B’nai Brith Canada Condemns exclusion of Human Rights organization at Concordia University

Montreal, December 11, 2003

For Immediate Release

Montreal — The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada today condemned the decision by the Concordia Student Union Council to deny club status to the student group Operation Stop Inciting Children to Kill (OpSICK).

Professor Stephen Scheinberg, the League’s National Chair, stated: “The move to block the group is a sign that voices at the University are still being suppressed simply because they do not fall in line with the extremist agenda of individuals who continue to hold power within the student union.”

“Once again the student agenda is being monopolized by extremist elements,” said Steve Slimovitch, senior legal counsel for the League. He also noted that the group in question was not political. “It is a non-partisan, international human rights organization which is dedicated to improving the quality of life of all children living in conditions of armed conflict.”

According to the Operation S.I.C.K. website, the group condemns “any group that recruits and incites children to hate and kill for political purposes, and view it as a flagrant violation of their basic human rights.” The group is active on many campuses in the U.S. and Canada. It focuses its research and reporting on the incitement of children, aimed at generating awareness of the issue and at lobbying governments to effect change.

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For further information contact:
Me. Steve Slimovitch, senior legal counsel, at (514) 984-2309
Yoni Petel, community outreach coordinator, at (514) 290-9664.

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish community’s foremost human rights agency.