Independent Jewish Voices Mcgill statement on the SSMU Fall General Assembly

Content warning: anti- Semitism

Navigating the issues of anti- Semitism has been extremely polarising on this campus, and following the Students’ Society of Mcgill University (SSMU) Fall Semester General Assembly (GA) that occurred on Monday night, Independent Jewish Voices Mcgill feels that it is urgent to make a public statement at this time.

Prior to the GA, current SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva neglected her responsibility to communicate the call for motion submissions to the student body. Therefore, no timely motions were submitted and students were instead required to bring motions to the floor. Democratize SSMU brought forward a motion of non- confidence in the President, with the objective of promoting transparency in student governance. However, this motion was met with great dissent by students mobilising in support of Zionist/pro-israel politics in SSMU debates regarding the constitutionality of the recent Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) ruling. The GA also saw similar controversy regarding the rejected appointments of Noah Lew, Alexandre Scheffel, and Josephine Wright O’manique to the Board of Directors (BOD).

As a voice for anti-zionist Jewish folks, we strongly believe that we ought to begin any statement regarding what transpired at the GA by validating and offering our support to those Jewish students who are familiar with expressions of anti- Semitism on campus, evoked by the GA and surrounding initiatives. Our solidarity is not limited to anti- or non-zionist Jewish folks, as combatting anti- Semitism is an integral part of our purpose on Mcgill’s campus. Anti- Semitism has many forms, from the institutional to the interpersonal. We, too, are going through a process of discussion and reconciliation, as we attempt to navigate the relationship between our antiZionism and the anti- Semitism which remains pervasive around us.

We feel that it is important to extend our solidarity, as well as our resources, to the anti- and non-zionist Jewish folks who were personally targeted Monday night, who had their Jewish and/or Israeli identities invalidated, and who were accused of being anti- Semitic. These tactics are not limited to the GA, and this invalidation and silencing of anti- and non-zionist Jewish voices continues to exist on campus and in larger Jewish communities. We affirm those identities, and also affirm that anti-zionism comes from a place of Jewish ethics and morality, from within our Judaism(s) and the values it upholds.

It is also essential for us to recognise that the people who were most targeted at the GA were women, people of colour, people who do not speak English as a first language, and other folks who are systematically oppressed on and beyond this campus. We urge everyone who was present to reflect critically on these power imbalances, to interrogate your own personal roles in the continued invalidation and marginalisation of these folks, and to hold yourselves accountable for the harm caused at the GA.

We hold that the language used by the Democratize SSMU campaign in discussing Jewish students in positions of power utilised traditional anti- Semitic tropes. We believe that it is important to hold our allies accountable, even and especially when there is a divergence between intent and impact. However, we also maintain that Democratize SSMU’S specific reference to three BOD members was not contingent on their Jewish identities, nor was our shared opposition to the reappointment of Noah Lew. Rather, our concerns pertain to the persons in questions’ affiliations with external Zionist institutions. We oppose the projects of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) and Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). These are not simply Jewish organisations, but are Zionist lobby organisations that continuously fail to represent a plurality of Jewish opinions and falsely equates anti-zionism with anti-Semitism. furthermore, the Democratize SSMU campaign addressed institutional flaws far larger than those which impact the BDS initiative on this campus. The lack of transparency, accountability, and democracy are systemic, and extend far beyond this specific issue.

We, as anti-zionist Jewish folks, acknowledge that Jewish trauma is real and rooted in concrete and diverse Jewish histories. We understand that this manifests in varying ways in Jewish people’s lives. Yet, we must assert our opposition to the reactionary drawing upon historical Jewish traumas to further claims of anti- Semitism regarding the General Assembly and Democratize SSMU. We believe that this minimises the magnitude of oppression in Jewish histories by applying them to support claims about the climate at Mcgill. We, as Jewish folks, mourn our traumas and their significance in our families and histories. We urge the Jewish community to ethically consider and appropriately respond to these invocations. Furthermore, we cannot neglect the trauma of other peoples; those that have experienced oppression can also be oppressors. We affirm that the movement for Palestinian rights is not an act of violence against the Jewish people. Our solidarity with Palestine exists on a continuum of larger Jewish pursuits towards fighting for the freedoms of all peoples. This project ought to extend beyond the Jewish people: we must stand as allies to those folks around the world involved in anti- oppressive, decolonial, liberation- oriented struggles.

Moving forward

We acknowledge that as a group and as individuals, we are not the arbiters of what is or is not anti- Semitism. We encourage the Jewish community to seek us out, to have discussions about anti- Semitic tropes, and to be involved in the discourse around anti- Semitism and antiZionism on campus, as well as Palestinian solidarity.

As an organisation on this campus, we are beginning to take concrete steps to move forward from the GA. In the past, we have engaged in smaller-scale popular education efforts, but we currently do not have the resources to organise a series of workshops that comprehensively grapple with anti- Semitism and the ongoing actions of the state of Israel. However, we plan to continue organising popular and accessible education to address these complex issues. We are working to compile tangible resources for navigating this relationship in pursuing anti-zionist work, for Jewish and non-jewish folks. We hope to engage in deeper dialogue with both the community and its organisations regarding the relationship between anti- Semitism and anti-zionism. We are also committed to being active and engaged listeners in this continuing discussion: reach out to us, and engage with us in conversations about these issues as they arise in political initiatives on campus.

Resources for further understanding

There is a document on the Independent Jewish Voices Mcgill page - please check there for our growing list of resources. This list is still being developed.

–Independent Jewish Voices Mcgill