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| December 12, 2004 Letter from Linda Belanger in support of SPHR to P. Davenport, President Western University - with responses from university administration and student council and background newspaper articles. Background: SPHR Press Release MtlGazette: Tensions Explode at Site of Mock Wall MtlGazette: Hatred an Obstacle to Resolution Canada.com/Gazette: "B'nai Brith sees prejudice - To accuse universities - including Concordia - of not preventing discrimination against Jews" (This article has since been removed by the Gazette and we are using a cached Google copy from a pro-Israel website aimed at students and university alumni. Related News Items: CNW: Ryerson shocked by B'nai Brith statement, cites excellent relations with Jewish students . Ryerson University has excellent relations with its Jewish students and is shocked to be included in a list of universities cited by B'nai Brith Canada for not protecting their Jewish students. B'nai Brith has made no attempt to contact Ryerson University about its alleged complaints. CJNews: Anti-Semitic hate mail shocks McMaster community Ben-Zvi said many students at McMaster fear harassment by other students if they wear Jewish symbols, but Bill Armstrong, operations manager for McMaster University Security Services, said hate-related incidents are “pretty rare” among the 3,000 occurrences they deal with each year. CBC: Concordia discriminates against Jews: B'nai Brith B'nai Brith Canada is filing a complaint against Concordia University with the Quebec Human Rights Commission, claiming the university discriminates against Jews. The University decided last month not to allow former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to speak on campus because of security concerns but reversed its decision on Friday. On this Page: Letter from Linda Belanger to P. Davenport, President, Western University Response from Vice President, Administration, Western University on behalf of President University Students’ Council Statement regarding the Impact Of the SPHR Event held 29 November 2004 Subject: SPHR Western University From: "Linda Belanger" Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 19:49:56 -0500 To: P. Davenport, President, Western University CC: <equity at uwo.ca>, <usc.president at uwo.ca>, <usc.campus.issues at uwo.ca> Dear Dr. Davenport: It is a well publicized fact that B'nai Brith has launched a campaign to silence views that are critical of Israel on University Campuses. The accusations that SHPR's material is racist and offensive is just a tactic to attempt to shut them down. I am familiar with SPHR's material. It is produced in Montreal for member groups across Canada and I've seen much of it here in Ottawa. It is only offensive and disturbing because the facts are so horrible. Before making any decisions regarding SPHR's activities, I suggest you visit the following Israeli and Jewish websites to find out what is really happening to Palestinians. Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Group) http://gush-shalom.org/english/ Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions http://www.icahd.org/eng/ Rabbis for Human Rights http://www.rhr.israel.net/ & If Americans only knew http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ Silence is complicity. Linda Belanger Canpalnet-Ottawa  December 9, 2004 I am writing on behalf of the President in response to concerns you raised about the student display in the University Community Centre on Monday, November 29, 2004. Thank you for sharing your concerns with us. At Western, we take our responsibility for providing a safe and secure learning environment for all members of our campus community very seriously. In fact, the success we have achieved toward this end was recently recognized by current students through a survey conducted by the Globe and Mail in which Western received the grade of “A+” in the area of personal safety and security. The survey also assigned Western an A grade in the area of cultural diversity and openness. Our commitment to fostering an environment that encourages open debate and values an acceptance of diversity within a climate of shared respect is essential to our mission as an institution of higher learning. It is a deeply felt commitment shared by both our administration and our University Students’ Council (USC). When concerns were raised with the University administration and the USC about the display last Monday, our first priority was to take steps to ensure the safety and security of our students. The USC ensured a staff member was on hand at the display to monitor the situation. An officer from Campus Community Police Services was dispatched to ensure there was no threat to the safety of any member of the community. The USC cooperated fully with the London Police Hate Crimes Division, which determined there were no legal violations related to the display. Personnel from Equity Services were consulted to ensure no policies regarding harassment and discrimination were contravened. Since then, the University administration has initiated meetings with the USC to jointly ensure that regard for safety, security, diversity and respect remain at the forefront of all activities undertaken by student clubs. Western’s administration has been satisfied with the course of action taken by the USC to reach out to student clubs in search of a positive path for debating controversial issues. To that end, the USC has issued a statement that I have attached for your information and which the University administration does support. We regret that some members of our campus community were upset by last Monday’s display. That was not the intent of the USC or the University. We remain committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment that respects diversity and freedom of expression. We will continue working with both the USC and student groups impacted by the display to develop a positive and constructive relationship from which to move forward. If you have any further concerns or questions, please contact me directly at gitta at uwo.ca. Sincerely, Gitta Kulczycki Vice-President
(Administration) University Students’ Council Statement regarding the Impact Of the SPHR Event held 29 November 2004 The University Students’ Council strives to ensure that all undergraduate students have an opportunity to express their opinions and points of views in an informative and respectful manner. The USC does this by providing oversight through its Clubs Policy, Community Standards Policy and through adherence to both the USC’s and the University’s Harassment and Discrimination Policies. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of the USC but this right will be tempered by protecting the rights of other groups. The USC continually works with all student groups and clubs to foster the exchange of dialogue and ideas, however controversial they may seem. The Palestinian Day event this past Monday, 29 November, put on by the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) was sanctioned by the USC for two reasons: First it met the mandate of SPHR and second it was in keeping with the event description provided by SPHR in their request to hold the event. The USC recognizes that not all students or student groups were in agreement with the display and the USC had no intention of offending anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable who viewed and were upset by the display. The USC cooperated with Equity Services and the London Police Hate Crimes Division to ensure that there were no violations of any groups legal rights and the display was deemed not to be in any violation. In addition Campus Community Police Services and the USC Administration were on hand at the event all day to ensure the safety of all students at the event. The USC’s intention was to allow a ratified student group to voice their opinions on an issue that was of significance to them with the expectation of fostering a measured debate. In order to rectify the concerns of individual students and student groups, The USC has reached out on a number of occasions to student groups to bring them together in dialogue with a hope to find a positive path to debating controversial issues and will continue to do so in the future. The USC is also cognizant that it has an obligation to ensure the processes that govern the oversight of USC affiliated student groups is relevant and applicable and will do so again in this instance. The USC welcomes comments about any event conducted on campus and in the University Community Centre when they feel uncomfortable. The USC regrets if anyone took offence to the Palestinian Day display, as it was not the intent to offend, but rather to invite awareness and discussion. Nick Staubitz President Eric Johanssen Vice President Campus Issues University Students’ Council Your Comments canpalnet-ottawa.org |