Jewish students at Concordia University in Montreal held a protest Chanukah-candle lighting ceremony this past Thursday, claiming, "We will not be silenced!" The act came in partial response to a decision a few days before by the Concordia Student Union (CSU) cutting off funding to the Hillel organization and restricting its campus activities.
The CSU had voted that Hillel was in violation of Canadian law in distributing literature for the IDF's Machal volunteer unit. The Council stated that this contravenes Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act, which, it claims, bans armed forces from other countries from recruiting in Canada. Hillel members, however, say that this is simply a mistake in reading comprehension, as the law applies only to recruitment for armies currently at war with Canada or with a Canadian ally, thus that Hillel had violated no law.
"The CSU is not going after us over [just this] one issue," Hillel co-president Noah Joseph told CBC News. "They've been trying to get us for a while, and they've found something with which they can pounce on us." CSU spokesman Ralph Lee denied this, saying, "Unfortunately [Hillel was] handing out an illegal pamphlet. We brought it to their attention, they refused to do anything about it, and we were forced to take action."
Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson notes, however, that this statement contradicts the position of CSU Chairperson Omar Badawi. Badawi, whose nay vote was the only one against the ban on Hillel's right to free expression, told his colleagues before the vote that the Hillel organization had not been forewarned. Despite this, the other eight CSU members voted in favor of the ban. "If we don't do anything about this, how do we know we won't be held responsible?" asked President Sabine Friesinger. Click here for an on-line petition against the CSU decision.
Concordia was also the site of violence this past Sep. 9 when former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived to deliver an address. Pro-Palestinians disrupted sufficiently violently so as to necessitate police intervention and the cancellation of the speech. The university then called a moratorium on all events concerned with the Middle East conflict, but Hillel charged that Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), the chief organizer of the Sep. 9 "demonstration," was not abiding by the moratorium. "SPHR has on numerous occasions been allowed by the administration to violate the [ban on Middle East conflict-related activities] with impunity," Hillel leaders wrote to University Rector Frederick Lowy.
The CSU had voted that Hillel was in violation of Canadian law in distributing literature for the IDF's Machal volunteer unit. The Council stated that this contravenes Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act, which, it claims, bans armed forces from other countries from recruiting in Canada. Hillel members, however, say that this is simply a mistake in reading comprehension, as the law applies only to recruitment for armies currently at war with Canada or with a Canadian ally, thus that Hillel had violated no law.
"The CSU is not going after us over [just this] one issue," Hillel co-president Noah Joseph told CBC News. "They've been trying to get us for a while, and they've found something with which they can pounce on us." CSU spokesman Ralph Lee denied this, saying, "Unfortunately [Hillel was] handing out an illegal pamphlet. We brought it to their attention, they refused to do anything about it, and we were forced to take action."
Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson notes, however, that this statement contradicts the position of CSU Chairperson Omar Badawi. Badawi, whose nay vote was the only one against the ban on Hillel's right to free expression, told his colleagues before the vote that the Hillel organization had not been forewarned. Despite this, the other eight CSU members voted in favor of the ban. "If we don't do anything about this, how do we know we won't be held responsible?" asked President Sabine Friesinger. Click here for an on-line petition against the CSU decision.
Concordia was also the site of violence this past Sep. 9 when former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived to deliver an address. Pro-Palestinians disrupted sufficiently violently so as to necessitate police intervention and the cancellation of the speech. The university then called a moratorium on all events concerned with the Middle East conflict, but Hillel charged that Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), the chief organizer of the Sep. 9 "demonstration," was not abiding by the moratorium. "SPHR has on numerous occasions been allowed by the administration to violate the [ban on Middle East conflict-related activities] with impunity," Hillel leaders wrote to University Rector Frederick Lowy.