Campus debates over Zionism
This year saw a number of stories come out of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, Zionism, and BDS. Of note was the launch of the Mcgill chapter of Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), the first anti-zionist Jewish group at Mcgill since 2009. On its website, IJV describes itself as a “national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties,” and to “motivate critical Jewish students to gain awareness of the Israeli occupation and to bring this awareness to the broader campus community.”
On campus activities were not limited to pro-palestine groups, as on Wednesday, November 9, an Hillel Mcgill held an event featuring the group Artists 4 Israel on the Lower Field of campus organized by Chabad Mcgill. The event attracted protesters who denounced what they perceived to be the event’s insensitive concept and erasure of Palestinian voices. Members of Hillel Mcgill erected a wall on Lower Field, decorated it with Canadian and Israeli flags, and the word ‘peace’ in Hebrew and English. The protesters took issue with the statements about Israel beside the art installation, which portrayed the nation as a place of tolerance and equality, as well as the concept of the installation, which they said resembles the wall that runs through the West Bank and limits Palestinian access to medical supplies and water.
On Tuesday, March 14, a panel was held arguing in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities, a rarely discussed aspect of the BDS movement. The panel, which was attended by around twenty students, held small discussion groups to present their own strategies on how to implement this boycott. Internationally, the movement for an academic boycott is led by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. This comes in response to Israeli Universities being complicit in actively supporting the Israeli occupation, and in the erasure of Palestinian history and culture.