A Toronto Metropolitan University student is suing the university for failing to apply their policies which prohibit antisemitism. The lawsuit alleges the university’s inaction has created a “poisoned antisemitic learning and working environment” in the wake of Hamas’ massacre of Jews in Israel on Oct. 7.
For the plaintiff Nicole Szweras, Israel is a fundamental part of her Jewish identity. Her mother was born in Israel, she has Israeli citizenship, and many of her friends and family live in Israel, including some who were called to serve in the Israeli Defence Force following the massacre.
Szweras is in the media production program at TMU and was also employed by the university at its Equipment Distribution Centre.
She alleges the university is well aware of continuous acts of antisemitism conducted by other students at the university and has failed to adequately apply its diversity-centred policies to protect Jewish students.
There are several policies at the school which could prevent racism, discrimination and harassment and the school’s procedures continually affirm their commitment to ensuring a safe environment for all students.
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In an email to True North, TMU stated that they could not comment on the case but reaffirmed the university’s pride in its “diverse and intentionally inclusive community.”
“The university works hard to promote an equitable and inclusive university community, free from discrimination and harassment. All TMU community members have a shared responsibility for ensuring a culture of respect and inclusion,” TMU said.
David Rosenfeld, Szweras’ lawyer, works with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ Legal Task Force and B’nai Brith Canada’s Matas Law Society in defending Jewish people facing antisemitism.
Rosenfeld spoke to True North to tell us what drove Szweras to sue the university.
“This Jewish student at TMU and others on campus are facing quite a difficult environment at TMU. They face continual chants, posters and graffiti on campus calling for and celebrating violence against Israel and Jews,” Rosenfeld said.
Rosenfeld said Szweras and other Jewish students are being threatened and intimidated by several incidents, words and actions including rallies where students are calling for Zionists to be removed from the school.
He said some chants which cheer on or call for violence against Jewish people have become commonplace not just at TMU but on many Canadian streets and university campuses are heard regularly but little to no action is being done to prevent the conduct at the university.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is commonly understood by many Jewish people to be a call to destroy the State of Israel.
Calls for Intifada, to “globalize the Intifada,” or saying an Intifada revolution is the only solution are alleged in the lawsuit as well.
The “Second Intifada” was a period of terror for many Israelis and was characterized by dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks, largely by Hamas, on Israelis in public places frequented by civilians, such as hotels, night clubs, movie theatres and buses.
An open letter written by students in support of Hamas and other incidents involving statements made by people accredited by the university were also noted in the lawsuit filed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Szweras alleges these actions all fit the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by the governments of both Canada and Ontario.
Using the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, Rosenfeld argues the state of Israel is a “central, critical, and inextricable element of Jewish identity” and that anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic, especially when it denies the right of Israel to exist and defend itself, or equates the actions of Israel to National Socialist Germany.
“Frankly, no one, let alone the students, paying for the privilege of attending an institute of higher learning, should have to face the environment Nikki and other Jewish students at TMU have experienced,” he said.
TMU has policies that prohibit the kinds of intimidating, offensive, demeaning, threatening, and unwanted conduct that Szweras alleged.
“From Nikki’s perspective, not applying those policies, not seeing sanctions being applied, not seeing statements from TMU about specific particular conduct or specific statements, just sort of stokes the flames of this kind of conduct at school,” Rosenfeld said. “(For her) it seems like those policies are just token statements, but not actually applied to conduct involving the Jewish students.”