When the infamous and racist B'nai Brith issued the statement denouncing the appearance of Palestinian freedom fighter and leader Leila Khaled at the Conference for the Palestinian Shatat in North America, various responses from the Palestinian community and the UBC community were issued in rejection of the misleading, inaccurate and defaming comments that they made.

Khaled Barakat, a member of the organizing committee of the conference, called the leader of B'nai Brith a racist Zionist, and reaffirmed the Palestinian community's right to invite whoever they wish, wherever the wish and whenever they wish.

The UBC administration made it clear that they respect the academic freedom of its students, and their right to make their opinions heard without obstacles.

But we must also acknowledge a letter sent from the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) to the UBC thanking them and affirming the right to academic freedom.

The letter which was sent by Mr. James Turk, executive director of CAUT, on May 2nd read:

Dear Professor Toope:
On behalf of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, I want to thank UBC for having stood up for freedom of expression on campus.
“A university is an open community and there are all sorts of groups that think, believe and state their opinions differently,” UBC public affairs director Lucie McNeill said. “You expect different schools of thought to contend on a campus.”
The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday that there had been a demand that UBC prevent a controversial figure from speaking at a conference being sponsored by a student group on the UBC campus. The University’s response as reported by the Globe was excellent.
More than a decade ago, UBC spoke out equally clearly when one of your wealthiest donors as well as many others demanded that Professor Sunera Thobani be fired for remarks she made as part of a conference panel in the aftermath of 9/11. Freedom of expression and academic freedom can never be taken for granted, yet are the lifeblood of academic work. It is of immeasurable importance when on of Canada’s most respected universities speaks out so clearly.
Yours sincerely,
James L. Turk

CAUT was established in 1951 to defend the right of academics to voice their opinions freely and represents more than 69,000 members.