Written by: Omri Haiven, SFU Student
Content warning: mentions of war, genocide, and antisemitism.
My name is Omri Haiven, and I’m a Jew who is a graduate student at SFU’s School of Communication. I’m also an active member of Independent Jewish Voices, which is an organization that works to advance the rights of Palestinians while combating antisemitism and expressing Jewish culture. Alongside many other Jews on campus, I’m sickened to see the ongoing bombing and decimation of Gaza by Israel in the name of a so-called “Jewish homeland.” Israel is not my homeland, and in fact, I believe Israel’s repression of Palestinians promotes more antisemitism and instability in the world. It is not antisemitic to oppose Israel’s decimation of Gaza, its apartheid regime within its own borders, nor its illegal occupation of the West Bank for more than 57 years. Opposing all this is a moral and humanitarian stance.
I’m deeply concerned by the motion from SFSS Council members to take away the vital policies that uphold human rights on a range of important humanitarian issues, including Palestine. The SFSS Palestinian Liberation policy supported “the liberation and self-determination of Palestinians in their quest for freedom, justice, right to return, and land back,” in addition to calling for Boycotting, Divesting, and Sanctioning (BDS) the state of Israel. While in the end the SFSS voted to call for a ceasefire and defended their own policy on Palestine, the fact that it was even at risk of being removed speaks to a troubling trend on campuses. More students are being pushed to silence when criticizing Israel, and being prevented from contributing to the global movement to halt Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.
As a Jew, and as a person of conscience, I know this work is an important testament to the humanity of our campus community as well as our respect for international law. I’m sad to see attempts to abandon a principled and moral stance toward Palestinian liberation in favour of remaining neutral or in agreement with Israel’s ongoing war crimes. We must stand up for those who are oppressed and hold true to the SFU community’s tradition of being a progressive voice for change.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a necessary tool we must use to promote justice in Israel and Palestine and work toward peace in the region. This is a strategy that has been demonstrated as successful through the historic struggle against South African Apartheid championed by university communities throughout North America. It’s now time for our generation to boycott, divest and sanction companies and institutions complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights. The SFSS already passed a motion in favour of BDS, and the recent genocide in Gaza underscores the need for our campus community to follow suit and uphold international law and the rights of Palestinian people.
Finally, it’s important to acknowledge the real threat of white supremacy to Jews and other minorities. White supremacy has only grown in recent years as a result of the candidacy of right-wing bigots in the US and Canada, and is evidenced by the uptick in hate crimes over the past years. Broad and multi-racial coalitions need to be formed on campus and in the Lower Mainland to combat this move toward hate that affects people from all backgrounds.
We must not make the mistake of equating solidarity with the Palestinian people as antisemitic hatred. In fact, we must guard against this dangerously distracting false equivalency by employing rigorous standards when it comes to our definitions of antisemitism. The Jerusalem Declaration on antisemitism is the most robust and widely accepted definition today. It has the added benefit of taking into account other forms of discrimination without conflating legitimate criticism of Israel with actual forms of antisemitism. It explicitly states that “supporting the Palestinian demand for justice,” “criticizing or opposing Zionism as a form of nationalism,” and “evidence-based criticism of Israel as a state” are not antisemitic.
If we are to be on the right side of history, we must stand with organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem in calling for an end to Israeli apartheid while we demand a ceasefire in Gaza for the sake of humanity.
