The legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario has condemned 'Israel Apartheid Week' which is taking place in Universities around the world. All 30 members of the 107-seat provincial legislature who were present on February 25 voted for the resolution that denounced the campus event which began on 01 March at universities and colleges in 35 cities around the world. Israel Apartheid Week events and speakers are scheduled at several university campuses across Ontario.
The term Israeli Apartheid Week incites "hatred against Israel, a democratic state that respects the rule of law and human rights, and the use of the word 'apartheid' in this context diminishes the suffering of those who were victims of a true apartheid regime in South Africa," Conservative legislator Peter Shurman told Shalom Life, a Toronto-based Jewish Web site.
"If you're going to label Israel as apartheid, then you are also calling Canada apartheid and you are attacking Canadian values," he said. "The use of the phrase 'Israeli Apartheid Week' is about as close to hate speech as one can get without being arrested, and I'm not certain it doesn't actually cross over that line."
Jewish students across Canada have launched several campaigns to counter Israel Apartheid Week. Meanwhile, York University in Toronto canceled a pro-Israel event that had been scheduled for Feb. 22, citing "security" concerns. One of the speakers was to have been conservative U.S. scholar Daniel Pipes, who spoke at York in 2003 amid threats of violence.
