The talk, scheduled for Nov. 13, features IDF reservist paratrooper and NGO Monitor comms director Itai Reuveni
Photo via https://icfs.org.uk/.
Controversy erupted among some members of the UVic community earlier this week following the announcement that Hillel BC — an organization that aims to support Jewish students on B.C. campuses — was hosting speaker Itai Reuveni for a talk on Nov. 13 in Victoria, titled “Beyond the Headlines: An Insider’s View on Israel and Leadership.”
The announcement for the event, posted on a UVic-specific Instagram account run by Hillel BC, describes Reuveni as a “Middle East expert” and a “researcher on antisemitism, extremism, and soft power.”
However, some UVic students voiced their concerns about Reuveni’s presence in the campus community, given his prior service in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) — sometimes referred to by critics as the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF). He served as a paratrooper from 2001 to 2004, and again as a combat medic in 2023, where he was stationed on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
“Bringing a soldier from an army currently responsible for devastating civilian populations into an academic environment sends a message that UVic is willing to legitimize ongoing violence and occupation. War criminals should not be allowed to speak to a university community,” Ally, a UVic student concerned with the talk, said in a statement to the Martlet.
Allegations of war crimes have not been levied against Reuveni himself, but the IDF has faced several criticisms for human rights violations. International organizations such as Amnesty International, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, and a United Nations commission have all accused the state of Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
In a joint Instagram post on Nov. 12, the UVic People’s Park — alongside uvic4palestine and labour4palestinebc — expressed concern about the event, stating “it is not appropriate nor justified as an academic freedom to welcome an IOF member for a speaking engagement in the UVic campus community.”
Reuveni is currently the Director of Communications for NGO Monitor, which describes itself as “a globally recognized research institute promoting democratic values and good governance.”
However, the joint instagram post describes the organization as “widely criticized for … weaponisation of disinformation about Palestinian humanitarian organisations and international human rights groups” like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Global Affairs Canada, among others.
The Martlet reached out to Reuveni for comment, but did not hear back by publication time.
The post calls on UVic and the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) to cancel the event, stating that “support for violence, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes against Palestinians has no place in our campus community.”
The post attributed responsibility for the event to UVic Hillel on Campus, a UVSS-ratified student club. However, in a statement to the Martlet, UVic Hillel said the event was being hosted by Hillel BC, which is a separate organization.
“We frequently partner with them to run events, and they provide us with a safe, off-campus space where we can better support Jewish students,” said the UVic Hillel executive team in a statement to the Martlet.
“Though we do tend to work closely with them when it comes to supporting Jewish students, we are rarely involved in their initiatives that go beyond that.”
Much of the confusion over responsibility for the event likely stemmed from the Hillel BC-run Instagram account being linked to UVic Hillel in the UVSS Clubs list, and a linktree featuring UVic Hillel’s email account being listed in the Hillel BC instagram bio.
“It looks like the UVSS list of active clubs currently links to Hillel BC’s account instead of ours, and we are working to have that corrected,” UVic Hillel said.
The Martlet reached out to Hillel BC for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Both UVic and the UVSS confirmed that they were not aware of the event, and that it is not happening on campus.
“UVSS was not given advance notice and has no authority over the event itself, and this event is also not being held on campus,” said Griffin Foster, UVSS Director of Outreach and University Relations, in a statement to the Martlet. “UVSS has confirmed with that club executive that Hillel on Campus is not involved in this event and has not advertised it.”
Ally also shared that she was concerned about the event due to a recent incident at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). The Varsity reported that IDF Air Force soldier Jonathan Karten was scheduled to give a talk, titled the “Triggered: From Combat to Campus Tour,” on Nov. 5 at an event hosted by the university’s Students Supporting Israel (SSI) branch.
The talk was reportedly held off campus, and was disrupted by protestors, resulting in several hospitalizations and arrests.
Although the event is being held off-campus, and appears to fall outside the jurisdiction of both the university and the UVSS, students remain concerned that this event is happening at all.
“Hosting an IOF soldier threatens the safety and well-being of Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and non-Zionist Jewish students. It communicates that their pain and lived experiences are secondary to the promotion of a political agenda,” Ally said.
“Even if the event is held off-campus, the association with the university legitimizes and normalizes the presence of a military figure linked to human rights violations.”
