The Glory of York University

What an amazing reputation to burnish. Jew baiters and anti-Semites rule the academic roost at York University. Blatantly and confidently asserting themselves as supporters and soul mates of the Palestinians. Which position requires a counter-position and that one is easily enough assumed. It is an ancient one that fits quite comfortably, like an old, loved comforter one is reluctant to discard simply because it may have outlived its usefulness.

Some things are simply too useful to be discarded. If they are worn they can be set aside, to be plucked once again into utility, patched here and there and given a new lease on life, as it were. For it is true that for a while, at least several decades in Canada, anti-Semitism seemed to have faded into the obscurity it deserved as a shameful social tool to degrade the existence of a certain segment of society.

Now, however, that society itself has chosen to segment itself into those who support and aid the cause of the Palestinians, it is acceptable that if there is a victim there must also, ipso facto, be a victimizer. Readily identified, because the victim has named him, the Occupier to whom "resistance" is violently applied. The violence readily overlooked as an acceptable inconvenience, the "occupation" recognized as vicious Apartheid, not self-protection.

"Can anybody believe, really believe that this is a lifestyle we elect? There is no glory to be found and nobody should believe that there is.
"You people here - nobody else - are who we look to from Israel to hold this line of truth. And it's being eroded on your very watch faster than any of you care to imagine. What you do today will have very real consequences for us tomorrow." Benjamin Anthony, sergeant, heavy machine gun operator, Israel Defence Forces

Born in England, now a citizen of Israel, Mr. Anthony is travelling the Continent to tend to the problem for Israel of academic institutions hosting Israel-bashing events, led by the academic and study body whose affiliation with and allegiance to alleviation of the suffering of the Palestinians leads them to slander Israel and hold it to blighted account for what they identify as Apartheid.

He speaks with passion and belief in his mission. That his earnest words will reach the minds, attitudes and opinions of those who have not yet solidified their position, if they have any interest in what occurs in the Middle East. He was forewarned, he tells his audience at York University, of its reputation.

"I was told specifically to watch out for what would happen at York University", he said, clearly not quite crediting what he was told. A friend had told him that, unlike the many campuses he has visited in the United States and Canada, York students would "tear me apart". The lecture went at scheduled, no protesters in sight.

The University of Western Ontario on this occasion takes full credit for insulting protest.

The man's focus on North American academic institutions and the hostility expressed by some members of faculty and the student bodies, attempting to address the virulent hatred expressed by "racist" claims "willing to brand an entire country as murderers", will certainly keep him busy.