University of Ottawa Bans Israeli Apartheid Week Poster - Call to Action

February 21, 2009

On February 20, 2009, the University of Ottawa became the second Ottawa administration to ban the posters of Israeli Apartheid Week 2009, following the lead of Carleton University in a blatant violation of free expression for students speaking out on human rights. Like Carleton
University's administration, the University of Ottawa's Communications Office used spurious "human rights" claims to ban the poster. The Communications Office's short communique to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights reads:

"A poster from the campus group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights has recently come to the attention of the Communications Office. All posters approved by the Communications Office must promote a campus culture where all members of the community can play a part in a
declaration of human rights recognizing the inherent dignity and equal rights of all students. Consequently, we will not place this particular poster on our campus billboards."

Please view the poster here:
http://www.apartheidweek.org/sites/apartheidweek.org/files/Israeli%20Apartheid%20Week%202009%20poster.jpg

This curt note notably fails to explain how the poster by noted cartoonist Carlos Latuff, depicting an Israeli attack helicopter (labeled "Israel") firing a missile at a Palestinian child (labeled
"Gaza"), does not "recognize the inherent dignity and equal rights of all students". In fact, the banning of the poster is a failure to recognize the dignity and equal rights of Palestinian students and those who seek to expose the violations of human rights of Palestinians.

The poster is symbolic but it also depicts a factual situation. 430 children were killed by the Israeli military in its latest attack on Gaza. It seems that according to a growing number of campus administrations, depicting these killings on a poster is some kind of human rights violation, while the killings themselves, or the bombing of a University in Gaza, are not (neither campus administration condemned the killings of civilians or the bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza).

In contrast to these campus administrations, the movement for Palestinian human rights is at the forefront of the struggle to recognize the inherent dignity and equal rights of all students, and indeed, all people. As the students at Carleton wrote when the poster was banned on their campus, "the campaign is proudly anti-racist, and founded on the principles of opposition to all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. It draws its inspiration from the global
campaign to end South African apartheid and is led by many of the same individuals who were at the forefront of that earlier struggle."

We present the same demands to the University of Ottawa as the students at Carleton University demanded of their administration:

1. Immediately lift the ban on the Israeli Apartheid Week poster and publicly apologize for the banning.
2. Explain, publicly and precisely, how the profound error of banning the poster was made and address how to prevent such violations from occurring in future.
3. Sponsor a full public debate--ensuring generous access to the entire university community--on the University of Ottawa's position on the proposed institutional boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
4. Appoint a university/community Commission to investigate the record of the University in relation to democratic discourse and equity around issues of Palestine solidarity.

We call on student organizations, social justice groups and concerned individuals around the world to support students at the University of Ottawa and the broader fight for freedom of expression.

Please take the following actions:
* Email/Fax/Call the President of the University of Ottawa, Allan Rock, demanding that he immediately restore the Charter rights of students and send a copy of your message of support to the Director of the Communications Office, Andree Dumulon. Please send a copy of your letter to sphr.uofo@gmail.com

Allan Rock: email president@uOttawa.ca, fax (613)562-5103, phone (613)562-5809
Director of communications: email adumulon@uOttawa.ca, phone
(613)562-5800 ext. 3150