A screening of the film Fedayin on UBC’s campus was abruptly postponed in early December following a complaint from an external organization.
The December 2 screening was organized by the the Palestinian Youth Movement-Vancouver (PYM), Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights UBC (SPHR) and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Network-Vancouver. However, it was postponed due to a complaint from B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish human rights organization based in Toronto.
UBC Media Relations told The Ubyssey that the event had been postponed “pending a safety and security review, per UBC policies.”
“We've advised people in the community of the review taking place,” Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, wrote in a statement.
Fedayin traces the life of Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese-Arab Communist who is currently imprisoned in France. The film contains interviews with Abdallah’s brothers and advocates for Abdallah’s liberation.
Abdallah is a co-founder of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, a small militant group that claimed responsibility for the assassination of US Army aide Charles R. Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimentov.
An SPHR representative said that the film is a “solidarity story.” Before becoming associated with the Palestinian movement, Abdallah was a teacher in a lower class area of Lebanon. Abdallah identified with the Palestinian class struggle and redefined what solidarity meant through his imprisonment, SPHR said.
However, B’nai Brith Canada, which has no specific connection to UBC, argued that by showing this film, UBC is “traumatizing” the Jewish community.
B’nai Brith Canada Digital Advocate Andrea Adler told The Ubyssey that UBC should be taking steps to safeguard Jewish values, rights and freedoms, and should not allow a film screening on campus that “glorifies a terrorist.”
However, SPHR views this film in a different light.
“Labelling people as terrorists only serves to stir fear,” said a representative from SPHR UBC. “There is an extreme lack of evidence in [Abdallah’s] case, it's very clear when you watch the film.”
Abdallah was born in northern Lebanon and became concerned with Palestine in the 1970s. After identifying with the Palestinian class struggle, he took on a leadership role in that movement which led to his eventual imprisonment for his role in the assassination of two CIA agents.
Fedayin has been screened in multiple venues and university campuses across Canada and around the world. The online statement from PYM, SPHR and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Network-Vancouver said the postponement of this film is “a clear threat to academic freedom and an example of discrimination and anti-Palestinian racism.”
“We've never dealt with a security risk before and that's because there is no security risk in our events,” stated SPHR UBC in response to UBC’s decision to undergo a risk assessment.
“There is a large feeling of disrespect, because we are a renowned UBC club that has more than 75 members,” said the SPHR representative.
SPHR said that UBC did not reveal who the complainant was when it told SPHR the screening was postponed.
“That makes me feel personally as if they're trying to protect this party despite the fact that this party is, again, not a student organization and has nothing to do with the university. It's not even a Vancouver-based organization,” the representative said.
The Vancouver Chapter of Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) sent a letter to President Santa Ono on December 11, writing that they were “disturbed” that the screening was postponed. IGV describes itself as a “grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine.”
Sid Shniad, a member of IJV, wrote that IJV had been concerned about Zionist organizations attempting to cancel Palestine-related events.
“In light of the fact that this is nothing more than the latest in the ongoing series of attempts to prevent Palestinian voices from being heard on campus, we hope that your ‘risk assessment’ will be carried out expeditiously and that UBC will affirm its commitment to freedom of speech as well as its intention to allow students to have the opportunity to hear a diversity of viewpoints on your campus,” Shniad wrote in the letter.
Amid UBC’s risk assessment, SPHR said it will not stop the organization of this film screening and encouraged others to view this film.
The group expressed that the film postponement will not affect their momentum and only “makes our team more motivated to be present on campus.”
“Existence for Palestinians is resistance when you're fighting against the act of ethnic cleansing,” SPHR said.
This article was updated on December 15 to include information about Independent Jewish Voices Canada’s letter to UBC’s president.
This article was updated on December 19 to include information about Abdallah’s connection to the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions.
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