Does Statement By Ryerson Student Union Border On Holocaust Denial?

Yesterday, I posted about the mass student walkout at the Ryerson University Semi-Annual General Meeting. Media outlets, such as Times of Israel, followed.

Today, the Ryerson Student Union released this statement that seems to imply that Holocaust denial is a legitimate disagreement – by claiming that motions like this one on the Holocaust “invoke many views.” It implies there is a legitimate view other than “the Holocaust was a tragedy that needs to be addressed,” a viewpoint that is positively vile and a sign these students need Holocaust education more than ever.

https://www.facebook.com/rsufb/posts/10153901288885940

And the screenshot in case the post is removed.

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Sorry guys, but Arab Muslims whose families lived thousands of miles away from Europe have no right to determine or revise the history of the Holocaust to suit their own pretty transparent political agenda.

Here we have it, folks. More proof that antisemitism has been normalized on college campuses, swept aside the student union execs who feel the politically correct thing to do is to accept and acknowledge Holocaust denial as a viewpoint worth discussing. Not only that, but the word “antisemitism” was not even included or even alluded to in the statement, and no acknowledgement of wrongdoing was made.

The reason given for staging the walkout was that other genocides wouldn’t be acknowledged, especially their pet “Palestinian Holocaust” that resulted in a tenfold increase in the Palestinian population in a 68-year period.

Ironically, the woman who brought forth that point of view is the head of Ryerson’s chapter of the BlackLivesMatter movement. What she did was basically equivalent to saying “#AllLivesMatter,” but of course minimization is only okay when it’s Jewish struggles. So much privilege that three-quarters of a century ago, 6 million of us were killed en masse for no reason, followed by 900,000 expelled from their homes in Arab lands, which mainstream “progressive” groups love to gaslight. But please, do go on about how we have privilege.

35 thoughts on “Does Statement By Ryerson Student Union Border On Holocaust Denial?”

  1. Holocaust denial is not anti semitic but if you dare say anything (no matter how minor) about Islam, you are “Islamophobic”.

      1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

        I had the same question, but when I read the end of his statement, I decided that yes, the first part was sarcasm.

      2. Holocaust denial is not antisemitic, because the Holocaust was fueled by Nazism, an exclusive nationalist ideology, inclusive of racism, and antisemitism – only the blue yed blond, healthy, heterosexualm pro nazi has the right to live

        1. OK, so according to you it was antisemitic, but also racist, and a host of other hateful “isms”. OK. It’s still antisemitic too, at a minimum.

  2. It is important to point out that any number of religious Jews here in America and Canada have complained about the emphasis placed on building Holocaust memorials and on Holocaust study among Jewish communities at the expense of supporting more Jewish religious schools and torah-based curricula being taught in those schools. As a gentile, I’m completely neutral on this issue, but I thought it was an important point to bring up here.

    1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

      No, it is not important to this particular discussion. It is a distraction that has nothing to do with the mainstreaming of Holocaust denial and other forms of anti-semitism.

      1. I disagree. While it is not my issue, it is a central issue for many religious Jews in North America that the Holocaust, and the attendant issue of Holocaust denial, is given far too much prominence in public discussions at the expense of promoting strong torah-based Jewish values (from their perspective).

        1. There is a huge difference. Basically, the thing about which many religious Jews are complaining is that for too many Jews the near totality of their Jewish identities, allegedly, is memorializing the holocaust. This is, of course, a very negative, and distorted perspective on Jewish history and traditions. The next generation isn’t going to be drawn to preserving (and certainly not embracing) the Jewish traditions that preserve their Jewish identity if their only associations with Judaism are the horrors of the holocaust and the fear of antisemitism.
          Even Jews who espouse this view – which I certainly consider a valid one – would not brazenly walk out on a meeting in which only one issue raised of many was an initiative to commemorate the holocaust. You can, surely, appreciate how these two issues are indeed galaxies apart from each other.
          Not unlike how most religious anti-Zionist Jews (leaving aside those lunatics who go to Iran’s holocaust denial events) would still raise money to help save lives of Jews in Israel, and are completely unlike anti-Zionist anti-Semites who want to see us all dead.

          1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

            I should have read your post first. I agree completely.

            Like I tell the people who point to Satmar and NK, when you yearn all day, every day with every fiber of your being for the coming of Moshiach, when the only reason you oppose the establishment of a Jewish state is because you fear that it will push away the coming of Moshiach, when you and everyone in your family and community dress in distinctively Jewish clothing that makes you a target for every anti-Semitic creep or thug or terrorist, when you devote every energy to studying in great depth what G*d expects of the Jews and to trying to fulfill those expectations, when you raise your children to do all of this and to raise their children to do all of this — then and only then will I take seriously your pointing to them as proof that one can be anti-Zionist without being anti-Semitic.

            1. Adherence to the commandments is what it means to be Jewish, by Torah, Religion and Culture.
              .
              Zionism (pursuit of the temple on the mount) is not Judaism.

              1. Our Temple Mount and the thieving Islamofascists must leave and we will get rid of their trash.

                Why do foreigners have this weird idea that they get to lecture us on our religious values? I have never understood it and refuse to accept that ignorant goyim have any place in tell us what Judaism or Zionism is, especially considering that they do not know what either are

                1. “””””””””””””””‘ Our Temple Mount and the thieving Islamofascists must leave and we will get rid of their trash. “””””””””
                  .
                  2 points: 1) the site is for mankind. 2) there is no temple on that mount.
                  .
                  .

                  “””””””””””””Why do foreigners have this weird idea that they get to lecture us on our religious values? “””””””””””””””
                  .
                  If the values are not the commandments, then your religion is not Judaism.
                  .
                  .
                  “””””””””””””””” I have never understood it and refuse to accept that ignorant goyim have any place in tell us what Judaism or Zionism is, especially considering that they do not know what either are “””””””””””
                  .
                  Judaism is from Torah and the wisdom of personal responsibility is given. Anyone can read it, live it and be Jewish, equally as a conscious life. Anyone that claims otherwise, is misleading from the truth.
                  .
                  Zion, is that stupid hill in Jerusalem, the fortress with a so-called holy holy spot that has no temple on it to debate about. It is that site and location specific on this earth, that the term ‘zionism’ even exist.
                  .
                  Each and anyone ‘Jewish’, can be honest with themselves on each line item that I just wrote. The reason is, honesty is part of the culture, no matter the politics. Now if you think that you control what it means to be Jew, Jewish and honest, then you apparently have been mislead.
                  .
                  ps…. just to use the term goyim to identify another person, is bigotry.

                  1. I could spend a lot of time showing how you know nearly nothing about Judaism, but I’ll suffice with one obvious point. You try to deny Judaism’s connection to the Temple Mount by emphasizing that the Temple Mount is a site for mankind.
                    Well here’s the thing. One, Judaism does not disagree it is a site for mankind – the G-d of the Jewish people himself declared that the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem would be a house of prayer for all mankind. But it’s still a Jewish cite no less. Two, you are trying to de-Judaise the Temple Mount with your universalist argument, yet I gather you have no qualms about Islamic supremacists who prevent Jews and other non-Muslims from praying there on pain of violence or worse.

                    1. “””””””””””””””””””””‘You try to deny Judaism’s connection to the Temple Mount by emphasizing that the Temple Mount is a site for mankind.”””””””””””””

                      .

                      I Love Judaism because it was created to enable mankind to the wisdom of personal responsibility. The stupid hill, is for worship, rituals and the old system of central authority.

                      .

                      .

                      “””””””””””””””Two, you are trying to de-Judaise the Temple Mount with your universalist argument…..””””””””””””””””””
                      .
                      Zionism is not Judaism and the de-judaising of Israel, the religion and gifts, is to focus on the idolatry of a stupid hill (zion).
                      .
                      The universalist argument is most definitely where I work. Specifically: the mathematical theorem capable of describing the process of nature that is pure and true to the letter in the universal language (mathematics) is the long sought ‘name of G-d’. That is the ‘Holy of Holies’, not the stupid hill.
                      .

              2. One of the commandments, was to build a Temple on the site that G-d would choose. And that site is the Temple Mount. Hundreds of the commandments are able to be performed only in that Temple. And another commandment is to yearn for the redemption in which all Jews will return to the Land of Israel and the Temple will be rebuilt, among other things.
                So, if you define Zionism as a desire to return to the land and to fulfill the commandments that can only be fulfilled in the land, then it is very much a legitimate aspect of Judaism.

                1. “””””””””””One of the commandments, was to build a Temple on the site that G-d would choose””””””””””””””””‘
                  .
                  Misvots are not commandments even if that is what the word means. Of the 613, many are shariah style.
                  The Commandments are the individual responsibility of the person (bar/bat mitzvah) and of choice.
                  .
                  The RETURN is to return to the garden because in FACT mankind was never kicked out, but like you, many believe what you are told.
                  .
                  Zionism is the pursuit of the stupid hill. It has evolved into a nationalism, because if the global population were aware of animal sacrificing (red heifer – glick/richman – temple institute) was the actual intent, the mess would have been shut down decades ago.
                  .
                  J B ……… the taking of the hill (mount) it was is warned NOT to do in Tanakh but many claiming to be Jewish, have no idea.

        2. ahad_ha_amoratsim

          And if that were the motivation of those students voting against it, your observation might have some relevance. As it is, you are simply using “many religious Jews in North America” (names? numbers?) as Alibi Jews, the same way that anti-Zionists use the small contingent of anti-Zionist Jews who are religious.

        3. Alexandra Markus

          But this isn’t a Jewish org so teaching strong Torah values is neither on the table nor part of their jurisdiction. Better holocaust education than nothing at all

        4. Think for yourself

          I’m a jew living in North America and I have never heard that opinion. Maybe as a gentile trying to claim how Jews feel on a specific matter, which doesn’t even agree with what Jews living in North America are saying, as evidenced by posts on this comment section, you should stop professing to know what other groups of people’s opinions are on matters that relate to them. Honestly, it’s offensive, especially when it results in a perceived minimalization of the Holocaust.

          1. You might be easy to offend, I’m guessing. Some Orthodox Jews have criticized the focus of the Holocaust by some Reform Jews in North America in that it diverts focus and resources from a Torah-based Jewish education. When did it become an offense for a Gentile to make an observation about what might be going on within the Jewish community?

            1. Think for yourself

              When it is a false accusation grounded in nothing. The focus of the article was around the resistance of non Jews toward a week that highlights awareness of the Holocaust. Why would the opinions of orthodox Jews matter when the article is about the problems non Jews have with such an event?

  3. Speaking from an unbiased perspective, Holocaust Education is typically clumped into general WWII history and is generally taught to those studying history or as part of a high school curriculum. As horrible, vile, and antisemitic the events of the Holocaust were it is an event of history, just as WWI or the Colonization of the West, and as such should remain an optional field to study. Speaking from a massively biased perspective, however, Holocaust Education should be a mandatory part of global education and should be equally if not more recognized than the events of 9-11. If North America is prepared to hold memorial ceremonies annually for the victims of 9-11 then so too should the nation join in remembering the events of the Holocaust and review its inconceivable but historically accurate details.

  4. I think someone should ask the Ryerson Students Union to clarify exactly what views they had in mind when they said “many views”. Ask them explicitly if those “many views” encompasses Holocaust Denial. Then ask them to justify THEIR actions in light of the fact their actions legitimizes such views.
    My point is simple. As of now, they can hide behind the non-specific nature of their statement and not be held accountable. So, get them to show where they really stand.

    1. Alexandra Markus

      They’ll never admit nor deny they support holocaust denial as a valid viewpoint. Why else would they oppose having a holocaust education week? Anyone who believes the holocaust happened would never oppose such a motion.

  5. Well, I don’t imagine they’re denying that the holocaust happened , or at least probably not anybody outside the hardcore Arabist/Islamicists on campus (assuming there are some). Instead, they are probably people that believe that the holocaust needs to be ignored because to them Israel and Jews can only and must only be referenced in the context of their supposed “crimes” against the “Palestinians”. It’s much akin to the whole anti-normalization initiative – Israelis can only be regarded as caricature villains and treated as such, and can never be regarded as flesh and blood human beings with whom one might have normal relationships.
    So it’s undeniably antisemitic, but I doubt it’s literal holocaust denial.

    1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

      The latest fad is to argue that the Zionists and the Nazis worked together to make things so unbearable that Jews would flee Europe and flood Palestine with Jews to drive out the Arabs. And yes, that type of revisionism is a denial of history.

      1. If so, then so. But I expect most of these youths are not dyed-in-the-wool antisemites who openly adhere to such ideas, but rather they are at-least-once-well-intentioned (young, naive, foolish) liberals who have been brainwashed by the scourge of today’s Soviet-inspired Leftism into believing all sorts of things about Israel and Jews, in the context for their fundamental desire to make the world a better place, which is poisoned by anti-Liberal ideas that they were taught are true and which they have never examined. (Whew, what a run-on.)
        None of that demands denying the historical fact of the holocaust. They can merely dismiss it as insignificant.

  6. Kovacs does not seem to know that French North Africa is VERY close to
    metropolitan France, and was under pro-Nazi Vichy rule, which
    implemented the Statut of the Jews and the final solution in France’s
    overseas territories, considered part of France.

    There is no Holocaust denial, and the Holocaust was not only about antisemitism.

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