Banning Criticism of Israel in the Name
of Human Rights at Carleton University
The administration of Carleton
University, under the pretext of upholding the Ontario Human Rights Code, is
attempting to prevent criticisms of Israel on campus, including removing posters
advertising Israeli Apartheid Week.
Israeli Apartheid Week, from March 1-8, is being marked on university
campuses in over 40 cities around the world, including several Canadian cities.
Israeli Apartheid Week will be
marked in Winnipeg with a documentary film screening and discussion.
At Carleton University in Ottawa, the
student group Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA)
is organizing a series of public events on campus to highlight crimes being
committed by Israel against Palestinians.
On February 8, members of the group began postering for the upcoming
week, a poster created by the cartoonist Carlos Latuff which depicts a child
holding a teddy bear being targeted by an Israeli warplane. The word Gaza is written on the ground on
which the child stands. (The poster can
be viewed at www.apartheidweek.org). On February 9, Carleton University’s Equity
Services office had the posters removed, stating they “could be seen to incite
others to infringe rights protected in the Ontario Human Rights Code” and are
“insensitive to the norms of civil discourse in a free and democratic society.” When SAIA asked Equity Services for a written
description of what would be acceptable under the “norms of civil discourse in
a free and democratic society”, they did not receive a response.
Carleton’s newly appointed President,
Roseanne Runte, has already made her pro-Israeli bias clear. During the invasion of Gaza, condemned by
governments and human rights organizations around the world, she refused a
request by over 50 Carleton professors to condemn Israel’s bombing of the
Islamic University of Gaza. Instead, she
sent an email to the administration condemning
“intellectual” (or academic) boycotts. When
SAIA subsequently tried to organize a debate on the issue of an academic
boycott of Israeli universities, President Runte refused. She also, on February 3, following her speech
outlining her vision for Carleton, refused to take questions from two SAIA
activists on the issue and had their microphones cut off.
On February 12, Carleton’s Interim
Provost Feridun Hamdullahpur sent an open
letter to all Carleton faculty and students in which he suggests, without
naming SAIA specifically, that emotional debate on the Mideast issue may be
taking place without respect for the rights of all students.
He writes: “Carleton University, regardless of the
circumstances, cannot and will not tolerate actions that infringe or contravene
the Ontario Human Rights Code and Carleton’s own University Human Rights Policy
and Procedures. Discrimination, harassment, and intolerance which take the form
of inappropriately challenging or questioning a person’s race or beliefs are
actions that are contrary to the mission of Carleton University and put in
peril the essence of the Canadian university experience.
We understand that some events may be planned
which may be related to some serious and emotional world issues. I would
therefore ask everyone to take a few moments to become familiar with the
Carleton University Human Rights Policy and Procedures and the Student Rights
and Responsibilities Policy. Both documents play an important role at the
University and provide us with guidance towards civil and collegial behaviour.
However, they are also tools to be used to address inappropriate behaviours
including discrimination and harassment. Among other sanctions that may be
applied under these policies, students can be withdrawn from their studies
indefinitely. Note that under the authority of these policies, all reported
incidents of racial or religious intolerance will be investigated vigorously
and addressed regardless of the persons or groups involved.”
In response to this campaign of intimidation,
SAIA is calling on the administration to demonstrate its commitment to free
speech through reversing the decision to remove the posters and to go ahead
with a debate on the issue of academic boycotts. As well, Carleton alumni across the country
are organizing a letter writing campaign to senior members of the
administration and members of the board of governors, to counter the
pro-censorship campaign being organized by Israeli apologists.