Stephen Hellman

Overview

Stephen Hellman has defended anti-Israel activists and demonized Israel. 

Hellman is aprofessor emeritus in the Department of Politics at York University (York). 

Defending Campus Anti-Israel Activists

Hellman signed a letter, authored by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization and published on January 25, 2017, condemning Fordham University’s decision to block the establishment of a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Fordham. 

In 2016, Fordham reportedly blocked the formation of a Fordham SJP chapter “based on the reported behavior of other [SJP] chapters on other campuses,” indicating that “the establishment of a local branch could be ‘polarizing’ and pose a safety concern to students and faculty.”

Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.” 

The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s BDS activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.” The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in cooperation with Palestine Legal (PL), and civil rights attorney Alan Levine sued Fordham on behalf of four students in April 2017. A New York court annulled Fordham’s decision in August 2019, mandating that the university recognize SJP as an official club. 
 
Fordham appealed the ruling to the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in January 2020. On July 24, 2020, Fordham SJP students filed a brief asking the appellate court to deny Fordham’s appeal of the lower court’s decision.
 
As of October 2020, a variety of groups, not directly involved in the case, filed amicus briefs with the Appellate Division for the court's consideration including JVP. 

In 2009, Hellman signed a petition “rejecting a claim by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and others that the [York] campus has become ahotbed of antisemitism.”

The petition came in response to numerous incidents and allegations at York of anti-Semitism on campus. 

Signatories of the letter acknowledged that “Federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney was quoted just a few weeks ago…as describing what was going on at York as resembling ‘pogroms’” and went on to dismiss those concerns, writing that they “are entirely inaccurate, if not libelous, and amount to nothing but fear-mongering.”

Demonizing Israel

Hellman signed a statement published on February 10, 2016, in support of a painting on display at York, depicting “a young Palestinian who is looking at an Israeli bulldozer destroying an olive tree and pondering whether to throw the rocks.”

Despite claims from the Jewish community that the painting was anti-Semitic, signatories of the petition maintained that “it depicts an individual opposing a military force invading their community and destroying its land.” 

Signatories also claimed the painting “conveys one artist’s response to the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians under Israeli occupation and the feeling that there is no end in sight.” The petition continued that “Nothing in this painting should make anyone in the York campus feel unsafe.”

Social Media and Weblinks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-hellman-4876b415/?originalSubdomain=ca

University Website: http://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/shellman/