Jewish Academic Alliance of BC
The Jewish Academic Alliance of British Columbia (JAABC) is a membership organization advocating for Jewish issues in BC higher education. JAABC promotes the inclusion of Jews in all aspects of academic life. Our membership reflects a broad cross-section of faculty, staff, and administrators working at BC universities and colleges.
British Columbia’s Jewish voice in higher education.
Recent News
BC Antisemitism Legal Helpline
Access Pro Bono Antisemitism Legal Help Line (ALH) provides free legal information and advice to British Columbians who experience antisemitism.
UBC Sponsors First-Ever Hanukkah Celebration
This month, the University of British Columbia hosted its first official campus Hanukkah celebration, the “Be the Light” event at Thunderbird Commons. Click for complete details.
JAABC Featured in CTV News Report
JAABC was featured in a CTV News report on UBC’s investigation of a classroom anti-Israel rant by Gender and Environmental Justice instructor Dr. Litsa Chatzivasileiou.
Statements
January 22, 2025 Statement on UBC's New Anti-Discrimination Resources
The Jewish Academic Alliance of BC is proud to be one of the partners engaged by UBC’s Office for Equity and Inclusion in the development of the anti-discrimination resources on antisemitism and Islamophobia. We view these materials as part of an ongoing positive and meaningful dialog in the UBC community about these important topics.
We do, however, have some reservations about them as they currently stand:
1. While we acknowledge that Palestinians can be subject to prejudice, hate, and discrimination on the basis of their identity, we believe the term “anti-Palestinian racism” is descriptively inaccurate and unhelpful. We are concerned about the conceptual coherence of considering anti-Palestinian attitudes a form of racism, and about the deployment of the important concept of racism in a politicized and un-nuanced way that risks damaging its broader value and meaning. We are concerned in particular that the concept may be instrumentalized against people who express support for Israel.
2. We also wish to make clear that these reports do not substitute for further meaningful action by the university to counter both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
November 20, 2024 Statement on Academic Freedom and Diversity
JAABC supports academic freedom and a diversity of viewpoints. The same principle that supports faculty teaching freely, also supports students learning and expressing themselves freely.
Especially given the power imbalance between professors and students, students can be silenced, or even pressured and intimidated, when professors cross a line in telling their students what they should believe and what political actions to take. We are worried that this may be what happened here. We believe that the classroom is a place that should foster critical thinking and that should allow students freely to come to their own conclusions and to express themselves and to be heard by others without embarrassment or fear.
Where faculty fail to do that, it is essential that the university enforce its own standards and ideals and we call upon UBC to do so.
Statement on the June 3, 2024 UBC-Vancouver Senate Special Meeting
On June 3, 2024 the UBC Senate convened for a special meeting called to discuss a proposal to cut or suspend ties with Israeli academic institutions. The full agenda for this meeting can be viewed here: June 3, 2024 UBC-V Senate Meeting.
After a thorough discussion, the Senate voted against adopting the motion, with 49 votes opposed and 16 in favor.
This outcome highlights UBC’s commitment to academic freedom, its support of open inquiry and exchange of ideas free form political pressures.
May 6 2024 Statement Expressing Concerns about the Encampment on UBC's Vancouver Campus
The following letter (image only) about the encampments at MacInnes Field on the University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus was sent to UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon on May 6, 2024. The letter expresses concerns about the occupation of public university spaces and denial of access to specific groups in violation of the UBC Student Code of Conduct. The letter calls on the UBC administration to publicly affirm that there is no room at UBC for calls for violence, denying Jews access to common spaces because of their political or cultural identities, or demands that violate academic freedom. The letter has been signed by over 200 members of UBC faculty and staff.

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*JAABC is not endorsed or authorized by the Government of British Columbia.