McGill student under fire over ‘punch a Zionist’ tweet

MONTREAL — A McGill student politician who encouraged people on Twitter to “punch a Zionist today” is facing calls from Jewish groups and fellow students to resign.

Igor Sadikov, an elected representative of students in McGill’s Faculty of Arts, made the comment Monday night but it only became widely known Thursday.

Both B’nai B’rith and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs condemned the tweet and raised concerns about the climate faced by Jewish students on McGill’s campus.

Harvey Levine, B’nai B’rith’s Quebec regional director, called the tweet “absolutely deplorable, unacceptable and 100-per-cent anti-Semitic.” Reuben Poupko, Quebec co-chairman of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said the tweet clearly crossed the line.

“It’s not only an egregious violation of the norms of campus life, it also constitutes a criminal act,” he said. “It’s a call for violence.’

The demands for Sadikov’s resignation were endorsed Thursday afternoon by the Arts Undergraduate Society, on which he serves as a representative. “As executives, we do not hold the power to directly impeach a member of our team,” the AUS said in a statement on its Facebook page. “That said, we have formally requested Igor’s resignation, particularly due to his encouragement of violence.”

Sadikov, a third-year student of political science and math, said by email that he has not decided whether to step down. “I regret the poorly thought-out format I used to phrase my opposition to Zionism and colonialism and the harm that the tweet has caused,” he said.

His message, which he deleted Thursday afternoon, was intended to express “opposition to the dispossession and colonization of Palestinian land and to the mistreatment of Palestinian people,” he said.