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Toronto (February 22, 2024) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is alarmed by this morning’s blockade at McGill University in Montreal, where demonstrators blocked access to its Bronfman Building and held incendiary banners calling for the university to “end Zionist courses” and “cut ties with genocide.”

The Bronfman Building – named after a prominent Jewish philanthropist, Samuel Bronfman – houses the Desautels Faculty of Management. Anti-Israel activists recently distributed flyers at McGill calling for a “boycott” of “Zionist courses” and listing a course in the faculty as being “heavily subsidized by Zionist donors.”

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“As a McGill alumnus, I am absolutely sickened by the targeting of the Bronfman Building at McGill University, an act that is antisemitic to the core,” said FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt. “These hateful protests targeting Jews, Jewish institutions and Jewish philanthropists have no place on campus or anywhere else in Canada. Not only were students prevented from entering the building, but such conduct is hateful and intended to intimidate students and staff, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. The McGill administration must take a firm public stand against these actions and explain what steps it's taking to ensure students' access to education, safety and sense of inclusion.”

In a letter today to McGill University President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini, citing the McGill Student Rights and Responsibilities that lists freedom from harassment as a core value, FSWC called on the administration to issue a public statement denouncing unequivocally today’s demonstration and explain what steps will be taken to ensure that all students can feel safe while accessing education without intrusion and harassment. FSWC also called on the university to hold accountable those responsible for violating their fellow students’ right to be free from intimidation, and their right to academic freedom.

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