I remember how it was -- JR
Monday, October 30, 2023
York University, Student Groups Face $15 Million Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Antisemitism Going Back Decades
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Toronto’s York University and the York Federation of Students, claiming Jewish students faced decades of antisemitism and some felt forced to hide their heritage while no action was taken to ensure their safety.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of current students, alumni, and attendees from 1998–2021, says a news release from the law firm Diamond and Diamond, which filed the statement of claim.
According to the release, the plaintiffs said they felt unsafe on campus, silenced, harassed, threatened with physical violence, and even forced to hide their Jewish identity.
The lawsuit says the university and the union failed to address antisemitic incidents, violating its own non-discrimination policies. It also says that staff were provided “insufficient” training on handling harassment.
“Our position is that York University and the Student Union has fostered an environment of hate and anti-Semitism specifically against Jewish students,” managing partner of the firm Sandra Zisckind said in a social media video.
“Our position is that the university and the union knew about all of these actions and it failed to take action. This is not a new thing. Their failure to have taken action in the past and to currently take action has fostered an environment where students do not feel safe to learn in their own institution,” Ms. Zisckind said.
The release also said the university was "legally obligated to demonstrate accountability."
York University told The Epoch Times that the university was aware of the lawsuit.
“The University would like to affirm that we unequivocally condemn all forms of discrimination and hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia,” the university's emailed statement said.
“York is committed to providing inclusive campus environments where community members feel safe and welcomed without fear of intimidation or harassment.”
The lawsuit says the school has failed to remove an anti-Israel mural on the campus at the entrance to the student centre. The mural, titled "Palestinian Roots," shows a bulldozer and a tree along with a figure holding rocks and wearing a scarf. The scarf the figure is wearing has a Palestinian flag and a map showing the area of Israel and Palestine without borders.
“Historically and symbolically, rocks have been used to perpetuate violence against Israelis,” the court documents say.
The lawsuit also notes an incident in 2009 where Jewish students were forced to hide in the Hillel student organization office because of a protest. It began with a meeting about a teachers’ assistant strike.
“In the hallway of the student center where the meeting was held, students attempting to exit the meeting room were greeted with screams of 'Zionism equals racism' and 'Racists off campus,'” the court documents said.
“During the clash in the hallway, Jewish students were singled out and pursued by a mob of more than 100 students. Approximately 15 to 20 Jewish students escaped upstairs to Hillel's offices, where the situation worsened.”
Protesters made their way to the Hillel office and banged on the glass doors, the documents said. It adds that campus security arrived shortly after and told the Jewish students to stay inside the office, and that about an hour later police arrived and gave the students an escort out of the area.
The court documents also say students were forced out of student organizations, were not given a safe space to voice their opinions, were unable to “meaningfully participate” in university cultural events, and had their opinions minimized or dismissed in classroom settings.
"Any behaviour that promotes hate, violence, discrimination, or disrupts the educational environment, as outlined in the 'Code of Students Rights and Responsibilities,' indicates a failure in the University's duty of care and contradicts its foundational values of respect, equity, and civility," said Darryl Singer, head of class actions at Diamond and Diamond Lawyers.
York Groups Unite Over Israel–Hamas War
The lawsuit comes after several York University student unions issued a joint statement following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel to express their "solidarity with the Palestinian people, within Palestine and the global diaspora, and their ongoing fight against settler-colonialism, apartheid, and genocide.
"Recently, in a strong act of resistance, the Palestinian people tore down and crossed the illegitimate border fence erected by the settler-colonial apartheid state of so-called Israel," said the statement, signed by the York Federation of Students, York University Graduate Students Association, and Glendon College Student Union.
The University said it condemned the statement and called on the groups to “clarify” their position and “reaffirm their commitment to non-violence and the safety of all of their members.”
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Here's Why One School District Cancelled Its Halloween Activities
A school district in New Jersey reportedly banned all Halloween activities this year over “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” known as “DEI,” according to a report from the New York Post.
Earlier this month, Dr. Ronald G. Taylor, the superintendent of the South Orange-Maplewood School District, sent a letter to parents informing them that Halloween would not be celebrated in schools this year. This decision was made to be “inclusive” to students who do not celebrate the holiday or cannot afford costumes.
"As you know, SOMSD is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion meaningfully - not just saying the words but also promoting an inclusive school... Our aim is to build a consistent approach across the District as to how our schools observe and celebrate holidays and special events," Taylor wrote to parents.
"Each year, questions arise from families, students, and staff about what SOMSD schools will be doing regarding Halloween,” Taylor continued. "Is promoting school-sponsored Halloween activities creating indirect and unintentional financial hardships for students and families? Do school-sponsored Halloween activities violate the dignity of some of our students and families, either culturally or religiously? Does the promotion of school-sponsored Halloween activities create tensions with the equity and access values of SOMSD?"
He concluded that the decision to ban Halloween “[aligns] with SOMSD’s commitment to to building equity.”
This week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) responded to the news. “Seriously? We can’t let kids celebrate Halloween? Give me a break,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Taylor wrote in a follow-up news release that the decision was made after school principles were surveyed and said they felt “overwhelmingly in favor of discontinuing Halloween celebrations in school.”
The school district’s assistant superintendent of “access and equity” doubled down on the decision.
“All of us realize that this breaks with what the district has usually done, and that can be a difficult thing to do sometimes,” Dr. Kevin Gilbert said in a statement. “Often, working to instill greater equity in our district begins with recognizing that we cannot do what we have always done.”
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Outspoken Federal Judge Who Led Yale Boycott Calls Universities ‘Incubators of Bigotry’
An outspoken federal judge often viewed as a potential Supreme Court justice called the nation’s university campuses “incubators of bigotry” that discriminate against religious conservatives, during a speech on Oct. 25.
Judge James C. Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit was on former President Donald Trump’s shortlist of potential Supreme Court appointees; he could find his way onto that list again should President Trump return to office. One leftist critic said Judge Ho “wants to be the next Clarence Thomas,” a reference to the Supreme Court’s preeminent conservative justice.
The Taiwan-born judge’s latest comments came during a speech that was followed by a moderated conversation at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, in the nation’s capital on Oct. 25. At the end of the discussion, he was presented with the foundation's Defender of the Constitution Award.
The current anti-intellectual environment on campus is “driving more and more of us to ask if our nation’s colleges and universities are institutions of higher education or incubators of bigotry,” he said.
“The state of higher education concerns me, and it’s not just because our nation’s law schools directly impact the work of the judiciary, and help constitute the future leadership of our country.
“It’s also because the same toxic discrimination that distorts discourse on college campuses also distorts discourse about the courts. It’s the same mindset that motivates the current campaign to undermine the third branch of government.”
Last year, Judge Ho and Judge Elizabeth Branch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, both of whom were appointed by President Trump, vowed not to hire judicial clerks from Yale Law because they say its campus is dominated by cancel culture.
Judge Ho was incensed by the treatment of Kristen Waggoner of the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) at a March 10, 2022, event at the law school.
ADF is disliked in left-wing activist circles because it has won several religious freedom cases, including 2018’s Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. That's the famous case in which bakery owner Jack C. Phillips refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding because he had religious objections to same-sex marriage.
The same-sex couple brought charges under Colorado law, and the state civil rights commission issued a cease-and-desist order against the bakery. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled for the baker, finding that the state law violated his First Amendment freedoms of expression and religious exercise.
The controversial far-left Southern Poverty Law Center claims that the ADF is an “anti-LGBT hate group,” an accusation that ADF vigorously rejects.
At the Yale event, students physically threatened and shouted down Ms. Waggoner during a panel discussion about Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, in which the Supreme Court found that another college violated students’ right to religious free speech on campus. Ms. Waggoner was their lawyer.
In September 2022, Judge Ho said he wasn't engaging in cancel culture himself by boycotting Yale graduates.
“I don’t want to cancel Yale," he said, citing the protest action targeting Ms. Waggoner. "I want Yale to stop canceling people like me.”
He said that at Yale, “cancellations and disruptions seem to occur with special frequency,” according to the New York Post.
When Judges Apply Originalism
During the Heritage event, Judge Ho said that when judges apply originalism and it “happens to lead to results despised by the cultural elites who lead the national discourse ... originalists face a concerted campaign of condemnation.”
Popular among conservatives and those who support limited government, originalism calls for adhering to the Constitution’s meaning at the time it was written.
“Originalists are disparaged and destroyed,” he said.
Describing how originalists are characterized by their critics, he said: “We’re not merely wrong, as an intellectual matter. We’re not just disagreeing in good faith about the proper meaning of legal terms.
“We’re fundamentally bad people who are just too extreme for polite society, or mean-spirited, racist, sexist, homophobic, or just trolling, or auditioning or unethical, if not corrupt.”
These intimidation campaigns affect judges, he said
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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