Enforcing Neutrality In Countering Antisemitism
"Today's targeting of Hezbollah operatives was brilliant. It struck a major blow against a terror group that has fired thousands of rockets against civilians all while the useless UN mission in Lebanon stands by. There is a price to pay #Hezbollah #FAFO.""There has been significant misunderstanding of my use of the word 'brilliant'. The loss of innocent lives in any conflict is abhorrent & must be avoided. As a retired national security & intel leader, my use of that word was about the complexity & sophistication of an operation.""With the rise in hate, prejudice and exclusion, we need to address the specific challenges Jewish students, faculty and staff face."Artur Wilczynsky, University of Ottawa special adviser on antisemitism"His mandate includes studying antisemitism and advising the university's senior leadership on strategies to combat it and other forms of racism, discrimination and harassment to promote a safer campus for all.""The special adviser's role includes serving as a liaison between members of the Jewish community and the university administration, and providing his vast expertise as a resource to faculty, students and staff."University of Ottawa President Jacques Fremont
Photo by University of Ottawa/Handout |
In
response to the news on Tuesday that thousands of communications
devices in the use of the terrorist group Hezbollah exploded across
Lebanon and into Syria, wounding thousands and killing a handful of
Hezbollah operatives, along with a few unfortunate civilians, the
University of Ottawa's appointed antisemitism adviser spoke of his
personal reaction to the event, informed by his professional identity as
a man involved for years in national intelligence. A reaction which
alluded to the technical achievement of pagers suddenly morphing into
surprise IEDs. With subsequent results.
Posting
on X in the immediacy of the news of exploding pagers reducing the
numbers of terrorist operatives that Hezbollah could count upon in its
war against Israeli civilians forced to relocate in their tens of
thousands as a result of hundreds of rockets raining down on Northern
Israel in a concerted effort to aid another Canada-listed terror group,
Hamas in Gaza, which was reaping the consequences of its deadly savage
pogrom in southern Israel, his admiration at the technical initiative
proficiency of Israelis was expressed as "brilliant".
That comment on the exploding pagers:
"Today's targeting of Hezbollah operatives was brilliant. It struck a
major blow against a terror group that has fired thousands of rockets
against civilians all while the useless UN mission Lebanon stands by"
triggered a predicable backlash. An observation that is in and of
itself a reflection of reality. But one that sat poorly in the
estimation of those who find it in themselves to have a special place
reserved in their hearts for terrorist murderers as long as it is
Jews/Israelis that are in their sights. A social-media backlash was
ignited.
And
thus, the perfect antisemitism adviser to the university came under the
death-of-a-thousand-cuts lashing of public criticism, emanating from
very specific sources reeking with antisemitism and from those whose
progressive-woke sensibilities were tweaked in outrage. Leading this
longtime public servant, former ambassador to Norway, with his unique
background in foreign policy, intelligence, security and defence, to
apologize gracefully, and to resign from his advisory position with the
University of Ottawa.
"I believe in accountability.""My posts on the Hezbollah/Israel war caused harm & affected my ability to help combat antisemitism at U[university] of Ottawa.""My intent in sharing is irrelevant when it is clear many were hurt by them. I apologize.""Because unlike you people [his critics], I don't believe in re-writing history [by removing the offending post]. I did write it and it should be part of the record. It's called transparency."Artur Wilczynsky
With
his master's degree in international relations and conflict studies,
Wilczynski became the first federal government-wide executive champion
for the Jewish Public Servants Network. His family had arrived in Canada
in 1969 as refugees from Communist Poland. According to the Centre for
Holocaust Education and Scholarship, Mr. Wilczynski is the son and
grandson of Holocaust survivors. As a federal public servant in Canada
he was director general of international affairs and order policy at
Public Safety Canada.
He
was, as well, assistant deputy minister for equity diversity and
inclusion at the Communications Security Establishment. And it is the
equity, diversity and inclusion component that is partly responsible for
the avalanche of criticism his post on the 'brilliance' of the Israeli
plot to neutralize the terrorist effectiveness of a death cult-group in
the Middle East occasioned.
His
more latterly role from which he has now removed himself was to advise
senior university authorities on strategies to combat antisemitism and
other forms of racism at the university. A position for which his
experience, studies, and professionalism made him the perfect candidate.
During which time he overlooked the necessity/expectation that he
understand spontaneous utterances readily construed as condemnation of
terrorists and admiration for spectacular successes in eliminating their
threats could not be countenanced.
He will surely be missed.
"In his short time in the role, Artur Wilczynski made a large impact, and we're thankful for his service to the Jewish and university communities.""Unfortunately, reflecting the problem, there is a large cohort who will attack and smear anyone who defends the Jewish community, and journalists and politicians across Canada are beginning to experience this themselves.""The role of adviser on antisemitism is critical to fighting hate at the university. Our message to the university is, find a replacement as soon as possible."David Sachs, community relations and antisemitism specialist, Jewish Federation of Ottawa
Labels: Antisemitism Adviser, Monitoring Antisemitism, Undiplomatic Utterances, University of Ottawa
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