Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHTR) in response to the Carleton administration’s decision to ban the group’s posters for its Israeli Apartheid Week earlier this year.
The student group claims that they were mistreated by the Carleton administration “because of their association with, and support of, Palestinians;” and that the group’s “members and allies, including Palestinians students, have been threatened and intimidated by the Carleton University administration,” in what the group calls a “failed attempt to thwart Israeli Apartheid Week.”
Since the complaint, which was filed in mid-May by SAIA, the Carleton administration has said the student group’s claims are “false and completely unfounded.”
“The issue is now being addressed by the Human Rights Tribunal and will provide us with a formal opportunity to respond point by point to these false claims once and for all. In the meantime we’re not going to do anything to undermine that process,” Carleton said in a statement issued Aug. 6.
The poster in question pictured a small child bearing a shadow that read “Gaza,” being targeted by a helicopter labeled as “Israel.” Carleton’s Equity Services banned the posters, deeming them in violation of Carleton’s human rights policy and infringing on rights protected in the Ontario Human Rights (OHR) code.
SAIA said it believes that Equity Services’ referral to the OHR code was misguided.
“The very basic problem is the referral to [the poster’s use of] anti-Semitism, something which is completely unrelated. This is not an issue of race. It’s an issue of human rights and politics, of disagreeing and agreeing,” said SAIA representative Yasmine Abu-Ayyash.
The complaint submitted to the OHRT was also in response to what SAIA claims to be a “threatening” letter sent out by former Carleton provost Feridun Hamdullahpur shortly after the poster was banned.
As the letter celebrated Carleton as a “champion and a leader” of free speech and dialogue, it also warned of sanctions upon students who partake in “discrimination, harassment, and intolerance.”
But Abu-Ayyash argued that if SAIA’s opinions make students feel uneasy, “then the poster does its job.”
“Students should be offended by the events that the poster refers to. We should be engaging in education, critical thinking and dialogue,” she said.
Since the release of the poster, and now with SAIA’s recent complaint, Jewish advocacy groups have condemned the student group’s efforts.
Jewish advocacy organization B’nai Brith recently labelled it a “frivolous complaint,” reported The Jewish Tribune.
Hillel Carleton, a Jewish advocacy group on campus, “supports the Carleton administration for taking a bold stance in ensuring a safe environment for all Carleton students.”
“In recognizing the inflammatory nature of the poster, the Carleton administration took an important step toward establishing a more peaceful, less divisive atmosphere on campus,” said Chelsea Sauvé, president of Hillel Carleton.
The mediation process between SAIA and the Carleton administration is set for October, according to SAIA.
Abu-Ayyash said that whether the tribunal agrees with SAIA or not, “you still have a right to these avenues. If we succeed, this will be a win to other groups on campus.”