TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINETE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY ASSOCIATION

SUPPORTS ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE

May 6, 2024

TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty Association (TFA) has voted in favour of a significant motion in solidarity with the people of Palestine, upholding the principles of academic freedom in the face of ongoing injustice. At its Annual General Meeting today, faculty members voted to establish a committee to investigate the university’s academic and financial interests linked to the genocide of Palestinians.

“Whether or not you support Palestinian freedom—though, of course, you should—I urge every faculty member at TMU to understand one essential fact: that institutional racism threatens to be the Trojan Horse that ends the very existence of the independent university in North America,” said Joshua Sealy-Harrington, assistant professor at TMU’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law and the recipient of the TMU Person of the Year award, which was presented at the meeting. ”We cannot avoid politics and save the university when it is political interference that threatens it.”

In light of the Unified Call for Justice and Freedom issued by Palestinian Higher Education institutions in November 2023, which called upon global counterparts to stand in solidarity, TFA members have recognized their obligation to act. Every university in Gaza that endorsed this call has since been decimated by Israeli airstrikes, leaving an indelible mark of destruction and despair.

The International Court of Justice's determination of a plausible risk of genocide against Israel necessitates a resolute response from educational institutions worldwide. The motion passed by the TFA establishes a faculty committee dedicated to several crucial objectives:

Comprehensive Audit: A full audit to assess TMU’s potential complicity in arming Israel through complicit institutions and corporations. To assess TMU’s potential complicity, we seek a full audit of all investments, including names of holdings and portfolio shares, endowments, TFA’s pension fund, short-term working capital assets, and all financial holdings of the university.
Divestment: The divestment of the university’s investments, endowments, pension fund, purchases, and other financial holdings from companies linked to genocide, human rights violations, occupation, and apartheid in Israel.
Review of Cooperation: Reviewing, with a view to ending, TMU’s cooperation with Israeli academic and cultural institutions including exchange programs, institutional research collaborations, partnerships, scholarships, and fellowships.

Simultaneously, the motion advocates for the establishment of academic partnerships with Palestinian universities and scholars, aiming to bolster educational opportunities in a region besieged by scholasticide.

The motion also calls upon the university to safeguard the civil rights of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students, faculty, and staff engaged in peaceful protests against the ongoing conflict in Gaza. It aligns with the international movement demanding an immediate, unconditional, and lasting ceasefire to halt the senseless violence plaguing the region.

By taking a stand rooted in principles of justice and solidarity, we stand with five other Canadian faculty associations who have passed similar measures (Université de Montréal, University of Windsor, Wilfrid Laurier University, Renison University College and the University of Saskatchewan) and reaffirm our commitment to advancing academic freedom and human rights globally.

For media inquiries, please contact:

f4ptmu@gmail.com