WINNIPEG — Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) should not be allowed on university campuses, says Helmut-Harry Loewen, a sociology professor at the University of Winnipeg.
Loewen believes IAW is an attempt to instigate “hatred towards the State of Israel” and “to vilify Israel…, an attempt to undermine the right of Israel to exist as a state in the Middle East.”
Loewen, who has been active in monitoring hate speech on the Internet with the Canadian Anti-Racism Educational and Research Society, said in an interview that he was involved in the movement to end apartheid in South Africa, and it is an inappropriate term to use with regard to Israel.
“I was one of four Canadian delegates appointed by [then-Canadian prime minister] Brian Mulroney to emergency meetings at the United Nations special committee on apartheid. Apartheid is a crime against international law. We can’t use this type of legal category to delegitimize the state of Israel.”
Loewen, who is a Mennonite and the son of Russian immigrants, said he was pleased that there was no IAW at the University of Winnipeg, but was unhappy about its taking place this year at the University of Manitoba. He added that other colleagues have similar opinions.
“By vilifying and promoting hatred toward Israel, IAW only serves to propel anti-Semitism on campuses,” he said, adding that IAW is not a productive way to educate students about the complex issues in the Middle East conflict.
Loewen has been a longtime opponent of anti-Semitic hate speech. He was one of a number of complainants to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) who spoke out against a hate telephone hotline of the Ku Klux Klan in 1993 that included the sale of “Klan Buster T-Shirts.”
He gave testimony before the commission, which found the KKK to have violated Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. At the time, Loewen was chairing the Manitoba Coalition Against Racism and Apartheid.
Section 13 empowers the CHRC to deal with complaints regarding the communication of hate messages by telephone or on the Internet.
Loewen said this section “has been successful in terminating the most egregious type of hatred on the web” and ought to not be changed.
“I am an advocate of provisions that deal with hate speech both in the Criminal Code and under Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights legislation.
“There is, unfortunately, a concerted effort from a number of sources to whittle away these provisions,” he said, adding that he vehemently disagrees with opponents of this type of legislation.
Over the years, Loewen said he has “consulted and advised Winnipeg city police on laying hate crimes charges,” noting that “police must be vigilant in pursuing these kinds of cases.”
Regarding the spread of hate over the Internet, Loewen mentioned stoprascism.ca, a website that monitors and tracks hate group activity, helps young people leave hate groups, and provides information and advice on filing complaints to stop hate-motivated activity anywhere.
In 1997, Loewen worked with the young leaders of United Against Racism, a Winnipeg-based group, to organize anti-racist rallies in Old Market Square in downtown Winnipeg, an area that has historically been the site of racist activity. In 1934, Jewish anti-Fascists rioted in Old Market Square and confronted members of the pro-Nazi Canadian Nationalist Party, who were marching in uniform.
“In 1997, we created a Nazi-free space,” Loewen recalled. “We organized a rally at Old Market Square to commemorate the struggles of the Jewish Anti-Fascist League. It was a symbolic attempt to unite the older generation with younger anti-racist activists… Opposing anti-Semitism is an ongoing task.”