FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: York University Faculty Release Report on Challenges Faced by Palestine Solidarity Supporters on Campus

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Sid Shniad

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Sep 30, 2024, 5:04:23 PMSep 30
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From: Surveilled and Silenced <surveilled...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 30, 2024 at 5:56 AM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

York University Faculty Release Report on Challenges Faced by Palestine Solidarity Supporters on Campus

 

Toronto, ON - Faculty members at York University have compiled a comprehensive 62-page report documenting the challenges and difficulties faced by members of the York community who stand in solidarity with Palestine and Palestinians.  Findings stem from two surveys which encouraged faculty, staff, and students to share experiences of being made to feel unsafe, silenced, intimidated and/or alienated in the wake of the events following October 7. The surveys received 90 responses, making this one of the most extensive reports on the lived realities of anti-Palestinian racism (APR) at a Canadian university.

 

Overall, the report highlights York University's clear political position on Palestine and Israel, despite claiming impartiality, and details how administrative actions (such as the release of university-wide statements), and in-actions (such as silence regarding incidents of harassment and intimidation), have led to an environment that has threatened academic freedom and the sense of belonging on campus. It is argued that ‘community safety’ has been weaponized to sanction and suspend those in solidarity with Palestine, and that hyper-surveillance of Palestine solidarity initiatives and everyday policing of Palestinian voices on campus have led to incidents of self-censorship and breaches on academic freedom. Feelings of alienation, loneliness, and anger due to such realities are evident throughout the report.

 

“I wanted to feel able to be more forthcoming in expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people, or even feel able to engage critically with my students about the issue whatsoever, but I felt that doing so may put my job in jeopardy,” shared one faculty respondent.  Several professors described “hurtful accusations” and “threats of lawsuits” being made as a result of persistent and misleading conflation of anti-Semitism with being critical of Israel, with some instructors having to revise course content to remove the works of eminent Palestinian scholars to minimize the risk of tensions and reprisals. One student shared an experience where their instructor “in a mocking tone” discredited anti-war protestors by saying “[if you're really stupid] you should be on that side (...) screaming 'apartheid,' and 'we're oppressed'…”.  

 

York University administration is urged to recognize and acknowledge the many instances of anti-Palestinian racism and discrimination experienced by its community members.  As outlined in the report, these realities are arguably emboldened by the decisions and actions that the administration has taken overtime.  The administration's quick responses to suppress Palestinian solidarity and to overlook anti-Palestinian racism raise the question of how York University is differentially tied to Israel and Palestine. 

 

A copy of Surveilled & Silenced: A Report on Palestine Solidarity at York University can be downloaded here -https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27080728.  For inquiries, please email surveilled...@gmail.com

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