The CSU has called on the Quebec government to intervene to lift the ban on tabling and the moratorium on public events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“These authoritarian and discriminatory measures have no place in Quebec democratic society and the university administration should not be allowed to trample our rights,” said a letter signed by CSU President Sabine Friesinger that was sent to Education Minister Sylvain Simard on Oct. 29.
Friesinger said the measures imposed in the wake of the Sept. 9 riots that halted a speech by former Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu violate both the Quebec and Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms.
“We are aware of the importance that the university remain autonomous from the government, but we believe that this autonomy can not justify these unconstitutional measures that affect all students and staff,” the letter added.
It was sent also to Premier Bernard Landry, Yvon Marcoux, the official opposition education critic and Rector Frederick Lowy.