May 31, 2024
TORONTO – Following a disappointing external review, students at a prominent law school will not be held accountable for signing an open letter last October justifying Hamas’ terrorism against Israel.
B’nai Brith had urged the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) to initiate disciplinary proceedings against students who signed the document, which blamed Israel for Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attacks and endorsed “all forms of resistance” by Palestinians. The letter also condemned TMU’s official “neutrality” on the Israel-Hamas war.
“It is alarming that the external review concluded that these students should not face consequences for their actions,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy. “It is downright irresponsible to do so at a time when antisemitism is escalating at an unprecedented rate, much of it resulting from exactly the type of incitement contained in this letter.”
Instead of issuing reprimands, the external review committee recommended that TMU create more spaces for political expression, such as an “Issue Advisory Committee,” and expand access to mental-health resources.
“Despite the unnecessary harm generated by this letter, none of the students who participated in the letter were found to have breached the Code [of Conduct],” wrote the Hon. Michael MacDonald, who oversaw the external review, in his final report. “While the letter was understandably troubling and offensive to many, the students’ participation in the letter, when placed in its appropriate context, was nonetheless a valid exercise of student expression.”
TMU took a far more aggressive tone last year when the controversy began. In an Oct. 23 statement, the law school administration rightfully condemned the open letter in explicit terms for seeking to “promote or justify violence,” as well as referring to it as an expression of “antisemitism and intolerance.”
B’nai Brith Canada is hoping the TMU administration neither condones nor implements the recommendations of this questionable external review.
