Academic event on Palestine faces criticism

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This article was published 17/11/2023 (687 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local Jewish community leaders are accusing a group of University of Winnipeg professors of hosting an unbalanced academic event skewed in favour of labelling the actions of Israel as “genocide in Palestine.”

The online gathering Nov. 24 — entitled “Palestine and Genocide: Reflections on Imperialism, Settler-colonialism and Decolonization” — was organized by seven English, history, culture studies and gender studies professors at the U of W.

They will lead students and academic staff on a reading discussion on “perspectives on the cultural and historical contexts for the genocide in Palestine.”

It is to be followed by a round table discussion, featuring professors and PhD students from Winnipeg, Toronto and Texas sharing “their thoughts on the current genocide in Palestine and its connections to global genocides, past and present, including of Indigenous peoples within Canada.”

“The University of Winnipeg, and any higher level academic institution, by all means has academic freedom and can hold conversations on a variety of issues,” Liberal MP Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre) said Thursday. “But my concern is members… have completely abdicated its responsibility to keep academic integrity.

“There’s really not an iota of balance or diversity of thought over what is an incredibly nuanced issue.”

Carr also criticized the inclusion of Ghada Sasa in the round table discussion.

Sasa, a Palestinian PhD student in political science and international relations at McMaster University (Ont.), was recently turfed from the board of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East for her comments — including that the more than 200 Israelis slain by Hamas terrorists while attending a concert near the Gaza border Oct. 7 were actually killed by Israelis.

“There are undertones of anti-Semitism,” Carr said. “There is also a complete lack of empathy for having such a conference at a heightened time in our community (amid the Israel-Hamas war).”

The Free Press was able to contact Sasa, but she did not comment.

Jeff Lieberman, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, said he had already spoken to U of W president Todd Mondor.

“They didn’t have any idea this was going on until I sent this information,” Lieberman said. “He said it is not a university-sanctioned event, but it was through a few faculty members. He said they are not happy the organizers are using University of Winnipeg logos.

“I said, we want this event cancelled. It’s just an event of hate and anti-Semitism.”

Kerry Sinanan, an assistant professor in global pre-1800 literature and culture and one of the organizers, said while academic freedom allows them to host the event, they will ensure there is no hate speech from any of the participants.

“They are all academics,” Sinanan said. “I don’t think people need to be censored.

“We won’t drop (Sasa). We believe in academic freedom and hate-free speech.”

Sinanan noted another speaker is Trinity University (Tex.) philosophy Prof. Judith Norman, also an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace.

“We won’t censor views because what people think is really hate speech is not hate speech,” Sinanan said. “We are allowed to have robust and critical discourse.”

She added the online event is also being held at a time when “people are losing their lives by the second. It is incredibly serious. We need to demand this violence stop. We have a commitment to try to stop the loss of Palestinian lives.”

U of W spokesman Caleb Zimmerman said the school is looking into the matter and will release a statement in the coming days.

“In these difficult times of socio-political tensions, upholding our University of Winnipeg values of inclusivity, respect for one another and in-depth critical inquiry is more important than ever,” Zimmerman said.

“The University of Winnipeg condemns all antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism of any kind.”

Zimmerman said the university remains committed to the statement it released last month, condemning the terrorist attacks in Israel and its targeting of civilians.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca