Israel Advocacy Group in Canada Tries to Shut Down Academic Conference at York U in Toronto

The group's statement is here; it provides contact information for York University officials, who should be encouraged, of course, to ignore this call to shut down academic discussion.  As my friend and part-time colleague Leslie Green (Oxford) notes at the preceding link:

Mr Ezrin [head of the group calling for the conference to be cancelled] seriously misunderstands the relationship between a university and the events that occur in it. The organization of a conference, or for that matter the reading of a book, are not actions “sanctioned” in any relevant sense (i.e. approved, endorsed, etc.) by a university. They are actions *permitted* by the university. Subject to the usual criminal and civil laws, universities must be places where controversial and, to some, misguided and pernicious ideas may be thoroughly explored and debated. The CIJA should be ashamed of itself for calling for the shut-down of an academic conference of this kind.