[QatzelOk]

Two English-language colleges in Montreal are being investigated by the provincial department of Education for "uncomfortable feelings on campus." The schools themselves deny that there have been any events or even complaints within the schools themselves.

Quebec opens investigation into campus climate at Vanier and Dawson colleges
...Quebec's higher education minister has ordered an investigation into the on-campus climate at Vanier College and Dawson College, saying there have been complaints from students who feel unsafe because of tensions stemming from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Pascale Déry made the announcement Tuesday morning in a social media post. In an interview with Radio-Canada's Tout un matin, Déry said the Higher Education Ministry has received several complaints in the last few months from students who say they feel "uneasy, uncomfortable or even unsafe" on campus...

So here you have a government ministry, elected using money from billionaires, who is responding to complaints by... billionaires and their enablers?

Meanwhile, at the colleges themselves:

...Union says complaints are 'inaccurate'

In a statement Tuesday, the Dawson Teachers' Union (DTU) said the examples of complaints provided by the minister are "inaccurate."

The union says Déry's announcement of an investigation serves as a distraction from "drastic budget cuts" that are "the biggest threat" to Dawson's learning environment.

The DTU also said its members "are doing their work effectively and in line with ministerial and departmental requirements."

"Any suggestion otherwise is false and inappropriate," the union wrote...

So we have an education department that is slashing funding to all education, and then investigating the "uneasy" feelings of a few people, expressed to the ministry itself, and not the schools.

For me, this is a sign of a society that is being destroyed for the benefit of a handful of rich, racists - rich racists who have a sponsorship noose around the necks of our money-grubbing government institutions that have been totally de-democratized by the funding structure of our political campaigns, and the legality of rewarding "loyal vassals" with golden handshakes.

[Deutschmania]

Cornell University’s Jewish interim president is facing growing blowback from higher education groups over emails published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last month, in which he raised objections to an upcoming class on Gaza.

Michael Kotlikoff’s remarks, which JTA reported on Nov. 11, were a violation of academic freedom, say representatives of the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association. The episode is the latest instance of campus scrutiny over Israel shifting from protests to the classroom, more than a year removed from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that launched the war in Gaza.

In the email, Kotlikoff expressed his objections to a new course entitled “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance,” scheduled to be taught next term by Jewish professor Eric Cheyfitz, a pro-Palestinian activist who teaches in the school’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies program. Writing to a different Jewish professor, Kotlikoff said he was “extremely disappointed” with “the course’s apparent lack of openness and objectivity,” and promised to work with other departments to offer alternative courses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The email, which Kotlikoff says was never meant to be publicized, has prompted anger over the past week as the story gained traction in the Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper. “Kotlikoff’s remarks are an egregious threat to bedrock principles of academic freedom, as well as Cornell’s commitment to ‘any person, any study.’ They raise the specter of administrative interference in faculty control over curricular decisions and course instruction,” Risa Lieberwitz, the Jewish president of the university’s AAUP chapter, wrote in an open letter. (Am I the only one who doesn't really care whether or not someone is Jewish ? )

Like other universities, the Ivy League school has faced numerous controversies over Israel politics and antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023, with leaders and faculty frequently clashing over the limits of acceptable response. A student was arrested for threatening Jewish students; a professor was placed on leave for commenting that he felt “exhilarated” by the attacks; and administrators were recorded promising broader surveillance of pro-Palestinian faculty during a meeting with Hillel (which in my opinion is a Jewish cult) parents.

All this has led to deeper concerns that schools like Cornell could meaningfully curtail academic freedom in the name of protecting Jewish students, especially under a second Trump administration, as the president-elect has sworn to crack down on universities for “turning our students into communists and terrorists.” ( If only universities were turning students into Communists . But no , universities are simply supposed to introduce students to various ideas that might be new to the student , and help them to learn how to think , rather than what to think . )

While Kotlikoff vowed not to interfere with the class itself, his critics say his comments were a form of inappropriate scrutiny over faculty. Cheyfitz and his allies also said the professor has received hate mail as a result of his course being publicized.

Lieberwitz’s letter added that the president’s comments “suggest that, despite repeated disavowals, the leadership of the University not only intends to scrutinize the in-class activities of Cornell faculty but is actively doing so where it is deemed politically desirable.”

Earlier this year, amid the Gaza war and calls for the boycott of Israel, AAUP dropped its longstanding opposition to academic boycotts. The Middle East Studies Association, an international group for academics focused on the region that itself endorsed a boycott of Israel in 2022 and has accused it of “genocidal violence,” also accused Kotlikoff of infringing on academic freedom.

“You are of course entitled to your opinion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the proposed course,” the group’s president and academic freedom chair wrote in an open letter. But, they said, “your remarks may compromise the willingness of Cornell faculty to offer courses that deal with controversial issues,” as well as affect the judgment of curriculum-reviewing committees.

Both organizations pressed Kotlikoff — who replaced Cornell’s previous Jewish president Martha Pollack ( Again , who cares about her Jewishness ?) earlier this year after Pollack stepped down, citing stress over campus tensions around Israel and Gaza — to apologize to Cheyfitz.

Meanwhile, the Jewish professor who prompted the row by sharing Kotlikoff’s email with JTA says he has no regrets.

“If a course such as the one on Gaza being offered by Professor Cheyfitz cannot withstand criticism, perhaps it’s its underlying premise, not the criticism, that should be scrutinized,” Menachem Rosensaft, an adjunct professor in the law school who first raised his concerns about the class with the school president, wrote to JTA on Thursday.

In Rosensaft’s view, his objections to the course have nothing to do with academic freedom. Instead, he believes the Gaza course — which promises to frame the conflict through a settler-colonial lens, one that Israel’s defenders insist does not apply to the region’s history — is analogous to classes promoting slavery, misogyny, or other values that would not be tolerated at a modern university. He wrote that the course would promote a narrative that “constitutes antisemitism on steroids.”

Speaking to Inside Higher Ed, Kotlikoff defended his right to share his personal opinions on a course. “I would not publicly comment on the decision of a curriculum committee or a colleague’s choice of course material,” he said, while adding, “if there are antisemitic, racist, other incidents that are directly related to Cornell, I certainly reserve the right to comment on those and reassure the community around those issues.”

Cheyfitz, for his part, still plans to teach the course, and says criticisms of it were based only on a brief course description. Citing a just-released report from Amnesty International, the human rights NGO, accusing Israel of genocide — a charge that Israel and its defenders reject as spurious — he told JTA that his critics would be judged harshly: “History will mark scholars like Rosensaft for what they are: apologists for genocide,” he said.

He added to Inside Higher Ed, “The backlash hasn’t been horrible.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency

[Pants-of-dog]

If Israel is a pluralist democracy that does not necessarily support Jewish interests above the interests of others, it is incorrect to argue that criticism of Israel is antisemitism.

[wat0n]

How so?

That just doesn't make sense. It is in fact possible to infer antisemitism from certain stupid claims and the IHRA approach does propose one way to do so.

[Pants-of-dog]

So let us say that while some criticism of Israel may be motivated by antisemitism, the criticism itself is not antisemitism nor is criticism of Israel inherently antisemitic.

It does not seem like the laws using the IHRA definition. or the definition itself, seem to make this distinction.

[wat0n]

They actually do? Why wouldn't they?

Again, these laws are used to infer antisemitic intent if other bad things (like harassment) are done to students. In reality, harassment should be punished regardless of motive.

[Pants-of-dog]

If the law or the definition make this distinction, then evidence should be presented to show this is the case,

Currently, the excerpts from both quoted in this thread do not support the claim that the law or definition allow for the fact that criticism of Israel is not antisemitism.

[wat0n]

That's pretty much irrelevant at this point.

That distinction is spelled out explicitly by the IHRA.

[Pants-of-dog]

It is odd to claim that the distinction is irrelevant and then claim that the distinction has already been made by the IHRA, despite the lack of evidence.

It seems like a self-contradictory Gish Gallop of possible rebuttals.

How does the IHRA make this distinction?

[wat0n]

I'm not sure about how it's contradictory, at least not after reading and quoting the IHRA standard.

It also does not matter because antisemitism is not banned per se. What's banned is using it as a motivation for committing crimes and discriminating, which (guess what) is already illegal.

@Pants-of-dog sounds like those white supremacists who don't like to get a count for a hate crime after beating a black person up.

[Pants-of-dog]

Then answer the question.

[wat0n]

IHRA is explicit that antisemitism is inferred in having a special standard for Israel.

Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.

...

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

...

Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.

I know you're anxious to justify antisemitic discrimination in higher education using the definition provided at the end of the quotation - as you have been doing throughout the thread - but this is ridiculous. This is also what's being proposed in the Antisemitism Awareness Act, and that's very much in line with the definition of discrimination used in Title VI for other protected classes.

Under the quoted IHRA standard, it's also evident an anarchist who wants to destroy Israel because he wants to destroy all states would not be antisemitic.

[Deutschmania]

The anti-Israel student coalition at Columbia University was booted from Instagram on Monday, the latest pro-Palestinian activist organization in New York to have a social media account banned.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the consortium of dozens of student groups that took a leading role in the encampment protest last spring, was removed from the platform after posting plans on Saturday for a protest that included an image of a figure holding a Molotov cocktail. The account had more than 40,000 followers.

The protest, which was scheduled for Monday, was to focus on Barnard College, the women’s college associated with Columbia. A later announcement from the protesters said the rally was taking place off campus.

“Barnard will be the first domino to fall — an instrumental piece in toppling the entire university,” the post said. The protest announcement included photos apparently of university trustees, saying they were “enemies,” “murderers,” and “violently genocidal zionists,” and included inverted black triangles on a red background. Red inverted triangles, which Hamas uses to mark its targets in propaganda videos, have been adopted as a protest symbol by anti-Israel activists.

“Trustees are not untouchable, and now we know their names,” the post said.

Barnard restricted access to campus on Monday to those with valid IDs and implemented other security measures “due to active concerns for violence on Barnard’s campus,” university president Laura Ann Rosenbury said in a message to the campus community sent out on Sunday.

“Inflammatory posts with violent imagery and specific calls for action against the Barnard College community have been circulating on social media,” Rosenbury said in the message, which the university shared with the New York Jewish Week. “Any statements that advocate for violence or harm, including the destruction of property, are a direct violation of our code of conduct and are antithetical to the core principles and mission of Barnard.”

Columbia University Apartheid Divest is an alliance of student groups led by the campus chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, which have been banned from campus for violating protest rules.

The encampment, which CUAD co-organized, sparked a nationwide student movement, and at Columbia it culminated in the forcible takeover of a campus building and dozens of arrests. The campus pro-Palestinian protests have drawn extensive scrutiny from members of Congress, who released a 300-page report on Columbia and other universities in November.

The protests have not been as disruptive this year, but the activists’ rhetoric has escalated. In October, CUAD put out a statement openly endorsing violence and armed resistance “by any means necessary.”

Last week, protesters at Columbia distributed a newsletter on campus called the “Columbia Intifada” that argued against Israel’s right to exist. The Second Intifada was a violent Palestinian uprising against Israel two decades ago that included waves of suicide bombings and killed an estimated 1,000 Israelis. Columbia University Apartheid Divest said on Monday that the suspension was “targeted suppression” meant to “erase Palestine and its movement for liberation” in a statement sent out on the Telegram messaging app.

Other anti-Israel groups in the city have been banned from Instagram since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel, which launched Israel’s ongoing multi-front war, mass protests and a wave of antisemitic hate crimes in New York.

Within Our Lifetime, a hardline group that is perhaps the most visible anti-Israel activist organization in the city, was removed from Instagram in February for violating the platform’s “dangerous organizations and individuals policy.” Within Our Lifetime has worked with Columbia student protesters, including on an unsanctioned event last year that featured members of the activist group Samidoun — which the federal government later took action against because it raises money for a Palestinian terror group.

Columbia’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine was banned from Instagram months later, and days after that, the People’s Solidarity Coalition at New York University, an anti-Israel coalition, was suspended.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. Jewish Telegraphic Agency

[Pants-of-dog]

There is no way that the distinction bolded in the recent post shows any distinction about how criticism of Israel is not inherently antisemitic, except insofar as a complaint about many countries cannot be regarded as antisemitism since it does not simply target Israel.

Note that this is very different from the topic under discussion, which is that criticism of Israel is not inherently antisemitic even if no other country is mentioned.

[wat0n]

Often those holding Israel to a special standard simply ignore what other countries do and don't mention them, even when they know what they're doing.

The weak response above does not really explain what is wrong, if anything, with IHRA's standard and also does not explain why its definition of "antisemitic discrimination" is incorrect.

[Rich]

This is an example of why I say our societies, but particularly our universities are sick , utterly sick with Cultural Marxist Isalmophillia.

Around 2 minutes 50 he says "Syria embraced Islam in the Seventh century". Embraced? Embraced? This like saying that the Czechs embraced Nazism in the late nineteen thirties, or that the Polish people embraced Communism at the end of World War 2. The Cultural Marxists just spew out this anti Euracian hate filled filth. Islam didn't even exist in the seventh century, sure no doubt there was some kind of Ishmaelean Judaist sectarians, but Islam as we know it took centuries of manufacture, including the whole creation of the Mecca origin story.

[Deutschmania]

A San Francisco office of the Jewish cult Hillel was just recently vandalized with graffiti . The predictable response is for more stringent restrictions on speech .

Tyler Gregory, CEO of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, called the incident an anti-Semitic attack and linked it to what he described as a pattern of hateful acts against Jews at universities.

“The Hillel House is a vibrant community center and should be a place where Jewish students feel safe and comfortable, especially as anti-Semitism continues to soar on campus,” he said in a statement. “It is imperative that our elected officials and education leaders dramatically curb the anti-Semitic rhetoric at campus protests and in college classrooms that inevitably leads to attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions.”

Tensions around Israel have skyrocketed on college campuses since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which launched the war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian protesters at a number of schools have targeted Hillels, which are the center of Jewish life on many campuses, owing to their support for Israel. Jewish Telegraphic Agency

[wat0n]

Vandalism isn't speech. You don't have the right to vandalize other people's property.

And I do not see how the graffiti isn't antisemitic.

[QatzelOk]

Vandalism isn't speech.

Actually, if it contains words, it is.

You don't have the right to vandalize other people's property.

This is true, but vandalism isn't the same as speech. Any paint or stain that is intended to harm the visual qualities of the building are a form of vandalism, even if no speech is discernable.

And I do not see how the graffiti isn't antisemitic.

It's as antisemitic as saying "Think of Amalek." So this is a Netanyahu-level antisemitic event.

[wat0n]

Actually, if it contains words, it is.

Not really? Even leaving aside the fact that it's not protected, because of the damage to the property, you can find plenty of graffiti with words that don't really communicate anything coherent.

This is true, but vandalism isn't the same as speech. Any paint or stain that is intended to harm the visual qualities of the building are a form of vandalism, even if no speech is discernable.

Correct.

It's as antisemitic as saying "Think of Amalek." So this is a Netanyahu-level antisemitic event.

Amalek doesn't exist (there's no currently existing nation that is the continuation of amalekites), but khaybar does make a reference to a specific nation.