Mcgill University Case Study

Noah Lew, Alexander Scheffel, and Josephine Wright O’Manique, students of McGill University, were all deposed from their duties from their student general assembly. Democratize Students Society of McGill University(SSMU), is an organization created to resist the university's BDS ban on Campus. All three of the students voted down from their possessions have connections to Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee(CJPAC), a national organization promoting the engagement of Jewish and pro-Israel Canadians in active political events. SSMU passed a motion requiring each member of the assembly to vote separately. The fact that these three students were voted down from their positions in student government is seen as an act of anti semitism, but this is not the case. …show more content…
The whole idea behind a democracy is that you can vote as an individual for someone to represent the values in which you hold. The decision to vote against Noah Lew, Alexander Scheffel, and Josephine Wright O’Manique, is simply them exercising their rights. The students voted off of the general assembly were supporters of the BDS ban from the university, in addition to being affiliated to CJPAC, which is arguably only partially related to Democratize SSMU’s decision to vote down those students. At least some of those involved in Democratize SSMU focused on the “Israel” part of the organization’s name and not just the “Jewish” part. Just because some students are anti Israel does not necessarily mean they are anti semitic as well. It is not fair to connect the two beliefs not only because they do not have a cohesive connection, but because of the major sensitivities and tension associated with each. Therefore, it is not fair to draw a direct line between the students of the anti Israel beliefs of the SSMU, and anti