B’nai Brith’s Lawsuit Attacks Campus Free Speech, Student Democracy

By Yves Engler

On Wednesday B’nai Brith introduced a lawsuit towards McGill College, Scholar Society of McGill College (SSMU) and pupil group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR).

The apartheid foyer group is offended that undergraduate college students had been requested to vote in March on whether or not they supported Palestinian rights. Their press launch overtly states their goal is to discourage pupil democracy throughout the nation. “A majority of these referendums usually are not restricted to McGill, it is a downside in universities throughout Canada, and we hope different universities are paying consideration,” mentioned Sam Goldstein, B’nai Brith’s Director of Authorized Affairs.

B’nai Brith has been campaigning aggressively to defund pupil unions and related organizations. In 2019, B’nai Brith created a coalition of anti-Palestinian teams that known as on Ontario college students to take up “a novel alternative to disclaim funding to” pupil associations. They pressed the College of Toronto’s administration to withhold its graduate college students’ union funding. B’nai Brith was additionally granted intervener standing on the facet of the Doug Ford Conservatives in a courtroom case between the Canadian Federation of College students/York Federation of College students and Ontario concerning the federal government’s transfer to pressure universities to grant opt-outs for numerous pupil charges.

The rapid background to the introduced lawsuit is 71% of McGill undergraduate college students voted for a decision that commits SSMU to take a stand towards Israel’s system of racial discrimination. The decision known as for a number of measures together with SSMU divesting from and boycotting “firms and establishments complicit in settler-colonial apartheid towards Palestinians.”

In response, B’nai Brith launched an announcement labeling “SSMU’s conduct…antisemitic”. It “known as on McGill College to right away stop funding SSMU till it rescinds this bogus referendum consequence.”

The administration responded by threatening to terminate its Memorandum of Settlement with SSMU, which regulates charges, use of title, and different issues between the college and pupil union. The administration claimed the Palestine Solidarity Coverage encourages “a tradition of ostracization and disrespect because of college students’ identification, non secular or political opinions.” However the decision doesn’t point out any ethnicity or faith.

Israel foyer and administration stress led SSMU’s unelected judicial board to reject the constitutionality of the Palestine Solidarity Coverage. Subsequently the scholar union president that defended college students’ democratic vote was impeached and SPHR’s membership standing was suspended.

In response college students have organized rallies and a public letter was signed by rock legend Roger Waters, former MP Libby Davies, authors Yann Martel and Chris Hedges in addition to 200 teachers and artists and 40 organizations, criticizing the administration’s threats towards SSMU. On the eve of his July 15 efficiency at Montreal’s Bell Centre, Waters participated in an internet rally in help of McGill SPHR. The rally was coated by La Presse, Globe and Mail, Canadian Dimension, Rabble, Le Soleil, Pivot, Jewish Information Syndicate, La Voix de l’Est, Palestine Chronicle and Le Journal de Montréal.

The occasion elicited a robust response from the apartheid foyer. Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, B’nai Brith, Trustworthy Reporting Canada and Hasbara Fellowships Canada all revealed statements denouncing the occasion. Many different distinguished Israel lobbyists denounced it on Twitter. “Roger Waters blasted for talking at Montreal occasion tied to PFLP”, famous the headline of an Israel Nationwide Information story.

Of their press launch asserting their lawsuit B’nai Brith attacked Waters for standing with McGill college students. It famous, “Rock star Roger Waters not too long ago spoke at a digital SPHR McGill discussion board, the place his traditional anti-Israel venom discovered a welcome viewers.”

In response to the swimsuit towards McGill college students Waters revealed an open letter “On Human Rights, McGill College, College students, and Free Speech” through which he denounced B’nai B’rith’s bid to extinguish “the worldwide Boycott Divestment and Sanctions motion for Palestinian rights.” The founding father of Pink Floyd concludes, “all of your huffing and puffing and baring of enamel signifies nothing, as a result of your trigger is morally bankrupt, your Emperor has no garments.”

B’nai Brith’s latest swimsuit might be partly a response to the success of the Waters occasion. It’s odd to sue a college and pupil teams in the course of summer season for a vote that came about 4 months earlier.

On its face, the swimsuit is ridiculous. Will B’nai Brith argue that college college students don’t have the fitting to carry referendums on political questions?

SPHR and Palestinian college students at McGill have a far stronger floor to sue the administration and pupil union. The discrimination they’ve confronted has been overt.

By repeatedly conceding to B’nai Brith’s bullying, McGill’s administration has emboldened the apartheid foyer group to create a local weather of intimidation concerning the dialogue of Palestinian oppression.

B’nai Brith’s lawsuit is clearly an try to create “a tradition of ostracization and disrespect because of college students’ identification, non secular or political opinions.” The McGill administration should defend its pro-Palestinian, anti-apartheid college students from B’nai Brith.

Extra typically, the Palestine solidarity motion must instantly confront B’nai Brith’s anti-Palestinian racism. It’s time for a political and authorized marketing campaign to revoke that group’s charitable standing.

 – Yves Engler is the creator of Canada and Israel: Constructing Apartheid and quite a lot of different books. He contributed this text to The Palestine Chronicle. Go to his web site: yvesengler.com.