By Mina Cohn and Artur Wilczynski
CHES commends the organizers of Combatting Antisemitism on Campuses: A Convening to Engage, Educate, & Empower Faculty.
Professor Cary Kogan of the University of Ottawa and Professor Deidre Butler of Carleton University
co-chaired a panel discussion which examined the critical situation regarding antisemitism and the fears of
students and professors on their campuses. The event took place on November 19th at the
University of Ottawa as part of a two-day program and included testimonials from Jewish university students
about campus antisemitism.
Jacques Frémont, the university’s President, and Vice Chancellor, explained that universities are places that
provide freedom of expression, but at the same time, he acknowledged that hate speech cannot be part of that
freedom. He said that the university needs to protect academic expression but must make sure that students
feel protected in their identity. He noted that most incidents do not reach the legal level but are negotiated within
the classroom. He also explained that before the university can act, it needs to hear more voices of students and
staff in the same way Black and Indigenous students are heard.
Professor Adam Dodek of the university’s Faculty of Law discussed the limitations of the law and the
possibilities that are available when fighting antisemitism in the legal system. He provided examples of past litigations
such as the James Keegstra case, in which the Alberta school teacher was found guilty of a hate crime: (Keegstra Case | The Canadian Encyclopedia).
Michal Cotler-Wunsh, a public speaker and independent policy and strategy advisor on issues of law, human
rights, and Zionism and a former member of the Knesset, joined the discussion via Zoom from Israel. She stressed
that global antisemitism requires a global and united response. She spoke about the intersection of online hate with
the move to online studies and the new antisemitism moving from “punch the Jew” to “punch the Zionist” which
is not sanctioned. She also discussed the need to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a resource to train and
teach against antisemitism.
The final speaker, Richard Marceau, the Vice-President, External Affairs and General Counsel of The Centre
for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), built on the presentations of the previous panelists. He covered both the urgency of the matter as well as the need to use effective strategies to combat antisemitism on campus and in society more broadly.
As the session concluded, it was clear that more must be done.
