To the proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, “success” looks like a government so starved by economic sanctions that it has no choice but to withdraw entirely from disputed territories. This will only happen if and when Israel’s diplomatic allies, its investors, any companies that do business in Israel, those that buy products from Israel, those that sell products to Israel or any other parties engaged in non-adversarial relationships with Israel all simultaneously decide to cut ties, leaving the State of Israel no choice but to abandon its former position on a matter of profound historical, religious and existential importance. It hasn’t happened yet despite more than a decade of BDS campaigning, though many activists remain convinced that a crippled Israeli economy is just a couple cancelled orders of hand cream away. Or, say, just waiting for a little university in Oshawa, Ont., to quiet a pro-Israel group on campus.
The student association at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) took on that burden recently in deciding to exclude a pro-Israel group from its “Social Justice Week” programming. The event, which is being held this week, included a “Social Justice Fair” on Monday where students could connect with local community groups and organizations. Robert Walker, Canadian director of Hasbara Fellowships — an organization that promotes Israeli advocacy on campus — said he applied for his group to host a table at UOIT’s Social Justice Fair, but was rejected because of the student association’s endorsement of the BDS movement in January.
In an email sent to Walker on March 3, Denise Martins, executive assistant of UOIT’s Faculty Association, explained that since the student association passed a BDS motion at its last annual general meeting, and because Walker’s “organization seems closely tied to the state of Israel,” it would be “against the motion to provide any type of resources” to Hasbara Fellowships. When contacted by the National Post, Martins said she didn’t actually make the call to exclude the group, but rather, was simply relaying a decision made by the student association’s vice-president of university affairs (and then-acting president) Siraj Syed. Syed was contacted by phone and email, but did not respond to requests for comment. The communications coordinator of the student association later followed up and said the group would not be speaking about the matter at this time.