It is now summer break in Canada, university students return to their hometowns, old friends reunite and kids go off to sleepaway camps. Summer in Canada, for most people, represents a sense of freedom.
As two Jewish students in Toronto, what should be a period of respite has instead become a time in which our fears and concerns for the upcoming year continue to build.
For us, the past two semesters have been marred with antisemitism, intimidation, hatred and discrimination. We witnessed our peers and faculty support violence and propaganda, glorify terrorism, and harass Jewish and Israeli students on campus.
This vilification did not only transpire at our respective campuses – Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, formerly Ryerson) and Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) – but at schools such as Concordia, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia, where student clubs and unions have pushed campaigns that purport to stand for Palestinians, but in reality, rather focus on the demonization of Israel and Israelis.
In many cases, administrations have stood up to these bullies. This year, U of T, UBC, and McGill administrators all took a stand against the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This has done little to sway these anti-Israel students, groups and associations from fomenting hatred and division.
From our perspective, our collective responsibility as Canadian students must be to fight for the rights of Israelis and Palestinians alike and seek justice for both peoples.
Hasbara Canada campaign
In that vein, we recently took part in a campaign organized by Hasbara Canada to spread stickers that convey a message of peace and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians. Hasbara is an organization that empowers students to advocate for Israel, and advance coexistence and peace in the Middle East.
We were proud to share this sentiment on the campuses of TMU and OCAD, as well as throughout Toronto. Like-minded students have also documented sharing these inspirational stickers at the University of Calgary, Concordia University, UBC, U of T and York University.
It couldn’t have come at a better time. Given that most of us had been online for two years, returning to in-person learning at TMU was accompanied by a major shift, especially for Jewish students.
None of us had forgotten the inflammatory remarks and erroneous claims our peers had made about Zionists on campus. The general environment that had become more stiff and political.
KNOWING THAT this sentiment existed, spreading this message of coexistence felt incredibly impactful and allowed us to provide a new perspective to students at TMU.
Still, the stickers were met with mixed reactions. While many were left unscathed, some were defaced and even accompanied by antisemitic remarks. There were also students who defended this notion of peace for both peoples, which was heartwarming.
Meanwhile, at OCAD, the campus climate has recently undergone a transformation. What was once a school focused on art and design has become very polarizing, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and large-scale protests.
For Jewish students, this culminated in May 2021, during the Israel-Hamas war, when OCAD-affiliated organizations, student clubs and the OCAD student union made discriminatory and misinformed social media posts and statements.
Jewish students felt unsupported and unheard. Even OCAD’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Sustainability and Inclusion shared a post that promoted a one-sided and biased agenda. After pushback from several students, the post was eventually removed.
Back to campus
Coming back to campus this year was surprising. OCAD’s famous yellow staircase, once dawned with artistic freedom, expression and creativity, now feels more like a Tower of Babel.
The backdrop of yellow no longer seems cheerful, but rather unpleasant and discomforting, with a foreground of politically charged and contentious scribbled writings lining the hallways.
For a few years, OCAD’s halls and stairways had been silent. However, OCAD students and some faculty, continue to favour spewing identity-based politics and making calls to action for specific human rights causes, but not others. Unfortunately, this approach, whether intentional or not, has rubbed off on its students.
For us, sharing these stickers and their positive message of reconciliation was an attempt to recreate and rectify a creative, positive and inviting environment for OCAD students. The ruins of the yellow staircase may be a step closer to becoming a positive space once again.
More importantly, the campaign helps expose the wider student body to our message as Zionist students: we believe in peace and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The only way to move forward is to bring these people together and stop demonizing one another.
With only a few months until the next semester, we encourage fellow students to take advantage of campaigns and resources to rewrite the false narrative that we must support one people at the expense of another.After all, peace must always be our ultimate objective.
Idaliah Snajdman is a hasbara fellow and intern at TMU. Jon Jaedon Ziner-Cohen is a hasbara fellow and intern at OCAD.