“What Did You Just Say?”: A MuslimMatters Open Letter Series I Dear Avi Benlolo

The Abraham Global Peace Initiative masquerades as an organization promoting peace but in its stated mission, seeks to ‘counter anti-Semitism, combat Holocaust denial, advance The Abraham Accords, defend Israel,’ etc., but blatantly ignores Palestinian human rights. Its Education Advisory Committee is filled to the brim with Zionists. I would question why the National Post would publish this one-sided article by Avi Benlolo, but then again, the National Post has a historical track record of promoting such groups who support Israeli apartheid and illegal occupation.

Most Canadians appreciate the University of Windsor’s effort to come to a peaceful resolution demonstrating a commitment to human rights, justice, and transparency. It is an institution that defends the right to freedom of expression (a freedom that Avi Benlolo would love to quash in his blind defense of Israeli massacres). The University of Windsor has lived up to its own values and standards of academic freedom, equity, and diversity. It is commendable that the university did not shut down the encampment and it has established itself as a leader in the fight for social justice. Unlike Avi Benlolo, the University of Windsor has taken a stand against Israeli human rights abuses. Other academic institutions should follow the leadership of President Robert Gordon and adopt similar policies and practices.

Avi Benlolo slanders the brave students as trying to “demonize, defame, and destabilize a fellow democracy – the State of Israel.”

Firstly, if it was a democracy it would allow Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to vote in its elections. If it was a democracy it would not have abducted 9,600 Palestinian hostages since October 7th without charge and subjected them to vile torture methods including rape and vicious physical beatings. 

Secondly, Israel has demonized, defamed, and destabilized itself by conducting a brutal Nazi-style massacre of tens of thousands of Palestinians, carrying out a plethora of human rights abuses, and committing acts of terror against innocent civilians.

The agreement acknowledges a United Nations database of “companies whom it has identified are engaged in illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory.” A real human rights advocate would encourage Israeli settlements to conform to international law so that they can remove themselves from the UN database. Avi Benlolo fails to do so.

He loses all credibility when he whines against recognizing anti-Palestinian racism. He makes clear that all he cares about is discrimination against Jews and not discrimination against Arabs, Palestinians, or Muslims.

Although over 100,000 Palestinians have been either killed or injured by barbaric Israeli terror, Avi Benlolo focuses on hate crimes against the Jewish community, the numbers of which have been artificially inflated by Jewish groups counting criticism of Israel as anti-semitism. Other communities don’t inflate their numbers just to mislead the public. Muslims don’t count criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record as Islamophobic. Russians don’t count criticism of Russia’s invasion as Russophobic. People like Benlolo inflate the anti-semtism stats, by counting legitimate criticism of Israeli invasion, occupation, and human rights abuses.

In line with inflating numbers, he continues with the erroneous statement: “1,200 Hamas victims killed on October 7.” Almost half of these were Israeli soldiers (Palestinians have a right to defend themselves after all), and many of the Israeli victims were killed by Israeli tanks and helicopters in an indiscriminate Hannibal Directive to limit how many hostages were taken.

This historic University of Windsor agreement follows Canadian values, Avi Benlolo does not, as he ends his article promoting the racist policy of hiring pro-Israel students. It is sickening that the National Post would publish such hateful viewpoints by giving a pulpit to Benlolo to spew his racist rhetoric.

Related:

– “What Did You Just Say?”: Introducing The New MM Open Letter Series I Dear Mr. Fareed Zakaria

– “What Did You Just Say?”: The MM Open Letter Series I Dear Ms. Julia Hartley-Brewer