On Dec. 1, the Ontario legislature voted 49-5 to pass Motion 36, which rejects the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at Israel. The motion was backed both by the Liberals, who form the government, and the opposition Progressive Conservatives.<\/p>\n
Tory MPP Gila Martow (Thornhill), who introduced the motion, noted in the legislature prior to the vote that: \u201cBDS is boycotting not just Israel, but all Jews and other supporters of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
She explained that the BDS movement and its proponents have created a hostile environment at universities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make a statement about attitudes in society. I genuinely feel this is the first step in helping our students feel comfortable on campus. They\u2019re choosing what program to study based on what campus they feel comfortable at,\u201d she told the Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just about BDS \u2013 we already went through this with Israel Apartheid Week. I think we need to make it clear from the government on down, we will not allow any type of antisemitism to masquerade as free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n She hopes this message reverberates with school administrators.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve had tools at their disposal they haven\u2019t bothered to use [to fight campus antisemitism] and I would suggest they might make a bigger effort than they did in the past,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Martow tipped her hat to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) for their community advocacy on the motion, while Joel Reitman, Greater Toronto Area co-chair of CIJA, noted: \u201c[J]ust as Ontarians rightly oppose all forms of discrimination, our province rejects BDS and other bigoted campaigns against Israelis.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, Sara Lefton, CIJA\u2019s vice-president, Greater Toronto Area, added: \u201cIt also demonstrates that elected officials across party lines recognize that BDS is tainted by antisemitism. Just as we are grateful that the legislature has taken this stand, we are proud that \u2013 in just a few short days \u2013 thousands of Ontarians took unified action to urge MPPs to support this motion.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Minsky, president and chief executive officer of United Jewish Appeal, said: \u201cFrom students to seniors, from rabbis to grassroots activists, from left to right, our community came together to take tangible action to support Israelis and defeat BDS. The result speaks for itself \u2013 and testifies to the power of Israel advocacy to unite and strengthen our community.\u201d<\/p>\n The text of Motion 36 reads: \u201cThat, in the opinion of this House, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario should:<\/p>\n \u201cStand firmly against any position or movement that promotes or encourages any form of hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in any way;<\/p>\n \u201cRecognize the longstanding, vibrant and mutually beneficial political, economic and cultural ties between Ontario and Israel, built on a foundation of shared liberal democratic values;<\/p>\n \u201cEndorse the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Antisemitism;<\/p>\n \u201cAnd reject the differential treatment of Israel, including the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.\u201d<\/p>\n The motion was a retry, of sorts, of May 19\u2019s Bill 202, \u201cThe Standing Up Against Antisemitism in Ontario Act,\u201d defeated by a vote of 39-18.<\/p>\n That particular bill recognized the BDS movement as \u201cone of the main vehicles for spreading antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel globally and [one that] is increasingly promoted on university campuses in Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, Martow said that a bill like 202 \u201chas teeth,\u201d and could have financial consequences, versus a motion or a resolution. The failed bill would have compelled the province and its post-secondary institutions to withdraw business interactions with companies supporting BDS. As well, a bill would require passing three readings and unanimous consent, Martow told the Independent<\/em> \u2013 something she wasn\u2019t sure would be possible, so a motion was chosen this time around instead.<\/p>\n For the May bill, the Progressive Conservatives voted in favor, in addition to a single Liberal, Mike Colle, while the NDP as a whole rejected the bill, as they did the recent motion.<\/p>\n Dave Gordon<\/strong> is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than a hundred publications around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Dec. 1, the Ontario legislature voted 49-5 to pass Motion 36, which rejects the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at Israel. The motion was backed both by the Liberals, who form the government, and the opposition Progressive Conservatives. Tory MPP Gila Martow (Thornhill), who introduced the motion, noted in the legislature prior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3555,6038],"class_list":["post-22213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-bds","tag-ontario"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}