Montreal Student Asked to Remove Kippah At “Arabic” Concordia University

Jewish blog bill613.com recently reported on its Facebook Page on an incident involving an orthodox Jewish student who was asked to take off his kippah (skullcap) in the Hall Building at Concordia University, the school famous for rioting over Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2002 speech. The blog reports:

14484910_1534831563209484_6623921355856829591_nHowie Silbiger had just entered the hall building on his way to class when a young man told him to remove his Yarmulke, explaining that he shouldn’t wear one in “an Arabic university.”

“At first, my instinct was to ignore him, but then I decided to engage,” said Silbiger. “I have never backed down from a confrontation nor have I ever taken my yarmulke off for anyone. I steadfastly refused to remove it.”

The young man then took a step closer and shouted at him to take it off. “I looked him dead in the eyes and said, ‘if you want it off my head, go ahead try to take it off,'” reported Silbiger. “He took a step forward, I got mentally ready for a physical confrontation, I planted myself and glared at him. A small crowd was forming around us.

For a few minutes the two stared at each other until the man told Silbiger “I’m not going to waste my time with you” and walked off.

Silbiger plans on reporting the incident to Concordia security, but has a message for fellow Jewish students. “I call on all Concordia University Jewish Students to proudly wear your yarmulkes. I know a lot of you take them off out of fear, but fear only encourages hate. Don’t be afraid, be Jewish, be proud!”

Antisemitism is still on the rise in North American universities, somehow now considered acceptable due to the rise of anti-Zionism.

Swastikas are constantly painted on buildings, visibly Jewish and Zionist students are jeered at and insulted, and rarely could a Jewish, Israeli, or Zionist speaker come without being shouted down into oblivion.

At Concordia, a small crowd gathered around, according to the report, but nobody did anything.

To these students, most of whom are enamoured with the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Jewish lives (due to perceived privilege) seem to matter much less.

Since then, a movement has been started, with many Jews at Concordia posting pictures of themselves wearing their kippahs and Jewish star necklaces in plain view. One student writes:

In Concordia right now and wearing my yarmulka and whoever wants to engage come and get me, I am proud of who I am and hearing these stories only makes me closer to my Jewish brothers and sisters and gives me more strength to embrace who I am, and that’s a proud Jew!

17 thoughts on “Montreal Student Asked to Remove Kippah At “Arabic” Concordia University”

  1. The University owes more than just a limp-wristed apology to this particular student (if they even feel moved to do that much.) They need to install security cameras and, when events like this are caught on camera, take the appropriate disciplinary action against those choosing to hassle any student based on their color, ethnicity, nationality, etc..

    1. Kathy Prendergast

      It’s a sad sign of the times, but agree that universities should have security cameras everywhere now. Some already have them in all the classrooms, to deter students from cheating on exams, which is epidemic (at a college where I used to teach, students had to check all their bags, phones, and even wristwatches and were not even allowed to wear jackets, hoodies, or hats when they wrote their exams; some joked that the next step would be making them sit their exams naked), and also to protect instructors in case of false harassment claims from students.

  2. What does he mean by, “an Arabic university?! It’s a CANADIAN university! Wonderful to see this bully put in his place.

    1. Kathy Prendergast

      Concordia, one of Montreal’s two English-speaking universities (the other is McGill,which is far more prestigious), has been colloquially known as “Gaza U” at least since 2002, when the riot erupted there over Netanyahu’s visit. I don’t know what percentage of the student population there now is Arab, but I believe it’s a significant majority. There have been stories coming out regularly for years about what a poisonous environment it is for Jewish students.

    2. Kathy Prendergast

      I agree; as a Canadian if I heard him say that I would not hold my tongue. I can’t stand that bulls**t. Even if the majority of the student body there is Arab, that doesn’t make it an “Arabic university”. If they want that, they should go the hell back home.

  3. Kathy Prendergast

    He did the right thing in staring this idiot down; the only thing I would have done differently is tell him that Concordia is a CANADIAN uiversity, not an Arabic one. In addition to the Jewish men showing their support, it would be lovely if non-Jewish men on the campus donned kippahs for one day to show their solidarity (I’m thinking of all those do-gooder leftist women who have donned hijabs as some kind of preemptive strike against so-far-largely-mythical “anti-Muslim backlash” after Islamist terror attacks) but I doubt it will happen.

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