Gautham Krishna

In November 2019, the leader of the SJP chapter at UTSC (TSJP), Ghaith Hanbali, proposed a motion calling on [p. 10] the Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) to “reaffirm its commitment” to the BDS movement at the SCSU Annual General Meeting (AGM).
   
The motion called on SCSU to “actively support initiatives that raise awareness about the state of Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine and war crimes against Palestinian peoples,” and to “refrain from engaging with organizations or participating in events that further normalizes Israeli apartheid.”

Proponents of the “anti-normalization” policy seek to police all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and shut down all conversations and interactions perceived as being ideologically unaligned with their own agenda.

The motion also called on SCSU’s board of directors to “draft a policy resolution to endorse the BDS movement to ensure that future elected representatives and staff of the Students’ Union uphold our collective commitment to justice in Palestine.”

Hanbali’s motion was not addressed at the AGM due to time constraints.

In a January 2020 meeting of the SCSU board of directors, SCSU voted in favor [p. 14] of a similar motion [p. 11] in support of BDS. 

In November 2020, SCSU voted in favor [p. 21] of the original BDS motion proposed [p. 15] by Hanbali in November 2019.

In March 2021, SCSU voted [p. 29] against a motion [p. 11] submitted by Jewish students calling on [p. 26] SCSU to not endorse BDS. 

On November 3, 2021, SCSU president Sarah Abdillahi proposed adopting [p. 123] a version of the motion titled: “Re-Affirmation of The Rights Of Jewish Students AT UTSC” that had been amended by SCSU’s Policy and By-Law Committee. 

One ofthe clauses [p.124] the Policy and By-Law Committee sought to delete recognized “the right of Jewish students…to organize & advertise events to express their political, cultural and/or religious views.” 

The committee also proposed to exclude [p.125] a clause that would allow SCSU to “support campus events…that are organized or sponsored… by campus and community groups that support Israel or Zionism” and“participate in joint research with Israelis or Israeli institutions… enroll in classes offered in conjunction with Israeli universities… [and] travel or study abroad in Israel, or with organizations that support Israel or Zionism.”

On the same date, SCSU voted [p. 126] to adopt the motion.

On November 24, 2021, at its AGM, SCSU voted in favor of adopting a BDS policy [p. 12] proposed by SCSU’s Policy & By-law Committee. The policy included [p. 13] clauses calling to “source kosher food from organizations that do not normalize Israeli apartheid,” and to “Boycott Israeli and settlement goods from being sold by Student Union entities.”

After condemnations by Jewish students and organizations, SCSU passed [p. 20] an amended motion that removed specific reference to kosher food providers, although it still called for SCSU to “refrain from engaging with organizations, services, or participating in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid.”

In November 2019, U of T had previously been embroiled in a controversy regarding kosher food when its Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) External Commissioner expressed reluctance to support a campaign by Jewish campus group Hillel to introduce kosher food on campus, due to Hillel’s “pro-Israel” stance.

In November 2022, another Jewish student-led anti-BDS resolution [p. 21] was proposed and ultimately voted [p. 23] down. The motion noted [p. 21] that BDS leads to anti-Semitic hate crimes and discrimination against Jews on campuses where resolutions are adopted. It also called on [p. 22] SCSU to not boycott the Jewish student organizations Hillel and Jewish Student Life (JSL) targeted by the BDS movement.