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Toronto (November 21, 2023) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has written to Queen’s University calling on the university administration to tackle the extreme rise in antisemitism on campus and take action to protect the safety of Jewish students.

According to the Jewish student group Hillel, there’s been a disturbing surge in antisemitic incidents at Queen’s University over the past five weeks, including campus groups justifying violence against Jews, mezuzahs ripped from residence doors, faculty spreading hate against Jews and Israelis, an attempted vehicular assault on pro-Israel rally attendees and hateful graffiti, among other incidents. 

Graffiti found in a campus washroom on Saturday read “Satan + IDF,” “It is apartheid… It is genocide” and “Alright Hitler, I’ll do it for you. I’m going to bat for you Hitler.” According to Hillel, both Campus Security & Emergency Services and Kingston Police have been notified of the graffiti.

In a letter to Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane, FSWC expressed concern over the recent rash of antisemitic incidents and called on the university administration to outline what steps it is taking to address this endemic problem.

“While it’s important for the Queen’s University administration to strongly denounce antisemitism and declare that hate will not be tolerated on campus, words are no longer enough,” said FSWC Director of Allyship and Community Engagement Dan Panneton, a Queen’s University alumnus. “The administration must call out the incidents Jewish students have been facing and point to concrete action it’s taking to confront the latest spike in antisemitism. Like all students, Jews on campus deserve to feel safe and welcomed, not targeted and ostracized with hate.”