Standing Against Antisemitism
As we reflect upon the disturbing findings of The Antisemitism Worldwide Report 2021 and the Anti-Defamation League’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2021, it has become clear to us that it is no longer possible to remain neutral in the face of an increasingly assertive and pervasive antisemitic and racist discourse.
The reports find a sharp increase in the number of recorded antisemitic incidents in countries across the globe.
Here in Canada, the Jewish service organization and advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada recorded 61 violent incidents in May 2021 alone, representing the highest-ever recorded in a single month by the organization since it began recording such incidents in 1982. Disturbingly, this is a 578% increase over the number of violent incidents recorded in all of 2020 and a 336% increase from all of 2019.
This reflects a growing, global trend in violence, harassment, desecration, denigration and hate speech directed at Jewish people, institutions, organizations and cultures.
In the US, for example, conspiratorial antisemitic views and antisemitic symbols were common on the ground and online before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, and continued to be embraced by far-right and radical nationalist groups shaping mainstream conservative discourse.
In Germany, anti-vaccine protesters appropriated the yellow star, replacing “Jude” (Jew) with “Ungeimpft” (unvaccinated), trivializing the victims of Nazi persecution and the Holocaust as a whole. This appropriation of antisemitic Holocaust symbols by anti-vaccine protesters has occurred elsewhere, including at anti-vaccine protests in Victoria.
In Belarus, antisemitic statements and conspiracies are used routinely by the ruling regime in its attacks against opposition parties and their supporters.
This year, in Ukraine, two major Holocaust memorial sites — the Babyn Yar in Kyiv and the Drobitsky Yar memorial near Kharkiv — have been damaged by Russian attacks, while the Russian president severely distorts historical accounts of the Holocaust for his own aims.
It is clear that it is not possible to remain neutral in this context. To remain silent and inactive can only enable this state of affairs to continue unabated.
Therefore, we the undersigned pledge to undertake the following actions against antisemitism and racism in all its forms:
- to learn about and share with others the ongoing history of antisemitism locally and globally;
- to stand with or directly support those confronting antisemitism, including those on the front lines of efforts to confront antisemitism and all forms of racism;
- to support and advance education to counter antisemitism and racism;
- to bring mindful anti-racist practice into daily life;
- to challenge stereotypes and reject trivializing narratives;
- to champion equality and fight for equity;
- to speak up against antisemitism and all forms of racism;
- to cultivate empathy and love in response to hatred;
- and to invite others to do the same.
Signed,
Annalee Lepp, Dean, Humanities
Alexandra D’Arcy, Associate Dean Research, Humanities
Lisa Surridge, Associate Dean Academic, Humanities
Philip Cox, Communications Officer, Humanities
Sara Humphreys, Assistant Teaching Professor, Academic and Technical Writing Program
Jason Colby, Professor and Chair, History
Richard Fox, Professor and Chair, Pacific and Asian Studies
Martin T. Adam, Associate Professor, Religion Culture and Society
Jeff Corntassel, Professor, Indigenous Studies
Chrissie Forster, Continuing Sessional Instructor, Hispanic and Italian Studies
Janelle Jenstad, Associate Professor, English
Catherine Caws, Professor, French
Andrea McKenzie, Associate Professor, History
Jill Walshaw, Associate Professor, History
Samuel Wong, Assistant Teaching Professor, English
Alison Chapman, Professor, English
Georgia Sitara, Assistant Teaching Professor, History and Gender Studies
Kristin Semmens, Associate Teaching Professor, History
Dr. John Archibald, Professor, Linguistics
Corinne Bancroft, Assistant Professor, English
Charlotte Schallié, Professor and Chair, Germanic and Slavic Studies
Cody Poulton, Professor Emeritus, Pacific and Asian Studies
Peter Cook, Associate professor, History
Mark Nugent, Assistant Teaching Professor, Greek and Roman Studies
Lynne Marks, Professor, History
Angie Chau, Assistant Professor, Pacific and Asian Studies
Paul Bramadat, Professor, History; Director, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society
Marc Lapprand, Professor and Acting Chair, French
Andrew Murray, Assistant Teaching Professor, English and Academic and Technical Writing Program
Martha McGinnis, Associate Professor and Chair, Linguistics
Annye Castonguay, Sessional Lecturer, French
Luke Carson, Associate Professor, English
Audrey Yap, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Sara Beam, Professor, History
John Lutz, Professor, History
Ingrid Holmberg, Associate Professor and Chair, Greek and Roman Studies
Jordan Stanger-Ross, Professor, History
Kaitlyn Berry, Graduate Secretary, Philosophy; Administrative Assistant, Humanities Computing and Media Centre
Iain Higgins, Professor, English
Hélène Cazes, Professor, French
Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins, Professor, Indigenous Education and Humanities
Matt James, Associate Professor, Political Science
Pablo Restrepo Gautier, Associate Professor, Hispanic and Italian Studies
Alicia Ulysses, Sessional Lecturer, Hispanic and Italian Studies
Allison Barnes, Adjunct Professor, Philosophy
Helga Thorson, Associate Professor, Germanic and Slavic Studies
Stephen Ross, Professor, English and Cultural Social and Political Thought
Christopher Douglas, Professor, English
Gabriela McBee, Assistant Teaching Professor, Hispanic and Italian Studies
Rachel Hope Cleves, Professor, History
Nicole Pointon, Development Officer, Humanities
Theresa Gallant, History, Administrative Officer
Sandra Kirkham, Continuing Sessional Instructor, Linguistics; Program Coordinator, American Sign Language program
Silvia Colás Cardona, Associate Teaching Professor, Hispanic and Italian Studies
Lytton McDonnell, Research Coordinator, Humanities
Laura Smith, Administrative Assistant, Humanities
Jentery Sayers, Associate Professor, English and Cultural Social and Political Thought
Laura Parisi, Acting Chair and Associate Professor, Gender Studies
Peter Golz, Associate Professor, Germanic and Slavic Studies
Chris Goto-Jones, Professor, Philosophy
Jennifer Sauter, Assistant to the Chair, Germanic and Slavic Studies
Sara Harvey, Associate Professor, French
Matt Pollard, Associate Teaching Professor, Germanic and Slavic Studies
Joseph Grossi, Associate Professor, English
Mamoru Hatakeyama, Assistant Teaching Professor, Pacific and Asian Studies
Emile Fromet de Rosnay, Assistant Professor, French
Lincoln Shlensky, Associate Professor, English
Laura Fanning, Continuing Sessional, English and Academic and Technical Writing Program
Rebecca Gagan, Assistant Teaching Professor, English
Magdalena Kay, Professor, English
Colin Macleod, Professor and Chair, Philosophy
Consuela Covrig, Undergraduate Secretary and Assistant to the Chair, History
Heather Waterlander, Graduate Program Administrative Assistant, History
Christine O'Bonsawin, Associate Professor, History and Indigenous Studies
Laurel Bowman, Associate Professor, Greek and Roman Studies
Peter Dietsch, Professor, Philosophy
Matthew Koch, Continuing Sessional Lecturer, History
Lydia Toorenburgh, Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator, Faculties of Science, Social Sciences and Humanities
David Dolff, Continuing Sessional Lecturer, History
Beatriz de Alba-Koch, Associate Professor, History
Alyssa Arbuckle, Associate Director, Electronic Textual Cultures Lab
Estelle Kurier, Sessional Lecturer, Hispanic and Italian Studies
waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy, Assistant Professor, Gender Studies
Alejandro Sinner, Associate Professor, Greek and Roman Studies