Students sue Canadian university alleging school defamed them by labelling Palestine support letter antisemitic

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Current and former law students from the Canadian Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) have filed a lawsuit against the school after they signed a letter expressing unequivocal support for Palestinians following the events of Oct. 7, 2023, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper.

A statement of claim, which has not been tested in court, alleges TMU defamed the signatories by publicly condemning the letter as antisemitic and intolerant.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 1, also accuses TMU’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law of negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract for promising prospective students an unapologetically progressive legal education and then failing to follow through on the commitment.

“These students chose this law school in reliance upon public representations being made by Lincoln Alexander that it was focused on anti-oppression, on Indigenous rights, on tolerance,” said Dimitri Lascaris, a lawyer representing the 10 signatories on a pro bono basis. Instead, he said, TMU and Lincoln Alexander have sided with pro-Israel voices, showing themselves to be intolerant of alternative points of view.

The signatories are asking for $10 million in general and punitive damages.

• Student petition​​​​​​​

TMU students began circulating a petition that urged the law school administration to drop its neutral position and offer a public show of support for Palestinians following Oct. 7, 2023.

The preamble reportedly used incendiary language to make its point. “‘Israel’ is not a country,” but a colonial and genocidal state, it said. It characterized the events of Oct. 7 as a war crime, but expressed support for “all forms of Palestinian resistance.”

The letter dated Oct. 23, 2023, had 73 students and one graduate sign. It was mostly anonymous, but 36 had their full names. The letter was later leaked online.

Once leaked, the signatories were inundated with threats and hate mail, while some Jewish students said they were devastated by what their classmates had signed, reporting that they felt ostracized and even fearful while on campus.