Jewish group condemns YorkU faculty association over allegedly anti-Semitic divestment campaign

York University is once again facing criticism from a prominent Jewish organization, this time for the YorkU faculty association’s decision to divest itself of any investments in weapons manufacturing. Although the divestment campaign does not mention Israel, Avi Benlolo of the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies has accused the university’s faculty association of supporting “a campaign of censorship against Israel and the Jewish People.” Benlolo contends that the campaign is anti-Semitic because of the support it has drawn from the YorkU chapter of Students Against Israeli Apartheid, a group that advocates a broader campaign of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel and Israeli academics. Faculty association President Richard Wellen said that SAIA is only one of dozens of organizations supporting the campaign. Benlolo also recently criticized YorkU over a mural hanging in the YorkU student centre. National Post