Anti-Israeli groups are publicizing Israel’s war on terror as evidence to gain an audience for the fifth annual “Israel Apartheid Week" to be held next week.
The promotional material has thrust two Canadian colleges into a controversy after administration official banned a poster that depicts Israeli planes attacking an Arab boy in Gaza. Pro-Arab activists are outraged for interference in what they call freedom of expression.
However, the University of Ottawa allowed a milder poster to be displayed after stating that the offending picture was “capable of inciting confrontation.” The Carleton University in Ontario also prohibited displaying the poster because it might violate Ontario’s human rights code.
Jessica Carpinone of the Students Against Israeli Apartheid organization argued that Carleton officials have given “no valid reason for banning the poster other than that it’s a controversial issue.”
B’nai Brith Canada executive vice-president Frank Dimant praised the universities’ action but said the colleges should ban the week’s entire “hate fest” that he said threatens students and professors. “This is part of an ongoing, well-orchestrated campaign of intimidation and harassment and now, at times, even resulting in physical attacks,” he stated.
Earlier this month, anti-Israel activists held York University students “captive,” screaming “death to the Jews” until police arrived and escorted the students safely off the campus, Dimant told the Ottawa Citizen.
The week-long anti-Israel propaganda event began five years ago at the University of Toronto and has spread to 40 other campuses around the world.
The apartheid week website states next week’s events take place “in the wake of Israel’s horrific attacks and continued siege on the people of Gaza.” Its stated aim is “to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build a global movement of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns."