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Dear Behraad,
I apologize if in naming you, I insinuated something about you or your views that was not warranted. It was Baharak, not you, who forwarded the article that indicted that Heather Reisman’s association with CIJA was an additional reason for targeting Indigo.
To answer your points 1-3: Gerardo started this thread by supporting the Indigo vandalism as “protest” and calling police enforcement of Canada’s laws against the suspects a “tremendous abuse of police power”. Baharak posted and endorsed a letter that justified the actions as targeting Indigo due to its Jewish CEO, Heather Reisman, supporting HESEG (which has no operational link to the IDF) and CIJA. Her message and Gerardo’s were written to support the notion that some Jewish people or their associated businesses are worthy of targeting for vandalism if their association with or support for Israel meets some unspecified criteria.
The e-mail chain occurs in the context of the ongoing targeting of Jewish high schools, community centres, a synagogue, businesses, and individual Jews here in Canada for attacks, vandalism, and harassment. All targeting a tiny Canadian Jewish community. Many faculty decided to openly support at least one of these instances of vandalism while being silent about the others. And us Jews have seen, at multiple times in history, how this can evolve in ways that prevent us Jews from living reasonable lives while identifying as Jewish.
Zooming out from the issue framing Gerardo started with, the horrifying number of deaths and the destruction in Gaza is a direct consequence of the decisions of Hamas and their allies to intentionally use civilian areas for cover. If Hamas, PIJ, PFLP, and DFLP had put down their weapons on October 6, none of this would have happened. That so many of our faculty members assign primary moral blame to Israel in a war it did not start or want illustrates the depth of hateful anti-Zionism and antisemitism here at SFU.
Academic freedom may grant Gerardo and Baharak the right to hold and promote hateful views. But it grants the rest of us the right to call them what they are.
David Freeman From: Behraad Bahreyni
Sent: November 30, 2023 8:26:13 AM To: David Freeman; James Fleming; power@sfu.ca; Leanna Jantzi; Rachel Altman; Baharak Yousefi; Gerardo Otero Cc: academic-discussion@sfu.ca Subject: RE: York professor among those charged in Indigo store vandalism (The Globe and Mail (BC Edition)), Nov 25, 2023 David, Since you have named people specifically with some troubling insinuations, I think a direct answer is needed.
Lastly, I find it troubling that these discussions are framed as a binary choice of 'with us or against us'. This prevents a healthy exchange of ideas, which is important in a forum like this. Behraad From: David Freeman <david_freeman@sfu.ca>
Gerardo, Baharak, et al: The statement attached to Baharak’s e-mail uses Heather Reisman’s past support of CIJA as a justification for targeting her. Heather is not on the Board and has no other public leadership role at CIJA. CIJA is a mainstream Jewish advocacy organization. I generally support CIJA (with the occasional minor caveat or disagreement).
Baharak, Gerardo, Leanna, and Behraad: should I also be a target? Heather is a prominent member of the same large Reform synagogue in Toronto I went to growing up (though we haven't met personally). The lead rabbi there consistently speaks in favour of a two-state solution and teaches
us to care about the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians. This is the type of Jew you deem worthy of targeting. David Freeman From: James Fleming <james_fleming@sfu.ca> In my judgment, since you ask (rather than answering), it is manifest that the attack on the NYPL occurred solely because its building has a Jewish name on the side,
and was associated with Israel on exactly that basis, and no other, by the attackers. And in my judgment the attack on Indigo occurred for exactly the same appalling reason. JDF From: Behraad Bahreyni I do not know James. Please use your information and judgment to see if in your opinion the event was motivated by actions of Israel or actions of jews. The two are
not the same. From: James Fleming <james_fleming@sfu.ca>
Does the same analysis hold for the recent vandalism at the main branch of the New York Public Library (now named after donor Steven Schwartzmann)?
From: Behraad Bahreyni In your example, the event would likely be hate-motivated, possibly targeting Islam. However, in the actual story, the CEO (not a religious leader) of Indigo (not a sinagog) was targeted, likely because of their support for Israel
(not being jews).
From:
power@sfu.ca <power@sfu.ca>
If in the night a Toronto mosque were spattered with 'blood' and had posters attacking its imam plastered over it should we not agree that this is a regrettable act of hateful lslamophobic vandalism whatever the
beliefs of the imam? And that charges are merited? If suspects are identified and arrested and we sympathize with their politics should we gloss it over in order to support them with critiques of the police and the charges and the imam and his politics/religion? From: James Fleming <james_fleming@sfu.ca> 1. "Targetting Israel is not anti-Semitic." From: Leanna Jantzi <leanna_jantzi@sfu.ca> It's interesting to note that the JFN's launch event (link shared below) was a "press conference in support of the recent motion of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) challenging the International
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism (IHRA)." For further context (and to offer an example of a national organization that does not support the IHRA definition) here’s information from
CAUT's 2021 Council, where "Council delegates unanimously passed a resolution to oppose the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism (IHRA) at Canadian universities and colleges, citing threats to academic
freedom on Canadian campuses" and an
editorial posted on CAUT's website. I think the JFN’s letter provides a very helpful and thoughtful voice to the reasons why the protest at the Indigo store is not a hate-motivated crime; rather it is a protest against the actions of the State of
Israel and the CEO of Indigo’s sponsorship of the
Lone Soldier Program. Being charged with vandalism may be a risk that protestors accept. Charging protestors with a “hate motivated” crime and breaking into their homes to make arrests – that I find unconscionable.
Leanna From: Rachel Altman <rachel_altman@sfu.ca>
I, for one, am really tired of the (ab)use of the views of a small proportion of Jews to justify antisemitism and the demonization of Israel. IHRA is very widely accepted in Jewish circles, which is why so many
countries, organizations, regions (including the city of
Vancouver) and have adopted it. To deny this fact is to deny Jews' understanding of and experience with antisemitism. And holding up this letter -- or statements from fringe groups such as
Independent Jewish Voices -- as evidence that this crime (yes, vandalism is a crime, not a peaceful protest!) was justified is, frankly, unconscionable. Rachel From: Baharak Yousefi <byousefi@sfu.ca> Dear Gerardo, I thought you may be interested in the attached letter sent by the
Jewish Faculty Network to Mayor Olivia Chow and others. Apologies for the JPEG format. I am sharing it from
this Twitter/X post. While this particular letter is signed collectively, over 170 Jewish scholars from across the country signed the Network's 2021 statement against the IHRA definition of antisemitism. You can see their names here: https://jewishfaculty.ca/jewish-faculty-against-the-ihra-defn/ And a link to
JFN's launch event for anyone interested in learning more. All best, Baharak From: Gerardo Otero <otero@sfu.ca> Among other things, this article tells the story of tremendous abuse of police power in Toronto against a professor engaged in protest. York professor among those charged in Indigo store vandalism SEAN FINE JUSTICE WRITER The Globe and Mail (BC Edition) Nov 25, 2023 Lucky you. This email was sent to you by a user of PressReader, who thought you’d be interested in reading this story. It means you get to click the link and read it. ®2003- PressReader, all rights reserved. | Gerardo Otero
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