Department of Political Studies professor Oded Haklai contributed this opinion piece to the Globe and Mail on November 1, 2023: "Anti-Jewish bias has deeply permeated university culture".
From the article:
"Many have raised concerns after multiple student groups on university campuses issued alarming statements that characterized the massacres perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli citizens on October 7 as "legitimate resistance" and part of the "decolonization struggle," insinuating that the victims were to blame for the atrocities committed against them.
In response to these statements, some university administrators censured transgressing university clubs. Reports that Queens students were dressed up like Hamas at a Halloween party have also led university administrators to investigate, which could result in a range of sanctions.
As necessary as it is to take students to task when they cross the threshold from legitimate political opinion to bigotry, these condemnations should not obscure the responsibility that universities themselves have in cultivating the environment in which students exhibit moral confusion..."