CUPE Boycott Petition

Canadian Academic Friends of Israel: Statement in Response to Proposed CUPE Boycott of Israeli Universities and Academics

*Please note that this petition was circulated under CAP’s previous incarnation as “Canadian Academic Friends of Israel.”

We the undersigned strongly condemn CUPE Ontario’s proposed boycott of Israeli universities and academics. In addition to being antithetical to the tenets of free expression and free association that are fundamental to academia, Mr. Ryan’s proposed resolution is blatantly discriminatory. No other country’s academics are the targets of such union action, regardless of what kind of government their country of origin may have or whether that country may be at war. Jewish and Israeli students and professors should not be subject to discriminatory rhetoric and tactics from the leadership of a large Ontario labour union. Our campuses offer varieties of courses studying the Middle East, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and international politics, giving ample forums for reasoned civil and scholarly debate. However, the vilification of an entire nation by boycotting scholars of that nationality is anathema to campus life. We hope that the members of CUPE will tell Mr. Ryan that he should spend his members’ hard-earned dues representing members’ interests, rather than on checking the passports, birthplaces, or institutional affiliations of our scholars.

Signed,

Ed Morgan, University of Toronto, and; National Chair, Canadian Academic Friends of Israel

Alan Kaplan, Ryerson University

Asaf Zohar, Trent University

Michael Grand, University of Western Ontario

Asher Alkoby, Ryerson University

Aviva Freedman, Carleton University

Barry Tepperman, University of Western Ontario

Shirley Katz, York University

Bernie Lightman, York University

Clive Seligman, University of Western Ontario

Csaba Nikolenyi, Concordia University

Daniel Sandler, University of Western Ontario

Maureen Molot, Carleton University

David Dewitt, York University

Salim Mansur, University of Western Ontario

Stephen Newman, York University

Benjamin Singer, University of Western Ontario

Avrum Soudack, University of British Columbia

Derek Penslar, University of Toronto

Sheva Medjuck, Mount St. Vincent University

Ellen Gutterman, York University

Emanuel Adler, University of Toronto

Marshall Walker, York University

Eric Lawee, York University

Francis Weil, Universite de Moncton

Bernie Wolf, York University

Fred Zemans, York University

Gershon Growe, University of British Columbia

Irving Abella, York University

Sally Thorne, University of British Columbia

Carl Ehrlich, York University

Jack Mintz, University of Calgary

Seth Feldman, York University

John Palmer, University of Western Ontario

Shlomit Keren, University of Calgary

David Pearl, University of Guelph

Jonathan Borwein, Dalhousie University

Maxine Galiander Wintre, York University

Jonathan Jedwab, Simon Fraser University

Sara Horowitz, York University

Seymour Mayne, University of Ottawa

Noemi Gal-Or, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Joyce Zemans, York University

Karen Eltis, University of Ottawa

Walter Zimmerman, University of Western Ontario

Martin Lockshin, York University

Rebecca Margolis, University of Ottawa

Michael Wohl, Carleton University

Joanne Emerman, University of British Columbia

Mira Sucharov, Carleton University

Monda Halpern, University of Western Ontario

Nathalie Japkowicz, University of Ottawa

Michael Steinitz, St. Francis Xavier University

Norrin Ripsman, Concordia University

Rena Mendelson, Ryerson University

Oded Haklai, Queen’s University

Paul Franks, University of Toronto

Steve Tissenbaum, Ryerson University

Penny Gurstein, University of British Columbia

Stanley Winer, Carleton University

Peter Suedfeld, University of British Columbia

Philip Carl Salzman, McGill University

Stanley Kogan, University of Western Ontario

Rachel Altman, Simon Fraser University

William Fisher, University of Western Ontario

Randi Fisher, University of Western Ontario

Robert Jacobs, University of Guelph