At the heart of a University of Toronto hiring scandal is an academic whose critique of Israeli settlements in Palestine is not what most people would call radical.
At York University, a professor is facing death threats and a campaign to stop him from teaching human rights courses — a campaign that accuses him of anti-Semitism after he debated the definition of anti-Semitism.
While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a flashpoint on campuses across Canada, legal experts and advocacy groups are raising concerns that these recent incidents suggest an escalation of silencing even moderate critiques of Israel, and not just in the halls of academia, but in the media, the political sphere and social interactions.
Are the two academics pictured here "moderate critics" of Israel?
The professor on the left, York University Law Professor Faisal Bhabha, said during a June 10 webcast that Zionism is just “Jewish supremacy.” He later said “I am equating Zionism with white supremacy” and then added for good measure that it was possible that Israel is “exaggerating the Holocaust.”
This isn't moderate criticism. This is demonizing Israel and Jewish Zionists as being bigots, and his suggestion that Israel exaggerates the Holocaust is pure antisemitism.
These "one staters" never call for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to become one state to ensure equal rights. They never propose nations in the Balkans of different ethnicities to merge together. Only the Jewish State is expected to be destroyed in the name of equal rights - with no regard to the human rights of Jews who would, in their world, inevitably become a minority in a majority hostile Palestinian Arab nation.
It is possible to criticize Israel without calling it an apartheid state, or a Nazi state, or calling for its destruction. No one demands Syria's destruction, or China's.
No one is calling actual legitimate criticism antisemitism. But invariably, the people who complain that they are being "silenced" by accusations of antisemitism are proven to have a crazed obsession with insisting that Israel follow rules that they do not demand of any other nation.
That's double standards, and that is antisemitism.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
Son of Egyptian Jews wins Nobel prize
-
All three winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics are Jews. One is
Philippe Aghion, a pioneering French professor. Few news reports also
identify hi...
Happy Simchat Torah!
-
Wishing all our readers celebrating Simchat Torah a happy holiday. For more
on the ancient Dir Aziz Synagogue see here and here.
The post Happy Simchat T...
Happy Simchat Torah!
-
Wishing all our readers celebrating Simchat Torah a happy holiday. For more
on the ancient Dir Aziz Synagogue see here and here.
The post Happy Simchat T...
Joyful Simhat Torah with Hostages Returning
-
Dry Bones Golden Oldies by Sali, the LSW. This cartoon is from 2009
Wishing everyone a Happy Simhat Torah!
We are all so very happy and relieved to see...
Rewarding Oct 7 Will Globalize Oct 7
-
On July 23, 1968, the era of terrorist airline hijacking and hostage taking
went into full swing when terrorists from the Popular Front for the
Liberati...
Arabs Doing Arab Propaganda
-
I found this timeline here and selected on minor section to highlight how
Arab propaganda works.
Item 1:
Jewish existed in Europe, and in every single l...
Now What?
-
Today, Jews cannot walk down the street in North America, Europe, or even
Australia without the possibility of being spat on, beaten, or even
murdered. Cou...
Closing Jews Down Under Website
-
With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
past...
‘Test & Trace’ is a mirage
-
Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
about the need for a ‘working’ Test & Trace system even more loudly than
the govern...