West of the Ottawa River, there are cries of censorship. The controversy, very fresh, has an air of déjà vu. As of this writing, a petition has nearly 60,000 signatures. And again for the University of Ottawa, once again accused of violating the freedom of expression of a member of its community…
After the Verushka Lieutenant-Duval affair, after the Amir Attaran affair, the Yipeng Ge affair is taking shape. At stake: the freedom of expression of this medical resident, who defended pro-Palestinian positions on his social networks. And who would have paid the price by being suspended from his study program by the University of Ottawa. The petition demands the immediate lifting of the suspension, an apology and, while at it, a thorough investigation into this story.
I don’t know about you, but I think I heard the sigh of extreme weariness that rector Jacques Frémont heaved when the file landed on his desk…
Especially since this story is not easy to resolve.
It’s not like the Verushka Lieutenant-Duval affair, this lecturer victim of an online witch hunt, in 2020, for having pronounced the “word starting with N” in an academic context. In her case, it was obvious: the University of Ottawa should have supported her instead of blaming her. She should have apologized to him, which unfortunately will never happen.
It is also not like the Amir Attaran affair, who wrote in 2021 that Quebec was the Alabama of the North and that the Legault government was supremacist, among other kindnesses towards our beautiful province. The University of Ottawa refused to sanction its professor. With good reason: freedom of expression also means the freedom to write bullshit.
This time it seems more complicated. The University of Ottawa says it received complaints about a resident who “allegedly violated the professional standards of the Faculty of Medicine and those of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.” “Provisional measures” were taken while the University verified whether the complaints were founded. “In the meantime, the individual will continue to receive the salary and benefits associated with their position. »
The Dr Yipeng Ge declined my interview request, saying he was “involved in legal proceedings.”
I looked through his social media a bit and, frankly, he doesn’t appear to be a fan of inflammatory speeches. More like a committed young doctor who despairs at the suffering of the Palestinian people. He is alarmed by the strikes against hospitals in Gaza. He relays the calls for a ceasefire from UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, the World Health Organization, etc.
That said, the Dr Yoni Freedhoff, associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine, however, would have unearthed some more dubious publications through all this. In his blog, the professor notably accuses the resident of having written this: “If the phrase “From the river to the sea” makes you uncomfortable, you probably think that Palestinian freedom constitutes an inherent threat to security Jews. »
The problem is that the slogan “From the river to the sea” does not mean the same thing to everyone.
We hear it regularly in demonstrations in support of Palestine. For many left-wing activists, this is a pro-democracy slogan. “’From the River to the Sea’ is a call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence,” Rashida Tlaib, Michigan’s Democratic Representative in Congress, recently tried to explain.
That didn’t stop the House of Representatives from sanctioning her for using the formula…
In Austria, saying the slogan will become a criminal offense. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, there are also plans to make it illegal. In Montreal, the Cinéma du Parc was forced to cancel the screening of documentaries on Palestine because of the title of the evening’s program: “From the River to the Sea.” There was a petition, then a counter-petition, then a demonstration…
The idea of Cinéma du Parc was to establish a dialogue, it turned into cacophony.
It must be understood that, for most Israelis, this slogan is a pure and simple call for their extermination. A call for the eradication of the Jewish state, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. This interpretation is not particularly paranoid. Even that phrase appears in the charter of Hamas, you know, this terrorist group that killed 1,200 Israeli civilians, what, a month and a half ago?
So obviously, if you chant this slogan at the top of your lungs in demonstrations, just after the biggest massacre perpetrated against Jews since the Shoah, some passers-by may roll their eyes at you. Others may even be afraid of you…
And if you post it on your social media, well, it might bounce back in your face.
Freedom of expression, I said, also means freedom of writing bullshit. But it is obviously not absolute. We cannot call for the elimination of the enemies of the people of Gaza, as the sulphurous preacher Adil Charkaoui did during a demonstration in Montreal. We cannot use hate speech or incite violence.
The University of Ottawa must decide: the Dr Has Yipeng Ge crossed this red line? If the petition is anything to go by, tens of thousands of people are convinced that the resident doctor does not deserve this treatment. His story, in any case, clearly illustrates the difficulty, in these difficult times, of expressing the slightest sympathy towards Palestinian civilians without fear of being accused of anti-Semitism.
Without being afraid, once again, of being canceled.