Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), an organization at Carleton University committed to promoting awareness for Palestinian rights and issues, held a discussion panel Nov. 18 regarding its campaign against Carleton’s’ decoration of the Azrieli name.
The event featured panelists Mohammed Nijim, an SJP member and PHD candidate at Carleton; Bill Skidmore, a retired human rights professor; and Nahla Abdo, a sociology professor.
David Azrieli, an Israeli-Canadian and graduate of Carleton’s School of Architecture in 1997, is known for his philanthropic influence at the school. His surname is featured on buildings across campus, and is highlighted in the enduring Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton.
The SJP prepared a brief to be presented to Carleton’s Board of Governors (BoG). Skidmore read and paraphrased the brief at the panel: “Azrieli became a willing participant in a campaign of killing, dispossession, and ethnic-cleansing, directed towards the Indigenous Palestinian population, with the purpose of establishing a Jewish state on their land.”
Azrieli served on the board of the Canada Israel Committee (CIC) and was the president of the Canadian Zionist Federation (CZF). To the SJP, this is a conflict of interest and a foundational matter to their campaign.
“To have buildings and a program named after such a person inherently legitimizes inexcusable violence … [The Azrieli] name is emblematic of the pain, displacement and degradation inflicted upon Palestinians,” Skidmore said.
In response to the SJP’s campaign, provost and vice president (academic), Jerry Tomberlin, wrote in an email, ”The Azrieli Foundation has been widely involved in philanthropy for a very long time … Our research has not revealed any issues or concerns and we consider this matter closed.”
“The only thing that [Tomberlin] referred to was philanthropy, as if money is the only thing that plays a role in naming buildings at our university.” panelist Nijim said.
Nijim said Tomberlin’s response was the only email from the university the group had received, despite several follow up emails.
“They have ignored us, they have not responded to our emails anymore.” said Skidmore.
Panelists expressed dissatisfaction with the university’s response.
“The university is selective in showing solidarity and support. They adopt a double-standard policy towards various questions, most recently the case in Ukraine,” Nijim said. Carleton published a public statement of solidarity with Ukraine in March.
Members of the SJP said current Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) President Anastasia Stoikos-Lettieri, who was undergraduate governor on the BoG at the time, was among those emailed who did not respond.
In an email to the Charlatan, Stoikos-Letteiri said she had no authority to reply on behalf of the board and clarified she has not received a letter from SJP since she became CUSA president.
“I welcome members of the SJP to reach out via email to discuss their campaign, as I would be very happy to learn more about it,” she wrote.
Alongside the campaign which began in September 2021, the SJP decided to host Friday’s event to collaborate directly with students. Nijim and Mohammed Steiteh, head of SJP’s events team, intend to rally support with others outside of the university as well.
“We have decided that we want to take this [issue] into the public sphere,” said Steiteh.
SJP indicated their intention to work with Integrity Not Spite Against Falastin (INSAF), the Palestinian rights and issues group at uOttawa. The Charlatan reached out to INSAF for comment but did not receive a response.
In 2021, Carleton announced the University Centre, Residence Commons and Robertson Hall will be renamed to better reflect the diversity of the university, taking Algonquin and Black communities into consideration in the renaming.
Skidmore recalled the campaign to rename Carleton’s Robertson Hall last year. Renaming the building dedicated to the former deputy minister of norther affairs required significant efforts over the course of about a year by Inuit students to convince the university to make the change.
“You have to know that this is an institution [that is] complicit in the silencing of voices,” he said.
Palestinian-Canadians studying at Carleton are generally disturbed by the issue, Nijim said. He added better representation of Palestinian rights will only occur by holding panels and campaigns.
“I encourage [students] to speak with a Palestinian. As we know, most of the media outlets are censored in Canada and the West,” Nijim said. “Ask them about the reality of Palestine.”
An earlier version of this article stated Carleton announced it would rename its University Centre, Residence Commons and Robertson Hall in 2019, not 2021, and misspelled Jerry Tomberlin’s name. The Charlatan regrets the error. This article was last updated Nov. 28, 2022.
Featured image by Myles Bodie.
