Howard English, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s spokesperson, said federation and the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) along with their partner organizations – including Hillel, Canadian Jewish Congress, Hasbara Fellowships, Canadian Centre for Israel Activism and Canada Israel Committee – are supporting Jewish students in every conceivable way.

“We’re supporting them financially… we’re supporting them when it comes to advice on student security, we’re supporting them when it comes to strategy and communications, on community mobilization, on government relations and through ongoing contact with York University administration,” English said regarding a number of anti-Israel incidents at York this month.

“This year, there is an unprecedented sense of unity among student groups and Jewish organizations.”

But English said that the onus is on York’s administration to enforce its student code of conduct and “to rid itself of damaging destructive elements in its midst.”

He said community members can e-mail York’s administration to pressure it to enforce the code.

English said a donor boycott is also being considered, but “there is no point recommending a donor boycott unless you are assured of its success, because to recommend something like that and for it to fail would really harm the cause.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Ferman, president of Hillel at York, said that in recent meetings with York’s senior administration and security, Hillel and the school have been working on ways to make all students feel safer and comfortable on campus.

In a statement last week, York President Mamdouh Shoukri called on student leaders to act in the best interest of the school’s 50,000 students. “Every student at York has the right to go about their activities free from intimidation or disruption to their academic lives. It is impossible to claim to both lead and impede students at the same time,” he said.

Vice-president of students Rob Tiffin added that York will consider “the actions of individuals and clubs in the recent days and will be following the processes laid out in the Student Code of Conduct.”

In reference to noisy anti-Israel demonstrations that have been held in the school’s central Vari Hall rotunda – most recently on Feb. 12 – Tiffin added that last year, York “relaxed regulations on the usage of Vari Hall by student groups on an experimental basis. However, the university is once again reviewing all of its options with regard to the use of Vari Hall.”

Jewish student groups are also working on advocacy initiatives for the period before, during and after Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), when IAW organizers are slated to hold events on more than 25 campuses worldwide.

“Students are working on Israel advocacy on campus – they’re bringing speakers, they’re working on a strong ad campaign and they’re working on developing an online strategy to target students on campus,” Ferman said.

English said students will be communicating positive messages about Israel’s contributions to the world, and they’ll have information that deals with the messages being disseminated by IAW supporters.

For example, Hillel Ottawa is currently holding its first annual Israel: A Partner Week, which began Feb. 23 and runs until Feb. 27, at Algonquin College, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

Les Viner, chair of CIJA’s university outreach committee (UOC), said he’s pleased with the collaboration of Jewish groups. “The community should know that their dollars… [are] being passed through. The students are amazing and the community is in fact coming together and getting stronger.”

He said the UOC has assembled a task force, chaired by York history professor Irving Abella, to make recommendations on the best ways to counter IAW.

“Part of the plan is to empower students, to make sure that students on campus are there when things happen. They are smart and motivated, and they need to have a voice,” Viner said.

He added that students will get more money and staff to help them effectively work with each other and university administrations.

“The goal is to make sure students are safe and not bullied and have an ability and opportunity to speak for Israel and allow pro-Israel speakers to speak on campus without disruption and to engage in intellectual debate, not politicized drama.”

Meanwhile, more reports of incidents at York are surfacing. In one, a business student was told Feb.11 by a teaching assistant never to wear an Israel Defence Forces T-shirt to class again. Hillel has forwarded the case to York’s dispute resolution centre.

In another incident last week, Jewish students reported that Jewish student groups were not invited to a rally against a petition to oust York’s student council for inactivity during the recent CUPE strike at York, because the rally’s organizers blamed pro-Zionist campus groups and leaders for the campaign against the student union.