Daphne Anson: Windsor's Shame: Canadian university votes for BDS

Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East. (From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Windsor's Shame: Canadian university votes for BDS

The Students' Alliance at the University of Windsor in Ontario has just written itself into the annals of infamy by becoming the first university in Canada to vote in favour of BDS via a referendum of undergraduates.

The result was as follows:
Yes: 798
No: 585
None of the above: 10
Abstain: 14

Days before the vote, vandals broke into the locked office of the the vice-president of academic affairs at the university's Student Alliance (UWSA), Jake DeJong, ransacked it, and scrawled a Star of David and the word "Zionist" on a flag bearing the motto "Support our Troops".

Windsor police are treating the incident as a hate crime.

Reports a local newspaper:

'DeJong emphasized that he isn’t “for or against either side” of the BDS referendum. Rather, he stressed that his objective is geared towards student safety. “I’m for student safety and making sure that the (referendum) question that is asked is fair and equitable to both sides so we can get a true view from the student body.”

“I feel violated and I have no idea what to do,” he added....

UWSA President Rob Crawford said his organization doesn’t condone what has occurred in the student centre.

“The entire organization stands behind Jake and we strongly condemn any acts of hate speech, violence, vandalism or intimidation against any student,” said Crawford. “A safe and equitable campus is our top priority.”

The referendum has caused significant controversy on campus with reports of threats of violence and intimidation. Crawford alleged in an open address to students via his president’s blog that one of his executives verbally threatened a student, that the incident was reported to campus police and that students from both sides of the issue have been defacing or tearing down campaign materials.

“When I started as a University of Windsor student, I never saw this kind of thing developing because I always thought that we were a safe and cohesive student body. But this year has just gotten worse and worse with the division,” said DeJong....'

See here and here

However, there's better news from the City of Dreaming Spires, for as reported in a must-read blogpost here:

"Oxford University, which is ranked as one of the top five universities on the planet, has categorically rejected two motions supported by the BDS Movement. A motion that called upon Oxford students to boycott Israeli institutions and products was defeated, 69-10, with 15 abstentions. Another motion calling for students to partake in the BDS movement was similarly defeated. As a result, neither motion will proceed from the Oxford University Student Union to be placed before the National Union of British Students Conference...."

How great it is that the BDSers have found that Oxford is living up to its epithet of "the home of lost causes" as the poet Matthew Arnold termed it!

14 comments:

Ian2 March 2014 at 21:49
Windsor is ranked 876 in the world
http://www.4icu.org/reviews/620.htm

But good news from Oxford
Oxford Students Vote Against BDS Movement
http://jewsdownunder.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/oxford-students-vote-against-bds-movement/
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Empress Trudy2 March 2014 at 23:09
Wouldn't it be necessary for them to take the next step and throw all 'Zionist' Jews out of the university entirely be they students or staff? I would to take them at their word and demand they work for a complete elimination of Jews at the U. At least we would no longer have to be coy about it.
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Jill3 March 2014 at 00:37
I think the Oxford vote is due to the heightened campaigning by proIsrael students.
Daphne, can you please encourage your readers to join the Twitter battle against Israel apartheid week which is this month all over the world?
In Australia it's late March, 22- 28 I believe.
Relevant hashtags: #rethink2014 and #israelapartheidweek.
Sign up and Tweet why Israel Apartheid Week is a disgusting lie and Rethink 2014: why demonising Israel is wrong. Check the hashtags on Twitter and you'll get the idea.
Cheers!
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Daphne Anson3 March 2014 at 08:21
Now, why don't you and your ilk boycott the real human rights violators around the world? Ah, I fprgot: Iran, North Korea and similar hellholes aren't run by da Joos.
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Brian Goldfarb3 March 2014 at 08:45
I notice that "Anonymous" is...anonymous. Must be afraid that we fanged and blood-sucking Zionists are coming to get him/her.

Seriously, I note that "Anonymous" fails to provide anything even vaguely resembling evidence, let alone thought. Why is it that such people are forever asserting their position while we nasty evil Zionists are there with our evidence, facts, figures and rational arguments. Must be our commitment to the life of the free mind.

And while I'm here, "Anonymous", if you are so keen on boycotting Israel, why are you still able to use your computer, with Israeli-developed technology embedded within it?

Hypocrite!!
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Shirl in Oz3 March 2014 at 15:45
Seems mr/mrs/ms Anonymous is a coward hiding behind his or her lies.

Why don't you come out and have a decent discussion instead of posting the lies you and your ilk are brain washed with by your leftist friends?

Your whole statement is untrue and to be quite honest with you, what you claim in it, is problematic to say the least.

I can tell you why.

You have no facts to back you up. That's why.

You have to laugh at the 'billions of dollars quote' when ony recently it was revealed that the PLO had 'squandered/stolen/misused' 2 BILLION EUROS.

The joke on this person's part too is that Isrel is the largest donor of financial aid to the PA.
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Anonymous4 March 2014 at 12:24
This is embarrassing from the Windsor university. I have always thought that parents and educators don't take the time to actually teach children what is really happening in the world. If you want to vote on something so powerful and disturbing, you can't just sit there and listen to someone giving you their views and go along with it, there is always two sides to a story, research it, look it up talk to people then make a wise choice.
Israel is in a very difficult situation, where it is surrounded by people and nations that want nothing more than to destroy it. They can not just sit there and allow soldiers to be kidnapped, civilians to be killed, historic evidence to be destroyed. They have to protect themselves. As a Canadian you have a right to protect your family and yourself so do the Israelies.
Why would you want to boycott soda stream? because they employ Palestinians and pay them 4x what they would get paid by any Palestinian firm.
or should we boycott all the inventions from Israel, from our cellphones, to medical inventions. Why no boycott Israeli aid, why doesn't Jordan, or Kenya or many other places say no thank you we don't want your aid. Why is it that one of the richest Arab countries donated $5million dollars for the tsunami in Indonesia while Israel donated $25milion. How is it that Israel has created a land that is striving in agriculture, economics when it was given a barren desert. Why did Israel use monetary aid to build Israel and while the palesintian territories are still being given aid have done nothing to build Palestine but they do have the funds to build and buy rockets to send over to Israel. Please people lets not take our rights as Canadians for granted use them to educate yourself for what is right. Israel may not be the perfect state but neither is Canada, USA, Great Britain and lets not even mention the Arab states. One last thing, there was an Egyptian lawyer, female, calling on all Arab males to sexually harass jewish females. How could anyone cheer or support an act this cruel towards women, no matter where they come from, and this is what you want to support. It's a terrible shame. I am not Jewish but I support Israel and the Jewish people all the way.
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Daphne Anson4 March 2014 at 12:27
Many thanks for your comment.
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Anonymous4 March 2014 at 12:59
Unfortunately sometimes we are helpless (such as this time) but on others we are not.Many years ago we were at an outdoor event in the summer and there was a deluge. Everyone ran at once for the exit and of course the exit was like the narrow end of the funnel. There were a group of Lubavitch kids exiting and the moron behind me said to his partner; "Look at the f____n Jews blocking the exit." As I was an ultra-endurance athlete at the time I had very strong legs. I looked down, saw the man's foot, lift my leg, knee to my chest and slammed my heel into his instep with all of my considerable might. I did not even look back, BUT I heard a squeaking noise emanating from his mouth. I wonder if he still walks with a limp. And now to make a litre of flavoured soda water with my Soda Stream
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Anonymous11 March 2014 at 03:32
This "referendum" is currently under review by the universtiy president. Most students at the university of Windsor didn't know the vote was happening until after the results were posted. As a student at the university of windsor, I was taken completely by suprise by the vote. Hopefully the president will overturn the vote, but until then, there's not much we can do.
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