TORONTO — A motion that calls on the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) to oppose anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and to publish an annual report detailing racist incidents on campus was passed Nov. 12 at the RSU fall general meeting.
The motion, titled No Anti-Semitism on Campus, was put forward in response to a motion that the RSU passed last April endorsing the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
Adir Krafman, Hillel of Greater Toronto’s co-ordinator for advocacy in the GTA, explained that although the BDS motion that RSU passed in April had no bearing on the way the university administration operates, students on campus were still experiencing “rising anti-Israel sentiment.”
Any Ryerson student is eligible to vote at the twice-yearly RSU general meetings. The number of students who voted on the anti-Semitism motion was not immediately available.
The Nov. 12 motion, which was drafted by Hadas Hait, a Hillel Israel Engagement intern and the president of a Ryerson student group called Students Supporting Israel, calls on the RSU to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
“This includes, but is not limited to equating Zionism with Nazism and claiming that ‘History is repeating itself’ with regards to the Nazi Holocaust and the State of Israel,” the motion states.
“We all know that it is not criticism of Israel, it is a form of anti-Semitism that makes our students feel uncomfortable,” said Meryle Kates, the executive director of Stand With Us, a non-profit organization that works with students to help them advocate affectively for Israel.
“Students shouldn’t have to be concerned about defending who they are or defending a country in classrooms and on campus in general,” Kates added.
“This motion was brought forward by many students involved with Hillel and Students Supporting Israel, and Stand With Us gave them talking points and worked with them in advance to try to take this motion and make the campus less divisive and angry and hateful.”
Perhaps most important was that the motion called on the RSU to work directly with Jewish students on campus to fight anti-Semitism and to publish an annual report detailing all incidents of racism on campus and the actions taken by the RSU and university administration.
In a statement released by Hillel, Hait said, “Jewish students had expressed to me their concerns about rising anti-Semitism on campus. I wanted to draft a motion to create a report that would track and help prevent incidents of racism in the future.”
Krafman explained that the idea behind the report is that if a student experiences or witnesses an anti-Semitic incident, they will be able to file a complaint with the RSU.
“The report will later be used as a tool to measure tangibly the level of anti-Semitism and can be used for further action,” Krafman said.
“The first part of the motion, which commits the union to work with the Jewish student community and other members to combat anti-Semitism is already being implemented, and in the following weeks, the president of the RSU will be meeting with both the president of Students Supporting Israel, Hadas Hait, as well as Hillel at Ryerson’s student president, Ruchie Shainhouse, to discuss it further.”
Krafman said there were students who spoke against the motion, “but they were disorganized and didn’t have any real substance and the motion was carried.”
Rebecca Katzman, a Stand With Us Canada student leader who was at the meeting said, “I explained to the mediator after the meeting that there is one Jewish state. Everyone holds the Jewish state to a higher standard than any other country in the world. This is how I know that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are one.”
Along with the No Anti-Semitism on Campus motion, another motion that called on the RSU to revive its “No Islamophobia No Anti-Semitism No Racism Campaign” passed unanimously.