Canadian Universities Risk Silencing Debate Over Israel

The University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.

When I sat before the governance committee of my student union last month, I came with one clear recommendation: do not adopt the proposed Anti-Palestinian Racism (APR) definition that was being considered at the school.

My objection was not to the idea that every Palestinian student deserves protection from harassment or discrimination. Everybody does. The problem was how the definition blurs politics with discrimination, punishes ordinary criticism, and weakens academic freedom.