'I get very nervous': Jewish student group feels targeted by a toolkit circulating at York University
Johanna Joseph says she feels nervous about wearing a necklace from her late grandmother when she goes to class at York University because it bears the symbol of the Star of David.
“One of the pendants was from my late grandmother, who was a Holocaust survivor,” Joseph told CTV News Toronto in an interview. “Whenever I enter classrooms, I, you know, take it off. I get very nervous.”
Joseph is part of Hillel York, a Jewish student group that feels targeted at school after “A Toolkit for Teaching Palestine” started to circulate.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
CUPE Local 3903 published a 15-page toolkit for teaching assistants at York University to provide guidance on teaching and discussing Palestine in the classroom. In it, the union’s education committee breaks down why it calls for action, who should teach about Palestine (and how), as well as supports for members experiencing reprisals.
READ MORE: Group at York U calls for reinstatement of employees charged in Indigo defacement
“This toolkit reflects on our collective, moral and professional responsibility to speak, write and teach on Palestine in spite of the culture of fear that has dominated much of Western academic institutions,” the document reads.
The document asks its CUPE members to join the call for action from Jan. 21 through 28, and divert the week’s tutorials to focus on teaching Palestinian liberation and refuse “to abide by York University’s culture of repressive normalcy.”
In the toolkit, the union says York University is complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine due to its investments and “economic and academic relationships with various Zionist cultural institutions (e.g. Hillel) and Israeli universities (e.g. Hebrew University of Jerusalem), some of which are on UN-recognized illegally occupied Palestinian lands.”
“Being a Jewish student, this is one of the only places I do feel safe on campus, and the labelling and calling out makes it feel like Hillel kind of is a target now,” Jacob Berman said.
Dean Lavi, director of Hillel York, told CTV News Toronto more than a dozen students have since contacted him, expressing concerns their teaching assistants will mistreat them.
“They’re sitting there in the classroom, and the person who can grade them is the one telling them that what they’re saying is wrong and that their opinions don’t matter and that, you know, they’re in the wrong for existing as their whole selves,” Lavi said.
York University President Rhonda Lenton recently wrote in a letter that senior administration does not find CUPE 3903’s latest email containing the toolkit “to be in accordance with the rightful expectations of the students and the legitimate claims of the community.”
A student at York University in Toronto.
This is not the first time York University administration has issued a statement with regards to the Israel-Hamas war.
Shortly after Hamas' attacks on Oct. 7, the York Federation of Students, the York University Graduate Students Association and the Glendon College Students Union issued a joint statement appearing to call the move a “strong act of resistance” while reaffirming their solidarity with Palestinians.
York University “unequivocally” condemned the statement.
“Freedom of expression has limits and comes with responsibilities. It must never reach into promoting or justifying violence against unarmed civilians,” the university said then.
The university’s administration says the dialogue on world events inside the classroom should allow for diverse perspectives to be expressed, but added it should always be respectful.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Police investigating shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
3 Indian nationals accused of murdering Hardeep Singh Nijjar facing court in B.C.
Three Indian nationals accused of murdering Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are due to face court Tuesday over the killing that triggered a major diplomatic rift with India.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.