Possible hate crime at McMaster

In, February, a rally at McMaster University for “Israel Apartheid Day” caused just a smidgen of controversy. Organizers of the rally were asked to take down a banner that apparently depicted a soldier abusing a child, and that the university claimed violated it’s anti-violence policy.

This led to another rally where student unions from Toronto came to Hamilton to make a “free speech” protest, which incidentally took place around the same time the York Federation of Students cancelled an on campus debate for abortion

In any event, according to the Hamilton Mountain News, there are allegations that racial slurs were called out during the second rally that may constitute a hate crime:

Jewish students were allegedly intimidated by protestors and required counseling. Slogans such as “death to Jews,” and “Viva Jihad,” traumatized those within earshot.

The police are awaiting approval of the attorney general before looking further into the case.

UPDATE: A factual error that appeared in the third paragraph as been corrected.