A Queen’s University student rector was censured by the university’s student government after he used his Remembrance Day speech as a platform to speak out against Israel.
Nick Day [photo courtesy Queen’s Journal]
Speaking in front of a large crowd at the university’s Remembrance Day ceremony, Nick Day began by talking about his family’s contribution to World War II. He then went on to discuss the First Nations people in Canada and the Rwandan genocide before landing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“My grandfather would have been troubled by the international silence on Palestinian human rights,” Day said.
“He would have been dismayed by the following order, issued by the Israeli Defence Force’s central command to its soldiers: ‘When our forces encounter civilians during the war or in a raid, the encountered civilians may, and even must, be killed. Under no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he gives the impression of being civilized.’”
It is this statement that troubles Mitchell Rattner, the president of Queen’s Israel on Campus.
The IDF command that Day quoted, Rattner said in a written statement, has some serious omissions. The actual quote, taken from Edward Said’s book The Question of Palestine, is: “When our forces encounter civilians during the war or in the course of a pursuit or a raid, the encountered civilians may, and by halachic standards even must be killed, whenever it cannot be ascertained that they are incapable of hitting us back. Under no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he gives the impression of being civilized.”
Day’s “omissions betray his intent to condemn Israel and inspire anti-Israel sentiment, even at the cost of false misrepresentation,” Rattner said in a statement.
“From Day’s presentation, one might logically conclude that this quotation reflects current official government policy, but this is untrue.
“To provide accurate context, this quotation was published in a theological pamphlet during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The quote was originally issued by Rabbi Abraham Avidan, an army chaplain for the Israel Defence Forces, not a combat officer or politician… This quote is therefore not government policy; rather, it is a rabbinic interpretation of wartime Halachah. Following a condemnation of the pamphlet by Mapam [an Israeli political party], it was retracted,” he continued.
“The section on Israel is the only part of [Day’s] speech where he presents a direct quote, which… was terribly misquoted,” Rattner said in an e-mail to The CJN. “His remarks about Israel are meant, in my opinion, to be divisive, to sting and thereby have the effect of alienating students.”
Jessica (who requested that her last name be withheld), a Queen’s University graduate student who was at the ceremony, said that parts of Day’s speech were inappropriate.
“I think it was important and courageous to mention ongoing conflicts and crises around the world, [but] it was not appropriate to misquote Israeli military policy in a way that vilified Israel. His speech made me uncomfortable as he presented biased and selective information that misrepresented Israel and the conflict,” she said.
On the same day as the ceremony, Queen’s student government, the Alma Mater Society (AMS), passed a proposed censure of Day at a regularly scheduled meeting of the AMS Assembly. Fourteen members voted for it and 10 against, while 11 abstained.
“Misinformed, anti-Israel rhetoric goes unchallenged on too many campuses, and I was impressed that the AMS responded to it so quickly,” Jessica said. “I feel it established an important precedent. Should student leaders desire to use their positions to speak publicly about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they will have to ensure an adherence to the facts.”
Rattner, however, said he is not entirely satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
“The censure only dealt with the inappropriate timing of his remarks and didn’t specifically address what he said. As president of Israel on Campus at Queen’s, I felt it was my responsibility to respond to his specific comments about Israel.
“Nick Day made no effort to apologize. In fact, he said that were he to be presented with this same opportunity again, he would do the same thing,” Rattner said.
“If he were not rector and his comments were not made to a ‘captive audience’ on such a day, I would feel differently. We are all entitled to our opinions. It just frustrates me that he can make such comments about Israel, especially in this venue, and completely get away with it.”
Day declined to be interviewed, however, updates from his Twitter account made after he spoke confirm his stance. He tweeted: “I stand by my speech! Will continue to speak out” and “my duty is to speak my mind and live up to my campaign promise on social issues.”
