Faculty and students reject the smearing of York , and uphold the University’s mission to promote public debate

Over the course of the past year, York University has been targeted in
various public spaces as a site where antisemitism is rife. In a
September 12, 2009 advertisement in the National Post, B’nai Brith
Canada offers a “checklist” of antisemitic incidents likely to occur
on university campuses. Jewish students are told they can “expect ...
harassment ... intimidation by your professor or teaching assistant
... Swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti all over campus.”
Concocted accounts of “violent anti-Jewish riots at York University ”
(in the words of the Jerusalem Post, February 15, 2009) have become
widespread. Federal Cabinet Minister Jason Kenney was quoted just a
few weeks ago (Thornhill Liberal, September 11, 2009) as describing
what was going on at York as resembling “pogroms.”

The use of such inflammatory language cannot any longer be ignored and
allowed to fester. Its implications could be seen when the National
Post ran a piece earlier this year (Matt Gurney, February 13, 2009)
that actually called for York to be “purged of its hateful elements.”

The fact is that representations of the York campus -- and indeed
university campuses generally -- as hotbeds of antisemitism are simply
untrue. The B’nai Brith “checklist,” like the allegations of
“antisemitic” acts at York, let alone “riots’ or “pogroms,” are
entirely inaccurate, if not libelous, and amount to nothing but
fear-mongering. Notably, the B’Nai Brith advertisement featured a
photo of a rally in York ’s central hall in which some Palestinian
national symbols could be seen, but no antisemitic imagery whatsoever.

As teachers and researchers at York , Jewish and non-Jewish, we do not,
and will not, tolerate antisemitism or any other forms of racism or
discrimination on this campus. But at the same time, we strongly
defend our university’s long-cherished mission to promote public
debate, including debate on contentious political issues. We deplore
attempts to use misinformation and fear, let alone the accompanying
call for “purges,” to stifle academic freedom.