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As of May 2, 2024 students established a People’s Circle for Palestine at the University of Toronto demanding that the University cease complicity with the Israeli genocide on Gaza. As University of Toronto faculty, we support the student protests and their demands that the university disclose its investments, divest from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide; and terminate partnerships with Israeli universities that operate in the illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, or sustain or support the state of Israel’s apartheid policies and its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

We write as the Steering Committee of the Jewish Faculty Network, a national network of Jewish scholars formed in opposition to the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism at our universities. The IHRA definition of antisemitism has been used to suppress legitimate free speech, criticism of actions of the State of Israel, and advocacy for Palestinian rights. By inaccurately and dangerously conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the definition perpetuates Anti-Palestinian racism. Our statement in opposition to the IHRA has been signed by over 200 Jewish university faculty members at universities across Canada.

As members of the Steering Committee of the Jewish Faculty Network, we write with regard to Bill 166, the “Strengthening Accountability and Student Support Act, 2024” which amends the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act.

On March 6, 2024, members of the Jewish Faculty Network steering committee participated in a webinar entitled, "Demystifying Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian Racism, and Antisemitism: Building Shared Understandings." Featuring Dalia El Farra, Sheryl Nestel, Alejandro Paz & Jasmin Zine. Moderated by James Cairns.

On February 15, 2024, the Jewish Faculty Network held a webinar to consider antisemitism in the context of the recent moment in Israel and Palestine. We are deeply alarmed about how claims of defense of Israel and Jewish rights are being used to justify genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and unprecedented repression against solidarity with Palestine by university administrators, governments, and other institutions. Challenging false allegations of antisemitism, and opposing without compromise any manifestation of actual antisemitism, we follow a long tradition of Jewish ethics which encourages dissent and self-reflection.