By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
In May, SFU shared a collection of resources for Jewish Heritage Month. In response, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) SFU issued a statement condemning the inclusion of links from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which are Zionist organizations.
IJV SFU, “a small collective of anti-Zionist Jewish students” on campus, was explicit in expressing that the ADL and CIJA alike “endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-semitism, which conflates criticism of Israel with bigotry against Jewish people.” According to IJV SFU, the “definition has been used to smear anti-genocide protestors and perpetuates Islamaphobia and anti-Palestinian racism.” Both organizations have published pieces denying that the state of Israel is committing genocide.
IJV’s statement included a call to action, asking “that SFU revise this resource list with an effort to preserve our university’s commitment to social justice and peace-building.” They added, “We expect that an institution of higher learning, such as our own, would have done more research to understand the nature of the resources they are distributing on behalf of the Jewish community.”
The Peak spoke with Dina, a member of IJV. Dina compared the resources shared by SFU to the school’s stated commitment to the University Act, explaining that “the idea that this is just a non-political document on Jewish history is obviously not true and does go against [SFU’s] stated goal and position of being non-political and sectarian.” She added, “On top of that, I would argue that CIJA literally has Israel in its name — it’s an explicitly political organization.
“We ask that SFU revise this resource list with an effort to preserve our university’s commitment to social justice and peace-building.” — Dina, Independent Jewish Voices SFU
“It’s really hard to claim that anything is non-political these days, especially when there’s a genocide going on. You can’t really be neutral in a situation like that.” While IJV reached out to SFU after the document was sent out, the university has yet to reply. SFU told The Peak, “The university often shares resources from the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), or other partner organizations, for those in our community who may be interested. The three-page document on Jewish History Month contained around 80 links to articles, groups, movies, books, podcasts, and social media accounts. The list is compiled by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and any questions or concerns about those educational resources should be directed there.”
Dina explained, “We as Jews have no problem in educating people when it comes to anti-semitism, when it comes to Jewish heritage. I just think that it is very, very important that when we’re doing so, we’re doing so in a way that doesn’t pit us against other marginalized groups.” She added, “I also think that there are a lot of aspects of Jewish history and heritage that are not talked about. It’s always very tied to Zionism and imperialist projects.
“Until I got involved with IJV, I didn’t know anything about the Bund, which was a socialist Jewish movement” founded in 1897. It was explicitly anti-Zionist and called for “the abolition of discrimination against Jews.” The Bund “fought for a democratic republic, women’s equality, social reforms, and an eight–hour workday.” The movement also defended “Jewish identity, the Yiddish language, and the culture of Eastern European Jewry.”
“Things like that never get highlighted when it comes to Jewish history,” Dina said. Regarding what IJV is focused on at the moment, Dina shared that the organization is hoping to reach out to more Jews at SFU. She also spoke to her involvement in an ongoing project titled the 2025 University Scholasticide Response University Rankings, which involves ranking Canadian universities on “their complicity in genocide and their commitments to various goals and demands that students have laid out.”
SFU is second on the list for “most responsive to scholasticide,” with the ranking giving SFU an “A” for “divestment from or lack of investments in complicit corporations.” SFU has not divested from companies that supply arms to Israel, investing $7.2 million in 2024. University of Alberta, at the bottom of the list with a D+ in divestment, comparatively “has invested more than $130 million per year in at least 46 companies that are well-known violators of Palestinians’ human rights,” according to Just Peace Advocates. All universities that have been graded, the rankings note, would received an “F” had they not been graded on a curve.
