University of Toronto’s pro-Israel bias: the bigger problem

Crescent International

Safar 05, 1442 2020-09-22

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

Reports about University of Toronto’s rescinding the offer to Dr. Valentina Azarova as director of International Human Rights Program (IHRP) due to her investigation of Israeli crimes is one more confirmation of how the upper echelons of Canadian society are disconnected from the people on the issue of Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Several Canadian and international media outlets reported that an email sent to Dean Edward Iacobucci by a judge in the Tax Court of Canada who makes financial contributions to the university caused Azarova to lose her employment.

While the university denies that it had made a formal offer to Azarova, thanks to the principled resignations by law professors Audrey Macklin and Vincent Wong, the truth is difficult to hide.

The latest pro-Zionist step by an influential Canadian institution comes only a few days after a survey jointly sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Independent Jewish Voices Canada and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel, showed that 84% of Canadians support the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation of war crimes, including those committed by Israel.

When people point out that there is an institutional political, academic and media bias against Palestinians and in favor of Israel in Western institutions, pro-Israel groups immediately resort to the anti-Semitism card to deflect attention.

While Dr. Azarova was punished for her principled position on Israeli crimes, Massey College, affiliated with the University of Toronto, had no problem hiring a pro-Israeli journalist, Margaret Wente from the Globe and Mail, who has a track record of plagiarism.

Wente’s resignation came only after public outcry over her questioning of other norms considered mainstream in Canadian society.

Her strong pro-Zionist bias never raised any eyebrows.

Azarova’s case does not surprise informed observers that follow the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

From the Netherlands to the US, there are numerous examples of Muslim and non-Muslim academics, journalists and politicians who have lost their job for criticizing Israeli policies.

It is not an exaggeration to say that if Azarova were an Arab or Muslim, her unjust dismissal would have garnered far less media attention.

Western regimes which like to camouflage their meddling in other countries’ internal affairs under the pretext of advancing free speech or open political environment, are not so open when Zionist interests are concerned.

The latest shameful situation at the University of Toronto signals a broader structural and institutional collapse of powers dominating the post-World War II global order.

From Donald Trump’s open violation of basic free market rules in regard to successful Chinese businesses like TikTok and Huawei, to blatant military aggressions against Afghanistan and Iraq show that the NATO-established world order is giving way to the rise of other global power centers.

Regimes which sustain the current system, are no longer able to maintain the veneer of openness and fairness.

When nation states and empires with expansionist agendas fail to follow even the elementary ideas they claim to represent, their downfall becomes inevitable.