Toronto (June 2, 2021) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has submitted a complaint to Western University after a faculty member stated that Jewish students who are Zionists should be “boycotted and sanctioned.”

This morning, FSWC wrote to Dr. John Yoo, Dean of Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, regarding a bizarre and offensive tweet written by Professor Ziad Solh who stated that Jewish heritage and culture was celebrated for “hundreds of years until Zionism came” and that if Jewish students’ “culture is Zionism at the expense of the Palestinian people, they should be boycotted and sanctioned.”

In its letter to Dean Yoo, FSWC stated, “Jewish heritage and culture is thousands of years old, not hundreds, and our affinity and connection with Israel has always been central to Jewish tradition and religion. Any suggestion that Jewish students, Zionist or otherwise, should be boycotted by the university or any other institution is outrageous and blatantly antisemitic. We urge your administration to speak out regarding this statement by your faculty member and send a message that antisemitism in any form is totally unacceptable at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.”