Justice committee  I would echo the previous comments and I would just say that, if the federal government has any input into divestment policies of universities, they should really ensure that they're not discriminatory.

Justice committee  I can't speak on behalf of the entire Jewish community in Canada, and what you said perfectly are just kinds of ways of looking at anti-Semitism. I'll focus my concern on my own area in the academic community and what I see this leading to. In terms of freedom of expression and freedom of religion people, make a mistake by looking at Jews as people who just practice a religion.

Justice committee  Absolutely. You described exactly how I conduct my classes. I have only a couple of rules in my classes. You don't make your point by raising your voice. You don't make your point by sloganeering. You make your point in civil discourse and offer cogent reasoning. Those are my rules in a class.

Justice committee  Absolutely. I'll just mention one particular facet of this seeking of arrest warrants. You have Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor, pinning up mug shots of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the atrocities, alongside Netanyahu. Why was that done? I mean, they could have, let's say, sought arrest warrants for Sinwar a number of months ago.

Justice committee  I can speak in terms of my own institution. I think they've been trying to handle this. I wouldn't give them an F. However, as I said in my last response, to actually dialogue and consider divestment...that is quite shocking to me. On that particular issue, I would give them an F.

Justice committee  Obviously that was.... I'm an academic, a senior academic for many years. I've never been confronted this way. As a young man, I had various anti-Semitic incidents but never in my career as an academic. It was humiliating. However, it was also the only thing, as I said before, that could explain that kind of reaction, especially the the shouts of “go back to your country”.

Justice committee  Yes. Zionism—the definition of Zionism—is kind of a Jewish liberation movement for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. If you are anti-Zionist, then for me you are singling out the Jewish people, of all other peoples, as not having the right to a national homeland. In this case, it's perhaps one of the only indigenous peoples—it's ironic—to return to their homeland.

Justice committee  No problem.

Justice committee  Absolutely. It's simply another kind of legitimization of this insidious form of anti-Semitism that I would call “anti-Zionism”. What it does is lend credibility to this phenomenon that, for me, again, has unleashed another form of anti-Semitism, which has morphed many times over the ages.

Justice committee  Absolutely. I'll give my perspective from an academic point of view. On the encampment that is presently active in the University of Waterloo, my administration, addressing the protesters' calls.... I'll read to you if I may, just briefly. This is a public communication. They are dialoguing with protesters about their demands for “divestment from companies...and complete severance from any academic or cultural institutional ties with Israeli institutions”.

Justice committee  Thank you.

Justice committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I really am honoured to address the committee. Thank you for inviting me to these very important deliberations on anti-Semitism. I'll begin with my own personal encounter with one of these encampments at the University of Toronto. I sent you, and I hope you have, the letter that I penned to the administration of the University of Toronto.