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October 15, 2004
The shame of Concordia
Editorial
Concordia University's acknowledgement that it could not ensure
the safety of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, who was
planning to speak in Montreal, is a legitimate concern. Unable to
promise such a fundamental right to security of the person, the
university can hardly be faulted for making alternate arrangements.
On the face of it, anyway, this seems a legitimate argument. But
the Barak case, like the Netanyahu case before it, raises issues
that go to the heart of not just academic freedom but the very existence
of free expression and security of the person in Canada as a whole.
It is no less monumental than that.
One of the organizers of Barak's visit asked rhetorically, if a
former prime minister cannot be free to make a presentation on a
Canadian campus, what next: an Israeli dance troupe?
It may seem flippant, but it's not. Remember, Concordia was the
site of a violent riot when former "hawkish" prime minister
Binyamin Netanyahu attempted to speak on campus in 2002. Now, a
"dovish" former prime minister, a winner of the Nobel
Peace Prize and the best friend Palestinians never knew they had,
has been barred from speaking on campus. Both have been dismissed
by opponents as "war criminals."
The threats to academic freedom have extended far beyond "war
criminals," as we have seen right here in Vancouver. When an
Israeli Bedouin sought to speak here on the subject of Israeli multiculturalism,
the student government at Langara College declared that any person
who had served in the Israeli military is barred from speaking publicly
under its jurisdiction. In a country where history has necessitated
nearly universal military service, such a diktat effectively bars
any Israeli from coming to campus.
If Concordia University cannot ensure the security of free expression
on its campus, it reflects a far greater problem than the mere cancellation
of a lecture. It suggests that contending views can no longer be
expressed on campus, which raises questions of why such a campus
even exists.
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