As students prepare to the return to classes in the coming days, there appears to be a growing public awareness that Canadian campuses are unwelcoming places for Jewish and pro-Israel students.
This is hardly breaking news. Anyone who is a Jewish student these days – or their parents, grandparents or friends – knows well the atmosphere of intimidation and harassment that has been rampant since Oct. 7, 2023. However, given the media silos into which we have sorted ourselves and the algorithms that help determine what information we access across social media platforms, this crisis has rarely pinged the radar of much of the general public, it seems.
A new report commissioned by the federal government, however, may dent that pervasive obliviousness. It is probably the most comprehensive study of the problem yet undertaken. (See story, page 1.)
It is worth noting that the campus situation was no weekend in Yalta for Jewish students before the Oct. 7 atrocities and the changed political environment that event and the ensuing war ushered in. Consistently, since at least the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000, a coordinated movement has funneled resources onto North American campuses, aimed at influencing the minds of the next generation of voters and leaders against Israel.
Though British Columbia campuses have seen more than their share of disturbing incidents, most of the worst cases have occurred in the east. The federal report provides a small sampling of the sorts of affronts facing Jewish students.
Reports like these – here and in other countries, notably Australia’s Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion – are chipping away at the widespread ignorance, as well as the common misperception that what Jewish students are experiencing is merely the uncomfortable if inevitable repercussions of a political debate. It may be that, in some cases. In many instances, though, it is overt and often deeply dangerous racist agitation.
Statistics and trends are disturbing. But the specifics are what really embed in the memory.
The recently released Canadian study details Jewish students being chased from buildings by people shouting, “there’s a Jew”; spat on, punched, threatened; called “Zionist whores”; and targeted for wearing kippahs or Stars of David. Some reported professors declaring “we should kill all Zionists,” praising Hitler, telling Jews to “go back” to Poland, assigning Holocaust-denial material in class, and comparing Zionism to Nazism. Others said classmates refused to work with them because they were Jewish, sabotaged research, circulated lists of “known Zionists,” and demanded they denounce Zionism to participate in campus initiatives. The cumulative effect, students said, was fear, isolation and self-censorship – avoiding Hebrew, Jewish symbols and even discussion of Jewish holidays – and, in some cases, dropping out altogether.
Just days after the major Canadian study was released, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) released an internal report last Friday, investigating two particularly alarming 2025 incidents. Conducted by two respected legal experts, the review began as an investigation of the role of Students for Justice in Palestine in the disruption of a university event featuring federal minister Evan Solomon and the violent disruption of an off-campus event organized by Students Supporting Israel.
Although the document focused on two specific incidents, it concluded that they reflected a much broader breakdown in campus culture. It describes TMU as a place where Jewish students and faculty report hostility that crosses into intimidation, dehumanization and antisemitism. It criticized TMU for effectively allowing a “heckler’s veto” when it refused to host a November pro-Israel event because disruption was anticipated. It concluded that existing university rules have too often been enforced inconsistently or ineffectively.
These studies and others make for painful reading.
The good news, however, is that they exist at all. They are a recognition that institutions, including the federal government, recognize the problem of antisemitism. It’s a small victory. The reports also put tangible recommendations on the public record, with measuring sticks for institutions to be held accountable.
Officials in positions of authority are generally making the right noises. The recent passage of the Combatting Hate Act (Bill C-9) is another possible bright spot – the success or failure of the law depending on police and courts acting in its spirit.
The response to the campus problem, which is undoubtedly the epicentre of the larger societal challenge of raging antisemitism, is a start, as is Prime Minister Mark Carney’s statement earlier this year calling antisemitism a crisis and acknowledging that “Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians.”
What remains to be seen, as always, is whether words and new legislation translate into meaningful contributions to the fight against anti-Jewish racism. In the meantime, the unequivocal statements of the federal government and several institutions represent important steps forward in what will be a long journey.