Manitoba Bars Anti-Israel Group for Human Rights Violations

University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba

In a major decision of international signfiicance, the University of Manitoba’s student union has stripped the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) of official recognition.  The Manitoba student’s union is the first such group to bar this anti-Israel campus group based on the anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination that take place each year during Israel Apartheid Week.  This issue has been raised at many American universities, but none has so far acted as forcefully as Manitoba. The National Post (Canada) reports:

The motion bars SAIA from receiving student union funding or using activity space in student-union controlled buildings.

The motion was adopted despite an opinion by the student union’s lawyer, who argued that it could leave the union open to litigation.

SAIA reportedly organizes the Israeli Apartheid Week each year on Canadian campuses.

Significantly, the Student Union’s successful resolution is based on civil and human rights violations during Israel Apartheid week:

The two-page resolution justified the delisting of SAIA under the terms of the Manitoba Human Rights Code, claiming that the group was guilty of “discrimination” and “harassment.”

The document also claimed that certain student union members “being Zionists, experience fear for their safety during  ‘Israeli Apartheid Week.’”

The Student’s Union disregarded legal advice in taking a stand against anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli bigotry in the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.  Now the question is whether student organizations in other countries, including the United States, will also acknowledge the civil rights problems underlying the BDS movement.