OPINION: All student voices deserve to be respected and heard on campus

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On Oct. 7, 2024, my Students Supporting Israel club hosted a table to honour those murdered and taken captive by Hamas. This table was vandalized with coffee poured on our Israel/Canada flag and a demonstration held across from us to honour “Palestinian martyrs.”

My York University campus is a breeding ground for indoctrinating students to endorse radical ideologies and Jew-hatred. When walking the hall, I am surrounded by posters that advertise support for Marxism and Hamas, disturbing me as a student who supports democracy. Being a Jewish and conservative student has never been an identity to share with fellow students on my campus, but it is my responsibility to promote Israel, Judaism, and conservative-minded values — just like any other student who’s proud of their identity.

However, when I place hostage posters in common areas of campus with other Zionist students, they are ripped down by pro-Hamas students who have identified our hostages, including baby Kfir Bibas, as “combatants.”

As president of both the Students Supporting Israel and the Campus Conservatives, two student-run organizations, I am lucky to have a stage where I can speak my mind proudly. Although I work with many other incredible students, we are still a minority on our campus and are forced to face Jew-hatred and the spreading of radical values on a daily basis.

Our student union, the York Federation of Students (YFS), claims to represent all students, while only advocating for pro-Hamas students and identifying those students as the majority of students on campus to the public. Ever since Oct. 7, 2023, the YFS has tabled with Palestinian flags, and published a controversial statement in support of Hamas. Since Oct. 7 was the largest targeted attack on Jews since the Holocaust, it harmed the safety and mental health of Jewish students at York, knowing that our student union supports these acts of Jew-hatred.

According to a survey, conducted in the journal article Jews and Israel 2024 Survey: Ten Further Insights, 91% of Canadian Jews are Zionists — making it unjust for the YFS to appoint anti-Zionist organizations to be representatives for the Jewish community on campus. The YFS uses its platform to promote what it wants to, but when they must support Jewish students, their allegiance is to the anti-Zionist Jewish students. If the YFS wanted to be fair to the Jewish community, they would want to hear the views of what Jews on-campus support, and connect with student clubs like Students Supporting Israel and Hillel York, but they do not because of their obvious disagreements.

On the YFS website, they advertise a “Cops Off Campus!” campaign to depict a narrative that all students are fighting for the removal of police presence at York and condemn the Toronto Police for interrupting an event hosted by Dr. M. Muhannad Ayyash, an openly anti-Israel influencer. The YFS included a statement made in support of Ayyash’s event by the Jewish Faculty Network (JFN), a Jewish anti-Zionist X page to “empathize” with the Jewish community. Especially after listing actions done by the YFS, it is evident why we need cops on campus!

The JFN strongly rejects the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by the Government of Ontario to combat Jew-hatred. This campaign and statement do not reflect my views as a Jewish student at York. I support police presence on campus to be there to protect our community and consider myself an advocate for the IHRA.

Although most students at York do not have a view of Israel or the Jewish community, actions done by the YFS influence these students to develop a biased opinion. My responsibility is to educate these students about Israel and Jew-hatred through hosting tables and events, and establishing coalitions with our communities on campus.

While I understand those who choose not to listen to us, it is wrong to target students for their beliefs. I would never vandalize a communist or pro-Palestine table on campus, even though I disagree with what it promotes. Yet, the Student Supporting Israel table on Oct. 7 was vandalized by ignorant students who cannot accept a campus where students disagree.

We pay tuition like any other student and have the right to publicize whatever we choose. All we ask for is to be respected and not be bothered, that’s it.

– Michael Mandel is a fourth-year Jewish Studies and Political Science student at York University, and a Campus Media Ambassador with HonestReporting Canada and Allied Voices for Israel