Public Statements Released by JAABC
Best Wishes for 2026
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As we welcome 2026, the Jewish Academic Alliance of British Columbia wishes our members, colleagues, and partners a happy and hopeful year ahead.
The past year has been a difficult one for many Jews on campuses across British Columbia. Jewish faculty, staff, and students have faced an atmosphere in which antisemitism—sometimes overt, sometimes dismissed or reframed—has too often gone unaddressed. These challenges have underscored why our work, and our collective voice, matters.
JAABC exists to support Jewish academics and campus professionals and to advocate for campuses that are safe, respectful, and grounded in academic freedom. We invite Jewish faculty and staff at BC colleges and universities who are not yet members to join us in strengthening this community and ensuring that Jewish concerns are heard and taken seriously.
We also extend a hand to our non-Jewish colleagues. We welcome dialogue and partnership with those committed to fostering learning environments rooted in mutual respect, open inquiry, and opposition to all forms of discrimination.
Finally, we call on university and college administrators to take antisemitism seriously in all its forms, and to listen to all Jews when concerns are raised—not only those whose views are deemed acceptable or convenient. True inclusion requires hearing the full diversity of Jewish voices.
May the year ahead bring greater understanding, accountability, and a renewed commitment to dignity on our campuses.
Cordially,
Jewish Academic Alliance of BC
Statement on the 2025 Bondi Beach Attack
The Jewish Academic Alliance of British Columbia mourns the murder of people celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Australia on December 14, 2025. We grieve for those who were killed, pray for the recovery of the injured, and extend our deepest solidarity to the Australian Jewish community.
The Bondi Beach attack adds to a concerning increase in violence towards people, events and institutions, and one of many which intentionally target Jews. Since the October 7, 2023 massacre, we have also seen antisemitic discourse emerging on our campuses that seeks to downplay or justify Hamas’ violence. We deplore how this rhetoric dehumanizes Jews and normalizes antisemitism here in Canada, just as it has in Australia. And as Canadians, we find it unacceptable, and highlight that this rhetoric corrodes our society and its democratic values.
We call on all Canadians to act against the normalization of antisemitism, including violence against, intimidation of, and marginalization of Jews.
We call on leaders to enforce existing policy against those engaging in this divisive rhetoric, and to revise policies as necessary to make sure that we have campuses that are safe and inclusive for all.
Statement on the Blockade of the UBC Bus Loop
On Thursday, December 4, 2025, anti-Zionist groups blocked traffic and prevented students, faculty, and staff from accessing the main UBC campus. Their blockade also impeded access to the UBC Hospital. These actions appear unlawful under the Criminal Code and directly interfered with the ability of students, faculty, and staff to realize UBC’s academic mission.
At the same time, physical posters and social media posts circulated targeting individual UBC Senate and Board of Governors members using demonizing, libellous language. This behaviour is “vexatious or hostile” and “creates a hostile or intimidating environment for working, learning or living” — and thus appears to constitute harassment under UBC’s Bullying and Harassment policy.
One person’s right to protest should not deprive others of their rights and freedoms, and all members of the university community should be able to work and study in safety without having to fear violence or other forms of intimidation. We at JAABC condemn unlawful protests and the hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric used by the protesters and on-campus anti-Zionist groups.
JAABC calls on:
- The RCMP to investigate protesters whose participation in the blockade appears to be illegal and Crown counsel to prosecute protesters whose actions appeared to have been illegal.
- UBC to formally investigate the targeted harassment campaigns against individual community members, and to discipline those responsible.
- UBC to institute and enforce time, place, and manner restrictions on protests for the purpose of protecting the academic mission.
Universities must remain spaces for robust and respectful dialogue, not arenas for intimidation.
Response to UBC Anti-Jewish Discrimination Materials
JAABC has been engaging with the University of British Columbia’s Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) for over a year on its materials on Anti-Jewish Discrimination. Over this year of engagement with the EIO, we have seen many improvements in the Anti-Jewish Discrimination materials that they have been developing. Some of these improvements involve recognizing the ways in which Jews have historically experienced systemic violence and discrimination and the harms experienced by Jews on UBC campuses today. Other improvements have involved the removal of statements that might have contributed to or reinforced harms. We appreciate the good faith and good will that Dr. Arig al Shaibah has brought to our engagements, and we remain committed to further work with the EIO on efforts to make UBC a more inclusive place for Jewish faculty, staff, and students.
One long-standing criticism of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) policies and practices on campuses is that they have not made convincing efforts to account for the particular kinds of harms and wrongs that Jewish members of the academic community experience. We have been pleased to see UBC’s EIO recognize the fundamental fact that EDI principles apply to Jews as a historically, persistently, and systemically marginalized group. We also appreciate the EIO’s support in bringing experts and pedagogues in the history of antisemitism to campus, such as through the Office’s financial support for a recent workshop by Project Shema.
At the same time, the end product still falls short of the mark, from the point of view of equity and inclusion and particularly equity for and inclusion of Jews and Israelis on campus. We see the university as a place where people form, express and debate their views in accordance with academic values. Principles of equity and inclusion guide how members of the academic community treat each other, without otherwise undermining their ability to form and express their own views. The principles that underlie the modern university call for ever-increasing awareness, understanding, and empathy for others. We aspire to extend these to other targeted groups. We expect the same treatment to be extended to members of our community and on this front, the materials fall short.
For example, the materials
- fail to acknowledge the ways in which Zionism – the movement supporting self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancestral home – is being deliberately and openly demonized on our campuses. In particular, the materials fail to call out the practice of misattributing the caricatured views of a political faction to Jewish Zionists throughout the world. Such unfair demonization causes real harm to Jews in our community on campus. Equating a movement for a people’s self-determination with the most extreme expressions of a particular faction would not – and should not – be tolerated for other vulnerable groups on campus. Ignoring this problem when it is directed toward Jews and Israelis falls short of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles.
- treat Zionism differently from the straightforward historical grounding of Palestinians’ struggle for self-determination, in the companion EIO materials on Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim Discrimination. The Anti-Jewish Discrimination module chooses to allocate substantial attention to anti-Zionist perspectives. The fact that not all Jews are Zionists and that some proponents of Zionism can be criticized is irrelevant to the central task of making clear, with equity and inclusion top of mind, that most Jews are Zionists and that demonizing Zionism in a blanket way is harmful to them.
- underplay that the land of Israel is central to Judaism and to the history of the Jewish people, as understood by a large majority of Jews in Canada and around the world, that Jews are a people with an ancestral and familial connection to the land of Israel.
- fail to acknowledge the historic oppression and systemic violence that Jews have experienced around the world and – critically – how that oppression and violence led to the establishment of the modern state of Israel. The status quo ante for Jews was cataclysmic, and not only in Europe. In the decades since its founding, Israel has continued to rescue and shelter Jews fleeing antisemitic dangers from many parts of the world, such as in Ethiopia and Yemen. A reader who lacked this historical background would not gain this understanding from the materials.
- fail to acknowledge the reality of the physical dangers Jewish community members continue to experience and to recognize their realistic and historically grounded sense of vulnerability. This is a serious shortcoming for an educational resource geared toward equity and inclusion.
- fail to name and call out serious, specific incidents on campus that have led to harms. Such incidents have included anti-Israel property damage, efforts to cancel university courses because of a legitimate scholarly connection to Israel, efforts to cancel Hillel’s lease on campus, efforts to deplatform individual scholars based on their nationality (as Israelis) or their area of study (e.g., Jewish Studies), shaming students in classes and engaging in abuse of podium, and more. Conduct like this would not – and should not – be tolerated for other vulnerable groups on campus. By not specifically calling out these kinds of behaviours, the EIO materials make it too easy for those engaging in anti-Jewish speech and action to continue to do so under the illusion that they are abiding by principles of equity and inclusion.
We are also concerned about the manner in which the term “anti-Palestinian racism,” which appears in the companion modules on Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim Discrimination, is being introduced. We acknowledge that Palestinians can be and are subject to prejudice, hate, harassment and discrimination on the basis of their identity. However, the inadequate way in which this term is brought forward, without rigorous definition but with the promise of future materials dedicated to the topic, entangles the materials and the Office of Equity and Inclusion in fraught debates that claim that political support for positions not aligned with certain defined pro-Palestinian aspirations may be a form of racism. The deployment of the important concept of racism in a politicized and un-nuanced way risks damaging its broader value and meaning. The introduction of “anti-Palestinian racism” as a concept deserves all the hedging and cautionary language that the materials already readily give to concerns that legitimate academic criticism of Israel might be stifled by fears of accusations of antisemitism.
Jewish students at UBC have also raised concerns directly with the EI Office. These students have also requested us to help amplify their responses to the EIO materials here in our statement, and we are keen to do so. Their concerns are as follows:
- Students were clear that they feel their voices weren’t heard or reflected in the final materials. For example, in their March meeting with UBC’s Associate Vice President, Equity & Inclusion, they shared specific experiences—being excluded from events for identifying as Zionist, encountering antisemitic graffiti and hate symbols near Jewish spaces, and feeling silenced in classroom discussions. None of these realities appear in the module. Instead, the slides focus on abstract generalizations and historical overviews, with little acknowledgment of what Jewish students are actually facing on campus. This disconnect is why some described the resource as reading like a “museum exhibit”—interesting, but detached from their lived experience.
- No mention of October 7: While there’s a passing reference to “the experience of Jews on campus since October 7,” students felt strongly that the terror attack should be named directly. It was the catalyst for the rise in antisemitism and the creation of these materials, and its omission feels significant.
- The “About Judaism” section: Students felt that the current version leans too heavily on statistics and lacks meaningful explanation of Jewish identity and peoplehood. They’re fine with the statistics—but only if paired with context. As it stands, the section feels hollow.
- No definition of antisemitism: The draft doesn’t address the fact that the module never defines antisemitism. Students see this as a foundational issue.
- Missing references to hate symbols: Symbols like the inverted red triangle—used by Hamas and seen on campus—were flagged by students as harmful and should be included in the list of antisemitic imagery. Their absence from both the materials and the JAABC response feels like a missed opportunity to acknowledge real-world examples of harm.
Speaking once again in our own voice as JAABC, the concerns we are raising about the EIO materials are not a call to silence criticism of the actions or policies of the Israeli government. Rather, we are calling for an awareness of how some attacks on Israel, on Zionism, or on members of our community with connections to either, can degrade the academic community we share, and make it difficult or even impossible for many Jews, whether students, faculty, or staff, to participate in this community as our full selves, to experience an equitable workplace and study environment, and to form natural friendships. Jews, including Zionist Jews, deserve to be recognized and welcomed on campus in the same way that other equity-seeking groups deserve to be recognized and welcomed. This is the very thing that principles of equity and inclusion should seek to foster. Equity, diversity, and inclusion principles in a university context must reflect and embody the values of tolerance, humility, and open inquiry that underpin our academic mission.
JAABC is mindful that there are those, especially in the United States, who are using the experience of Jews on campuses since October 7, 2023 as a cudgel to attack the university and the foundational role it plays within a society committed to free and open inquiry, equality, and liberal democratic values. We stand against those efforts. Instrumentalizing antisemitism for illiberal, undemocratic ends does not make Jews safer. It undermines the principles and freedoms on which our safety and robust academic inquiry and community depend. At the same time, UBC needs to do much more to articulate to its community how certain kinds of actions and discourse can do real harm to Jewish people on campus, and undermine basic principles of equity and inclusion.
Finally, educational resources on antisemitism are no substitute for meaningful action by University leadership to counter antisemitism. We appreciate the EIO’s willingness to engage with us, and now call on President Bacon and the University administration to do more, as peer institutions have done (see, e.g, the University of Toronto and Harvard University), to ensure that Jewish community members are not only safe on campus, but are welcomed and able to learn, work, and thrive. We stand ready to work with the UBC administration.
Statement on the CAUT Report on Academic Freedom after October 7
Executive Summary
Jewish Academic Alliance of BC (JAABC) has substantial criticisms of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) “Report on Academic Freedom in Canada after October 7, 2023”, which fails to acknowledge the serious problem of suppression of mainstream Jewish and Israeli perspectives in academia and suffers from a lack of methodological rigour. Furthermore, JAABC condemns the amendment to this report and the follow-up motion (which mandates the formation of a committee for further study of these issues) for their blatant anti-Israel bias. We call on CAUT to uphold scholarly standards, its commitment to equity, and its mandate to protect and foster academic freedom by withdrawing the report (including the amendment) and instead conducting a careful study of the issues at hand with input from a diversity of voices.
Background
According to CAUT’s by-law, the organization’s purposes are to “promote the interests of Academic staff, including, but not limited to, professors, professional librarians and researchers, to advance the standards of their professions, and to seek to improve the quality of post-secondary education in Canada”. Its core functions include the “academic freedom, tenure, equality and human rights” of Canadian faculty members and providing “collective bargaining services for the support and assistance of Faculty Associations”.
CAUT published the “Report on Academic Freedom in Canada after October 7, 2023” in March 2025. On May 9, 2025, members of CAUT voted to amend this report to add anti-Israel language (such as the “war waged by Israel on Gaza, now widely considered genocidal in both intent and practice”) as “context” and to “strike a Committee of 3, including a scholar who researches Palestine issues, to oversee a survey across Canada of the experiences of Palestinian scholars and academics who have supported Palestine, akin to the 2024 Survey of Indigenous academics”.
Criticisms of the Report
The report shows a disturbing lack of methodological rigour. Especially given the sensitivity of the subject in question, CAUT should have conducted a properly designed survey to learn about the experiences of the entirety of its membership. The incidents that were “brought to the attention of CAUT” (which form the basis of the report) are not a random sample of incidents across Canada and may not adequately reflect the overall climate on Canadian campuses. Moreover, a serious report should account for the fact that Jews, Israelis, and non-Jews/non-Israelis whose work includes mainstream Jewish/Israeli perspectives (henceforth called “affiliated scholars”) are a small minority, for example by reporting per capita incidents.
Certainly, the report, which describes almost exclusively alleged incidents of suppression of pro-Palestinian viewpoints, is inconsistent with our experiences on BC campuses. In particular, we have witnessed many incidents of attempted and actual suppression of Zionist viewpoints, leading to the underrepresentation of the voices of mainstream Jewish, Israeli, and affiliated scholars. For example:
- A workshop on ancient Christianity at UBC was targeted with anti-Israel graffiti and vandalism, moved, and then disrupted by protesters because of its inclusion of scholars from Israeli universities. The conference organizer was subsequently doxxed by an anti-Israel student group with support from UBC faculty.
- Professional security has been recommended or required at Jewish-related events (at our expense) and even some courses on Judaism at UBC. For example, UBC’s Campus Security recommended on-site security for a speaker simply because of his Israeli name and citizenship (his topic was uncontroversial and had no bearing on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict). Although the event proceeded without incident, a need for security could be intimidating for both speakers and hosts — and illustrates the climate faced by Jewish, Israeli, and affiliated scholars.
- At UBC, there have been public and ongoing attempts to intimidate an Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies faculty member, including by protesting at his office building, blocking the entrance. Other tactics included pressuring the faculty member’s colleagues and department as a whole to terminate his teaching and research projects. Such actions constitute a clear threat to his academic freedom.
- There is an ongoing campaign to cancel a UBC course that involves an archaeological dig in the State of Israel, threatening the academic freedom of the instructor.
- The UBC-Okanagan Senate issued an anti-Israel resolution, and 18 UBC-Vancouver Senators submitted a motion seeking the “cutting or suspending [of] academic ties with Israeli government entities (including public universities)”. Such activities create a chilling effect on discussion of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and potentially dissuade individuals with opposing views from applying to UBC. Moreover, had it passed, the motion would have violated the academic freedom of some faculty members who require institutional support for ongoing teaching and research projects with Israeli institutions.
- Pro-Palestinian protestors occupied the UBC MacInnes Field and the SFU Belzberg Library (the latter at which they blocked out the name of the Jewish donors) and prohibited Zionists from entering, thus limiting their freedom to work on campus.
- At SFU, bringing in speakers with backgrounds in Jewish studies has been difficult. For example, a colleague from UBC was invited to speak at SFU but declined after being warned by an SFU colleague that he would likely face protests and possible security threats. Campus security vetoed a second proposed Zionist speaker. In fact, no mainstream Jewish, Israeli, or Zionist voices have been featured in official events on Israel/Palestine. Meanwhile, since October 7, 2023, SFU has hosted over 50 formal events on Israel/Palestine featuring only anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian voices (which, to our knowledge, have occurred without incident). Pro-Palestinian perspectives are not suppressed but in fact are vastly overrepresented in BC universities.
- Numerous UBC and SFU departments and groups have made statements condemning Israel’s role in the current Israel-Hamas war, chilling dissent among current members and discouraging prospective members with dissenting viewpoints from applying.
We are also dismayed by the framing of the massacre on October 7, 2023, as a “ground attack”. The assault was, in fact, the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Approximately 1,200 people, mostly Jewish civilians (including children), were brutally murdered; approximately 250 people, mostly Jewish civilians (including children), were taken hostage; and many Jewish women were raped. “Ground attack” grossly minimizes the horror of the assault.
Criticisms of the Amendment to the Report
The first paragraph of the amended report, in an attempt to “acknowledge the larger context in which the report is situated”, will include blatant anti-Israel language such as “the Occupation of Palestinian Territory as well as the ensuing 18 months of war waged by Israel on Gaza, now widely considered genocidal in both intent and practice”. Including such political commentary calls into question the motivation of the report, CAUT’s ability to represent academics with diverse viewpoints, and CAUT’s commitment to academic freedom.
Criticisms of the Planned Further Study on Academic Freedom
JAABC fully supports academic freedom — and CAUT’s investigation into violations of academic freedom in the context of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as long as it is conducted with academic rigour and without taking a stance on the conflict. However, the committee charged with conducting this study will be required to include one faculty member who “researches on Palestine” — but will not be required to include a faculty member whose research features mainstream Jewish or Israeli perspectives. Given this structural bias — and the serious methodological flaws and anti-Israel bent of the first report — we have no confidence that CAUT will be able to produce a fair, scholarly report.
Conclusions and Recommendations
In light of the questionable study methods and exclusion of the experiences of the voices of mainstream Jewish, Israeli, and affiliated scholars, we call on CAUT to withdraw the report (including the amendment). To maintain its credibility as an organization that represents scholars and protects and fosters academic freedom, every CAUT study should be based on carefully collected data and presented impartially. Otherwise, CAUT risks contributing to misinformation and the chilling of dissenting viewpoints.
We also call on CAUT, when conducting the follow-up study on academic freedom, to seek assistance from faculty members with expertise in survey designs and in mainstream Jewish and Israeli studies. The new report must be based on solid methodology and input from a diversity of voices. We further ask that CAUT recognize that Jewish, Israeli, and affiliated scholars are a small minority and prevent these voices from being drowned out by the majority — just as it makes an effort to amplify the voices of other minorities. Likewise, we ask CAUT not to minimize the experiences of the Jewish people — including the profound, ongoing grief and terror resulting from the October 7 assault.
Finally, we call on the CAUT leadership to reflect on their responsibilities to their entire membership, including Jewish, Israeli, and affiliated scholars whose academic freedom and safety is being threatened and sometimes violated in the current climate. By ignoring the violations of these faculty members’ rights, CAUT is reinforcing the conditions that are enabling said violations.
Statement on the Campaign of Harassment Targeting a UBC Academic Project
The Jewish Academic Alliance of BC (JAABC) is deeply concerned about the organized campaign to dismantle a longstanding archaeological course and research project run by faculty in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (“AMNE”). We are also troubled by the silence and inaction from UBC’s leadership.
Faculty in UBC’s AMNE department, through a longstanding partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, runs a highly successful program that provides opportunities for experiential learning abroad in the State of Israel. This academic partnership is an important scholarly endeavour that advances the mission of UBC. In the program, UBC students, in collaboration with local students – whose demographic composition has significant cultural, ethnic, religious, gender, and sexual diversity – come together to learn about archaeology and ancient history. Like other study abroad programs, this program presents an opportunity for UBC students to encounter and interact with diverse people whom they might not otherwise meet.
The ongoing, concerted campaign to permanently cancel this course and research project is unacceptable. Protesters are engaging in intimidation tactics designed to prevent faculty members from doing their work. This pressure is part of a disturbing pattern of harassment targeting Jewish faculty, staff, and students, and those who partner with Israeli institutions. These actions constitute harassment under UBC policy and BC law and we are particularly worried by the conspicuous silence from UBC’s administration.
We call on the UBC administration to take the following actions:
- Ensure that UBC faculty can conduct their academic work free from intimidation and harassment.
- Enforce harassment policies, with clear consequences for offenders.
- Establish designated protest spaces at a distance from faculty workspaces and classrooms.
- Issue a public statement affirming UBC’s commitment to academic freedom and collaborations with Israeli institutions.
- Educate the UBC community about academic freedom and about appropriate forms of protest.
Under the University Act, UBC is obligated to be non-political in principle. UBC leadership must reject demands to sever ties with Israeli universities, and must stand firm against the targeted harassment of Jewish academics.
We are prepared to work with UBC administration to address these serious issues.
Statement on Vandalism and Graffiti Targeting Israelis at the Invictus Games
All participants in the Invictus Games have the right to feel safe on the UBC campus. The vandalism and graffiti aimed at Israeli participants in the Games on the night of Friday, February 14, 2025 is part of a pattern of harassment and intimidation on the UBC campus. The university is well aware of this problem. We ask UBC’s leadership to take a decisive stand on this issue; our university must be a safe space for all of us, including all of the athletes who are guests on our campus.
Statement on UBC’s New Anti-Discrimination Resources
The Jewish Academic Alliance of BC is proud of the diligence and good faith that we and our membership devoted to months of often challenging engagement with UBC’s Office for Equity and Inclusion in the development of the anti-discrimination resources on antisemitism and Islamophobia. The recently published materials did not fully reflect our perspective, but we view these materials as part of an ongoing dialogue in the UBC community about these important topics.
We have reservations about the materials as they currently stand, which reflect points we have continued to make with UBC’s Office for Equity and Inclusion. They include especially:
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- The failure to address our concerns about anti-Zionist conduct and expression on campus that marginalizes and harms the majority of Jewish faculty, staff, and students on campus.
- 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.
- 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. We appreciate Dr. al Shaibah’s willingness to engage with us, and call on President Bacon and the University administration to do more to ensure that Jewish community members are not only safe on campus, but are welcome and able to thrive.
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 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.
*JAABC is not endorsed or authorized by the Government of British Columbia.