Western University : Hotbed of Anti-Israel Antisemitism

"As you have previously been advised, the Palestinian Culture Club is established under the policies of the University Students' Council, and as such, is not within the jurisdiction of the University. While the conduct of any individual students associated with a club may be subject to Western's Code of Student Conduct, your complaint fails to identify any students who are alleged to have breached the Code." 

"Though  your email indicates that the complaint provides student names and phone numbers, no such information appears to be included. Furthermore, the supporting documentation is comprised solely of what appears to be copied text, the origins of which are not demonstrated."

"Until such time as you provide the requested information, Western will not be able to proceed with your complaint."

David Foster, Western University legal counsel 

 

"Guys this is serious. [If] you wanna refer to them as something, refer to them as Zionists. If you get caught referring to them as Jews, they'll get you for antisemitism and ruin ur life."

"And this isn't an exaggeration."

"The government are slaves to these Jews."

Group chat participant 

• "They don't know that h4mas is literally OUR military and they just defend but somehow they are the problem??"
• The resistance is making decent progress tbh [to be honest]."
• "The yahood [Jews] own everything. That's how they control everyone. Money."
• "Just out of curiosity, does anyone know Alan [Shepard's house location. I heard it's public information."
• "someone kidnap the dog, maybe then he'll move [Alan Shepard, Western University president]."
• "I know they [Jews] are no shit, it just sucks eno[ugh] they control our education and jobs and everything that matters."
• "Bro they used to be a diaspora they can return to being a diaspora.
• "Imaooo telling a high Jewish population to go to a planet that is a gas giant wont turn out well."
• "Mars is suitable for them let them burn a little. But speaking of burning, the suns a pretty good spot. We  gotta make them hate their life not let them burn."
• "Allah will burn them but we should send em off alone." 
• "[We] need them to hate their life while they are living AND hate their afterlife." 

"The allegations put forward are currently before a rigorous independent process where we are fully cooperating with all legal processes."

"We will be fully rebutting the fallacious claims made that the PCC [Palestinian Cultural Club] in any way facilitated or was involved in the spreading of hate." 

"[Any] spurious allegations made that the PCC supports hate, or supports anti-Semitism is false, malicious, and defamatory. We will defend ourselves in court against such spurious allegations if they are made."

Palestinian Cultural Club spokesperson

 

 

A group of Jewish students at Western University infiltrated two private group chats in the wake of the October 7 southern Israel terrorist attacks. The chat groups were of two private groups that represented Palestinian students and their allies in the London, Ontario community and what came out of those group chats was illuminating in the sense of an awakening over what Israeli opponents say to one another when they feel they are speaking in confidence to others who believe as they do. 

 

Posted on the sites were antisemitic cartoons, pro-Hamas videos, a stream of Hitler memes, discussions on bringing knives to peaceful protests and  how best to escape notice over their sentiments. The lawyer representing these Jewish students has advised them for their safety to practise anonymity in fear of retribution.  After October 7, 2023 the group chats were energized. "Everyone this is a time where we all stand united!" was posted as an initial response to the groups involved.

 

With the emergence of reports of Israelis burned alive, beheaded, sexually assaulted, members of the group chats exchanged messages of attending rallies in support of Palestine and to protest Israel's then-unfolding military response in Gaza. With a view to self-protection, concerns were expressed for their academic careers should the content of their posts become public knowledge. Canary Mission was a concern as a website to identify and track anti-Israel activists.

 

Soon a link was sent out for a new chat venue: "Palestinian safe zone NOT Affiliated with Western", and in response members began flocking to the new group. Administrators of the new chat group were flooded with new members. Unknown to them there was a WhatsApp account linked to a group of campus Jewish students who quietly observed and documented what was being posted. It became swiftly clear that the chat group was comprised solely of those backing the October 7 atrocities.

"Calling us savages for fighting back after 75 years is insanity", wrote one member, responding to a video of Israel Defence Force soldier Naama Levy being abducted, sweatpants bloodied. "This is a lie. They're probably being treated better than how they were treated in their own homes", responded a member to a photo of the kidnapped Bibas family. During the conflict at various instances members expressed admiration for Hamas leaders. 

 

"The Zionists are now recruiting volunteers to infiltrate our protests disguised in kuffiyehs. We have nothing to hide or fear but still important to be safe. These lunatics are unpredictable and insane", posted one user during a discussion about anti-Israel protests, warning chat members to stay safe. A solution was recommended by another user: "Drop a loonie and see who picks it up", to identify the covert presence of Jews at the protests. 

 

And nor were references to the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler strangers to the group chat. There was no cautionary intervention from those administering the WhatsApp chat. "I feel like sending hitler stickers is going to leave a horrible horrible mark if someone else sees", wrote one student. "If we can refrain from using anything hitler related, that would be amazing", another responded. Posts about a female Jewish business student's social media account condemning Hamas terrorist sympathizers elicited a response: "I'm a geology major, I got some pretty rocks that I can use to 'fix' her brains. Just gotta work on my aim." 

 

 

 

The Jewish students made an attempt to go through university channels to address what they had seen of concerning rhetoric in the group chats. One of their lawyers, Jonathan Rosenthal, filed a 17-page complaint to the university on their behalf, distilling the comments' nature on the group chat. No formal investigation was ever taken based on the Jewish students' reluctance to identify themselves as complainants. 

 

Jane O'Brien, associate vice-president of human resources at Western confirmed having received the complaint and requested that the lawyer "identify the students involved" and that any incident alleged to represent "a breach of the Code of Student Conduct" be outlined, informing Rosenthal that concerns relating to the Palestinian student club's campus status should be directed to the student union, the University Students' Council. "I will NOT be disclosing the names of the complainants" responded Rosenthal, citing "safety concerns". Their identities, he said being "simply irrelevant", requesting the university proceed on an investigation.  

"The USC [University Students Council] and Western University are two distinct entities with distinct jurisdictions."

"The USC was made aware of the anonymous complaint and conducted an investigation to determine if it fell within its jurisdiction. When it was determined this complaint was outside its scope, the USC referred the complaint over to Western University's Student Code of Conduct Office."

USC spokeswoman Rebecca Rebeiro  

"It sounds like there's enough here certainly to start a security intelligence investigation, possibly to start a criminal intelligence investigation."

"It's complex and interesting. The knife [discussed in a chat as a take-along] is sort of a whole separate tactical question because it suggests deliberate obfuscation for a tool that's intended to be used as a weapon."

"They key thing about the chat here is we live in a democracy, so the state can't simply go in and monitor people's chats even if they wanted to. [Obtaining warrants for such chats requires a high] evidentiary threshold."

"[The evidence is] unlikely to be admissible in a court of law because of how it was obtained]."

"Is there the long arm of some terrorist organization or someone affiliated with that organization behind this, trying to generate some cohesion around these sorts of issues? At that point, of course, it becomes clearly within the terrorist realm."

"What  you and I don't know is whether anybody behind this chat, themselves -- for instance, someone here on a student visa -- who through their family or by other means is linked to one of the organizations. That's why it's important to investigate these things."

"This is a really important story because I think people completely underestimate what goes on in our university campuses." 

Christian Leuprecht, professor, Royal Military College of Canada 

Pro-Palestinian protesters during convocation at Western University in London, Ont., on June 20, 2024. Photo by Derek Ruttan/Postmedia Network