Campus repression

The Carleton University administration has been conducting an active campaign of repression against activists advocating human rights for Palestinians.

• On 3 February 2009, President Runte silenced two students seeking to enter into a respectful dialogue on the question of the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
• During the week of 9 February 2009, Carleton University's Equity Services banned SAIA's poster for Israel Apartheid Week 2009 and, on February 12, the administration sent campus police to remove the posters from SAIA's information table in the Unicentre. The University's Provost, Feridun Hamdullahpur, then sent a letter to the entire university community threatening students who do not comply with the high administration's arbitrary and reactionary interpretation of the Ontario Human Rights Code, cynically used here as a fig leaf to harrass students for political activism.  

Broader context

The incidents of repression against Palestinian human rights activists at Carleton is part of a wider context, in which university administrators are actively harassing students for their political activities through the use of bureaucratic mechanisms and blatant violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, such as the 2008 ban of the "Israel Apartheid" phrase at McMaster University.

In February 2009, two articles were published by anti-apartheid activists documenting in detail the mechanisms by which university administrators have been violating the civil liberties of student activists advocating for Palestinian human rights.

• Margaret Aziza Pappano, "Academic Freedom Threatened in Ontario Universities", The Bullet, 18 February 2009.
• Liisa Schofield, "Exposed: University of Toronto Suppresses Pro-Palestinian Activism", The Bullet, 18 February 2009.

Canadian academics fight back

Moreover, 325 Canadian academics have signed onto an open letter criticizing university administrators for their harassment of students. The full letter, along with signatures, is available on CAIA's website. The main text of the letter follows.

Defend Freedom of Speech: Open Letter to university community regarding Palestinian Rights and Canadian Universities

The last two years have seen increasing efforts to limit advocacy of Palestinian rights on Canadian universities, amounting to a pattern of the suppression of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. These include:

    * Statements from 19 university presidents in the summer of 2007 to foreclose debate on the academic boycott of Israel, citing “academic freedom”.
    * Visits to Israel by eight university presidents in the summer of 2008, with no equivalent outreach to Palestinian institutions.
    * Efforts to ban the use of the term “Israeli Apartheid” at McMaster University in February-March 2008, overturned only through a campaign of protest
    * Discipline against students involved in peaceful protests for Palestinian rights at York University in March in 2008
    * Attempted discipline against a faculty member who addressed a rally against Israeli Apartheid at York University in 2008
    * A pattern of cancellation of room bookings for meetings concerning Palestinian rights at the University of Toronto and York University in 2008
    * The use of security clearance requirements and fees to cover security costs to impede campus meetings about Palestinian rights

We the undersigned:

    * Defend the right to freedom of speech about Palestine for all members of the university community, including freedom to use the term ‘apartheid’ to identify and debate certain policies associated with the state of Israel and the freedom to support, facilitate and participate freely in activities under the rubric of “Israeli apartheid week”
    * Call for an end to the silencing of speech around Palestine, removing extraordinary requirements for security clearance and fees for security services
    * Support increased ties to Palestinian institutions and scholars, and activities to support the right to education and academic freedom of Palestinians