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CONCERN OVER ANTI-ISRAEL CONFRONTATIONS AT CANADIAN UNIVERSITY Keith Landy, national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress denounced New Democratic Party MPs Svend Robinson and Libby Davies together with commentator Judy Rebick who have stated their intention to appear at Concordia University, in direct defiance of the institution's moratorium on Middle East Arab-Israeli speeches and other activity. This policy was carefully negotiated following the riot last September by an anti-Israel mob that prevented former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking on the Concordia campus. The underlying notion was to ensure a long-term return to truly free speech on campus, in an atmosphere unfettered by intimidation and violence. "Canadians are fed up with these self-appointed arbiters of right and wrong acting irresponsibly to promote their own agendas," said Landy. "Who are they to determine that the cooling-down period duly negotiated by the administration and students at Concordia needs to be challenged? Where were these avowed defenders of free speech and fundamental rights when rioters at Concordia violently prevented Mr. Netanyahu from speaking in September? Their hypocrisy is stunning." Said Joseph Gabay, president of the of CJC Quebec Region, "This moratorium was arranged in good faith to facilitate an easing of tensions on campus and to ameliorate the atmosphere of intimidation at Concordia. For more than two years, students of all backgrounds and origins have seen their university held hostage by hateful propaganda and protest. That is not free speech; that is demagogy. Rather than work with Concordia to help improve the situation, these self-promoters are now encouraging a confrontational approach that could lead to further violence."
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