The January ceasefire reached in Gaza may have ended the Israeli Operation Cast Lead offensive against Hamas, but here in Canada it certainly has not served to curb public backlash against Israel’s actions.

Although the mainstream press tended to ignore the obscene Palestinian death toll at the hands of the Israeli military and instead argued passionately for Israel’s right to have done so in defence against Hamas, many Canadians were shocked to learn of the details of Israel’s latest “war” in Gaza.

One of those is Sid Ryan, the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. Following the Israeli massacres, including the bombing of an Islamic university and other schools, Ryan called for a CUPE Ontario boycott of Israeli academics in Canada who refuse to condemn Israel’s latest assault.

Apparently realizing the appallingly authoritarian nature of forcing Israelis living in Canada to denounce Israel’s actions, on Feb. 22 CUPE Ontario instead passed a resolution proposing a boycott of Israeli universities themselves.

“ [CUPE] does not seek to boycott other institutions that hold blame for the latest horrors committed by Israel in Gaza

In typical fashion, Canadian Jewish Groups – such as the Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai Brith Canada – have sounded the alarm that CUPE Ontario’s actions constitute sentiments of “discrimination,” “bigotry,” and their favourite card: “anti-Semitism.”

Whenever any public criticism is leveled against Israeli military assaults on Gaza, the jingoistic chorus of Canada’s institutionalized Israel defenders seeks to point out that this criticism is somehow indicative of some long held hatred of Jews.

With the amount of public outrage towards Israel’s disproportionate retaliation to Hamas, I shudder to think of just how many Jew-haters B’nai Brith believes exist in Canada.

By the same fuzzy logic, the latest siege of Gaza where over a thousand Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces – a much stronger form of criticism by the way – would have to be interpreted as being anti-Islamic, or at the very least anti-Arab on the part of the Israeli government, would it not?

Unfortunately, groups that echo these charges against CUPE Ontario are too concerned with sniffing out any traces of prejudice that they miss the real reason why this call to boycott is discriminatory. It is not because CUPE holds Mein Kempf close to its collective chest, but rather because it does not seek to boycott other institutions that hold blame for the latest horrors committed by Israel in Gaza.

Firstly, weapons manufacturers and universities that produce weapons research in the United States should be blacklisted on the boycott provision as well, since much of the Israeli military’s superior firepower is provided by that great republic to our south.

Furthermore, while CUPE Ontario is boycotting Canadian academic ties with Israel, why not investigate if it has any ties to countries that arm Hamas? Though it is clear that misfiring rockets are no match for the strength of the Israeli military, the frequent rocket attacks which Hamas carries out have allowed Israel to justify its Gaza slaughter in the eyes of the international community.

If CUPE Ontario wishes to announce itself as a defender of the Palestinians, then their proposed boycott should lay blame on all parties involved, not just Israel. To do otherwise, which is what CUPE Ontario has already decided upon, only serves to underscore one good point made in a clutter of bad ones by Canada’s unabashedly pro-Israel lobby groups.

This boycott proposal is in fact discriminatory, but only because it does not broaden its scope to include all parties that prolong the suffering and murder of Gaza’s long oppressed Palestinian population.

Andrew Tod is a University of Winnipeg student.

Published in Volume 63, Number 22 of The Uniter (March 5, 2009)