Toronto (January 22, 2018)  Friendsof Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is pleased to learn that the student body atMcGill University has voted to approve the fullslate of nominations to the Students’ Societyof McGill University (SSMU) Board of Directors, including thethree students previously targeted for being Jewish and having pro-Israel views.

“This takes us one step forward in dealing with the antisemitism thatdistorted the agenda of the SSMU and saw those with a Jewish identity or whoaffiliated with Jewish organizations being prevented from participating instudent affairs,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “We applaud thosestudents that stood up against this intolerance on campus, including those thattook the time to vote in the referendum. We now look forward to the outcome ofthe inquiries set up by the president of McGill University which are stillongoing."

Following a campaign laced with antisemitism, a decision to vote on theBoard of Directors nominations individually at the SSMU’s Fall General Assemblylast October resulted in three students being voted off the Board, includingthe only Jewish student to be nominated as well as two others who were openlysupportive of Jewish or pro-Israel causes on campus. Based on a studentappeal, the Judicial Board of the SSMU released itsruling in late December which found that the decision to split the voteon the nominated slate of board members was unconstitutional. 

The ruling was ratified by the Board of Directors earlier in January,setting the stage for the online referendum held over the course of last week.The results of the vote overwhelmingly supported the full slate as nominated,with more than 84 per cent of students voting toratify the nominations.

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Media Contact:

Avital Borisovsky 
Communications Associate   
416.864.9735 x 29
aborisovsky@fswc.ca

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Follow us on Twitter at @CanadianFSWC for latest news and organization updates.

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Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is a top Jewish human rights foundation in Canada's organized Jewish community. It directly impacts over 100,000 people each year and 500,000+peripherally. FSWC is committed to countering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles of tolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy and educationalprograms including workshops, Freedom Day, Spirit of Hope Benefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimedTour for Humanity. FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles which has won two Academy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance (with a third being built in Jerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca.

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