Campus of Shame

Here is the story:

Jewish students at York University in Toronto were forced to take refuge in the Hillel office last Wednesday night as anti-Israel protesters banged on the glass doors, chanting, "Die, bitch, go back to Israel," and "Die, Jew, get the hell off campus." [--]

In the hallway of the student center, students attempting to exit the meeting room were greeted with cries of "Zionism equals racism!" and "Racists off campus!"

A YouTube video called "York University 2009" documents the hallway encounter. Jesse Zimmerman, a student at the university, can be heard declaring, "Zionism does not speak for Jews. Zionism is an embarrassment. Shame on the Zionists."

During the clash in the hallway, Jewish students were singled out and pursued by a mob of more than 100 students. Tepper and the 15-20 other Jewish students escaped upstairs to Hillel's offices, where the situation worsened.

While students sat in the shelter of the Hillel office, listening to the "pounding" from the York Federation of Students office below, demonstrators reached the Hillel office, banging on the glass doors and made it impossible for students to leave. [--]

The students in the Hillel office were evacuated soon after by police escort, amid cries of "Get off our campus" and "Shame on Hillel."

"I have never in my life felt threatened and hated like I did that night," Tepper said.

Ferman, the Hillel president, who was called a "f*****g Jew" and a "dirty Jew" by the protesters, said, "We were basically being held hostage in our own space."

The British blog Harry's Place published a letter from Shalom Lappin to dr. Mamdouh Shoukri, President and Vice Chancellor, York University:

"The fact that the University has not taken up this assault with the students
who launched it, nor acted to reassure the students who they targeted indicates a severe failure on the part of the administration to fulfill its reponsibility to sustain a campus free of physical violence and harrassment. Several of the Jewish students at York claim that the assault was not an aberration, but part of a general atmosphere of extreme hostility that they have been forced to contend with over an extended period of time. I am in no position to evaluate this assertion. But it seems to me that the administration is obliged to address the grievances of students who feel that they are being victimized, particularly in light of a significant incident which lends some credence to their charge."

In March 2008, I published a post about another incident involving antisemitic vitriol in York Campus.
That story ended by the editorial being withdrawn and apology offered. But the work of such editorials, defamatory and inflaming in intention as well as in their sneering regard to truth and verifiable information, has already been done. And the results of this assault, this violent contempt for academic civility, freedom to speak without intimidation, freedom to associate without threat to one's well-being, are beginning to yield their evil fruits.

Let's see how these appalling events will be resolved by the University's own administration.

_______

Here is a flashback to a somewhat similar "incident" at Concordia University 2002

Here is a documentary about the event (45 minutes):

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4