TORONTO – It was the Ryerson Student Union (RSU) that booked a four-day conference on the university campus featuring Dr. Azzam Tamimi, who holds views akin to radical Islamists.

The newly established, Mississauga-based Al-Fauz Institute for Islamic Thought, which organized the event titled From Caliphs to Kings, at which almost every lecture was delivered by Tamimi, “takes an activist’s approach to Islamic education: where knowledge must be directly linked to activism geared towards the upliftment of the [Moslem] community,” according to its web site. Dr. Tamimi, a prominent UK Islamist leader, who has advised the senior leadership of Hamas, is on public record for advocating suicide bombing and other forms of terror.

In media interviews, Tamimi has claimed that 9/11 brought joy to the Arab world and expressed admiration for the “courageous” Taliban.

Although the Jewish Tribune made several phone calls and sent e-mails over the course of several days, the RSU – known previously for its anti-Israel politics – did not reply.

“The Al-Fauz Institute for Islamic Thought is not connected to Ryerson University in any way, and the seminar is completely independent of the Ryerson University curriculum,” Janet Mowat, Ryerson’s manager of public affairs, told the Jewish Tribune.

“The program happens to be on our premises,” said Adam Kahan, vice-president, university advancement. “The problem essentially is not for us to allow or disallow. It’s not our call. It’s up to the [student] council, an independently run entity located on the Ryerson campus.”

“Freedom of speech is the heart and soul of a university,” Mowat stated.

When asked if there could be a limit to free speech on campus – for example, a pedophile lecturing on children’s rights – Kahan responded: “We always act within the law.” The police could be called if someone uses hate speech or the like, but even so, “ we have nothing to do with the facility,” he said. Members of the administration could report the crime, “just like anyone else. It’s not ours to control.”

According to Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of B’nai Brith Canada, “although we understand that Ryerson University was not a sponsor of the seminar, merely providing a venue conveys the perception that the content of this program was sanctioned by the university itself. In the eyes of the community, it is as if Ryerson is providing its good name and a venue to an individual preaching hatred.”

Dimant expressed appreciation that the university sufficiently recognized the risks inherent in Tamimi’s views and thus advised the Toronto Police Service and Ryerson Security. Nevertheless, “we would have hoped that, by logical extension, steps would have been taken to prevent his visit altogether.

“The seminar is an external event that has no connection to Ryerson University,” Kahan declared, in response to a letter from Dimant expressing concern about the program.

“During the summer months, organizations that are not associated with a university rent conference facilities on campuses across the country. The Al-Fauz Institute is such an organization. Seminar organizers contacted directly the conference coordination staff in Oakham House [where the progam was held], which is part of the student campus centre, a Ryerson student-administered facility.”

Safety and security on campus is one of the administration’s “top priorities,” he added.
Upon reading about Tamimi, “there were a lot of people that were mortified, including me,” a member of the Ryerson staff told the Jewish Tribune, requesting anonymity for fear of repercussions at work. “Everyone was scurrying to find out who did the booking.”

A full report on the four-day course will appear in the next issue of the Jewish Tribune.