Marty York: Canada’s universities have been co-opted by antisemites

A recent federal government report, which found that 95.7 per cent of Jewish post-secondary students in this country experienced antisemitism last year, was eye-opening to be sure, but not a complete shocker to those of us who have been following what has been happening on university campuses over the past three years.

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“What this report ultimately tells us is that campus antisemitism is not just a widespread problem but a systemic problem, which corroborates what our students have been telling us for years,” said Daniel Koren, founder and executive director of Allied Voices for Israel, in an interview. “When (the vast majority) of students report seeing or experiencing antisemitism, it means universities are institutions where antisemitism is thriving and going unchecked.”

Even worse is the fact that these institutions are state-sponsored. Grants from the federal and provincial governments keep Canadian universities alive and functioning.

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“There is a hateful mob mentality targeting students of all backgrounds, including brave non-Jewish students who choose allyship and stand with their Jewish peers,” Koren said. “Through their inaction, and by allowing the status quo to continue, the federal and provincial governments are enabling antisemitism to thrive. It is time for the governments to wake up and re-evaluate their grants to post-secondary schools.”

Agreed. Why in the world is our tax money going to support cesspools of fear and hate? Too many universities have become breeding grounds for antisemitism, laden with influencers, including professors, who should know better but seem all too willing to share anti-Jewish messages.

And that includes journalism schools, which terrifies me. I’ve been in or around mainstream media in Canada for more than half a century — I started at the Globe and Mail when I was a tot — and I’ve taught journalism in post-secondary institutions, yet I was stunned by a recent report from HonestReporting Canada.

It details how J-Source (the J stands for “journalism”), which is affiliated with the journalism programs at Toronto Metropolitan University and Carleton University, shows a “persistent pattern of one-sided framing: elevating Palestinian narratives while portraying Israeli perspectives, pro-Israel advocacy and journalistic standards such as balance and objectivity with skepticism.”

Since the heinous attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, HonestReporting argues that, “The outlet has become consistently fixated on Israel, producing not only what we regard as deeply problematic content, but what we consider constitutes a dangerous demonization of supporters of Israel.”

HonestReporting cites several examples of what the organization views as biased reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Pieced together, J-Source’s coverage in our view does not simply prioritize Palestinian narratives, contexts and rhetoric,” HonestReporting writes, “it consistently elevates a particular pro-Palestinian interpretive frame as journalistic common sense, as objectivity.

“Across J-Source coverage and from our perspective, Israeli narratives, claims and history are treated as the central driver of conflict; Palestinians’ position in the wider narrative is folded into broader, politically driven explanations of history, structural issues and motivations. The result is a recurring asymmetry in J-Source’s editorial posture, one that is not merely sympathy toward Palestinians, but rather a predetermined narrative of morality and victimhood.

“The concern with J-Source is not that it examines Israel, publishes Palestinian perspectives or challenges established narratives. The concern in our view is that a publication connected to Canadian journalism education appears to repeatedly blur the distinction between analyzing bias and advancing a particular pro-Palestinian agenda.

“When a platform associated with journalism education presents what we regard as a pro-Palestinian worldview as the natural standard of objectivity, it risks shaping the next generation of journalists toward advocacy rather than serious and honest inquiry.”

Terrifying.

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