Statement to the Community & NEWS RELEASE

Windsor Jewish Federation expresses profound disappointment over University agreements

 July 11, 2024

To the Windsor Jewish Community:

Yesterday, I became aware through media reports that the University of Windsor signed two far reaching agreements with the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance and the Windsor Liberation Zone Team to end the pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Windsor.  

Over the past six months, the Advocacy Committee has worked tirelessly to support the University of Windsor Jewish Students Association (UWJSA) and to open lines of communication with the leadership at the university about the concerns of the Jewish students on campus. Today, we resolve to continue to do so in a constructive manner, even in the face of these agreements which are a disappointment to many Jewish and non-Jewish alumni, students, community members and professors.

Since yesterday, we have been in touch with our contacts at CIJA, B’nai Brith and the UWJSA.  On behalf of the community, the Advocacy Committee and I drafted the statement which is set out below to send out to the media and other contacts. 

STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Windsor Jewish Federation learned yesterday that the University of Windsor signed two far-reaching agreements to put an end to the hateful encampment on university grounds.  While other Canadian universities have taken such protestors to court, obtained injunctions, and engaged private security to remove protestors violating policies from university grounds, the administration negotiated with promoters of hate, capitulated to the demands of bullies, and rewarded discriminatory behaviours leading to an unsafe environment on university grounds.  These agreements were signed without input from relevant stakeholders, including the Jewish students or the Windsor Jewish Federation.

Since October 7th, when Hamas terrorists started a war by violently attacking Israeli civilians, Jewish life on campus at the University of Windsor has become unbearable.  Former University of Windsor Jewish Law Students Association president Sydney Greenspoon characterized the experience on campus after October 7th as “an unsafe place to be an openly proud Jew. It is a campus that fosters hate and allows antisemitism to flourish, forcing the few Jewish students to hide any sign of our Jewish identity, in fear for our physical and psychological safety. This is the new reality we, the Jewish students, are facing on campus.”

On behalf of the Windsor Jewish Federation, including the Windsor Jewish community and its students who attend the university, we are profoundly disappointed and concerned.  These agreements have far-reaching implications and impact the Jewish campus community directly.  Making such agreements and lending institutional validation to the harmful efforts of those seeking to further an anti-Jewish agenda emboldens lawlessness on campus and will only serve to marginalize Jewish students further while discouraging them from attending the University of Windsor.