Hillel McMaster is appalled that as of September 22, 2024, the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Student Representative Assembly (SRA) has voted in favour of an “advocacy statement” motion regarding the war between Israel and Hamas and the broader ongoing conflict, specifically demanding “McMaster University’s divestment from stakeholders partaking in human rights violations.”
This motion is dangerous and disingenuous. It undermines constructive dialogue, healing, and community building, under the guise of care and concern–and will lead to the targeting of Jewish students on our campus.
We would like to inform the McMaster community of the events that led to the passing of this motion and the steps we, as the only Jewish club on campus, have taken during this process to ensure the voice of Jewish students is heard.
The Process
In late July, the SRA voted to reject a similar statement that was written without consulting our student community. Throughout the drafting of this new statement, Hillel made intense efforts to engage with MSU leadership and the specific SRA members behind the campaign. While these efforts yielded productive meetings and some important changes to the text, including the acknowledgement of the horrific events of the October 7th terrorist attacks, we remain deeply concerned about the contents of the statement. Despite sending a Hillel representative to outline our concerns and the devastating effect this will have on our community, the statement was passed by a 19-1-1 vote. Importantly, the MSU President and all members of the Board of Directors broke their pattern of neutrality on this subject by voting in favour.
Our Main Concerns
The statement claims that “the SRA will continue to support all students in the MSU community,” all while prioritizing a marginal but highly disruptive group of students and ignoring the voice of our student community. We are baffled that, despite acknowledging allegations of antisemitism emanating from the encampment, this statement firmly stands behind those responsible. The statement takes a stance that backs one fractional piece of our community while failing to represent all other students. It places the interests of campus agitators over those of our broad and diverse student community. The conversation on this issue is far from unanimous, and we are far from the only student community disturbed by these developments.
To be clear–the voices of a fractional minority of our Jewish campus community applauding this motion do not magically neutralize its antisemitism. Further, the tokenization of Jewish voices in this area is exploitative. Platforming the very small minority of Jews who oppose Zionism to suggest that opposition to Israel is inherently legitimate or representative of Jewish thought while dismissing the views of the broader Jewish community is a form of antisemitism. It also undermines genuine dialogue and bridge-building by using these individuals as a shield, ignoring the complex and varied reasons behind Jewish support for Israel. It fails to engage with the substance and reality of Jewish experiences, history and beliefs, instead reducing those few to mere tools in a political argument.
Under the guise of encouraging divestment from all “stakeholders in human rights violations,” the statement takes a singular and menacing focus on Israel. This disproportionate attention, complete with the application of double standards, echoes age-old antisemitic tropes. If the SRA intends to singularly target Israel, it must at least acknowledge its intentions rather than pretend to take issue with alleged human rights violations as a whole. This is an attack on Israel and the Jewish people wrapped up in a web of lies and misrepresentations.
By encouraging the University to divest from Israel while failing to recognize Israel’s right to exist, the statement lends support to one very specific and particularly intolerant path forward for Israelis and Palestinians. The movement to divest from Israel, headlined by Omar Barghouti’s Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) organization, is far from uncontroversial. Barghouti himself has stated that he fully “oppose[s] a Jewish state.” BDS takes economic opportunity from both Israelis and Palestinians, especially programs that foster coexistence. Advocating for a Palestinian state from the River to the Sea, the BDS movement is anti-peace, anti-coexistence, and anti-liberal. It singles out Israel in ways that marginalize Jewish and Israeli students, stifle open dialogue, and silence diverse perspectives.
This includes us Jewish students on our campus, where this statement threatens to fuel the environment of intimidation, targeting, and exclusion of Jewish students present since October 7. We certainly do not feel supported.
In passing this statement, the SRA has abandoned its mission to build a safer and more inclusive McMaster by tackling campus issues in favour of providing skewed commentary on a nuanced conflict in the Middle East. In creating a more hostile academic and social environment, the SRA has contributed to the very forces it purportedly aims to combat - division and discrimination. No student is served by these developments.
To Summarize
This statement demonstrates the MSU’s lack of leadership and its culture of tolerating antisemitism. Today, while we are troubled and deeply disappointed, we reaffirm our commitment to advocating for you at all levels. We remain unwaveringly here as a proud part of the student community, and we are not going anywhere.
We are here to stay. Hineinu. הננו.
Sincerely,
Hillel McMaster
