With the outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip, Israel is starting to take heat in the public sphere.
Its refusal to accept a hollow peace agreement from a terrorist organization has given it more detractors. And along with the negative press, we are beginning to notice a growing trend that promotes hate toward Zionists, Israelis and the entire Jewish population.
In recent years, Canadian university campuses have not been friendly toward Israel, and many have hosted anti-apartheid weeks and been the site of anti-Israel demonstrations. But now CUPE Ontario is going one step further with a proposed a ban on Israeli professors.
Sid Ryan, the union’s president, made the following statement earlier this month: “In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general.”
Ryan made his comments in light of Israel’s recent bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza. Israel said Hamas terrorists had been using the university’s laboratories for weapons research and to store munitions.
The proposed ban has yet to be drafted, but CUPE’s plan is to have it ready for a vote at a February conference. If the vote passes, the only way an Israeli-born academic would be allowed to teach at a university that adheres to the boycott is if he or she denounces Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Would it be rational to force an American professor to denounce the occupation of Iraq because groups of people view the Iraq war as wrong? That would never happen in our society.
Protests against Israel are one thing, even when they feature unfavourable and offensive terms such as “apartheid state.” But this crosses a line.
This is a clear case of discrimination. CUPE, the largest university workers union, wants universities to decide whom to employ based on political affiliation and birthplace. What happened to freedom of speech? A university is supposed to be a collection of intellectuals presenting opinions. CUPE’s proposal runs counter to such an open environment. It is censorship of the highest form. It’s also a way to prevent students from learning about Israel from a pro-Israeli viewpoint.
Moreover, in publicly condemning support for Israel, CUPE is supporting opposition to Israel, thus siding with a terrorist organization – Hamas.
It should not come as a shock to anyone to learn that CUPE is hindering education yet again. CUPE local 3903 has been holding York University hostage for most of the academic year with a teaching assistants’ strike that has the potential to cancel the entire year for thousands of students.
Perhaps instead of focusing an entire union’s efforts on banning Israeli-born professors, CUPE should get back to what’s important – namely, education. Playing political games only hurts students. CUPE is denying York students an education, and now it’s attempting to prevent qualified professors from working in Ontario.
This clear violation of human rights needs to be quashed before it can be allowed to happen. We can’t permit censorship based upon political affiliation with Israel. It is, quite simply, a bigoted policy that should not, and cannot, be accepted.