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.