Gil Troy says Jews and Israelis are the victims of a “Hate Swarm”

I submitted this column to the McGill Daily and heard nothing. I now publish it as an open letter:

Dear McGill Daily, As a McGill professor since 1990, I believe in leaving student politics to students. Traditionally, whenever students complained about the McGill Daily’s bias, I always advised: “it’s a student newspaper – you’re the student, you write.”

However, as an educator, and a proud McGill community member, I can no longer stand silent. When I – or any colleague – see anyone fostering bigotry, violence, a mob mentality on campus, we have a moral responsibility to defend our students and our communal values. For that reason, I return to last fall’s controversy, which remains unresolved: I demand you reconsider your narrow-minded, fake-news-oriented “editorial line of not publishing pieces which promote a Zionist worldview, or any other ideology which we consider to be oppressive.”

It’s hard to believe that a newspaper purporting to be progressive would take such a regressive, unthoughtful approach. It undermines any criticism you make against Donald Trump’s resistance to facts and opinions he detests.

You’re worse because you wrap your bigotry in a mantle of self-righteousness, mocking the progressive thought you claim to embrace.

Beyond misrepresenting the Jewish people’s liberation movement, your approach is anti-intellectual, illiberal, an affront to McGill’s central mission and contrary to every journalistic tenet in the democratic, non-totalitarian world. Let’s learn from our academic rivals: The Ryerson School of Journalism encourages students to “search for the truth and create insightful and engaging news stories.” News flash: You can’t search for truth when you block off possible conclusions. “In this age of information,” the Ryerson website continues, “there has never been a greater need to dispel rumors and misinformation, and to present an accurate picture of the world.” You’re perpetuating today’s problem rather than continuing journalism’s tradition of using open honest reporting – including commentary – to find fresh solutions.

Judging you by your own standards, you fail. Please amend your first statement of principles: “To serve as a critical and constructive forum for the exchange of ideas and information relevant to McGill and related communities.” Your constricted, Stalinesque forum is neither “critical” nor “constructive.”

I write now because we can see how you’re harming our community.

Along with growing awareness of intersectionality, how different oppressions reinforce one another, there’s another phenomenon, which you and other bigots have inspired me to name Hate Swarming.

Hate breeds hate. You’re the epicenter of a McGill Hate Swarm against Israel and Jews (including blocking discussions of antisemitism at your intersection).

Just as chauvinists hostile to feminism are motivated by hatred toward women, those claiming they are “only” hostile to Zionism, the Jewish people’s liberation movement, usually hate Jews. ...