FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Machete attack against pro-Israel students illustrates why ban on anti-Israel campus agitation needed
TORONTO, April 7, 2010 B'nai Brith Canada has called on Canadian universities to ban anti-Israel agitation on campus in light of an alleged machete attack on pro-Israel students. Reportedly, on April 5th, two Ottawa students, both well-known for their pro-Israel views, were assaulted when they left a local lounge in the early hours of the morning, by a large group of anti-Israel agitators, one of whom was wielding a machete.
"It is simply outrageous that pro-Israel students have been assaulted in our nation's capital for nothing more than their pro-Israel views," said Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President of B'nai Brith Canada. "One of the assaulted students, who is not Jewish, was reportedly first struck in the back of the head, and then chased with a machete swinging within inches of his neck. The Jewish student, who along with his friend was called numerous derogatory and antisemitic slurs during the assault, was a local organizer of B'nai Brith's recent Imagine With Us pro-Israel campus initiative an initiative which was banned by York University.
"We have been warning about the spill-over effect of anti-Israel hate-fests such as "Israeli Apartheid Week' for years. We reiterate our call to university administrations across Canada to ban anti-Israel agitation from their campuses. We simply cannot continue to put up with the situation where antisemitic hate-fests such as Israel Apartheid Week are permitted to disseminate their hatred, leading to pro-Israel students being assaulted on our streets, while events in support of the Jewish State are banned."
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B'nai Brith Canada
has
been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish community's foremost
human
rights agency
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