Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on February 18, 2017

McGill University student rep Igor Sadikovwas recently censured by the SSMU Board of Directors for his infamous call to inflict violence on Zionists. This also follows his pathetic non-apologyand further antisemitic comments at a SSMU meeting to discuss his original tweet.

Following the censure, Sadikov has offered a new-and-improved apology in which he reveals shock, horror that his own parents are Zionists!

Statement to the SSMU membership

I sincerely apologize for recently publishing a tweet expressing a personal political viewpoint in an insensitive and inappropriate manner by referencing a popular meme. Even though the tweet was published on a personal account, the format I used was unbecoming of my leadership position and the expectations that are associated with it. I deeply regret the harm that was caused as a result.

I regret that members of the McGill community have felt unsafe as a result of the tweet, which, without context, appears to be a genuine call to violence. Many of my constituents and fellow students, and some of my friends, identify as Zionists. I am Jewish myself, and I understand the importance of the state of Israel to many Jews. My parents and a number of our family friends are Zionists as well. I do not wish to enact, and would not condone, violence of any kind toward anyone in my community. I hope that, despite the high level of attention it garnered, my tweet can be understood for what it was: a misguided joke with a political meaning, rather than a credible call for violence.

Over the past few days, I have had opportunities to engage in conversations about Zionism with fellow students who have reached out to me with questions or criticism. I am committed to expanding my knowledge on Zionism by continuing and facilitating such conversations, both within Jewish communities and in dialogue with Palestinian voices, based on a shared commitment to social justice and human rights.

Specifically, I will personally reach out to those who have felt harmed as a result of my tweet, including members of Zionist groups, in order to apologize, and, if desired, engage in dialogue in their preferred format. I am willing to respond to or meet in person with any individuals or groups. I will participate in training and educational activities in order to better engage with a diversity of perspectives on Zionism. I will also seek out collaboration with campus groups and the administration in order to create a space for productive discussion on this topic.

I also want to take this opportunity to address a comment I made at the last meeting of the SSMU Legislative Council. I said: As to your claim that Jewish people are an ethno-religious group indigenous to the Levant, again as someone with a Jewish heritage and Jewish ancestry I want to note that that is a deeply contested claim. I apologize for the lack of clarity in the phrasing of this statement. To clarify, I believe that Jewish peoples around the world constitute many ethno-religious communities with different geographies and histories, including Jews of the Levant, European Jews, North African Jews, Sub-Saharan African Jews, Latin American Jews, South Asian Jews, and East Asian Jews, as well as multiracial Jews of colour and converts to Judaism. I look forward to engaging in further discussion on this topic.

I welcome any further questions, concerns, or other feedback, and reaffirm my commitment to the safety and well-being of all students.

This is definitely a better attempt at an apology than his first one BUT I call BS.

For a start, in apology version 1.0, he never mentioned anything about it being a political jokereferencing a popular meme or his parents and friends being Zionists. He merely expressed regret people felt threatened by it, and said it was not an attack on Jewish students (just on Zionist ones!). Plus theres the matter of his liking this comment.

Which leads me to the conclusion that Sadikov is just trying to save his position in the SSMU.

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More here:
Igor Punch A Zionist Sadikov's New-and-Improved Apology To ... - Israellycool (blog)

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