[Fdu] York U Faculty Association condemns rise of anti-Semitic incidents

[Cynthia Wright]

*YUFA condemns rise of anti-Semitic incidents*

The York University Faculty Association (YUFA) condemns the recent rise 
of anti-Semitic incidents that have taken place in the United States and 
Canada, including at York University. These attacks are hate crimes that 
deliberately target the Jewish community: places of worship, community 
centres, cemeteries, neighbourhoods, and individual members on campus or 
at work. We oppose these attacks in the strongest terms possible.  At 
this troubling time, we stand against all forms of hate, racism and 
anti-Semitism.

These attacks are not happening in a vacuum. They have emerged in a 
period in which bigots, racists and anti-Semites increasingly feel 
emboldened to spread their hateful ideas and to commit acts of hate. 
Along with anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism and Islamophobia have also 
been on the rise. YUFA opposes /all/ forms of hate and racism, and 
remains committed to supporting and defending any community under attack.

While acts of hate are meant to divide us from one another, they have, 
in some instances, achieved the opposite effect: a greater sense of 
unity among communities who resist. In the wake of the terror attack 
against a Quebec City mosque, in which six Muslim men were murdered, the 
Jewish community in Toronto was among the first to generate solidarity 
for the city’s Muslims—in several locations, organizing “rings of peace” 
around neighbourhood mosques during Friday prayers. Similarly, when 
Jewish cemeteries were recently desecrated in the United States, groups 
of Muslim activists raised tens of thousands of dollars to repair the 
damage.

All of us can play a role in generating solidarity, following the lead 
of our Jewish and Muslim colleagues and friends. As teachers and 
community leaders at York, faculty are well poised to speak out against 
hate whenever we or our students and colleagues encounter it. Indeed, we 
have a special responsibility to do so.

In the weeks and months ahead, let us do our part to counter and shift 
the broader political climate, and build the kind of community in which 
all its members enjoy the dignity and respect they deserve.

This statement is available online 
<http://www.yufa.ca/yufa-condemns-rise-of-anti-semitic-incidents/> and 
in PDF 
<http://www.yufa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/YUFA-condemns-rise-of-anti-Semitic-incidents.pdf>. 
Please download and share widely.

Read “Unite against hate, racism and Islamophobia 
<http://www.yufa.ca/unite-against-hate-racism-and-islamophobia/>,” 
posted on January 30, 2017.

Read “After the US election: YUFA statement against all forms of 
oppression 
<http://www.yufa.ca/after-the-us-election-yufa-statement-against-all-forms-of-oppression/>,” 
posted on November 17, 2016.

-- 

*York University Faculty Association*

YUFA is the professional association and certified bargaining agent for 
approximately 1,500 faculty, librarians and archivists, and 
post-doctoral visitors at York University.

t. 416-736-5236 <tel:416-736-5236>  | Email <mailto:yufa at yorku.ca>  | 
Website <http://www.yufa.ca/>  | Facebook 
<https://www.facebook.com/yufayorku>  | Twitter 
<https://twitter.com/YUFAyorku> | YouTube 
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_9LftP2oHhil5p7cDoPUMg/>

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