CONCORDIA STUDENT UNION ADVOCATES VIOLENCE AND ANARCHY

B’nai Brith Canada denounces student agenda as propaganda that threatens democracies

October 1, 2001

For Immediate Release

Montreal, October 1, 2001— B’nai Brith Canada officials today called for an investigation of attempts by the Concordia Student Union (CSU) to inculcate a culture of violence, incitement to hatred and civil disobedience on campus. As investigations continue into reports of possible links between foreign terrorist groups operating in the province and the tragic events of September 11^th, calls to burn the Canadian flag on July 1^st ("Anti-Canada day") — as well as instructions on how to defy the police and a rationale for stealing as a form of "empowerment" — have been distributed by the CSU to all students. In what is being termed a “chilling and bizarre coincidence”, the agenda, printed before September 11^th, also contains drawings of planes crashing into a crowded boardroom full of businessmen.

Apart from virulently anti-Israel propaganda pieces, with Israel’s Independence Day solely referred to in the calendar as “Al-Nabka (the 1948 Palestinian Catastrophe)”, the agenda — ominously entitled "Uprising" — advocates violence, revolution and anarchy. It also skirts dangerously close to infringing provincial hate speech codes with a potentially libelous diatribe against B’nai Brith, reference to Concordia’s Rector Fred Lowy as the “Jewish Rector”, and a claim that “Zionists monopolize the North American media”.

Rochelle Wilner, National President of B’nai Brith Canada, voiced concerns that “such incitement has no place on our campuses, on our streets or anywhere in our society. We continue to encourage all sections of society, and organizations of all religions, to work together to ensure that the harmony of civil society not be undermined in such a dangerous fashion. We call on all parties to publicly condemn CSU’s actions.

Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, warned that this agenda threatens to be a blueprint for campuses not just in Canada, but throughout North America. “At a time when all democracies face the threat of terrorism, this attempt to indoctrinate our young people in the ways of violence and confrontation is a dangerous move to destabilize society. Co-operation with law enforcement officials and security officers should be of paramount priority and any attempt to advocate otherwise warrants full investigation.”

Patrick Essiminy, Quebec Regional Chair of the Institute for International Affairs, expressed concerns not only that that legislative protections against hate speech and incitement to violence are being contravened by the CSU agenda, but that “individuals who may have links to extremist groups have infiltrated Concordia and its student union, and are purposefully stirring up hostility and civil disorder.”

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For further comment call:
Rochelle Wilner(416) 633 6224
Frank Dimant (416) 633-3224
Robert Libman (514) 7335377
Steve Slimovitch (514) 7335377

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s senior human rights organization. In its 125 years of service, it has worked to respond with practical aid to many disaster situations around the world.