FSWC Disappointed by McGill University’s Decision to Permit Antisemitic Hate to Fester on Student Council

Media Statement

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                                                                                          MEDIA STATEMENT
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Friendsof Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies Disappointed by McGill University’s Decision to Permit Antisemitic Hate to Fester on StudentCouncil

Following thedecision by McGill University’s Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) not to impeach a student leader forpromoting violence against ‘Zionists’ from his position on Student Council at anAUS meeting yesterday, Friends of SimonWiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) President & CEO Avi Benloloissued the following statement:

“Thisdecision not to impeach a student who advocated violence against an alreadybesieged minority group on McGill’s campus sends a clear message to Jewishcommunities across the country. The support this student has received from alllevels of student leadership for advocating his peers to ‘punch a Zionist’ onsocial media flies in the face of other student efforts to promote inclusionand tolerance for diverse communities. As the distance between advocatingviolence and the commission of violence is not very long, this deeplydisappointing decision makes it appear McGill has declared ‘Open Season’ onJews.”

“Priorto this meeting McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier commented, “The University’s senior leaders shared theirstrong belief that the SSMU [Student Society of McGill University] executivesshould ask for the resignation of [the] SSMU Board member who recently sent aTweet inciting violence against a specific group . . . While McGill’s administration normallydoes not recommend a course of action to the SSMU leadership, this situation isexceptional. With any incitement to violence, it is the administration’s dutyto intervene”.”

"Unfortunately, as this vote indicates the terrible hate thatexists amongst the student leadership, its warped understanding and lack ofknowledge about Israel as a free and democratic nation, and the belief that itis permissible to commit violence against Jews, I encourage Principal Fortier to investigate thisincident as a hate crime. In addition, I advise McGill alumni to withdraw theirsupport from the university until such time as incitement to violence againstJews is no longer justified or permitted.”

Media Contact
StaceyL. Starkman
Director of Communications & External Relations
416.864.9735 x 32 / sstarkman@fswc.ca__________________________________________________________

Friends of SimonWiesenthal Center (FSWC) is a leading Canadian non-profit human rightsfoundation directly representing over 30,000 members. FSWC is committed tocountering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles oftolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy andeducational programs including workshops, Freedom Day, the Spirit of HopeBenefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimed new Tour forHumanity. 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 Museumsof Tolerance (with a third being built in Jerusalem) and is an NGO at theUnited Nations, UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the LatinAmerican Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca