Rabbi calls York campus “anti-semitic”

Antonella Cangelosi
Staff Writer
York University president Mamdouh Shoukri and Rabbi Aaron Hoch, who accused Shoukri of supporting anti-Semitism, are currently in the process of setting up a meeting to discuss Hoch’s allegations.
Hoch is a local rabbi who forwarded an email to 700 of his contacts expressing his concerns about George Galloway’s speech at York’s Keele campus on Nov. 16 and encouraging people to protest against Galloway’s presence at York, according to a Nov. 16 National Post article.
In his email, Rabbi Hoch said “Mr. Shoukri has again showed his amazing tolerance for anti-Semitism and lack of vigilance regarding the feeling of safety for Jewish students on campus.”
Commenting on the nature of the upcoming meeting, Alex Bilyk, director of York’s media relations, said “during the meeting we will welcome Rabbi Hoch’s clarification that he did not mean that the president was an anti-Semite.”
In light of the upcoming meeting, Rabbi Hoch declined to comment about what he hoped this meeting would accomplish.
Hoch’s concerns stemmed from the fact that Galloway was forbidden from entering Canada in 2008 after allegedly making monetary donations to the Palestinian Hamas-run government, a group the Canadian government identifies as a terrorist organization.
According to Hoch, the meeting will take place some time in early December.
According to the National Post, York wanted an apology from Hoch, but instead of issuing an apology, Hoch forwarded a copy of his original email, York University’s response, and his response to the university to all of his original contacts.
With files from the National Post