Professor Meric Gertler
President, University of Toronto
27 King’s College Circle
Toronto, ON
M5S 1A1
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Ms. Claire Kennedy
Lieutenant Governor in Council Member, University of Toronto
27 King’s College Circle
Toronto, ON
M5S 1A1

Dear Professor Gertler and Ms. Kennedy,

We are once again writing to you as concerned faculty at the University of Toronto regarding the issue of antisemitism on our campuses.

For more than a decade, anti-Jewish activity here has risen. It has been consistently documented in recent years that the Jewish community is the most targeted minority group for hate crimes in this country. Sadly, our university has not been immune to this phenomenon.

Jewish students and faculty members have felt increasingly unsafe and unwelcome on our own campuses. Hateful and discriminatory rhetoric against the Jewish community and incitement against our community has gone largely unaddressed. It has often been spread under the umbrella of “Israel Apartheid Week,” itself a patently antisemitic event which is held on our campuses annually.

We are not willing to be complacent any longer. There is a reason that more than 80 faculty members signed our initial letter to you, and why we expect that even more will endorse this one as well – because we all have come to understand that this problem will not go away if it is not tackled proactively.

You committed in September to combating antisemitism at the University of Toronto -the university that we love and to which we are committed deeply. Now is the time to demonstrate that those promises were not empty platitudes. We urge you to work with us and begin the process of correcting this scourge once and for all. 

Concrete goals are necessary. Mere desire and stated commitment to rid our university of antisemitism are not enough. We put to you, and to the University of Toronto administration, that the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in full and as policy would be a necessary first concrete step forward. Flowing from this the university would have every right, if not the obligation,to face down the UTGSU’s support for BDS as well as its holding of the annual“Israel Apartheid Week.” We understand and support the notion that student groups should operate autonomously as you state. But we have evidence to believe that certain student groups do not always “operate in an open,accessible and democratic manner,” as is required by the university’s policies and procedures and, as such, need to be monitored more assiduously. Ryerson University recently decided to cease recognition of its student union (RSU) as the official student government due to allegations of financial misconduct.Clearly then, university administrations can act when student unions break the rules.

We, the teaching staff of the University of Toronto, can abide no longer with regular threats to our Jewish students – including general intimidation of Jewish people on campus who happen to also support the precepts guaranteeing the safety and even existence of the one and only Jewish state in the world.

Sincerely,

University of Toronto Faculty Signatories