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Following B’nai Brith Canada’s advocacy, the University of Toronto has reportedly cancelled a room booking for an event featuring a convicted terrorist.
“Allowing an unrepentant member of a listed terrorist organization to spread propaganda on campus would have compromised the safety and well-being of students,” B’nai Brith Canada wrote Wednesday on social media. “We commend the university for taking appropriate action to prevent this dangerous platforming of extremism.”
Shadi Shurafa, the speaker, was convicted in Israel for plotting to bomb a Jerusalem bus during the Second Intifada. He is also a self-professed member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a listed terrorist entity in Canada.
One of the groups that planned to host him was the officially recognized U of T Muslim Students’ Association (UTMSA).
B’nai Brith Canada had warned U of T on Tuesday that the event threatened to foment hatred against Jewish and Israeli students. Shortly thereafter, event organizers removed social media posts relating to Shurafa’s appearance and later announced that the event would not be taking place on campus and that he would not be speaking.
“Canadian universities are supposed to be places of learning, not incubators of hate,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy. “B’nai Brith Canada remains committed to defending the rights, safety, and dignity of peace-loving students and staff on campus.”
The University of Toronto has been in the headlines several times in recent years due to anti-Israel conduct.
In February of 2022, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) voted to endorse a BDS motion that called on the union to “wholly divest funds and further on forbid investment to firms complicit in the occupation of Palestinian Territory.”
In 2020, B’nai Brith Canada condemned CUPE 3902, a labor union at the university, following a series of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic tweets issued by its official Twitter account.
Last year, an anti-Israel encampment was set up at the University of Toronto, similar to the encampments set up on campuses in the US.
U of T turned to the courts in late May in an effort to clear the encampment. An Ontario judge later ordered the encampment to vacate the area, which the activists did before the deadline set by the judge.