(Ottawa) Jewish students at Canada’s leading universities are forced to hide their Jewish identities and fear for their safety due to a rise in anti-Semitism on their respective campuses, alongside the war between Israel and Hamas.
Six students from Ontario, Quebec and Alberta spoke on Parliament Hill Wednesday to sound the alarm that university management is failing to protect them.
Several Liberal MPs accompanied them, including Anthony Housefather, who helped set up a study led by a parliamentary committee into anti-Semitism on campuses. This, supported by all political parties, must begin on Thursday.
“My friends who used to wear yarmulkes on campus now wear baseball caps,” said Nati Pressman, founder of the Canadian Union of Jewish Students.
“This is not because we are less proud of being Jewish, but because our universities have fostered and created an environment in which being openly Jewish could pose a threat to our physical and emotional safety. »
Jewish students and professors reported seeing a sharp increase in anti-Semitic behavior since October 7.
That day, Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers. The Jewish state’s response, with bombings and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip, left more than 30,000 Palestinians dead, health officials in the region said.
Students and pro-Palestinian activists recently set up encampments near universities – including McGill University in Montreal – to protest Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Influential members of the Jewish community have denounced anti-Semitic chants and slogans used during protests. According to them, these should not be tolerated.
Claire Frankel, who studies at McGill University, said she has heard slogans that “dehumanize Jews” but believes many students are protesting “for the right reasons” and want lasting peace.
“Chants heard throughout the past school year and at the McGill encampment include: “All Zionists are racists,” “All Zionists are terrorists,” “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution” and “Leave Palestine alone and go back to Europe,” she said.
Students described Wednesday what they said was a failure by school administrators to address their safety concerns and crack down on people who target Jewish students.
Sydney Greenspoon, who attends the University of Windsor, said she and other Jewish students were harassed and “forced to flee an event” by people who called them murderers. They filed a complaint with the establishment.
The response was that nothing could be done because there were too few staff to handle the deluge of similar complaints.