Idit Shamir

So the University of Toronto wants us to believe the dean of dentistry had "limited knowledge" of antisemitic imagery and theories to go with. Come on. The same lecture, with the same images, had been given to second-year students for several years as noted by the Jewish Medical Dental Association of Ontario as reported by CTV. That's not a slip. He picked those cartoons, put them in his slides, and kept using them year after year. One of them was a beak-nosed caricature sitting in a tub of money, which is about as old and recognizable as this hatred gets. So I'd like someone to tell me what, exactly, Dr. Kishen thought he was looking at. What did he think that image depicted? What "visual analogy" was he drawing? The provost's letter never says. It just asks us to take "limited knowledge" on faith, and I won't. And who gave him this antisemitism training? The letter says he "has undergone training" and "learned a great deal." Learned from whom? How long was it? Who vouched for it? Without that, it's PR dressed up as accountability. Then there's the line that he'll "remain a tenured faculty member" and be back to full duties in 2027-28. Who cares that he's tenured? Tenure exists to protect academic freedom, not to shield a man who put classic Jew-hatred in front of students, Jewish students among them, calling it a learning experience. He should be terminated. The university's own letter admits the slides contain antisemitic imagery and that the Faculty is deeply divided over it. Giving him a quiet year off and a comeback is not a consequence. A resignation from a job he already stepped away from in February isn't a sanction either. Let's not call this a win against antisemitism. It's a university protecting its own. Jewish groups, the Jewish dental community included, shouldn't thank anyone for this. They should demand his removal from the institution entirely, and accept nothing less. And here's what should concern everyone, not just Jews. If this is the standard, a few training sessions, a "limited knowledge" excuse, and a comeback after a year off, then that's the standard for everyone. Any other religion or culture that finds itself targeted by a faculty member at U of T shouldn't expect anything more than this. No firing, no real consequences, just a letter about "learning" and "healing." The university has now shown exactly how far it will go, and that's the bar it has set for every community on campus.