“Our message is clear: Israel is a state that practices apartheid,” said Ahmad Shokr, a third year history major at U of T. “And it is our goal to inform people of this fact.”
Speaking on behalf of the Arab Students Collective (ASC), Shokr explained the aim of Israeli Apartheid Week, which begins today on St. George campus, despite sharp criticism from Jewish group B’nai Brith Canada, and the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, a conservative lobby group.
The week-long event, co-organized by the ASC, combines lectures and discussions to address the struggles of Palestinian peoples, which have often been compared to those of blacks under South African apartheid. The event caused a stir when B’nai Brith and the CCD urged U of T to cancel the proceedings, on the grounds that they would marginalize Jewish students on campus. U of T rejected these claims, stating that “The ability to question, examine and comment on the issues of the day, even when such commentary is repugnant to some, is central to the mission of the [university].”
