UBC student union rejects proposed referendum on evicting Hillel House

A controversial referendum that could have led to the eviction of a Jewish group at UBC will not go ahead.

Late Wednesday night, the UBC Alma Mater Society (AMS) rejected the proposed vote, which would have called for the termination of the lease for Hillel House, the campus centre for Jewish students.

Part of the motivation for the vote came after stickers reading “I heart Hamas” appeared on campus in November. It was later revealed that a contractor with Hillel House was behind the stickers. The organization said it subsequently terminated its relationship with the contractor.

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The concept came amid increasingly inflamed tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Rob Philipp, executive director of Hillel BC, told Global News on Thursday the referendum proposal came as Jewish students feel increasingly threatened.

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“Our Jewish students are very much struggling, we’re finding huge anti-Semitism,” he said.

“There’s all kinds of students daily that come back to us here, tell us about issues that they’ve encountered, whether it’s on the campus, whether it’s somebody saying something to them, sometimes physical. And there are situations in the classroom that are very uncomfortable for them as well.”

In a statement, the university’s student union said it rejected the vote because the terms of the referendum did not conform with its bylaws.

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The prospect of a vote sparked an exchange in the B.C. legislature Wednesday, with the Opposition BC United calling the proposal “inflammatory.”

“This move will not only divide students but will foster and fuel antisemitism on UBC’s campus. Antisemitism disguised as political discourse threatens the core values of diversity and fairness at UBC and cannot be tolerated,” Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee said.

Premier David Eby responded by calling on AMS leadership to “seize the moment.”

“This is a chance for them to send a message to British Columbians of all backgrounds that everybody is welcome at post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, that everybody needs to feel safe on campus,” he said.

The proposed referendum question would have also asked students to vote on diverting from companies that do business with Israel and on ending partnerships with universities in Israel.