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Bekijk Volledige Versie : "Hillel" Zionistisch studenten vereniging verbannen in Canada wegen ronselen voor IDF



Wizdom
08-12-02, 17:28
Concordia University Hillel banned by Student Union
By MELISSA RADLER
NEW YORK
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The campus Hillel at Concordia University is threatening to file a lawsuit against the university's student union after its status as a campus organization and funding were revoked last week. The late-night, hastily-called vote lacked due process, say Hillel officials.

Hillel's troubles on the Montreal campus come amid heightened tensions for Jewish and pro-Israel students. In September, pro-Palestinian students rioted in advance of an address by Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, forcing him to cancel his appearance, and a Jewish student was physically assaulted soon after while removing an anti-Israel poster from a campus wall. The university recently imposed a three-month moratorium on all Middle East-related events.

Last Monday, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) voted by a margin of 8 to 1 to suspend the university's $3,000 in annual funding to Hillel, citing the group's display of brochures for Mahal 2000, a program for foreign volunteers in the IDF. The union accused Hillel of recruiting for a foreign army, which it said is illegal under Canadian law.

"Had it been...people recruiting for the Iraqi army or the Saudi Arabian army, they would have been treated in a similar fashion," the student union's vice president of finance, Sameer Zuberi, told The Globe and Mail.

The co-president of Hillel, Noah Sarna, told the Toronto newspaper that the student union never approached Hillel with its concerns, and that Jewish students found out about the vote just hours before it took place. Sarna's co-president, Noah Joseph, said the union "acted as judge, jury, and executioner in the span of less than an hour."

As university officials were seeking clarification on the legality of recruiting for Mahal 2000, the president of Hillel, Richard Joel, called allegations that the brochure is illegal under Canadian law "erronous." The head of Montreal Hillel Ariela Cotler told the JTA that the brochures were placed on the table by a student activist, not Hillel staffers.

On Thursday night, 400 Jewish students and supporters gathered on campus to voice their opposition to the ban. The gathering, which included a Hanukka candle-lighting and Hebrew songs, was interrupted by a few hecklers.

According to media reports, one pro-Palestinian student was arrested.

Meanwhile, the university administration is taking the student group to task for its vote. On Concordia's Web site, university officials wrote that the vote took place on the last day of class, at midnight and with little notice.

They noted that just one third of the student union's 27 officers showed up, producing a vote of 8-1. The student union, an accredited organization under Quebec law, is not accountable to the university.

"It is unclear whether due process was followed before the CSU Council decision was taken," stated the Web site. The site also noted that an attorney for Hillel has demanded that the student union reverse its decision by 5 p.m. Monday. While the university stated that it has no legal authority to intervene in the matter, "the current sanctions against Hillel are wholly disproportionate and should be modified," it stated.

Joel condemned Concordia's decision and called on the student union to reinstate Hillel. "We support Montreal Hillel's efforts to pursue legal action against the CSU," he said in a statement. "We call upon the university to denounce this action which flies in the face of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of association."