By RITA POLIAKOV, Staff Reporter (
CJN)
Several students at the University of Western Ontario received threatening messages last week after starting a Facebook group against Israeli Apartheid Week.
The students, who started or participated in a group called UWO Students Against Israeli Apartheid Week, were sent anonymous messages from a ?fake' Facebook account, which means the subscriber
used a false identity and a picture of someone other than himself/herself on the page. One of the messages stated that the student should, ?Watch your actions next week, young lady. You don't
want to be hurt.?
Dana Gold, a member of Israel on Campus at UWO, along with two other students, reported the messages to the university campus police last Sunday.
?I went to a party that night. I got home, I was about to go to sleep, at 3 a.m. I got [the message]. I didn't know who it was from, it was telling me to watch my back, I was scared,? said Gold,
adding that the Facebook group was set up to help Jewish students deal with IAW on campus.
The group, which has more than 400 members and is separate from Israel on Campus, had information about anti-IAW initiatives and suggestions about how to deal with any IAW concerns.
?It wasn't anything hateful. It was just showing students how to deal with [IAW],? Gold said.
?I feel intimidated walking on campus, not only because I'm a Jew but because [the person who wrote the message] knows what we look like.?
Campus police don't believe that the messages were sent by a UWO student, but they are investigating the incident, said Helen Connell, the university's associate vice-president of communications
and public affairs.
?I can totally appreciate how disturbing [the messages] were' Our campus police are taking this very seriously, and there is an investigation underway,? she said, adding that campus police work
in co-operation with the London city police and make a point of speaking to student groups before events such as IAW.
?I'm sure it's a challenging time for some people, because what we have here is a week when people are expressing viewpoints that are offensive to some people and difficult for them to hear,?
Connell said. ?Universities are places where we promote free speech. That does not override the right of every person who studies' on this campus to feel safe.?
During IAW, Israel on Campus organized a lecture by Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli Arab journalist, and ran information sessions. Jewish students, separate from Israel on Campus, also organized a
pro-Israel rally at the university.
Students at York University started a new campaign last week to counter IAW. Hasbara at York, along with Christians United for Israel and StandWithUs, a pro-Israel campus group, launched their
Israel Under Fire campaign, which aimed to raise awareness about Israel and the Israel Defence Forces through information tables and daily prayers for the safety of Israeli soldiers.
The campaign, which ran from March 1 to 4, was well received, said Naomi Samuel, Hasbara's vice-president of public relations.
?The first day of our campaign we witnessed incredible unity among Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus,? she said, adding that this initiative is a different approach for Hasbara.
?Hasbara at York is doing everything it can to counter the anti-Semitism and anti-Israel propaganda that will be flooding York University throughout the week,? she said. ?We decided to take a
different approach to promoting and defending Israel through standing in solidarity with the Israel Defence Forces' our goal is to empower the Jewish and pro-Israel community at York.?
According to Keith Marnoch, York's associate director of media relations, there were no major incidents during IAW last week.
?All the events that various groups had intended to run have gone without a hitch. There hasn't really been anything out of the ordinary,? he said, adding that York security was visible in Vari
Hall last week, where most of the information tables were set up.
?We have had a few more security [guards] visible in the Vari Hall area, not so much to intimidate but more to manage' the people who have set up tables and so on,? he said.
