No place for ‘heinous’ hate messages says Principal of prestigious Canadian university

The Principal of a leading Canadian university has said there was “no place” for “antisemitism or for hate or violence of any kind” after racist symbols and graffiti were found on campus.

Patrick Deane, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University, Ontario, issued a statement after swastika graffiti and “heinous” “messages of violence“ were found “at various locations on campus” and reported through social media.

In a presumed reference to comments by the rapper Ye, Mr Deane said a “platform” for “antisemitic hatred by public personalities had had “a chilling effect across the country and the world,” adding that “sadly, Queen’s has also seen the emergence of this sentiment with swastika graffiti and messages of violence” on its campus.

He said the University had “acted as swiftly as possible” to condemn these “violent and discriminatory acts,” that “these heinous messages” had done damage to our community” and that they had “a responsibility to investigate and wherever necessary take action.”

“I want to be very clear,” he declared, “that there is no place at Queen’s for antisemitism or for hate or violence of any kind against any member of our community. We will not tolerate it and we will speak against it and take action whenever and wherever we can.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout Canada, which have dramatically increased according to a recent audit.