The conflation of “anti-Semitism” with the legitimate criticism of the Israeli state’s colonial practices in the West Bank and Gaza is nothing new. But Paul Bronfman, bourgeois philanthropist extraordinaire, took things to a new level last week when he decided to hold students at York University’s film school hostage over a mural in the university’s student centre. Bronfman, whose firm William F. White International had lent “thousands of dollars” worth of technical equipment to the school, expressed outrage and horror over the mural, which in his view is nothing but “pure hate.”
The offending mural depicts a young man, wearing a keffiyeh, and holding a pair of stones behind his back. In the distance, we see a bulldozer, about to remove what appears to be the last remaining tree in an otherwise desolate space. Below are the words “justice” and “peace” in a panoply of languages.
But for Bronfman, the painting’s subject matter depicts neither justice nor peace. Instead, it’s a transparent glorification of violence, terror and hatred of the Jewish people. And Bronfman isn’t the only one who feels this way. Indeed, at least one student has claimed the mural makes her feel “unsafe.” For her, the mural hangs because of its anti-Semitism, not in spite of it. “If a mural condoning violence against any other nation was hung on campus, it would rightfully be condemned,” she said in an interview with CityNews. “Only when it pertains to Jews do we see this disturbing double standard.”
As for the artist’s right to freedom of expression, Bronfman dismisses this concern as “nonsense.”
It’s hard to single out what’s most absurd about this story. How could anyone construe such a benign painting as “hate?” How could anyone so uncritically fear for her safety when confronted with an image that bespeaks the unsafety and insecurity of others? How could one daft businessman hold an entire public institution hostage?
If anything, this episode teaches us just how precarious our so-called fundamental rights and freedoms really are at the neoliberal university. So much of the recent hullaballoo over the tyrannical tendencies of “campus social justice warriors” has revealed itself for the red herring it really was. The most serious threat to campus freedom comes not from those who demand we think critically about racism, sexism, ableism or any of the other less-visible forms of oppression. It comes from those who wish us not to think critically at all. People like Paul Bronfman, who believe their control over society’s productive resources give them a right to dictate what’s said and not said in a public space.
This is why the increasing corporate invasion of the university – whether in the form of private philanthropy or the reconfiguration of curricula – is so troubling, and the demand for meaningful public funding is so important. What’s at stake isn’t simply one mural, or even one film school. More importantly, its our right to critical inquiry.