University! (Via email).
I am the President of McGill Friends of Israel, a new and growing student club. To counterbalance the demonization of Israel during Israel Apartheid Week, our club decided to host Israel Peace Week.
This initiative’s largest event was “Israel: A Party”, an obvious play on words to show our rejection of those terms. This was a festive event, with wine and appetizers, largely apolitical. The keynote speakers were journalist Barbara Kay and the Israeli consul-general in Montreal, Joel Lion, but we also had representatives from all three national parties condemning IAW and showing us their support.
In the days leading up to the event, we received interrogation as to why we chose the name we did, and were soon faced with an official “Equity Complaint”. We were asked to change the name (or face consequences such as revocation of official club status) by student union representatives. Said a student union representative: “we feel that the title “Israel A-party” makes too much light of the convictions and experiences of students such as the claimant of this complaint”, and “In the interest of both freedom of speech and safer space, therefore strongly encourage MFI to re-title the event on all promotional material immediately”.
McGill is a “safe space” for the promoters of Israel Apartheid Week, but not for pro-Israel students.
McGill’s student union equity policy (pdf).
Plenty more from Barbara Kay.
What a charade about University being nonconformist, intellectual & non partisan. Its worse than the Army for robots on delivery. I do a dishonor to our service men even using them as a poor example of the blocked brains of the so called student Union Marxists. Why do these morons hate Jews so much, considering whats happening in Syria. Women being killed, mutilated, children dying behind soldiers,lying, bombing by the very folks they idolize. Its a mystery. Because perhaps its almost always safe to malign Jews. This people have put up with 5 attempts at genocide on them. An inquisition in Spain . Expulsions from Nations including ancient Rome several times. Hat ligature, bogus aspersions to them. Yet think on this. Why do these most despised of peoples God is chosen or claimed as the True one? In fact Christians believe God became a Jew in flesh to die for us.
Even Islam tries to as well, but we know who that blood god is patterned after. The very names given him revel that false deity.
The most despised people on the Planet , have their enemies claim their God for themselves.
This is why I believe there is a God. Not just the resurrection.
Heh, that’s an old game. Reminds me of Karl Marx creating Capitalism as tension for his theory of socialism/communism.
This people have put up with 5 attempts at genocide on them.
Don’t forget Esther, the only provably fake book in the Bible. On which Purim is based…
fiddle
Sorry dude to fast out the gate
Its debatable. Keep up on the Archeology
http://formerthings.com/shushanpalace.htm
http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/Esther-Mordecai.htm
“Why do these morons hate Jews so much”
Revnant Dream.
————————
Same old, same old……..1), ‘protestors’ ALWAYS want to be seen, (good for their perceived self image), as supporting ‘the other’, (they believe it makes them appear ‘worldly, fair & sophisticated’)…….and 2), while doing the above they want to make sure they don’t actually get hurt, so they attempt to create the impression that those they protest against are a danger, (again the self image, “Look how brave we are”), while those who actually WOULD hurt them, (if they protested against the Muslims), are presented as ‘victims’.
Bottom line…they get to impress their like-minded cohorts in complete safety.
Like children wearing crash helmets while watching TV.
No wonder Monty Python’s out of a job:
“In the interest of both freedom of speech [emphasis mine] and safer space, [we] therefore strongly encourage MFI to re-title the event …”
Obviously, freedom of speech for we but not for thee.
Sadly, the irony would be lost on such illiberal twits. It’s also unfortunate that a university degree is in no way going to enlighten these cretins.
Sad. Makes you wonder about who is pulling the strings at the University to foster such an environment that produces these “useful idiots of tomorrow”. Without that support these little Goebbels would not have the legitimacy to promote their agenda.
This is precisely the sort of intolerant nonsense that Irshad Manji was railing against in her talk last night at Calgary Public Library. In the interests of free speech and intellectual honesty, one has to confront these fascists-in-training and be perfectly willing to offend them. If they can’t defend their beliefs with a robust intellectual defense (which they can’t) then they should change or abandon them.
Refusing to confront someone in the name of not hurting their feelings infantalizes them. Institutions and laws such as “human rights” tribunals and “equity” policies serve only to lend dysfunctional belief systems a currency and longevity they cannot earn for themselves particularly in the the face of external counter pressure. They effectively take over the role of the totalitarian power systems which spawn and/or sustain those belief systems in their jurisdictions of origin.
I think the Jews, a most resourceful people—God’s chosen, in fact—should pull all their kids out of the major universities and build their own.
Follow the money: I think THAT would smarten up the crass and cretinous administrators pretty fast.
They should tell the Student’s Union to f-off.
The sad thing is these leftards of the equity thingie wouldn’t even realize what hypocrites they are. Remove ALL unis from the public teat.
Too bad they changed the event name when the little apparatchiks demanded it. The appropriate response would be “see you in court @$$h0les”.
This public airing of the dirty laundry is good too. Nothing slows down a Lefty like sunlight.
Every student union I have ever heard of (as a student, and now parent of 2 in different universities) is run by marxists. Fees are not voluntary. The best thing that could be done would be to make union fees optional for students. At UNB the student union did something to protest against the Canadian Armed Forces a couple of years ago. Guess who officially did no recruiting on campus that year. The engineering faculty and a few sane others booted the old student union out at the next election.
lookout @ 8:55 am – Just where would they find enough right thinking professors to staff it?
a different bob: that’s a very good question! However, I think there are quite a few professors out there, who keep their conservative, pro-Israel thoughts to themselves: it’s not worth losing their jobs to speak out. I guess the interviews for new jobs would need to be under cover, though.
And lots of Canadians think we live in a free country!
They can’t be all bad. They stick up for ” people who do not conform to dominant size norms,”.
These are the future HRC employees of Canada full of themselves and full of it.
Isreal isn’t all good or all bad. As a nation it should be watched and criticized like any other. I’m afraid that Isreali soldiers have been involved in questionable activities and have gotten away with them because of U.S. support. You can’t bomb and machine gun children and say, ‘well someone threatened us so really we’re just protecting ourselves.’
The old ways of military retaliation are having the same effect every time. This isn’t a right or left thing. It’s a human thing. If you want peace you need to talk about real justice and you need to deal with Palestinians living in hopeless squalor.
I think the Jews, a most resourceful people—God’s chosen, in fact—should pull all their kids out of the major universities and build their own.
What the hell for?
Even for most Jews who don’t plan on being a doctor, lawyer, or rabbi, university is a waste of time and money. The vast majority of Jewish students at McGill would be much better off emigrating to Israel and fighting for their nation in the Israeli Defense Forces. Trust me, the IDF will teach them a trade—and they’ll never have to listen to another French cretin call them maudits juifs on the subway because they refused to give him the money to finish the job of destroying his liver.
Every Jewish Montrealer who leaves Montreal removes one more reason to bomb that Third World cesspit to the ground and start over, and Quebec City while we’re at it. The world would be much better off with French Canada wiped off the map than Israel. Faster, please.
“… hopeless squalor” ?
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=221934
L—the sons of Amalek live in squalor because they are primitive savages with poor impulse control who breed like vermin, are invariably unfit for any constructive work more complicated than subsistence farming, and refuse to even do that if they can beg from the Israelis (not that they’re the least bit grateful).
Once you realize what a waste of space they really are it becomes obvious what the real problem is—fatheads like you who want to help the poor Arab children when it’s not clear even one in a million is worth trying to help. Lord knows better men than you have tried. You want peace in the Middle East? Remove the sons of Amalek from the face of the earth.
Dr.D said: “In the interests of free speech and intellectual honesty, one has to confront these fascists-in-training and be perfectly willing to offend them. If they can’t defend their beliefs with a robust intellectual defense (which they can’t) then they should change or abandon them.”
This brings up a very pertinent point. “Taking offense” has for quite a few years now been a major tactic of the Left. Whatever little p1ssant complained about “Israel- A Party” I guarantee you wasn’t actually offended, except possibly by the nerve of them uppity Joooos! for lipping them off like that.
University student councils such as this are really training grounds for the apparatchiks of the future, places where guys like Michael Ignatieff learn the ropes of how to “work the system” to get the results they want. Its how some people get ahead in our Big Brother society, by climbing the ladder in the civil service.
This episode has all the earmarks of lawfare, little weasels getting out their rule books and finding a way to lawyer their opponent’s rights away. Just because they can, probably.
So pretty much McGill is a school where kids learn how to be rules lawyers and how to win by cheating. We might want to think about how much of our tax dollars should be spent on such an enterprise.
Dick Slater @ 10:30 and 10:47, is that you, Lucy? Go play at Stormfront.
We need to raise the cost of university tuition to the point that no one can afford to attend, if for no other reason then to protect impressionable young minds from the totalitarian and left wing viewpoints that have become rampant. Higher education can go to some sort of apprenticeship program that will save students from having to spend time in intolerant leftwing classroom run by lefties who live in a mythical world of their own making.
Student Unions should be voluntary to join.
Watch how fast they’d disappear.
why don’t they rename it “Celebrating Israel, the first democracy in the Middle East to allow Arabs, Women, and Gays to vote equally and inclusively, and the first to allow free speech, even if that speech was critical of the government of Israel”?
Two can play that game. Why not complain about apartheid week too? If that doesn’t work go to the human rights commission.
L, you’re completely out to lunch. Do you know how much money is sent to the “Palestinians”? The reason they live in “squalor”, is because their leaders, be it Hamas or the PLO before them, know that the western world, especially the bleeding hearts of the left, will take pity on them only so long as they’re seen as hopelessly poor. So they maintain the hopeless conditions on purpose, while they wage a psychological war on the TV’s of the western world. Once a critical mass of people have been taught to see Israel as an evil occupier and oppressor, Israel’s enemies will be able to act without risk of western intervention.
I’m with jeff and Greg. Make student union membership voluntary, and dry up the funding for these commies-in-training.
Hey Ford, how about we make McGill run on tuition only, no more free money. Clean up the whole swamp.
Sorry, that was supposed to be gordinkneehill. Stupid blackberry.
There is a rather simple solution to this nonsense; cease subsidising these places until they reform, including eliminating the useless “studies” programs. Either they respect free speech from all parties or they cease receiving government funding.
McGill – the racist ba$tards had quotas on Jews for the longest time. Apparently the current administration studied on the knees of their fascist fathers and grandfathers.
Lookout @ 9:57-Having married a Jew in the early 1960’s, which as you know means our children are Jews, I have been somewhat more sensitive to antisemitism over the last fifty years than many Christians.
What I have always found difficult to understand is how the most or at least one of the most advanced and cultured societies, Germanic, looked away during the Holacaust.
Possibly you will reread your comment and help me to understand future developments of antisemitism. Cheers;
“Let’s have a car-b-que like we did last week on O’green day”.
There’s nothing like standing in solidarity with people willing to strap bombs on their children, and whining about whose going to pay for your education so that you can make more money than the next slob in this decadent capitalist cesspit that you refuse to leave.
Campus politics are a cesspool reaking of conformist oppression. I guess things devolved to that state ever since campus radicalism was left unchallenged by reason, and reason itself was abandoned to accept fanaticism as a norm.
Involvement in campus politics these days prepares one to be totally disfunctional in the real world, just another agent of social and civil belligerence and single minded fanaticism.
I know. I know. I know. Perversity.
It’s about time we started standing up to these little bastards, because we’re stronger than they are. This is where we have to be Breitbarts.
Safe space, liberal speakeeze for: No one is allowed in our progressive space unless they espouse the gospel of the upside down circ logic of our god Marx. Inclusive zone means the opposite, it’s a place no one but progressives can dwell. Some of our Universities are not institutions of higher learning they are illiberal indoctrination centers. Frankly a couple well placed lawsuits would open the public’s eyes to us subsidizing passive aggressive liberal anti-semitism.
MikeSr, I’m not sure I understand what you want from me, but I’ll reread my comment . . .
For what it’s worth and being no expert, I think that anti-Semitism is a shameful scourge—and I don’t think it’s going to be getting better. I’m an observant Christian and, in the West, I see the public square marginalizing both Christians and Jews. E.g., In Toronto, Muslim prayers, with an imam, are allowed in public schools during instructional time. At the same time, one can barely mention Christmas or Easter. At our universities, Jews (and Christians too—e.g., pro-life students) are treated utterly despicably. I’m horrified by all of this.
I’m a huge supporter of Israel and am appalled by American foreign policy these days. I’m proud of PMSH and his government.
I’ve just finished a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was also an observant Christian, who was horrified by the anti-Semitism of his country. Many of his friends and family were Jews and, when Hitler established the Reichskirche (Protestant Reich Church)—uniting all the Lutheran churches under the jackboot of the German state—Bonhoeffer, in support of the Jews of Germany and in solidarity with the Gospel, established the Confessing Church with many of his colleagues. Eventually, after being imprisoned, and just three weeks before the end of WW II, Bonhoeffer was hanged for his allegiance to truth and justice. (Bonhoeffer’s twin sister was married to a Jew and she, her husband, and their children managed to escape Germany, to live in England for the duration of the war. What Hitler was doing to the Jews was one of the main reasons that Bonhoeffer was willing to be part of the plot to assassinate Hitler.)
Bonhoeffer believed that lukewarm, secularized Christianity—he called it “religionless Christianity”—had everything to do with the caving of the German people. Well, the West is now pretty well thoroughly secularized. People do not know the Ten Commandments or the Christian Gospel. Jesus’s Second Great Commandment, “Love thy neighbour as thyself” is considered quaint and even ridiculous in this “ME-ME-ME” age. (The First Commandment, “Love the Lord thy God . . .” Who the heck is HE?!) And it’s interesting to see that not only Jews are now under attack by the secular state, but observant Christians—about the only Europeans who stood up for and protected the Jews—too.
Islam? This religion, that makes no pretense of its hatred of Jews and Christians, gets a free pass by the post-Christian, secular states of the West. “Bread and circuses”: most secularized proles are too busy “entertaining themselves to death” to be much interested in such crucial matters as life/death, truth/justice. (And most Jews vote left-wing in both Canada—Liberal and NDP—and the USA—Democrat. Perhaps, MikeSr, you could tell me what you think about that. “It’s a puzzlement”!)
Kyrie eleison.
lookout
Nice concise rounding up of the situation today.
I think Most Liberal Jews are as secular as Post modern North Americans. Like the Jews of Nazi Germany they are going to finds out its not what they believe that will be their persecution. Being born Jewish in the secular World is crime enough. Blood Laws will become in vogue again. Lots of Jews served in WW1. It didn’t stop the fascists from killing them. It won’t stop the Marxists this time either even being one. Pamela Geller calls them Jewicides. I,m inclined to agree. Some of course like all Peoples, will be traitors to their own People. Christians this time around will also be a focus of death dealers. At least the ones who really believe. The Church is in a Bad State no matter what denomination . From Pentecostals to Catholics its riddled with heresy, unbelievers, apostates wanting to destroy the message of the Messiah. Least-ways that how I see it playing out.Yet Again
From the McGill student union equity policy:
“VI. All Students’ Society endeavours shall be undertaken with full respect for human dignity and without discrimination on the basis of irrelevant personal characteristics that include but are not limited to race, national or ethnic origin . . .”
I’m curious to know how they undertake an endeavour like Israel Apartheid Week without discriminating on the basis of the national origin of Israelis!?!?
Revnant Dream, I agree. The West’s apostasy is a symptom of flaccid morals and spine and a surfeit of ignorance, arrogance, and cowardice. Minus a serious change of heart—can sows’ ears be turned into silk purses?—the West’s betrayal of its Judeo-Christian heritage is not going to end well.
I have a dream.
Okay, it’s a nightmare. I see rows upon rows of university graduates, standing shoulder to shoulder in gowns and mortar hats, blank faced and vacant eyed, intoning in unison…
“We — are — diverse.”
Kate, you need to read Dick Slater’s post.