event took place.

4. One comment that I wanted to emphasize is the number of Jewish students at our universities who have taken up the Palestinian cause and, indeed, the two leading protagonists at York University are both Jewish. This presents its own problems to an organization such as Hillel, which attempts to reach out and engage all Jewish students on campus.

5. Finally, I would like to add that this year we have been very proud of the efforts our students have made in support of Israel on campus. They have stood up to be counted and have represented the Jewish community with distinction.
This academic year, with greater resources, we may have won the battle, but unfortunately the war continues.

Zac Kaye
Executive director,
Hillel of Greater Toronto

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