HALIFAX, N.S. (April 3, 2024) – On Friday, March 22nd, 2024, the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) voted in favour of an immensely discriminatory motion calling for divestment from Israeli businesses, pausing of the school’s Israel Exchange Program for students, and a number of clauses harmful both to Jewish students at Dalhousie and the Jewish community at large.
The motion, which refers to Israel’s war on Hamas as a “genocidal campaign,” calls on Dalhousie University to cease collaboration with “corporations, institutions, and donors complicit in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians.” It asserts that the “occupation that has been ongoing for decades… is the underlying cause of the current genocidal campaign and all violence in Palestine.” Failing to mention the events of October 7th, during which Hamas brutally massacred over 1,200 people, committed acts of sexual violence, and took civilian hostages back to Gaza, as a precipitator to the current events is not only biased and disinformation, but is in fact a justification of the vicious terrorism committed by Hamas. Furthermore, their contention that the State of Israel is “occupied” perpetuates the antisemitic trope that the Jewish State has no right to exist.
In calling for the school to pause its Israel Exchange Program, the DSU referred to the academic exchange program, whereby students have the opportunity to explore Israel’s rich culture, history, and society a “form of propaganda.” For Jewish students at Dalhousie, the return to their ancestral homeland as a part of their studies is not “propaganda,” but an opportunity that they are just as entitled to pursue as any other student at Dalhousie.
The academic, cultural, and economic boycotts being called for by the DSU are not only in clear violation of the policies of the university, but will also lead to the inevitable discrimination of Jewish students on campus. Student unions should represent the entire student body, and certainly not be isolating particular groups from the rest of the institution’s population.
We are additionally concerned by the method in which this motion was passed. After a brief debate period during which Jewish and pro-Israel voices were able to present their arguments against the motion to the DSU, the DSU went in-camera to discuss the motion in private. When they returned, not only was the motion passed, but it had been significantly amended, including the addition of multiple new discriminatory clauses. This effort to suppress and silence student voices on campus is a violation of their rights, and cannot be ignored.
StandWithUs Canada and Hillel Atlantic commend the students who are bravely speaking up against antisemitism at Dalhousie University, and will continue to support them as they courageously stand up to discrimination and disinformation about Israel on campus. We urge Dalhousie University to follow the lead of other Canadian universities and ensure that this motion not be allowed to pass.
