By RITA POLIAKOV, Staff Reporter (CJN)
TORONTO ? Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) turned into Israel appreciation week this year, said Brandon Crandall of Hillel at York.
Beca Bookman
According to several Jewish groups, IAW, which ran from March 1 to 14 on campuses in 13 Canadian cities, was much milder this year, with fewer anti-Semitic incidents and smaller crowds.
"[At York], it was quite lame, to be honest. [IAW] events were generating about 20 students at most events," said Crandall, who is also a Hillel of Greater Toronto intern. "In previous years, IAW
was very heated. A rally usually took place. There were assaults. [There was] intimidation that occurred for the past several years, except this year."
The atmosphere on campus was much more peaceful, Crandall said, adding that pro-Israel events at York generated large crowds of up to 100 students.
An IAW spokesperson said IAW events were well attended.
According to Crandall, IAW may have been calmer this year because of national condemnation of the event, which included statements from Liberal and Conservative politicians, and from James
Pasternak, school board trustee for York Centre, who asked the Toronto District School Board to denounce IAW.
"I hope it means that' IAW keeps going downhill until it no longer exists. Really, I hope it means positive things for the Jewish community, because the past few years have been unbearable," he
said.
Keith Marnoch, York's associate director of media relations, said there were no major incidents at York this year.
Robert Steiner, assistant vice-president in charge of strategic communications at the University of Toronto, said the same thing about his school.
"It was very low key this year [at U of T]," Steiner said. "I didn't hear of any complaints from anyone about any incidents."
Beca Bookman, a member of U of T's Hillel and a first-year student, was surprised at the atmosphere on campus.
"It was a lot better than I would have expected. It was very quiet for the most part. We had a really good response [to pro-Israel events] and hopefully that aided the student body to understand
what's actually going on in Israel," she said.
Similar reports came from schools across the country, said Rebecca Cherniak, chair of Israel affairs and advocacy for the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students, which helped to organize
cross-Canada, pro-Israel education initiatives on various campuses ahead of IAW.
"IAW has been minimal across Canada [this year]. It's been tame. Many of the presentations have been scheduled in rooms that are not in the centre of campus," she said, adding that IAW events
weren't well attended.
Cherniak said this change was due, in part, to better organization and planning of pro-Israel campaigns, such as the Truth Campaign and Size Doesn't Matter, a national initiative that helped
raise awareness about Israel through a website and a speaker series.
"Last year, there was no centralized organization of how we would... pre-empt [IAW]. Some schools had some success of doing Israel week [last year], but because we were able to have, for the
first year, a national strategy' students felt empowered that they were being supported nationally," said Cherniak, who is also president of Israel on Campus at McMaster University.
"I think it's a shift. In past years, we were so ready to react and respond [to IAW activities]. In future years, we know that we can set' our own terms. That was what was so successful about
this year," she said.
While Crandall is enthusiastic about the positive atmosphere at York this year, he acknowledged that Jewish students should remain vigilant.
"I don't think we should ever let our guard down," he said, adding that this year's lull may simply signal a change in tactics by anti-Israel groups.
"I know there was speculation that they would do something outside of IAW' Due to the large scale condemnation that [IAW] has received, they could be changing their tactics, but I really have no
idea," he said. "The truth will always be the truth. Israel is not an apartheid state."
