Trent group apology rejected, anti-Israel policy rescinded

A banner at Trent University promoting Divestment Week

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) has rejected an apology from student groups at Trent University for a poster the FSWC says uses anti-Semitic imagery to promote a “Divestment Week” event.

Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) Peterborough, a student-run group, partnered with another student group called Sustainable Trent to hold an event from Jan. 26 to 30 that, in part, targets Israel for “its occupation of Palestine.”

To advertise the week-long event, OPIRG distributed posters that depict a traffic light. In one of the traffic lights is a Star of David with a red cross through it, reminiscent of a no-smoking sign.

When FSWC president and CEO Avi Benlolo found out about the event and the imagery being used to promote it, he condemned OPIRG for continuing to promote an anti-Israel agenda.

“They simply don’t understand that not only is it offensive to have crossed off the Magen David – it is not a surprise to me that they would do that because of their staunch anti-Semitism… – but only pointing a finger at Israel, is anti-Semitic in and of itself,” Benlolo said.

On Jan. 25, OPIRG and Sustainable Trent apologized for the poster. “Our intent in using the Israeli flag on our poster was to bring attention to the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement that exists in response to Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and to criticize the oppressive actions of the state of Israel. We regret that in our use of Israel’s flag on the poster, the focal point became the Star of David and not the flag as a symbol of a nation state,” they said.

Benlolo wasn’t satisfied. “We don’t accept their apology… for the reason that they don’t really get it,” he said. 

Rebecca Hubble, 20, a third-year political studies student and a volunteer with the student group Trent4Israel, also felt the apology wasn’t genuine. “It seemed they were blaming us for misinterpreting their logo and advertisements… they don’t really seem to acknowledge the anti-Semitic image that they are still putting forward with their BDS movement,” she said.

Although OPIRG said it retracted the poster and removed it from its online sites, Hubble, who is Christian, said the posters remained all over campus last week.

“They’re still up. They put up a big banner at the library that says ‘[Divestment from] Israeli apartheid’ and they are still very visible on campus,” she said.

Benlolo said he’s been informing university boards about student groups that host anti-Israel and anti-Semitic events on campuses across the country. 

“The boards of directors of these universities should take responsibility… for the organization they lead,” Benlolo said, adding that he’s communicated with Trent’s president and told him “he should take a principled stand and the university should take responsibility for what is going on.”

Trent president Leo Groarke said the administration has spoken to both sides and commended them for being “level-headed.” He said Trent “upholds academic freedom as another important value. Such freedom does not permit everything, but it does incorporate the freedom of discussion and debate for students and faculty on complex and sometimes difficult issues.” 

OPIRG Peterborough co-ordinator Matt Davidson said FSWC “willfully misconstrued” OPIRG’s actions, and he rejected the charge of anti-Semitism. “It is a shame that Mr. Benlolo would make these slanderous claims against OPIRG without even contacting us to learn what it is that we do.”

Hubble was also part of a group of pro-Israel students who succeeded in reversing an anti-Israel policy of the Trent Central Student Association at the student group’s annual general meeting Jan. 29.

The anti-Israel position that was reversed said that “co-operation, collaboration, or joint projects with Israeli academic and cultural institutions in any form… [should be prohibited] unless these institutions acknowledge Israel as an apartheid state.” 

According to StandWithUs Canada, students voted 47 for and 28 against to rescind the divestment motion. 

Judy Zelikovitz, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ vice-president of university and local partner services, praised the students who succeeded in overturning the policy, which was adopted in February 2013. 

“Their success demonstrates that BDS does not enjoy broad-based support on campus, and can be defeated with hard work and the right strategy,” Zelikovitz said.