Joel Goldenberg – The Suburban LJI Reporter
Some 80 law firms have sent an urgent letter to Canadian law school deans, calling for a meeting in light of a surge of antisemitic harassment and incidents at universities. At a recent House of Representatives hearing in the United States, some university heads could not bring themselves to say that calls for genocide against Jews violate university policy.
The letter from lawyers across Canada says, “among the core values at each of our law firms is that every person is entitled to be treated with respect and be free of any discrimination or conduct that targets their identity or that may be offensive, hostile, intimidating or inconsistent with their personal dignity and rights.
“Over the last several weeks, we have been alarmed by the surging reports of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and assaults on university campuses. These include protesters calling for the death of Jews. Such antisemitic acts would never be tolerated at any of our law firms, nor should they be tolerated at our Canadian universities. We also believe that universities should not accept student societies and outside groups engaging in acts of harassment and threats of violence, as has been occurring and tolerated on many campuses.”
The letter points out that some of the student groups associated with many universities have shown support for the terrorist group Hamas, which carried out the attack on Israel Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people, and left thousands injured and with more than 200 people taken hostage.
“Students look to you for guidance and protection in a manner that affirms key core Canadian values being: respect, equality, safety and peace, all of which we as Canadians hold dear. We understand that as educators of higher learning, you must encourage discourse on various issues. This comes with the responsibility of managing a balance of the free exchange of ideas with the respect, safety and security of its students. As the leaders of these institutions this responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders.”
The lawyers added that at each of their firms, “we prohibit any form of discrimination, hostility or harassment, whether verbal, visual or physical.
“Let us be clear: there is no room for antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism or any other form of violence, hatred or bigotry on your campuses, in our workplaces or our communities. As employers who recruit from each of your law schools, we look to you to ensure your students are prepared to join workplace communities such as ours that have zero tolerance for any form of discrimination or harassment. We continue to carefully monitor the situation and trust that you will take the same unequivocal stance on your campuses. We also invite you to meet in order to arrange a respectful dialogue so that we can understand how you are addressing with urgency this serious situation.”
The signatories are: Allen McDonald Swartz LLP, Anglehart et al., Azancot & Associates Inc., Bereskin & Parr LLP, Boro Frigon Gordon Jones, Breder Law, Brownlee LLP, Chaitons LLP, Choueke Hollander LLP, Consumer Law Group Inc., Cooper, Sandler, Shime & Schwartzentruber LLP, Cozen O’Connor, De Grandpré Chait LLP, De Louya Markakis Avocats, Derhy Lawyers and Notaries, Diamond & Diamond LLP, DLA Piper, Duncan Craig LLP, Dunton Rainville L.L.P., Eidelmann Law Inc., Epstein Cole LLP, Fishman Flanz Meland Paquin LLP, Fogelman Law PC, Francis Mehr LLP, FWCanada, Gluckstein Lawyers, Goldman, Spring, Kichler & Sanders LLP, Goodman, Solomon & Gold, Green and Spiegel LLP, Greenspoon Lawyers, Guardian Law Group, Halpern Law Group, Hatch Law, Hladun & Company, Hoffer Adler LLP, Igor Ellyn ADR, JML Law Corporation, Kahn Zack Ehrlich Lithwick LLP, Kaufman Lawyers LLP, KRB Lawyers, Kugler Kandestin LLP, Labarge Weinstein, Law Office of Cynthia Lauer, Law Office of Harriet Altman, Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb, Leo Adler Law, Leora Shemesh Criminal Law, Levine Frishman S.E.N.C., Levy Tsotsis, Lex Group Inc., MacDonald & Partners LLP, Manis Law, MBM Intellectual Property LLP, McCague Borlack LLP, McLennan Ross LLP, Neuberger & Partners LLP, Parlee McLaws LLP, Pinto Law, Pitblado LLP, Rachlin & Wolfson LLP, Ravinsky Ryan Lemoine, Robins Appleby LLP, Robinson Sheppard Shapiro LLP, Rosen Sunshine LLP, Rosenstein Law, Scharfstein LLP, Schneider Legal, Segev LLP, Shadley Knerr s.e.n.c.r.l., SOS Legal, Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, Spiegel Sohmer Inc., Stein & Stein Inc., Steinbergs LLP, Taylor & Blair LLP, Teplitsky LLP, Tilda M. Roll, Professional Corp; Torkin Manes LLP, Tutino Joseph Grégoire, Victor Vallance Blais LLP, Wagner Sidlofsky LLP and WLG Law. n