{"id":36744,"date":"2021-04-23T01:57:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T08:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=36744"},"modified":"2021-04-22T21:40:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T04:40:56","slug":"stunning-concordia-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/04\/23\/stunning-concordia-apology\/","title":{"rendered":"Stunning Concordia apology"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2002, when the once and future prime minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, visited Montreal, a violent riot by anti-Zionists erupted at Concordia University. That was a turning point in a now two-decades-long period of anti-Israel and, in some cases, anti-Jewish activism on Canadian campuses.<\/p>\n

Universities across Canada would go on to host events such as Israel Apartheid Week and, on multiple campuses, countless peaceful and less peaceful attacks on Israel and its supporters have occurred. As all of this has transpired, Concordia has had the reputation of having probably the most anti-Zionist and antisemitic campus culture in the country. So, many Jews and other observers were stunned when the Concordia Student Union issued an apology to the Jewish community. Released the day before Yom Hashoah, the statement from the CSU began: \u201cToday, we strive to acknowledge our mistakes and begin the process of correcting ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 500-word letter of apology was an unequivocal denunciation of past CSU actions and approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, our mistakes can be described in one word, indifference,\u201d it reads. \u201cIndifference to one of the world\u2019s oldest forms of discrimination. Indifference to the concerns of our Jewish students. Indifference to the struggles they have faced. While a common topic of our meetings has been how the CSU can tackle other forms of discrimination or support certain minority groups, the Jewish community and antisemitism are seldom brought up.\u2026 The CSU has assisted in fostering a campus culture where Jewish students are afraid to openly identify as Jewish…. Our silence on these issues only benefits the oppressors and sets the belief that these acts are somehow justifiable, which encourages the oppressors to continue this behaviour. This behaviour continues well outside the boundaries of our campus and into a society where they may harm many more individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the apology for past behaviours, the statement promises concrete action now and in the future. All elected student union officials will receive training on antisemitism every year. Executive members of all Concordia campus clubs will also receive annual training to identify antisemitism and help foster an environment where Jewish students and members of the community can feel safe and fully included. A bystander prevention program is being developed to help students \u201cidentify and safely intervene and\/or support Jewish students if they witness an act of antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we stood idly by in the past while acts of antisemitism occurred, we hope not to repeat those mistakes again and hope the Jewish community will give us another chance to support them in the future,\u201d the apology concludes.<\/p>\n

The statement was issued after a process of listening to Jewish students express their fears and experiences with antisemitism at the university. It was drafted by Eduardo Malorni, currently the student life coordinator of the CSU, who will assume the role of general coordinator (the equivalent of union president) in June.<\/p>\n

\"screenshots<\/a>
From top: Concordia Student Union councilors Eduardo Malorni, Nicole Nashen and Harrison Kirshner spoke to the Independent via Zoom about the CSU\u2019s apology to Jewish students. (screenshots)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe got feedback that it was very appreciated,\u201d Malorni told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cSome people brought up that it was too little, too late, which is a fair criticism for an organization that\u2019s been around as long as us. But our feedback all seems to be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two Jewish campus leaders who also spoke with the Independent<\/em> were emotional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cried the first time I read it,\u201d said Nicole Nashen, an elected CSU councilor and incoming president of Concordia Hillel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cried together,\u201d said Harrison Kirshner, a vice-president of Concordia Hillel, a CSU councilor and incoming executive member.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a student, when I first came to Concordia, I knew in my mind what type of institution this is and I knew that I had to hide part of myself in a sense,\u201d said Kirshner. He would think twice, he said, before mentioning celebrating Jewish holidays, for example. Part of the progress that culminated in the apology, he suggested, was students like him opening up and sharing their experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realize that conversation and speaking to people about what we face is a much better way than hiding it and not talking about it and not addressing those issues,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause, if we don\u2019t address them, nothing is going to change. But, if we do address and we do talk about the experiences that we face, change can stem from that. That\u2019s what we are seeing happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campus climate is significantly better than he expected when he arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed that people were receptive to those discussions, people that I thought maybe wouldn\u2019t be receptive to those discussions were receptive to those discussions,\u201d he said. \u201cPart of the reason is because, instead of going in with a fighting attitude, we need to go in with a respectful attitude, a dialogue attitude, an attitude that allows us to open up a conversation with our fellow councilors who I consider to be allies, friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nashen also acknowledged a feeling in the pit of her stomach when fellow students would raise the topic of ethnicity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how I was going to be labeled or what the reaction was going to be or what assumptions are going to be made about me because of the fact that I\u2019m Jewish,\u201d she said. Elected to the CSU recently for the second time, she said she never foresaw being so welcomed.<\/p>\n

Both Kirshner and Nashen credit Malorni, who is not Jewish, for encouraging them to share their stories and for making other Jewish students comfortable to come forward and share their experiences. The letter, they said, came from his heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did come from the heart,\u201d Malorni admitted, \u201cbut it only came from the heart because Harrison and Nikki were so open about talking about the issues they faced and also in setting up meetings with other Jewish students who would never have come near the CSU with a 10-foot pole, setting up meetings and saying it\u2019s safe, you can explain it to them, they\u2019re not going to bite your hand off, because students would never have told us 95% of what they told us, unless those meetings were facilitated by both Harrison and Nikki. That\u2019s why I think, in terms of writing the apology, when it came down to it, it became \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t say it was easy to write it \u2013 but the words were a little easier to come from brain to paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter, of course, comes from a new group of CSU leaders, not from the individuals who were involved before and perpetrated some of the extreme activities, such as a Passover Against Apartheid event a few years ago. The current crop of leaders was elected in a campus vote that saw extremely low turnout. However, Malorni noted, student union votes at Concordia and most universities are notoriously and chronically low, so the small number of voters who endorsed the current leaders is commensurate with the number who voted for the earlier, problematic representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of messages that I\u2019ve received are shock,\u201d Nashen said. \u201cI would have never imagined this could have ever happened at Concordia.\u2026 I think a lot of people, especially maybe people who went to Concordia and were involved in Concordia 10 to 20 years ago, but haven\u2019t kept in the loop about CSU affairs, were just utterly shocked, could not believe it. Then, a lot of current students were reaching out to me saying, \u2018I just had shivers reading this.\u2019 I can\u2019t believe that our issues are really being taken seriously and that the CSU really cares to help us fight antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

She acknowledged that the apology is the beginning of a process, not the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think this was a fix-all,\u201d she said. \u201cI think this was the first step that the CSU is taking toward telling the Jewish community that they do care about us now and they are ready to start listening to us and taking our issues seriously. What really put the cherry on top was not just words but it came along with actionable steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malorni said Concordia has had a national reputation as a tough campus for Jewish students, but he is well aware that other campuses have also had their experiences with conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we had the worst reputation for it, it\u2019s not something that doesn\u2019t exist at the other universities,\u201d he said. When the apology was posted, he said, commenters from all over North America recounted their own experiences with antisemitism at their universities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a thing limited to Concordia, despite our little extra bad reputation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that seems to have crossed the bounds of our land.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2002, when the once and future prime minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, visited Montreal, a violent riot by anti-Zionists erupted at Concordia University. That was a turning point in a now two-decades-long period of anti-Israel and, in some cases, anti-Jewish activism on Canadian campuses. Universities across Canada would go on to host events such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7326,20474,7364,20475,9515,20476,20471,20472,4096,20473],"class_list":["post-36744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-anti-racism","tag-apology","tag-campus-life","tag-concordia-student-union","tag-concordia-university","tag-csu","tag-eduardo-malorni","tag-harrison-kirshner","tag-montreal","tag-nicole-nashen"],"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\/36744","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=36744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}