Cheryl Kier, Athabasca University

My story about experiencing antisemitism at my university after October 7 cannot be dealt with by launching a lawsuit, or by the typical advice given by authorities regarding what to do about such instances. I cannot complain that I have been discriminated against due to any of the grounds that are covered by provincial law. I was not harassed, so cannot complain based on harassment policies. Nor was I directly approached with antisemitic slurs or accusations. Perhaps my human rights or my academic freedom were violated, but I cannot find evidence to support this.

No, I believe that what I faced was institutional antisemitism and exclusion, and deliberate ignorance. It was antisemitism by omission, by what was *not* being said. My voice has been silenced, discarded, disrespected, and ignored. I believe I was sidelined by faculty association motions that were antisemitic under the guise of supporting academic freedom, union solidarity, and scholarship.

The Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) passed several motions since October 7, including a Statement on Academic Freedom in Times of War and Conflict, a request to support The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, a resolution in support of the people of Palestine, and a motion for solidarity with scholars in Palestine and against scholasticide in Gaza.

AUFA requested measures to safeguard faculty members from “targeted attacks against scholars who support the Palestinian struggle [which] have a chilling effect on the academic freedom of our members”. There was no mention about a chilling effect on the academic freedom of members who support the Israeli struggle, nor of a need to safeguard faculty and students from antisemitism or targeted attacks against Jewish and Israeli scholars. While there is no doubt that university members who express pro-Palestinian views deserve to be safeguarded against unfair consequences, to show equity, a statement, especially one hosted by an equity committee, should request that all other university members should be safeguarded as well. 

Much of the context provided in the AUFA statements referred to issues that are irrelevant to Athabasca University, academic freedom, or scholarship. I wrote to the AUFA executive explaining my concerns that it seemed extremely disingenuous and cunning to refer to “current catastrophic violence being enacted against Palestinians” and to describe Palestinian casualties without mentioning the horrific attack against innocent Israeli citizens on October 7. I asked them if they had forgotten or overlooked the Israeli youth raped, tortured and murdered simply for being at a concert, many of whom were the same ages as our own students. I asked the AUFA executive to explain how describing atrocities in the Middle East helped to support academic freedom or scholarship at Athabasca University. 

I told the AUFA executive that I found it concerning that a document supposedly about academic freedom singled out Israel’s behaviour. I suggested that if AUFA wished to engage in activism regarding issues not involving Athabasca University, perhaps they should create motions to prevent genocide on the part of Hamas. Ignoring this, as well as the treatment of Uyghurs in China, innocent people in Sudan, and civilians in Ukraine, smacks of a double standard, as the association was “requiring of it [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” Engaging in double standards is one example of antisemitism (http://tinyurl.com/364vvdva). 

Given that highly educated people who work in higher education wrote and endorsed these one-sided statements, I worry that they are teaching and modelling for the next generation that it is perfectly acceptable to present information that fits one’s ideology without acknowledging there may be other viewpoints. This contravenes the mission of higher education.

As for hope, when I reached out to the AEN, they responded immediately and helpfully. They put me in contact with their Canadian affiliate, the Network for Canadian Academics (NECA), who kindly wrote a letter to the AUFA executive pointing out factual errors and the anti-Jewish agenda. This sort of support is encouraging and promising for the future.