December 15, 2016 - Toronto: – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) metyesterday with Ryerson University President Mohamed Lachemi, ChancellorLawrence Bloomberg and executives of the university to express the concerns ofthe Jewish community over an antisemitic incident which occurred on campus: OnNovember 29, 2016 at a student union meeting a motion to offer programs andeducation for Holocaust Education Week elicited an orchestrated walk-out toquash the initiative. 

FSWC leadership including Avi Benlolo,FSWC President and CEO; award winning film producer Robert Lantos, Chair of the2017 Spirit of Hope Benefit; and FSWC Director Paul Bronfman,  a leader in the Canadian entertainmentindustry and an outspoken critic of antisemitism, articulated concern over theincident. The university administration provided a strong analysis of measuresundertaken to address the matter and listened intently to the recommendationsproposed by FSWC. 

“We were heartened to hear PresidentLachemi provide assurances that both he and the university have ‘zero tolerancefor antisemitism’,” Mr. Benlolo said. “We were also pleased to note theRyerson Student Union denounced the incident and posted a message on Facebook stating:  ‘The RSU will not tolerate any antisemitismon our campus…we would like to reaffirm our commitment to tabling the motionregarding Holocaust Education Week at our next board meeting’,” Benlolo added.

FSWC looks forward to concrete action bythe university to address these concerns in the coming weeks.

ForMore Information Contact
StaceyL. Starkman 
Director of Communications &External Relations
416.864.9735 x 32 / sstarkman@fswc.ca
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Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is a leadingCanadian non-profit human rights foundation directly representing over30,000 members. FSWC is committed to countering racism and antisemitism and topromoting the principles of tolerance, social justice and Canadiandemocratic values through advocacy and educational programs includingworkshops, Freedom Day, the Spirit of Hope Benefit, Tools for Tolerance and thewidely acclaimed new Tour for Humanity. FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, aninternational Jewish human rights organization headquartered in LosAngeles, which has won two Academy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance(with a third being built in Jerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations,UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Latin AmericanParliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca

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