Sue-Ann Levy, Toronto Sun
Ari Blaff (Veronica Henri, Toronto Sun)
A Hasbara Fellowships petition calling for the censure of a University of Toronto history prof who called a Jewish student an “Israeli government agent” has attracted global attention, says Hasbara’s Canadian director Robert Walker.
And Walker says he intends to present that petition to the U of T adminstration [ JB - sic] when he meets with them in the next week or so.
Associate professor Jens Hanssen is under fire for sending an e-mail last December to Munk school of global affairs student Ari Blaff, a former Hasbara fellow, accusing him of being sent to the UofT campus by the new Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy. [JB emphasis]
Hanssen said Blaff’s role as an Israeli agent is to indoctrinate administrators, professors and students into believing apartheid and boycott movements against Israel constitute anti-semitism.
University of Toronto Professor Rebukes Graduate Student for Connection to Hasbara Fellowships (Toronto Sun via Hasbara Fellowships)…includes petition israelaa.ca/university-of-…
Blaff had written to Hanssen — a specialist in Middle Eastern affairs — asking him only to [sic] to meet to discuss PhD possibilities. But Hanssen adamantly refused on “ethical and academic grounds.”
Blaff, who has lodged a complaint with the office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, said the reaction from students to the Toronto Sun’s first story about the controversy was “very encouraging” but both the administration and U of T’s Jewish professors have been “absolutely silent.”
Hanssen did not respond to yet another request for comment Tuesday. U of T spokesman Liam Mitchell said “for privacy reasons,” they do not discuss the details of individual cases.
Walker said alumni, donors and other U of T supporters have indicated that at the very least, there should be “public condemnation and a censure” of Hanssen, that he should be prevented from obtaining tenure and “at all possible” his employment should be terminated.
“We have people from dozens of countries around the world letting the university administration know that bigotry and discrimination will not be tolerated,” Walker said following a Hasbara event Monday night. “It’s a completely unCanadian and an unacademic thing to do.”
“We have people from dozens of countries around the world letting the university administration know that bigotry and discrimination will not be tolerated,” Walker said following a Hasbara event Monday night. “It’s a completely unCanadian and an unacademic thing to do.”
No comments:
Post a Comment