By Mina Cohn
The Network of English Canadian Academics (NECA)* was launched at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre on March 21st in the presence of Deborah Lyons, Canada’s special envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism. NECA was formed by a group of Canadian academics concerned about the increase in anti-Jewish hatred around the world and on campuses in Canada.
The launch was co-chaired by NECA co-chairs Professor Cary Kogan, a clinical psychology professor at the University of Ottawa, and Professor Deirdre Butler, director of the Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies at Carleton University. Dr Lyons, who opened the launch, stressed the seriousness of the situation on Canadian campuses where overt hatred and intimidation have become a norm, adding that the leadership across the country finds the problems so great that they have become paralyzed. She concluded by saying that if we do not do the work needed right now to combat this evil, Canada will emerge from it changed and not for the better.
A Carleton University student showed a disturbing video she filmed on campus as she described her very difficult experiences, including the fact that pro-Palestinian students are allowed to walk around in disguise as they harass Jewish students and vandalize Jewish spaces.
Dr. Lilach Marom from the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., spoke about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and its failure to address antisemitism as well as the lack of understanding of Jews in EDI philosophy and among personal employed in EDI circles. Dr Marom believes that for this reality to change, there is a need to work with EDI and strengthen it.