On September 29, 2013 "Speakers Corner Calgary" set up a public debate on 17th avenue on the issue of Israel and the Palestinians. View that debate here. Two members of our organization attended, one Jewish and a lawyer, the other Metis and an organizer at Idle no More. One behalf of the Palestinians an organizer with the University of Calgary Palestinian student campus club spoke. Representing Israel's position was an independent advocate in Calgary who we didn't know. Part way through the event, a former member of the Palestinian student club approached the Metis individual (thinking he was Jewish) and said: "too bad the Nazis didn't finish off your family".
The club organizer privately apologized and said the belligerent individual would be removed from their group. However, after the event the organizer went to lunch, with a group of people, including the individual who had made the racist comment (there are eye witnesses of this). Furthermore, the Palestinian club did not remove this individual from their online group until almost two months later, when we publicized this information (see screen shot).
This club maintains that calling Israelis "terrorists" and "racist" is not anti-Semitic, but that the comments of this individual are. We maintain that 1) both comments are heavily anti-Semitic and; 2) the Nazi comment is a direct symptom of the anti-Israel activity allowed to happen freely in the name of "open debate" at the University of Calgary.
The club organizer privately apologized and said the belligerent individual would be removed from their group. However, after the event the organizer went to lunch, with a group of people, including the individual who had made the racist comment (there are eye witnesses of this). Furthermore, the Palestinian club did not remove this individual from their online group until almost two months later, when we publicized this information (see screen shot).
This club maintains that calling Israelis "terrorists" and "racist" is not anti-Semitic, but that the comments of this individual are. We maintain that 1) both comments are heavily anti-Semitic and; 2) the Nazi comment is a direct symptom of the anti-Israel activity allowed to happen freely in the name of "open debate" at the University of Calgary.
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