The Jewish Academic Alliance of BC joins with people around the world to mark the third anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. Today, we remember those murdered, brutalized and sexually assaulted, those taken hostage, and all whose lives were forever changed on that terrible day.
In the three years since, an antizionist hate movement has created a hostile environment for Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students, faculty and staff on British Columbia’s university and college campuses. Even as we mourn, anti-Israel protesters are on our campuses circulating propaganda that distorts the memory of October 7 and glorifies terrorists as martyrs.
The trauma of October 7 continues for survivors, the families of those murdered or taken hostage, and Jewish communities around the world. When the perpetrators of these atrocities are celebrated and their violence is recast as heroism, that trauma is compounded and antisemitism is further normalized.
On this anniversary, JAABC calls on our colleagues and friends to reject these messages of hate, condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas, and stand unequivocally against antisemitism. We ask the academic community to stand with Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students, faculty, and staff, and to ensure that our campuses are places where they can study, work, and commemorate October 7 without hostility or fear.