Toronto (November 8, 2017) - Friends ofSimon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) condemns the false claims made by twoanti-Israel groups regarding the advancement of their discriminatory Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. 

SAIA York claimed that YorkUniversity's Faculty of Environmental Studies had implemented anacademic boycott of Israel after voting not to renew its association with anacademic environmental group in Israel. York University President Rhonda Lentonresponded to what she called  "false claims" by statingthat no faculty council had the authority to boycott any academic institutionand further, that the University did not support academic boycotts. 

​I​n a similar case of false narrative, ​the Canadian BDS Coalitionissued a press release claiming that its campaign to get Air Canada to endorsethe BDS movement by cancelling its maintenance contract with an Israeli companyhad partially succeeded. Air Canada officials, however, pointed out thatthe decision to end the maintenance agreement had been made much earlier in theyear and had been based on ongoing contractual reviews. In fact, the airlinecontinues to serve Israeli products, has​ expanded its service to Israel and isstill working with another Israeli company under a separate agreement.

"After further investigation andconsultation, FSWC is assured that neither York University nor Air Canada willallow the discriminatory BDS movement to dictate its contractualrelationships. While we support the University's clear statement thatthe BDS movement has no place in an academic institution, we have reached outseeking clarification as to who was behind the motion and the presentationbrought before the faculty council along with assurances that procedures are inplace to protect the University's agenda from being co-opted by those seekingto interfere with academic freedom,” said FSWC President and CEO AviBenlolo. “As York University's  President has stated, the Universityhas benefited from its association with Israeli institutions and should seek todeepen those enriching relationships.”

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Media Contact:
Avital Borisovsky 
Communications Associate   
416.864.9735 x 29
aborisovsky@fswc.ca

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Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is a top Jewish human rights foundation in Canada's organized Jewish community. It directly impacts over 100,000 people each year and 500,000+ peripherally. FSWC is committed to countering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles of tolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy and educational programs including workshops, Freedom Day, Spirit of Hope Benefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimed Tour for Humanity. FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles 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 American Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca. 

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