York Supplies Video Footage

  • 0

TORONTO (JTA) — York University has supplied video footage that appears to cast doubt on the accuracy of reports that two Jewish students were assaulted during a pro-Israel event at the school.

Videotaped footage from security cameras, made available to JTA, shows animated discussions and gesturing between Jewish and pro-Palestinian students at the Feb. 1 event to raise awareness for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The only obvious sign of physical confrontation seemed to occur when a young woman wearing a hijab either pushed another student or was pushed. A third student quickly intervened.

Police were not called, but campus security intervened. The Jewish students lodged a complaint with the university’s Student Conduct and Dispute Resolution Office, and York appointed an adjudicator to investigate.

The local chapter of the Jewish Defense League offered a $500 reward for the assailants’ names, contact information and “aliases.”

York requested that local reporters view the videotapes from closed-circuit cameras.

Earlier this month, JTA quoted Tyler Golden, co-president of Hasbara Fellowships at York, as saying that about 50 activists and protesters surrounded the 20 or so Jewish students and began chanting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slurs.

He said two Jewish students were slapped, one on the arm and the other across the face.

Golden had no comment in a follow-up interview last week. Asked whether members of Hasbara Fellowships would request to view the tape, he repeated “no comment.”

York Supplies Video Footage

  • 0
AUTHOR

SPME

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) is not-for-profit [501 (C) (3)], grass-roots community of scholars who have united to promote honest, fact-based, and civil discourse, especially in regard to Middle East issues. We believe that ethnic, national, and religious hatreds, including anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, have no place in our institutions, disciplines, and communities. We employ academic means to address these issues.

Read More About SPME


Read all stories by SPME