CALGARY – In the Feb. 25, 2010 issue of the Jewish Tribune, your lead story charged that York University discriminated against a coalition of pro-Israel students by withdrawing consent to permit a Jewish and Christian coalition pro-Israel conference on campus, preceding the coming campus Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) event. The university claimed that the coalition had failed to meet York University’s requirements and in particular, “security concerns” due to the participation of individuals, whom they claim “invite the animus of anti-Israel campus agitators,” noting B’nai Brith Canada’s Frank Dimant and Middle East Forum’s Daniel Pipes in particular.

Even though York University imposed more stringent requirements on the coalition than on the IAW organizers, including requiring the coalition to pay for additional security, while not so requiring that of IAW organizers, is York University’s stance motivated by the proverbial anti-Israel/anti-Jewish double standard?

Probably not.

Universities have a duty to protect their students and property.

Whereas Muslim university student associations and their left-wing non-Muslim cohorts have, in their past anti-Israel protests and rallies, demonstrated potential for a hostile mob mentality that can and has broken into violence that puts other students and university property at risk, there is no such demonstrated risk to universities from Jewish or Christian students when they advocate their views.

It takes no imagination to foresee that if universities were to cancel the IAW event on the basis that it has in past sometimes descended into violence and often descended into an event rife with anti-semitism, which goes way beyond the bounds of free speech, the certain protest by Muslim and non-Muslim organizers, would have a serious potential for violence that would imperil both the students and the university.

Universities cannot in good conscience ignore that threat to both students, property and peace and harmony on campus.

No matter how much universities like York might strain to rationalize and justify allowing IAW events to proceed under the mantra of freedom of speech and to deny a coalition of Jews and Christians holding a pro-Israel event on campus, due to security concerns, the major unarticulated premise to York’s and other universities’ thinking in similar instances is the aforesaid fear of credible threats, made or anticipated to the safety and security of both students and campus.

Experience teaches us that our best chance of overcoming fear is to confront and deal with it openly.

In this case, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous words, that “we have nothing to fear, but fear itself,” have no application here. Universities and students have a real basis for their fears, hereinbefore described.

Challenging or denouncing York or any university in cases such as this, as the headline does in accusing York University of discrimination or as B’nai Brith CEO Frank Dimant has done in saying “York’s continued appeasement of anti-Israel agitators at the expense of Zionist Christians and Jews is unacceptable,” are charges you can bet York has anticipated. York University being so forewarned is thus forearmed in explaining, rationalizing and deflecting away those charges.

York, however, is probably not prepared to deal with having their noses rubbed in the core reason for their thinking and decision, being their justifiable fear and what that fear derives from.

If Jews and Christians can unite to force that fear factor out in the open and get universities and indeed society as a whole to admit, confront and deal with it, there is a better chance that this fear factor could be overcome.

The Muslim and non-Muslim anti-Israel advocates/activists have until now had a decided advantage, exploiting and employing that fear factor to their benefit.

Removing or reducing that fear factor advantage would result in levelling the playing field to better ensure pro-Israel/Jewish advocates/activists can fully exercise their rights to freedom of speech and thus empower them to more effectively counter and discredit the anti-Israel advocates/activists and their propagandized amessages.

With that, pro-Israel advocates and activists would be assured of much greater success in the battle of words and ideas for hearts and minds that they wage on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.