On November 11, the Munk School event “Things Fell Apart: How a Dominant Worldview Fell Apart, and Liberals Lost their Footing” was left with empty chairs after students mass registered for the event and did not attend in protest of guest speaker Heather Reisman. Ultimately, Reisman did not attend the event.
Reisman, CEO and founder of Indigo Books, was the subject of protest for her HESEG foundation that provides full scholarships to former Israel Defence Force (IDF) “lone soldiers” — soldiers without immediate family in Israel.
The event was held at the Campbell Conference Facility, which can host up to 110 people, but UofT Occupy for Palestine (O4P) estimated there were between 20–30 attendants. Protesters also handed out fliers outside the event describing Reisman’s connections to HESEG and Israel.
Featured speaker Yascha Mounk, author and professor at Johns Hopkins University, was originally set to sit down with Reisman and Janice Stein, Founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.
When asked about Reisman’s absence, a spokesperson for U of T wrote to The Varsity, “Prof. Mounk decided that instead of an interview, he wanted to talk to students about ideas he was testing for his next book. In response to his request, the Munk School changed the format to a lecture.”
“The Munk School looks forward to welcoming Heather Reisman to our stage to interview an author at another time,” the statement concluded.
When asked when it became obvious Reisman would not be attending, O4P wrote to The Varsity that it was not clear to attendees until the event was over. Although Reisman’s name was still projected on the screen behind Mounk and Stein, O4P wrote that “[Reisman’s] name was not mentioned once throughout the entirety of the event.”
O4P also wrote that event staff repeated “I don’t know” when asked about Reisman’s attendance.
“If the ‘dominant worldview’ that Reisman has been invited to talk about is one that upholds settler colonialism, apartheid, and genocide, we, the students, welcome its collapse,” read a November 11 group post by O4P, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Caucus of the Graduate Student Union, Boycott Indigo Books, Jews Say No to Genocide, and Tkarón:to Students in Solidarity with Palestine.
In the same post, O4P wrote that the HESEG foundation “incentivizes foreign nationals or what HESEG calls ‘lone soldiers’ to join in the Israeli military.”
In response, HESEG wrote to The Varsity, “This is categorically untrue. HESEG in NO WAY incentivizes foreign nationals to join the Israeli military. Scholarship applications and opportunities are not available until mandatory army service is completed. HESEG provides scholarships for post-secondary studies to some of Israel’s most vulnerable including those that for one reason or another have no family support or who have experienced extreme hardship.”
Heather Reisman did not respond for comment in time for publication.
