Academic institutions are meant to be spaces of intellectual diversity, open inquiry, and rigorous debate. I argue that the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa has abandoned these principles. It is my view that rather than fostering an environment where students engage critically with multiple perspectives⎯ especially on highly controversial issues⎯ the Institute demands allegiance to a singular worldview, using its platform to promote misinformation about Israel When an academic unit prioritizes partisan advocacy over education, it fails in its most fundamental duty—to equip students with the analytical skills they need to think for themselves.
The ideological monoculture of the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies is reflected in a statement issued by the Palestinian Feminist Collective in 2021, that the unit signed as an academic unit8. The statement calls for anti-normalization, which is just a way of silencing any other viewpoint from being expressed than one that demonizes the world’s only Jewish state. In an academic environment, this statement is deeply troubling because it was signed by the unit rather than individual members, which in my opinion makes it difficult for students or junior members of the faculty to hold and express a different or more nuanced viewpoint. It creates a chilling effect on academic freedom and freedom of expression. Signing the statement on behalf of an academic unit also violates institutional neutrality, which is a principle that prevents the University and by extension its departments from taking a position on political or social issues unless they are directly relevant to the operation of the institution. By signing as a department, it pretends there is only one acceptable point of view, and it makes very clear that debate and rigorous scholarship are unwelcome.
The Institute’s anti-Israel statements are also reflected in their October 2024 Letter to the Editor published in the Fulcrum9 Again, in what I believe is a clear violation of the academic freedom of faculty, the letter was signed by the entire unit rather than individual members which could prevent anyone from disagreeing or dissenting. The letter is ostensibly predicated on “engaging with Palestinian justice” but is just an ill-informed repudiation of Israel and Zionism. Zionism is an ideology and a belief that Jews have a right to a nation in their ancestral homeland where some have lived for millennia. The vast majority (over 90%) of Jewish Canadians are Zionists and many non-Jews share that view11. One of the most common antisemitic fantasies says Jews control everything and they are at the centre of all that is wrong in the world. It is my view that the Institute positions Zionism exclusively as a tool of colonialism, apartheid, and genocide—while erasing any Jewish historical or indigenous connection to the land —it excludes any academic or intellectual engagement that does not conform to this rigid and distorted ideological stance. Furthermore, the professors’ call to boycott, divest, and sanction (BDS) Israeli institutions reinforces this by seemingly rejecting dialogue or collaboration with Israeli scholars including those who are Muslim, Christian, Druze, Arab Israeli and Palestinian. In fact, 25% of professors at the University of Haifa are Arabs and over 17% of the students at Hebrew University are Arab Israelis. In contrast, Jewish Israelis are not allowed to work at Birzeit University in the West Bank12.
The letter also defines Palestinian justice as a moral litmus test for the world. It leaves no room for disagreement or alternative perspectives or scholarly complexity. This ideological gatekeeping means that Zionists—or even though they hold nuanced, balanced views—are unwelcome, which is fundamentally exclusionary and contradictory to the principles of academic pluralism.
The uOttawa Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies also cites Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), a self-proclaimed anti-Israel organization, whose views reflect at most 3% of Canadian Jews11. Members of IJV, but not members of the mainstream Jewish community, have been invited to give presentations in the Institute’s classes. The Institute thereby silences other Jewish perspectives insisting instead on tokenism because it aligns with their anti-Israel ideology.
Their letter also references Indigenous groups in Canada who have endorsed Palestinians as an indigenous people and welcomed student encampments on Indigenous land. But apparently they do not know other Indigenous groups reject this view and acknowledge the indigeneity of the Jewish people to the land of Israel, which some believe pre-dates Arab colonization by thousands of years10. They ignore Anishinaabe people like former Justice Harry Laforme and Karen Restoule who objected to the violence and hate that was being promoted at the encampments including on the University of Ottawa’s campus16.
Students are main victims of the statements imposed by the professors in the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies who are betraying feminism and academic norms. Students deserve the opportunity to learn about multiple viewpoints on complex issues and learn to sharpen their critical thinking skills for their future careers. Learning how to engage in civil discourse on contentious, divisive, and controversial topics is vital to the future of our liberal democratic society. Instead, the Institute’s self-serving professors are shirking their duties and responsibilities as educators and attempting to indoctrinate students out of a misguided belief that only they hold the one truth.
Editor’s Note: This Letter to the Editor has been comprehensively re-edited due to concerns of defamation. We apologize for the error.
Cary Kogan is a full professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa and the co-founder of the Network of Engaged Canadian Academics (NECA, neca-rdace.org). NECA is a non-partisan organization dedicated to tackling antisemitism on campuses, upholding genuine fairness and inclusivity, and championing academic freedom and viewpoint diversity. Its members include nearly 400 hundred Jewish and non-Jewish academics from 45 universities and colleges across Canada.
1 Casey Babb (@DrCaseyBabb), X post, January 26, 2025, https://x.com/DrCaseyBabb/status/1883702324201173395; “Weaponizing Feminism in the Service of Genocide,” Eventbrite listing (archived), https://web.archive.org/web/20250127023114/https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/weaponinzing-feminism-in-the-service-of-genocide-tickets-1207794147809; “Weaponizing Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones,” AllEvents event listing, https://allevents.in/ottawa/weaponinzing-feminism-in-the-service-of-genocide/100001207794147809.
2 https://nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/documenting-hamas-rapes-october-7
3 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html
4 https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-be-afraid-intifada
5 https://mondoweiss.net/2016/05/palestinians-undeterred-organizing/
6 https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israels-global-reach-threatens-freedom-speech-everywhere
8 https://genderstudiespalestinesolidarity.weebly.com
9 https://thefulcrum.ca/opinions/letters/letter-to-the-editor-let-us-do-our-job-feminism-is-palestine/
10 Engel, D. (2009). Zionism (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315834641
11 Brym, R. (2024). Jews and Israel 2024: A Survey of Canadian Attitudes and Jewish Perceptions. Canadian Jewish Studies Études Juives Canadiennes, 37. https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-0925.40368
12 https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jews-not-allowed-in-palestinian-university
13 Nelson, Cary (2019). Israel Denial: Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism & the Faculty Campaign Against the Jewish State. Academic Engagement Network and Indiana University Press, p.228.
14 https://fathomjournal.org/israel-denial-anti-zionism-anti-semitism-the-faculty-campaign-against-the-jewish-state/
