Ban!

Janice Folk-Dawson, chairwoman of the university workers committee of CUPE Ontario, supports a ban of Israeli academics from doing any research, speaking or teaching in Ontario universities. In her opinion, "the resolution will protect the quality of education by preventing Israeli academics from professing biased views". The ban would not apply to an individual who would publicly adopt the union's official position.

I don't know when Ms. Folk-Dawson last attended university, but it is still widely accepted that professors profess opinions. Some of those opinions may be biased, and some may differ from CUPE's opinions. So what? Isn't it an advantage to Ontario students that they are exposed to different opinions?

Even if one disagrees with this concept—recognized in some circles as "free speech"—it's difficult to see what dangerous biased opinions will be expressed by, say, an Israeli physics professor. And why only Israeli professors? What about other foreign (or Canadian) professors with "biased" opinions?

And if the goal is to stop "biased opinions", is it really a good idea to let CUPE Ontario approve which ideas are acceptable and which are not?

Let me suggest to CUPE members that if they really care about the quality of education in Ontario universities, they should kick out Ms. Folk-Dawson and others like her, and elect instead someone who doesn't let his or her own biases get in the way of education and true democratic values.

Comments

[Lewis]

Right on. I totally agree.

If CUPE was acting in good faith the ban should extend to any professor who does not publicly oppose Israeli actions, or if that goes too far, at least to any professor from any country whose government supports Israel policies.

This type of ban nonsense demeans us all.

Lewis

[Stephen]

I like trying to argue other sides of things, but I don't think I can in this situation. I don't even like government interferring with education, let alone CUPE.

I have a better idea though. If what is at stake is the impressionability of young minds, and the misuse of library resources, why not just ban students and close the libraries? I'm sure things would go on much more swimmingly.

[Alan Yeung]

You're complaining about bias here, but to be fair, the words you've quoted as being from Ms. Folk-Dawson are words of the article author, not a quotation of what she actually said. Also, there's nothing in the article that suggests Folk-Dawson wants speakers to "adopt the union's official position"... there is no evidence at all in the article of what the union's official position is. What Folk-Dawson wants is for speakers to condemn Israel's actions; this may or may not be the union's official position.

I agree with you that freedom of speech must be protected and that Folk-Dawson's position seems ridiculous, but I also see nothing wrong with academic campaigns against Israeli apartheid policies similar to those that were effectively waged against South American apartheid. I haven't bought Israeli products for close to a decade now. Love the nation, hate its policies.

[Russ Brown]

Ernest Weinrib wrote an (in my view, excellent) opinion editorial in response to a similar (but not identical) initiative in the UK in 2007, which can be viewed here: http://utorontolaw.typepad.com/faculty_blog/2009/01/ernest-weinrib-a-betrayal-of-the-teaching-profession.html

[Ubaka Ogbogu]

""In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general," said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario."

How about removing Palestinian professors who do not condemn rocket attacks on Isreal? And perhaps U.S. profs who have said nothing about withdrawal from Iraq? Perhaps Zimbabwean-born profs who are living it up here in Canada while a nutcase runs their country into the ground?

This Sid Ryan guy should not be the president of anything.