To the York University Administration,
We write this letter to call on you to take a stand against anti-Palestinian racism. We do this in the face of your inaction when on September 16 at the Keele campus during Yorkfest, a Palestinian student was brutalized and traumatized. The student was verbally assaulted, violently tackled, dragged across the ground, choked, and received a gash that resulted in a hospital stay and multiple stitches by a member of the zionist militia group Magen Herut, one that lacks security credentials. Magen Herut is known to promote violence against Arabs and Palestinians, with ties to far right extremist groups like the JDL who have a history of assaulting Palestinians on this campus.
It is within York’s own policies that private security is prohibited on campus without prior authorization. To date, the York administration has not taken necessary action to hold the group accountable, simply issuing a measly trespass notice against the perpetrator of this heinous hate crime. The student has been targeted publicly by Zionists through online death threats, doxxing and hate speech, all of which the university has failed to prevent. Attacks such as these are part of a long pattern of harassment, intimidation, and violence directed at Palestinian and Muslim students at this University and within our community.
These recurring assaults are the direct result of York University’s long-standing failure to address anti-Palestinian racism (APR) and Islamophobia, while enabling Zionist organizations and vigilantes that harass and attack students. The Race Equity Caucus’s 2024 report, Surveilled and Silenced, documents how York’s silence, repression, and weaponization of “community safety” have systematically targeted Palestinian students and their allies. The report shows that the York administration has entrenched a “climate of hostility for Palestine solidarity actions” and has “created a climate of fear, mistrust, hopelessness, and declining health and wellbeing” for those standing in solidarity with Palestine.
All of this is occurring while Palestinian students and community members are also faced with the reality of genocide as reported by the United Nations, watching their families and loved ones in Palestine being murdered, maimed, and dispossessed every single day.
York has repeatedly refused to name and address APR and Islamophobia, even while invoking antisemitism to shield Zionist organizations from scrutiny. This double standard leaves Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and allied students vulnerable to violence, repression, and surveillance. The administration’s complicity is clear: this is not the first time Palestinian students have been assaulted, nor is it the first time York has sided with aggressors while criminalizing victims. For a detailed list of this pattern of behaviour, see Appendix A.
Our Demands
We demand that the York University administration:
- Acknowledge the genocide in Palestine, as recognized by the United Nations.
- Immediately develop and implement a university-wide policy to address anti-Palestinian racism (as defined by the Arab Canadian lawyers association) and Islamophobia, with systemic support for affected students.
- Ban Magen Herut and any similar Zionist vigilante groups from campus.
- Publicly support the call to review and revoke Magen Herut’s charitable status by CRA, given the organization’s documented violent activities, including this incident against the safety of a York University student.
York University upper administration has the full responsibility to guarantee its students’ safety and address racist rhetoric, including dehumanization of Palestinian and Muslim lives and genocidal denialism. York administration tolerating violent behaviour from Zionist groups and vigilantes on campus, and refusing to take meaningful action, reveals they are an insidious contributor to such incidents. The trauma that these students face daily as well as the terror inflicted upon them by these radical groups is only enabled by the University’s complicity, including but not limited to its continued bias towards “Israeli” institutions, companies, and partnerships, while neglecting any partnerships with Palestinian institutions and organizations.
Call to Action
We call on students, faculty, staff, and the wider York community to hold this administration accountable by sending an email to York University administration using the template provided in Appendix B.
York University cannot continue to hide behind working groups, delay tactics, and empty promises while Palestinian and Muslim students are assaulted on campus.
Signed,
Palestine Solidarity Collective @ York University
York University Muslim Students Association
Indigenous Students Association @ York University
York University Graduate Student Association
CUPE 3903 Executive Committee.
Independent Jewish Voices @ York University
Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto
Blankets for Toronto York Chapter
Many Green Hands @ York University
Environmental and Urban Change Students Association @ York University
Alliance of Workers and Students
Students for Justice in Palestine @ Toronto Metropolitan University
Palestinian Solidarity Group @ University of Windsor
UWaterloo Voices For Palestine
Palestinian Justice Club @ Laurier University
Students for Justice in Palestine @ University of Alberta
Students for Justice in Palestine @ University of Manitoba
Palestinian Students Association @ MacEwan University
Students for Justice in Palestine @ Langara College
Students for Palestinian Human Rights @ University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia Divest
Palestinian Solidarity Group @ University of Windsor
Appendix A: APR at York U Timeline (non-exhaustive)
2004: York suspended both SPHR and Hillel after a protest and counter-protest in Vari Hall. https://www.yorku.ca/yfile/2004/03/26/york-university-issues-statement-on-response-to-recent-student-protest/
2004: Dan Freeman-Maloy case https://thevarsity.ca/2004/10/18/suspended-york-u-student-sues-for-850k
2009: Article by Dan Freeman-Maloy on Israeli advocacy at York https://socialistproject.ca/2009/03/b191/
2009: Dissertation by Ziadah Rafeef on APR at York U https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/68e7a130-acbe-4c5d-96e0-c163edccbc52
2014: Article by Palestinian SAIA member https://www.excal.on.ca/opinion/editorial/2014/03/26/york-is-trying-to-ban-me-from-my-home/
2019: Large protests and clashes during an event hosted by IDF veterans group “Reservists on Duty.”
2020: The Cromwell Review noted tensions around Israel/Palestine activism on campus.
https://president.yorku.ca/files/2020/06/Justice-Cromwell%E2%80%99s-Independent-External-Review.pdf
2023: York denounced attacks in Israel in a community message, criticized for asymmetry. https://www.yorku.ca/yfile/2023/10/10/message-to-the-community-on-the-war-in-the-middle-east/
2023: York condemned student unions’ Palestine solidarity statement; provincial politicians amplified attacks. https://www.yorku.ca/news/2023/10/13/university-response-to-student-unions-october-12-statement/
2023: Following Indigo protest arrests, York suspended employees and students staged a walkout. https://globalnews.ca/news/10122549/york-university-walkout-staff-suspended-indigo-vandalism/
2024: Toronto Police interrupted Dr. Muhannad Ayyash’s lecture after York called them. https://breachmedia.ca/toronto-police-crashed-york-lecture-palestine-muhannad-ayyash/
2024: York invited police to dismantle a pro-Palestine encampment within 24 hours. https://www.yorku.ca/bettertogether/2024/06/06/message-to-the-york-community-regarding-removal-of-an-encampment/
2024: Race Equity Caucus published Surveilled & Silenced documenting systemic APR. https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/d0c8efbf-728d-4d20-b25d-47dc068825c0
2024: The Grind reported APR is “way up” at York, based on REC findings. https://www.thegrindmag.ca/anti-palestinian-racism-way-up-york-university-report/
2025: York U responds to REC report https://www.thegrindmag.ca/york-university-sort-of-responds-to-anti-palestinian-racism-report/