Toronto (January 28, 2020) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is demanding action from the University of Toronto administration after the university’s student union representing the Scarborough campus has decided to boycott pro-Israel speakers and organizations.

The decision followed outrage on the part of student union leaders after a pro-Israel speaker - Asaf Romirowsky from Scholars for Peace in the Middle East – was invited to the campus to deliver a lecture. The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) decided that going forward it must “refrain from engaging with organizations or participating in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid.”

It remains unclear what this decision will mean for the Student Jewish Life club on campus, which states in its constitution that it supports the rights of Jewish people to live in their indigenous homeland and like all other clubs receives funding from the SCSU.

“It is absolutely disgusting that in a free country committed to multiculturalism and tolerance that a student union can decide to effectively ban Jewish speakers and groups from the campus,” said Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of FSWC. “We demand quick and determined intervention by the university administration to protect the freedom of speech and assembly of Jewish people and organizations at U of T Scarborough.”