Time is at a premium as we gear up for our action-packed Annual General Meeting. But we're taking a break from preparations to bring you two stories that cut to the heart of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity today. We also report back on our advocacy on behalf of doctors in Nicaragua - plus we get you ready for the upcoming AGM.  

BDS expands scope

Perhaps it was the calm tone of John Cheney-Lippold that grated the most.

An associate professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Cheney-Lippold is a reasonable man. A humanitarian, even. He just has no time for Israel.

“As you may know," he wrote to a Jewish student last month, "many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine. This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there.”

As a result, he explained, he was forced to retract his initial offer to write a letter of recommendation for the student. He hadn't realized, he said, that she planned to study in Israel.

Cheney-Lippold can couch his policy with compassion. He can avoid personal attacks. He can maintain his professional civility. No matter: blocking a student's education to follow one's misplaced political allegiances strays far from the margins of civility.

In refusing to write the recommendation, the professor takes BDS activism to a new frontier. Response was swift.

“It is disappointing that a faculty member would allow their personal political beliefs to limit the support they are willing to otherwise provide for our students,” read a statement from U. of Michigan. “We will engage our faculty colleagues in deep discussions to clarify how the expression of our shared values plays out in support of all students.”

The Zionist Organization of America called for stronger action.

“If the University leaders fail to take action against Cheney-Lippold, then they will be sending the message to him and to the rest of the faculty that they are free to use their power to violate students’ academic freedom.” 

Over at the Detroit Free Press, Mitch Albom touched on the hypocrisy embedded in the professor's politics and in the BDS movement at large. 

Cheney-Lippold and other professors of his ilk target Israel but ignore countries with far worse track records on human rights. And Palestinian activists in Israel selectively apply their own boycott, with Omar Barghouti and others having attended Israeli universities.  

When 185,000 people called for Barghouti's expulsion from Tel Aviv University, administrators refused to heed their call.

"Perhaps," writes Albom, "[the university] respected something Cheney-Lippold apparently does not: that shutting someone out of a legitimate education opportunity doesn’t make you righteous, it makes you small. That’s called principle. It would be nice if U-M paid that principle more than lip service."

Update: letter to Nicaragua

As reported in last month's DARA newsletter, Nicaraguan authorities have fired scores of doctors and other health care workers because they attended to protesters of the increasingly brutal regime.

Our letter to Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, emailed two weeks ago, read in part:

"In one fell swoop, your administration has undermined the gains your country has made towards democracy, self-determination, improved civil liberties, and your international reputation ...

Highly skilled physicians have emigrated from your country, taking with them years of training and experience. How many of your citizens will perish as a result? ...

As health practitioners, we care for all patients no matter their beliefs. Doctors who treated protesters in your country were simply doing their job – and obeying their calling. Care is apolitical. We ask that you immediately reinstate all health practitioners who have been terminated in your country for their treatment of protesters."

We will report back on further developments in this important health-related story.

Sarsour bringing hate to Canada?

Hot off her most recent hate-riddled comments about Israel comes news that progressive celebrity activist Linda Sarsour is bringing her case to Canada. 

Sarsour is scheduled to speak at a Muslim community convention on Oct. 6 in Mississauga, just west of Toronto. The Carry the Light convention is sponsored by the Islamic Circle of North America, which has been accused of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The New York-based Sarsour is not only a vocal critic of Israel. She has been criticized for supporting Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B’nai Brith Canada have spoken out against Sarsour attending the event. The Canadian Coalition for Responsible Government (CCRG) has posted a petition on the CitizenGO website calling for the RCMP to block her entry into Canada.

SACH, AGM and a Berlin marathon 

By attending this year's AGM on October 10, you will also hear Dr. Bernard Goldman talk about Save a Child's Heart, an Israeli organization that helps children with congenital heart disease in developing countries.

SACH has saved the lives of almost 750 children, and this month Tanzanian runners took to the streets to raise money for the organization at the Berlin Marathon 2018. 

Register: DARA 2018 AGM

Wednesday, October 10
6:30 - 9:00 PM
 

Adath Israel Synagogue
37 Southbourn Ave
Toronto, Ontario

Guest Speaker: Dr. Bernard Goldman, OC, FRCSC