FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Machete attack against pro-Israel students illustrates why ban on
anti-Israel campus agitation needed

TORONTO, April 7, 2010 – B’nai Brith Canada has called on Canadian
universities to ban anti-Israel agitation on campus in light of an alleged
machete attack on pro-Israel students. Reportedly, on April 5th, two Ottawa
students, both well-known for their pro-Israel views, were assaulted when
they left a local lounge in the early hours of the morning, by a large group
of anti-Israel agitators, one of whom was wielding a machete.

“It is simply outrageous that pro-Israel students have been assaulted in our
nation’s capital for nothing more than their pro-Israel views,” said Frank
Dimant, Executive Vice President of B’nai Brith Canada. “One of the
assaulted students, who is not Jewish, was reportedly first struck in the
back of the head, and then chased with a machete swinging within inches of
his neck. The Jewish student, who along with his friend was called numerous
derogatory and antisemitic slurs during the assault, was a local organizer
of B’nai Brith’s recent Imagine With Us pro-Israel campus initiative – an
initiative which was banned by York University.

“We have been warning about the spill-over effect of anti-Israel hate-fests
such as ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ for years. We reiterate our call to
university administrations across Canada to ban anti-Israel agitation from
their campuses. We simply cannot continue to put up with the situation
where antisemitic hate-fests such as Israel Apartheid Week are permitted to
disseminate their hatred, leading to pro-Israel students being assaulted on
our streets, while events in support of the Jewish State are banned.”

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B’nai Brith Canada has been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish
community’s foremost human rights agency