Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) effectively challenges the notion every year whether or not the university is truly an institution of higher learning. During the course of my four-year undergraduate degree at Carleton, I have been privy to the rhetoric offered by this group.
Israel has a 20 per cent Arab minority.This minority can engage in every facet of political life, from being a member of the Knesset (equivalent to being members of Parliament), to being on the Supreme Court, as well as generals in the Israel Defence Forces. I haven’t heard this information brought forward by the SAIA group.
In the many arguments I have had with supporters of this group, I have typically been shouted at, told I was a “Zionist” spouting “Zionist lies.” These aren’t actual rebuttals to an argument but are instead weak attempts to shut down debate.
It does not help that this type of destructive attitude towards academic discourse is reinforced and reverberated in the echo chamber of the human rights department.
Professor Bill Skidmore was once quoted saying, “I don’t invite those who, in my estimation, support policies and/or engage in actions which are detrimental to the realization of human rights.” He was referring to providing a proper discussion on Israel.
The fact is Israel serves as a safe haven for sexual, religious, and ethnic minorities who would never be able to achieve their full human rights in any of the surrounding countries throughout the Middle East. Israel-bashing can get so vitriolic on this campus that it clouds the most basic facts of what is actually occurring on the ground there.
Carleton produced an inter-cultural report in 2012, which noted Jewish and Aboriginal students faced discrimination at this institution. Professors and students immediately signed a letter stating the report was wrong but accepted that Aboriginals were facing discrimination. They neglected to mention that Jewish people are facing discrimination as well. Instead, they turned it into a political issue about Israel.
Their flawed logic ignores that the same methodology was used for both groups. If you accept the basis for one then it follows you should accept the other conclusion as well.
The gaps of logic presented by some of our “esteemed” faculty would be comical if it wasn’t so dangerously irresponsible. Divisions have indeed deepened on our campus and are perpetuated by radical members of the student body as well as educators who have a responsibility to all their students regardless of religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.
No serious person can claim to be a promoter of human rights and disproportionately target Israel at every opportunity. Speaking truth to power is more than just a slogan—it means saying what may not be popular in the face of adversity presented by fellow colleagues and professors in positions of influence and accepting the backlash that follows.
I encourage students to speak up in class if they feel a colleague or professor is inaccurate in what they say. The mandate of a university is to be an institution of higher learning, but SAIA and its supporters challenge that mandate with unadulterated vitriol. It’s the most embarassing week of the year.
