[Fdu] Fwd: Urgent statement - Please circulate and sign by Wednesday Sep. 23 @10am

[peter fitting]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Urgent statement - Please circulate and sign by Wednesday Sep. 
23 @10am
Date: 	Mon, 21 Sep 2020 13:10:12 -0400
From: 	UTFaculty <openletterutfaculty at GMAIL.COM>
Reply-To: 	UTFaculty <openletterutfaculty at GMAIL.COM>
To: 	OPENLETTERFACULTY-L at LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA




Dear colleagues - Please see the important statement below. You can sign 
here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSequFh6r-FJdpe875P--bXBnJ4jjOEw0A5yPwiFcK-E2GxRzg/viewform


Statement on Palestine Speech Suppression and University of Toronto 
Faculty of Law
STATEMENT FOR SIGNING BY LAWYERS AND ACADEMICS (BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE 
CANADA). SIGNING DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 10 AM PLEASE INPUT 
YOUR FULL NAME AND ANY POSITION AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION IN THE 
FORM BELOW THE STATEMENT TEXT. THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES WILL BE UPDATED 
PERIODICALLY. IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY DIFFICULTIES SIGNING, PLEASE 
CONTACT: azeezah.kanji at utoronto.ca. STATEMENT TEXT: As lawyers and 
academics, we are deeply troubled and exasperated by the pervasive 
repression of speech and scholarship on Palestine. This includes recent 
reports that University of Toronto’s Faculty of law rescinded an 
employment offer to noted international human rights scholar Dr 
Valentina Azarova, following a complaint by a sitting judge regarding 
her research on Israel’s occupation policies [1]. The reported treatment 
of Dr Azarova is consistent with a broader and intensifying climate of 
suppression. Lawyers, academics, journalists, teachers, artists, 
students, activists, and trade unions in Canada have been subjected to 
smear campaigns, event cancellations, physical violence, professional 
disciplinary measures, and condemnation by the Prime Minister and other 
political leaders, for opposing Israel’s gross violations of 
international law and expressing solidarity with Palestinians. (for 
examples see [2]) In August, Indigenous CBC journalist Duncan McCue was 
required to apologize simply for using the word “Palestine” on-air. The 
situation in Canada mirrors that in other countries. In the United 
States, for example, 1,494 incidents targeting free speech were reported 
to NGO Palestine Legal from 2014 to 2019; 74% were directed at students 
and academics at universities. In France, rights activists have been 
criminally convicted for their support of the Boycott, Divestment, and 
Sanctions campaign pressuring Israel to comply with international law. 
This criminalization was recently condemned by the European Court of 
Human Rights as a violation of freedom of expression. The clamp-down 
threatens to be further exacerbated by the institutionalization of the 
International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of 
antisemitism. As a 2018 letter from more than 40 Jewish organizations 
around the world warns: “The International Holocaust Remembrance 
Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is increasingly being 
adopted or considered by western governments, is worded in such a way as 
to be easily adopted or considered by western governments to 
intentionally equate legitimate criticisms of Israel and advocacy for 
Palestinian rights with antisemitism, as a means to suppress the 
former.” A statement signed by more than 400 academics opposes the 
implementation of this definition in Canada for this reason. Even the 
original drafter of the IHRA definition, Kenneth Stern, has cautioned 
against “enshrin[ing] this definition into law” due to the danger of 
legally conflating anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Yet Ontario’s Bill 168 
proposes to do precisely that, by mandating use of the IHRA definition 
to interpret anti-discrimination and anti-hate laws. Motions to adopt 
this problematic definition have also been tabled in municipal councils 
across the country. The intensification of speech repression coincides 
with the intensification of Palestinian oppression and dispossession, 
with Israel’s planned formal annexation of Palestinian territory - 
denounced by 48 UN human rights experts as the "crystallisation of an 
already unjust reality." In the face of these gross and flagrant 
transgressions, it is vital that the space for scholarship, speech, and 
activism in defence of the most basic rights of Palestinians be 
preserved. This includes the work of scholars like Dr Azarova. It is 
highly perturbing when academic institutions and law faculties – instead 
of protecting free speech and fundamental rights – are participants in 
the suppression. We call on the University of Toronto Faculty of Law to 
restore Dr Azarova’s employment offer and issue an apology. We also call 
on the Canadian Judicial Council to investigate the conduct of the judge 
who complained about Dr Azarova’s appointment. And we call on all 
academic and government institutions to cease subjecting those defending 
justice for Palestinians to censorship and penalization. [1] 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-u-of-t-law-school-under-fire-for-opting-not-to-hire-human-rights/ 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-u-of-t-law-school-under-fire-for-opting-not-to-hire-human-rights/&sa=D&ust=1600711538682000&usg=AFQjCNGLurC0sLdZjrIHEjY-nrbrPjmNrg>, 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-judicial-council-urged-to-investigate-judge-accused-of/ 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-judicial-council-urged-to-investigate-judge-accused-of/&sa=D&ust=1600711538682000&usg=AFQjCNHyUvK0nsy8QxXjp4gGIwdQcfTwmQ>; 
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/racism-appointment-row-toronto-university-200919163253751.html 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/racism-appointment-row-toronto-university-200919163253751.html&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNFIdj2q6zSsBacc3ycSq1Tr70OWeA> 
[2] For example: 
https://cfe.ryerson.ca/blog/2020/08/professor-petition-and-president-professor-bhabha-b%E2%80%99nai-brith-and-president-lenton 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cfe.ryerson.ca/blog/2020/08/professor-petition-and-president-professor-bhabha-b%25E2%2580%2599nai-brith-and-president-lenton&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNGfTTF3mwKupr1oGbSKG97OG8ofWw>; 
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/davide-mastracci/cjfe-palestine-israel-gaza-idf_a_23409900/ 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/davide-mastracci/cjfe-palestine-israel-gaza-idf_a_23409900/&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNH6jHvIcA-cYNsZVXsPC4vqQn5LSw>; 
https://www.otherplaces.mano-ramo.ca/rehab-nazzal-critical-art-and-censorship-encounter-of-a-palestinian-canadian-artist/ 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.otherplaces.mano-ramo.ca/rehab-nazzal-critical-art-and-censorship-encounter-of-a-palestinian-canadian-artist/&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNEZuqTa_HOG0w0id1LoMiQ7RIPdtA>; 
https://cpt.org/cptnet/2019/11/26/report-regarding-violence-york-university 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cpt.org/cptnet/2019/11/26/report-regarding-violence-york-university&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNGhYnujhUzbJwj4LPYG2_ZUyzSCqg>; 
https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/court-allows-lawsuit-against-bnai-brith-to-go-ahead 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/court-allows-lawsuit-against-bnai-brith-to-go-ahead&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNGQEt9puny64uyUhQnS9F9ge3hJJA>; 
https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/justin-trudeau-defends-his-opposition-to-bds-at-town-hall 
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/justin-trudeau-defends-his-opposition-to-bds-at-town-hall&sa=D&ust=1600711538683000&usg=AFQjCNGjG6Ky1-bUXYLVQ1-fQdVDZrxSeA> 
Drafted by: Dania Majid, Arab Canadian Lawyers Association Azeezah 
Kanji, legal academic and journalist SIGNATORIES: Diana Buttu U of T Law 
Alum Noura Erakat Assistant Professor, Rutgers University- New Brunswick 
Judith Butler UC Berkeley Richard Falk Milbank Professor Emeritus of 
International Law, Princeton University, Sherene Razack Distinguished 
Professor, UCLA Neve Gordon Professor of International Law, Queen Mary 
University of London David Palumbo-Liu Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, 
Stanford University Joel Beinin Donald J. McLachlan Professor of 
History, Emeritus, Stanford University Noam Chomsky Laureate Professor, 
U of Arizona; Institute Professor (emeritus), MIT Snehal Shingavi 
associate professor, English, UT Austin Nick Estes Assistant Professor, 
American Studies Eve Tuck Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, 
University of Toronto Andrew Ross Professor of Social and Cultural 
Analysis, New York University Malini Guha Associate Professor, Carleton 
University Kikélola Roach Unifor Chair in Social Justice & Democracy at 
Ryerson University Ruhan Nagra University Network for Human Rights 
Nicola Perugini Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh Johnny E. 
Williams Professor of Sociology, Trinity College Min Sook Lee Associate 
Professor, OCAD University rosalind hampton Assistant Professor, 
University of Toronto Aziz Choudry Associate Professor/Canada Research 
Chair, Integrated Studies of Education, McGill University Diana Allan 
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology and the Institute for 
the Study of International Development, McGill University Bill Mullen 
Retired Professor Purdue University Beverly Bain Women and Gender 
Studies/ Department of Historical Studies University of Toronto Sanober 
Umar Assistant Professor, York University Nadia, Abu-Zahra Associate 
Professor and Joint Chair in Women's Studies, University of Ottawa and 
Carleton University Yavar Hameed Human Rights Lawyer, Hameed Law Deborah 
Cowen Professor, University of Toronto Eric Shragge Associate Professor 
(retired) School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University 
Michelle Hartman Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill 
University John Greyson Associate Professor, Film, York University Diane 
Lamoureux Professeure émérite, science politique, Université Laval 
Cheryl Gaster, LL.B., C. Med Nader Hashemi Director of the Center for 
Middle East Studies, University of Denver Charlotte Kates Coordinator, 
International Committee, National Lawyers Guild (U.S.); International 
Coordinator, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Professor 
Rabab Abdulhadi Director and Senior Scholar, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities 
and Diasporas Studies, San Francisco State University Professor Rabab 
Abdulhadi Director and Senior Scholar, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and 
Diasporas Studies, San Francisco State University Kevin A. Gould 
Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, 
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada Mary Ellen Davis Part-time 
Faculty, School of Cinema, Concordia University Dror WARSCHAWSKI 
Sorbonne Université, Paris, France Dyala Hamzah Associate professor 
(History), Université de Montréal Natasha Bakht Full Professor, Shirley 
Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession, University of Ottawa 
Bill Bowring Professor of Law, Birkbeck College, University of London Dr 
Saqib Qureshi Fellow at the LSE Stefan Kipfer Associate Professor, York 
University Suzanne Adely National Lawyers Guild, USA Sherene Seikaly 
Associate Professor of History, UCSB Amith Gupta NYU Law '17 Adnan A. 
Husain Director, School of Religion, Queen's University Hatem Bazian 
Professor, Zaytuna College; Lecturer, UC Berkeley and Director, 
Islamophobia Studies Center Devra Weber Emérita Professor, University of 
California Riverside Nicholas Pope Lawyer, Hameed Law Kanishka 
Goonewardena Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Planning, 
University of Toronto Janan Arafa Lawyer Ivan Huber Prof. Emeritus, 
Biology, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ., Madison, NJ John M. Willis Associate 
Professor of History, University of Colorado, Boulder sang kil associate 
professor, san jose state university Martha L. Schmidt, LL.M., J.D. 
National Lawyers Guild International Committee William Clare Roberts 
Associate Professor of political Science, McGill University Darryl Li 
Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Chicago Ariel Salzmann 
Assistant Professor, Islamic and World History Heike Schotten Associate 
Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston Malek 
Abisaab Associate Professor of History and Islamic Studies. McGill 
University Sarah Leah Whitson DAWN, Executive Director Rinaldo Walcott 
Professor, University of Toronto Karen Dubinsky Professor, Queen's 
University Yves Winter Associate Professor, Department of Political 
Science, McGill University Zulma Oliveras -Boricua Queer Activist 
Mahmood Ibrahim Professor, Cal Poly Pomona Dana Sajdi Professor, Boston 
College Yolanda Arroyo - Cátedra de Mujeres Negras Ancestrales de Puerto 
Rico Dorit Naaman Professor, Film and Media, Queen's University Vida 
Samiian Visiting Researcher, Linguistics, UCLA Rasigan Maharajh Chief 
Director, Institute for Economic Research on Innovation Sam Tecle 
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto steve núñez PhD Student, 
Philosophy - UConn; Adjunct Faculty, Philosophy & Religion - 
UNC-Wilmington Dr. Tarek Khalefih Consultant Pediatricians, assistant 
professor McMaster university Lara Braitstein Associate Professor, 
School or Religious Studies, McGill University Edward Hon-Sing Wong 
Doctoral Candidate, York University Social Work Natalie Rothman 
Associate Professor of History, University of Toronto Alejandro I. Paz 
Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Toronto Bengi Akbulut 
Assistant Professor, Concordia University Judy Rebick Lecturer, Ryerson 
University Dr. Atif Kubursi Emeritus Professor of Economics McMaster 
University Dr. Ardi Imseis Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen's 
University Paul Hamel Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of 
Toronto Karina Vernon Associate Professor, University of Toronto 
Scarborough Huwaida Arraf Civil Rights Attorney, National Lawyers Guild 
Palestine Subcommittee Co-chair Jehan Helou IBBY Palestine Jonathan, 
Alschech Assistant Professor UNBC Aneil Rallin Associate Professor, 
Rhetoric, Soka University of America Omer Aijazi Postdoctoral Research 
Fellow, University of Toronto Elizabeth Bishop Associate Professor, 
History, Texas State Shahla Razavi Retired Associate Professor, Mt. San 
Jacinto Community College Suvir Kaul A M Rosenthal Professor, University 
of Pennsylvania Gavin Smith Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto 
Sondra Hale Research Professor, university of California (UCLA) Nejwa 
Ali Syracuse University, MA William Clare Roberts Associate Professor of 
Political Science, McGill University Sarah Shamash Sessional Faculty, 
Emily Carr University of Art + Design Chris Chapman Associate Professor, 
York University Robert Kirchner University of Alberta, Linguistics 
(retired) Sophie Bourret-Klein MA Student, University of Toronto Bruce 
Lofquist Human Rights Advocate Sareer Fazil, Esq. Attorney At Law Dr. 
Ernie Epp Professor Emeritus, Lakehead University Anne-Emanuelle Birn 
University of Toronto Ajay Rao Associate Professor, University of 
Toronto Maureen Korp, PhD Independent scholar, researcher and writer, 
Ottawa Murray Smith Professor of Sociology, Brock University Michael 
Bueckert Recent PhD Graduate, Carleton University Herbert Gamberg 
Professor of Sociology (retired) Dalhousie University Michael D. 
Kirkpatrick Assistant Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland 
sylvat aziz associate professor, queen's university, kingston ontario 
Vincent Mosco Professor Emeritus, Queen's Univeristy Jasbir Puar 
Professor, Rutgers University Michael A Lebowitz Professor Emeritus of 
Economics, Simon Fraser University Naomi Binder Wall PhD Candidate, 
OISE, University of Toronto Stephen Marmura Associate Professor, St. 
Francis Xavier University Matthew Rowlinson Professor of English, 
Western University Paola Rivetti Associate Prof, Dublin City University, 
Ireland Girish Daswani Associate Professor, University of Toronto 
Scarborough Samir Gandesha Associate Professor, Director of the 
Institute for the Humanities Anna Badillo M.Phil International Peace 
Studies Trinity College, Dublin Julie Guard Professor, University of 
Manitoba Ian Barnard Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, Chapman 
University Atiqa Hachimi Associate Professor, Department of Historical 
and Cultural Studies, University of Toronto Scarborough Rebecca Anweiler 
Assistant Professor, Queen's University Malavika Kasturi Associate 
Professor, History, University of Toronto Itay, Epshtain Senior 
Humanitarian Law and Policy Consultant, Humanitarian Policy Marjorie 
Griffin Cohen Emeritus Professor, Simon Fraser University Omar Ramahi 
Professor, University of Waterloo Elaine Coburn Associate Professor, 
York University Jamie Hilder Assistant Professor, Critical and Cultural 
Studies, Emily Carr University of Art and Design Wendy Strachan Sr. 
Lecturer Simon Fraser University rtd Linda Freeman Emeritus Professor 
Carleton University Pierre, Jemima UCLA Althea Thauberger Assistant 
Professor, Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory, The 
University of British Columbia Mark Thomas Associate Professor, 
Department of Sociology, York University Egla Martinez Associate 
Professor, Human Rights and Social Justice, Carleton University Natasha 
Lycia Ora Bannan Past President, National Lawyers Guild and Adjunct 
Professor, John Jay College Lara Sheehi Clinical Psychology Faculty, The 
George Washington University Jill Glessing Professor, Ryerson University 
Bikrum Gill Assistant Professor, Political Science, Virginia Tech
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