Thread by @sunlorrie

More than 300 Jewish faculty members at the University of Toronto have signed an open letter saying the university has a major problem with anti-semitism on campus.

In a letter to Acting Dean Patricia Houston of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine (formerly the Faculty of Medicine) they accuse 45 other faculty of launching an anti-semitic attack on human rights advocate Irwin Cotler over a speech he gave on Jan. 26, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

They say a letter from the 45 faculty falsely described Cotler's defence of Jews as being anti-Palestinian and characterized Holocaust Remembrance Day as being nothing more than "reinforc(ing) anti-Palestinian racism', demeaning the death of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.

The 45 faculty members also fed into antisemitic tropes, the, 300+ Jewish faculty members said, by referencing "special interest groups" which "perpetuates the classic depiction of Jews as dominating & controlling ... Jews have had to live with this ... hostility for centuries."

They said the incident, "reveals the apprehension" Jewish members of the faculty of medicine have to the "escalating antisemitism now overtly expressed" by the authors of the letter condemning Cotler's speech and "experienced by Jewish students and faculty."

The open letter to Acting Dean Houston is signed by Frank Sommers on behalf of the "Doctors Against Racism and Anti-Semitism Board of Directors' representing the 316 Jewish faculty members who co-signed it.

Correction: Cotlers' speech, arranged by the faculty of medicine, was given on Jan. 26, marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27.

Here is the letter by the 45 faculty members who complained about Cotler's speech to U of T's faculty of medicine on Jan. 26:
mcusercontent.com/9a5c9467d2/fil…