Once again, Concordia University Admin Defends Israel, Not Its Students

 

Eight hundred and eighty-five to fifty-eight. That was the result of a recent Concordia student vote in favor of the university severing ties with Israel.

At a Special General Meeting of the Concordia Student Union (CSU) undergraduates voted more than 15 to 1 to adopt two motions in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). With twice the quorum required for a special CSU meeting, the January 29 assembly drew more students than any room at the university can handle.

The impressive display of direct democracy follows on from 11 student associations representing over 11,000 Concordia students voting to strike for two days in late November for Palestine. That mobilization was part of a Quebec-wide strike with 35 associations representing over 80,000 college and university students voting to strike on November 21 and 22.

The General Assembly vote confirms that Concordia students overwhelmingly back action against genocide and remain mobilized for Palestine. It also highlights the hollowness of Jewish Zionist campus groups. Despite funding from the Mel Hoppenheim Fund to Combat Antisemitism at Concordia and support from top Jewish community figures, StandWithUs’ failed miserably to get students to vote against the resolutions. Considering the overwhelming vote, it’s near certain more Jewish students voted to divest than against.

But the vote also highlights the power of the older pro-Israel Jewish donor class. Hours after the impressive display of direct democracy, Concordia president Graham Carr released a statement labeling the vote “deeply troubling”. It claimed “heavily masked individuals” employed “intimidation tactics”.

A week later, the administration sent a letter to the CSU announcing that they were barring the union from booking spaces on campus and launching an investigation against it for purportedly violating university policies.

The reason given for this move was the presence of food at the special meeting and the use of an area adjacent to the main room for the overflow crowd, which they say the CSU did not book properly. So, the administration is punishing the union for students turning out in droves to take seriously their responsibilities as members of the university and global community.  (more...)

Once again, Concordia University Admin Defends Israel, Not Its Students