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January 21, 2005
"Securing" free speech
Concordia may invite Ehud Barak to speak at arena.
JANICE ARNOLD CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS
The hockey arena at Concordia University's Loyola campus will likely
be the venue where Ehud Barak will speak if the Montreal university
follows through on its intention to invite the former Israeli prime
minister back and he accepts.
After an assessment of various venues at both the Loyola and the
downtown Sir George Williams campuses, outside security experts
concluded that the Loyola arena is the most readily securable site,
Concordia communications director Dennis Murphy said.
Murphy said renovations will be made to the arena to make it even
more secure and suitable for appearances by high-profile speakers
in time to allow Barak to speak there before the end of the academic
year. This involves certain structural changes and other measures
that Murphy did not specify. He also said he could not release the
cost involved, but said it was not "exorbitant."
The arena is located in the Loyola athletic complex, which is situated
on the south side of Sherbrooke Street opposite the main part of
the campus. Murphy said this relative isolation makes for easily
controlled entrance and exit, and it minimizes the disruption to
campus life. Avoiding such aggravation was one of the factors Concordia
cited in its initial refusal in September to allow Barak on campus,
in addition to security concerns, when Concordia Hillel first invited
him to speak.
The arena has permanent seating for about 600, but when temporary
floors are installed over the ice, it can seat between 1,500 and
2,000 people, Murphy said. Until 30 years ago, convocation was regularly
held there, he added.
In a statement, the university said that it "reserves the right
to designate the appropriate venue and may decide to hold certain
university events at an off-campus venue."
A risk management committee, headed by Michael Di Grappa, Concordia's
vice-president of services, is mandated to review and approve requests
for access to university space and, when appropriate, make recommendations
to president Frederick Lowy's cabinet.
Murphy said that once the changes are made to the arena, the size
of the expected audience will likely be the main determinant of
whether an event is held off-campus.
Federation CJA spokesperson Bram Freedman said his organization
would accept a decision to invite Barak to speak at the arena, and
he applauded Concordia for making good on its commitment to enhance
security.
"Our concern is that Barak be welcomed on campus. If Concordia
determines that the arena is the best venue, that's perfectly OK."
But B'nai Brith Canada regional director Bill Surkis said he thinks
the arena is not the most appropriate venue for someone of Barak's
stature.
"We're disappointed that it is not the downtown campus, at
the main auditorium in the Hall Building. The downtown campus is
where the vast bulk of the students are and it is more prestigious.
If they can invest in more security in one venue, they can do it
at another, certainly one on the main campus."
B'nai Brith is proceeding with its discrimination complaint against
Concordia with the Quebec Human Rights Commission for suppressing
"the Jewish voice" on campus.
Citing the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which protects
freedoms of expression and assembly, the complaint speaks of a "poisoned
atmosphere" for Jewish students since 2001. That's when, according
to B'nai Brith, the university "allowed the dissemination of
a student handbook that contained anti-Semitic material, glorified
violence and advocated civil disobedience."
B'nai Brith alleges this permission led to the violent protest in
September 2002 against former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Since then, Jewish students report that they have been subjected
to harassment, intimidation and even assault, which the university
has refused or neglected to prevent."
The complaint characterized the Sept. 29 decision by Concordia to
bar Barak from campus as the culmination of a pattern.
"This has established a modus operandi of deferring to the
wishes of anti-Israel agitators on campus and surrendering to threats
of violence.... Difficulties in maintaining public order cannot
be used by the university as an excuse for silencing the Jewish
voice on campus."
Surkis said the human rights commission has acknowledged receipt
of the complaint, but has not made it known whether it will investigate.
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