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March 14, 2003
Hope prevails on campus
Jewish students seeking balance on Mideast issue.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
In the second of a two-part series about the atmosphere on Canadian
campuses, the Bulletin takes a close look at developments
at Vancouver's two main universities.
Last November, when Arash Ben Shaul and some friends formed the
Israel Advocacy Club at the University of British Columbia (UBC),
they felt surrounded by anti-Israeli sentiment and, to some extent,
threatened by anti-Semitism.
The atmosphere on Canadian campuses has been heated in the past
two years, with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an impending
war with Iraq as flashpoints. Rioting at Concordia University and
less violent conflicts at other institutions of higher learning
have made university administrators wary and the Jewish community
deeply concerned about the tenor of discussion on campuses.
Instead of hiding from the glare of attention, though, British Columbia's
Jewish students have made a deliberate effort to put a human face
on the Zionist cause. Last week, Ben Shaul and other UBC students,
along with Hillel House, organized Israel Week on that campus and
were pleasantly surprised by the reaction with which they were met.
"We have come to realize that the majority of students on this
campus – I would go so far as to say 95 per cent – are
unaligned [on the issue of Israel and Palestine]," said Ben
Shaul. The third-year commerce student used to feel at risk wearing
his Magen David on campus, but no longer has such worries. Most
of his fellow students, he said, are willing to listen to both sides
of the discussion and come to a fair conclusion. Jewish students,
he said, just need to get the message out.
"I don't believe this is an uphill task," he said. "I
don't believe this is a battle the other side has won. We just haven't
played well yet."
Ben Shaul and his UBC allies played well last week, organizing speakers
each day and putting on a display of persuasive pro-Israel posters
in the Student Union Building. The posters included historical facts
about the wars Israel has faced and debunked some common arguments
made against the Jewish state. United Nations Resolution 242, which
was adopted in 1967 following Israel's successful victory against
neighboring Arab states, is often used as an argument against Israel's
presence in the so-called occupied territories. The Hillel posters
reminded students that the resolution called for Israel's withdrawal
from the Palestinian areas, but only in exchange for peaceful coexistence
and the recognition of Israel's right to exist free from violent
aggression.
Jeff Nider, a third-year biology student who helped run the display
booth, said that by late Friday, the reaction from fellow students
had been entirely civil.
"Some people shake their heads and walk away, but nobody has
said anything negative to me," said Nider, who is a member
of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity whose members volunteered
to help out during Israel Week.
Eyal Lichtmann, director of Vancouver Hillel, was thrilled with
the Israel Week events and the effort that students had put into
it.
"I'm very, very proud of the students," he said. The depth
of knowledge, commitment to Israel and the pride they displayed
in going public with their views could be a model for campus debates
elsewhere, said Lichtmann.
Ariel Zellman, the student organizer who took responsibility for
Israel Week, said the display and the guest speakers on campus had
educated many students. And even if it hadn't changed their minds,
he said, it let students know that the UBC debate over the Middle
East is not as one-sided as it might seem at other universities.
One of those other universities is Simon Fraser (SFU), which has
campuses in Burnaby and in downtown Vancouver. The passion with
which SFU students have engaged in the Mideast debate has reinforced
its reputation as a centre of student activism. The student government
passed a resolution last month condemning Israel and calling it
an "apartheid" state. Though discussion has been intemperate
on campus, there have been no hints of violence and top administration
officials say the atmosphere remains civil.
Gregg Macdonald, a spokes-person for SFU president Michael Stevenson,
was careful to point out that the university administration is essentially
divorced from the student government and the resolution passed by
the Simon Fraser Student Society in no way reflects the administration's
views. Macdonald, the director of the president's office, added
that the student society may not even represent a majority voice
of students.
"It is an elected body, although I think it is fair to say
the participation rate in the elections is marginal," he said.
Although the debate has been passionate on campus, Macdonald refutes
the idea that Simon Fraser University is facing the same sort of
conflict seen at
Concordia. SFU is dedicated to dialogue and free academic expression,
he said, citing the university's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue
as a tangible example of dedication to civil discussion. Open discussion
of the Middle East issue is welcome at SFU, he added.
"I think it's extremely healthy what is going on," said
Macdonald. "It's extremely important that contrary opinions
be heard."
The reaction of Jewish students on campus is also healthy, said
Macdonald.
"These ideas are being exchanged," he said. "This
is as it should be. It is not a bad thing."
Where the administration would take exception, he said, is if the
discussion devolved into slurs or violence, something he insists
has not occurred.
"[We would have] no tolerance for that type of thing,"
he told the Bulletin. "We have an obligation to provide
a safe environment for everybody."
Meanwhile, Jewish students and their allies at SFU are waiting to
see if the response from their fellow students will be as pleasant
as the reaction UBC students experienced last week. This week is
Israel Week at SFU, with the same posters that were used last week
at UBC now on display at the Burnaby campus.
Elliot Campbell, SFU's representative to Vancouver Hillel, spoke
to the Bulletin as they were setting up the display on Monday.
Initial response from students was agreeable, he said, but he held
some trepidation, despite having been at UBC last week.
"It's kind of scary what's happening up here," Campbell
said of his own campus. "It's a little worrisome, but we are
going ahead with our plans."
He said he expected more critical reaction at SFU than the UBC display
elicited.
"The climates at both schools are completely different,"
he said.
Brent Zacks, an SFU student who is head of the Israel Advocacy Committee
on campus, admitted he was scared on Monday morning, but said early
response was pleasantly surprising.
One of the features of Israel Week at SFU is a petition calling
on the student society to revisit the resolution it passed condemning
Israel, in favor of a more balanced approach.
Zacks, who is on the student committee that can recommend (but not
vote on) resolutions that go before the student society's board,
is urging the student government to adopt a resolution calling on
both Israelis and Palestinians to immediately end all violence,
negotiate mutually agreed borders and create a democratic Palestinian
state side-by-side with a peaceful Israel.
"It's a lot different from the current resolution, which is
inflammatory," said Zacks, who is running in student elections
later this month on a slate opposed to resolutions on foreign policy
issues.
The Bulletin tried to contact the SFU student society for
a comment. As of press time they had not responded to repeated requests
for interviews.
Despite disagreements, both sides express the hope that discussion
will remain civil on campus. If so, British Columbia's students
may be able to offer pointers to campuses where violence and a lack
of civility have overtaken rational discussion of Middle East affairs.
Pat Johnson is a journalist and commentator.
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