CUPE 3903 Executive Committee Opposes Premier Ford’s Proposed Bill 168

The 3903 Executive Committee has learned that the Ontario Conservative government is quickly and quietly trying to change the current definition of antisemitism to the one adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. This new definition of antisemitism is the product of a growing movement that seeks to redefine antisemitism to include criticism of Israel. This definition intentionally conflates antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism. Bill 168 passed second reading in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on February 27, 2020 and the Standing Committee on Justice is accepting public hearings this week, in anticipation of what we believe is a move to pass the bill to the third reading.

Bill 168 will not only have a chilling effect on academic freedom for students and faculty whose scholarship is critical of Israel, but it will further erode and delegitimize the rights and claims of Palestinian people. Furthermore, we stress that York University President Lenton reject the adoption of IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, given its unmistakable political character, and acknowledge the continual harassment faced by York students and faculty who support Palestine.

The following motion was passed unanimously by CUPE 3903’s Executive Committee on October 27, 2020:

WHEREAS Bill 168 attempts to include the IHRA re-definition of antisemitism and intentionally conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel and Zionism, and intentionally conflates support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism;

WHEREAS Independent Jewish Voices, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, and several other organizations oppose the IHRA re-definition of antisemitism;

WHEREAS the adoption of the IHRA definition into Bill 168 poses a threat to academic freedom, freedom of expression and the right to protest Israel’s violations of international law as well as perpetuates settler colonialism against Palestinian people’s assertion to human rights;

WHEREAS the adoption IHRA definition of antisemitism would perpetuate the ongoing silencing and erasure of Palestinian histories and struggles;

BIRT CUPE 3903 executive committee, whose membership is composed of academic workers whose research can be critical of Israel’s violations of international law, assert the right to academic freedom of expression, and criticize and protest Israel’s violations of international law.

BIFRT CUPE 3903 executive committee denounces the proposed adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism by the Ontario government as a direct attack on academic freedom, endangering the ability of academics to engage in scholarship and teaching that explores facts and perspectives that are critical of a foreign state, which if passed, will place Ontario academics at great risk of being falsely accused of being antisemitic, which could result in intimidation, censorship,  job precarity, and costly litigation.

BIRFT that CUPE 3903 executive committee condemns York University’s President Rhonda Lenton’s consideration of IHRA definition of antisemitism and her continued silence on the harassment faced by faculty and students for acting in support of Palestine.