Brock Relay for Life (BRL) has been raising money to combat cancer for 14 years, and students can help contribute to the fight at this week’s upcoming events. 

BRL is a club that works directly with the Canadian Cancer Society, Canada’s largest national cancer charity. This is the fourteenth year that Brock has had a Relay for Life club, and in that time they have raised over $250,000 to fund cancer research and provide transport and care to those actively struggling with cancer. 

There are 9 committee members at BRL, with Grace Savescu and Jessica Tomassi acting as co-chairs. According to Savescu, this committee is “one of the most dedicated groups we have seen.” Many of them have prior experience with Relay for Life events at their high schools or run by the Brock club in previous years, but “it is the love for the cause that brings [them] all together.” 

This year, the club’s goal is to fundraise $40,000, and Savescu believes this is more than possible with the help of the students at Brock. BRL holds events throughout the year – in the past they’ve done movie nights and sold homemade candles, among others – and for the week of Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, the club will be holding events every day to fundraise and gain awareness for their final event of the year. 

Brock Relay for Life will be tabling in the Mackenzie Chown A-Block hallway from 10 a.m to 4 p.m every day of the week. 

On Monday and Friday, the club will be selling anonymous novels with Blind Date with a Book, a book wrapped in paper so the only knowledge the buyer gets is the genre. Proceeds from this event will be donated directly to the Canadian Cancer Society. From Tuesday to Thursday, the club is selling paintings made by a student at Brock. 50 per cent of these proceeds will be donated directly to the Canadian Cancer Society. 

Additionally, on Wednesday night from 7:30 p.m to 10 p.m., Brock Relay for Life is holding a Holiday Craft Night. For a donation of $5, students can make crafts for themselves or as gifts for their loved ones and watch The Grinch. 

According to Savescu, BRL likes to hold events for a week straight for students’ benefit. Not everyone can stop by on a given day, and knowing they’ll be around for the rest of the week at the same time and place allows students to come when they can. Students also have time to tell their friends or bring them directly if they’re interested in the sale. 

Tabling also raises awareness for the club’s final event of the year, the Relay for Life, a twelve-hour overnight event where students can find games, live music and more to keep them entertained and awake. Ceremonies are held here, such as the survivor lap to honour cancer survivors and their fight, and the luminary festival, where participants are encouraged to reflect on what brought them to the event and give respect to those who have passed. The Relay for Life is held in March, but students can show their support and help fundraise by checking out their table this week and attending the Holiday Craft Night. 

Support Brock Relay for Life this week by spreading the word and checking out what they have in store. “Students should get involved with Relay for Life because it is a phenomenal cause that needs our support to continue to help those in need,” said Savescu. “They should also get involved because it is a community event that brings people together in a fun and positive way.” 

Keep an eye out for more information on the 2024 Relay for Life next term. For more information on this week’s events, visit the club’s ExperienceBU page. 

St. Johns Conservation Area is a tranquil spot great for both new and experienced hikers.  

Located at 3101 Barron Rd in Fonthill, St. Johns is part of the Niagara Escarpment and the Twelve Mile Creek Valley. It is known for its seasonal trout fishing, bird watching and nature education.  

Before European colonization, the land on which the conservation area now exists was the home of the Anishinaabe, Attiwonderonk, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas of the Credit peoples. They were forcibly removed from their lands following colonization of the area.  

 
The landscape was shaped by glaciers that eroded the soil and created the hills known by hikers today. Part of the Carolinian Forest zone, St. Johns is the home of many broadleaf plants and some trees that are over 150 years old. It also contains the largest collection of tulip trees in the Niagara Region. The conservation area was formally established in 1963. 

Located close to the conservation area is the St. Johns Common School, which was established in 1804. The St. Johns Common School was the first non-denominational free school in Upper Canada. This started the tradition of free public education, something that the rest of Upper Canada would not adopt for another 42 years. The renovated schoolhouse is the oldest in Ontario.  

In terms of hiking, the area is relatively small at just 76 acres. With that being said, the size doesn’t limit the variety of trails the conservation area has to offer with five different options. Furthermore, hikers can choose from various trail lengths and difficulties. The Pond Trail, which is 500m long, is the most accessible. Following the outer edge of the pond, the route is good for families with small children or individuals who use wheelchairs as the path is flat and paved. 

Sassafras Stroll Trail, which is approximately 1km long, creates a large loop which connects from the pond to the parking lot. From this trail, hikers can access the Horseshoe Trail (600m), the Tulip Tree Trail (1.6km) and the St. Johns Ridge Trail (1.7km). The Pond Trail and the Sassafras Stroll Trail are both mostly flat, while the others include inclines, some of which are quite steep.  

Dogs are welcome on all trails, but they must be on a leash. 

While the conservation area closed on Nov. 13^th for enhancements to the parking lot and main entrance, the work is planned to be completed by the end of the year. The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority hopes that these improvements will help with public safety and enhance the accessibility of the site, allowing for year-round enjoyment of the conservation area.  

St. Johns Conservation Area is a beautiful place to take in the region’s beautiful scenery while being active and immersing oneself in nature. 

A Chabad at Brock spokesperson involved in the creation of an antisemitism workshop presentation in collaboration with Brock Human Rights and Equity (HRE) has confirmed their deliberate use of a propagandistic front-page story image from conservative tabloid newspaper the New York Post. Arab, Palestinian and Muslim students present at the presentation allege that the anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic rhetoric around the image were carried over in responses directed at them by the workshop presenter.  

On Sunday, Nov. 5 an image surfaced on the r/brocku subreddit showing a New York Post front-page story image titled “BLOOD LIBEL.” The deck of the article — which is expressly advertised on the New York Post’s website as the story being referenced on the front page issue image from Oct. 19 which was the same story-image used in the workshop as a pedagogical tool — is also featured in the front-page image and reads “Islamic terrorists killed their own people in hospital explosion — then falsely blamed Israel,” the hospital in reference according to the New York Post article being the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza’s Old City.  

The user who uploaded the image to Reddit titled the post, “Racist ‘antisemitism’ event?”  

The event from which the image surfaced was part of a two-event series titled “Holocaust Educational Week Series at Brock University.” The event in question was titled “ANTISEMITISM: The Longest Standing Form of Hatred / A Socio-Historical Perspective.” The event was co-hosted by Chabad at Brock and Brock HRE and was held on Thurs., Nov. 2 in room 215 of the Rankin Family Pavillion. 

A day after the workshop, on Nov. 3, a detailed analysis by New York Times senior writer David Leonhardt as to the cause of the Al-Ahli bombing claimed the following:  

“… While much about the [al-Ahli] hospital explosion remains unclear, the available evidence points toward a Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli airstrike, as the more likely cause… This episode doesn’t mean that Gazan officials always mislead or that Israeli officials always tell the truth. Even in this case, for example, Israeli officials have cited video evidence that Times reporting suggests does not support their argument. Both sides deserve continued scrutiny.”  

Similar inconclusive conclusions have been reported by BBC, Channel 4 News, the UN and many independent news organizations.  

Many on the side that believe Israel conducted the bombing point out that Human Rights Watch has documented Israel bombing critical Palestinian infrastructure with white phosphorous in the past, which is illegal under international law as per the Geneva Conventions.  

Critics of Israel also point to the many confirmed instances of propaganda used by Israel officials in the conflict thus far, such as a fake video created and spread by Israeli officials on social media of a supposed Gazan nurse telling Palestinians to evacuate to the south on top of more IDF talking points. Furthermore, the World Health Organization stated that Israel’s evacuation order to north Gaza’s hospitals in the current conflict is a “death sentence.”

Hospital bombings are illegal under international law.  

Inflated reports of deaths resulting from the Al-Ahli bombing by the Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) have also seen light criticism from CBC as to the accuracy of their reported numbers. However, Human Rights Watch officials told CBC that the GHM has been mostly accurate in the past.  

Many organizations and experts of the region have cautioned that information taken directly from Hamas officials and the PIJ or Israeli officials should be treated with great scrutiny and not presented as fact.  

The New York Post article was published on Oct. 18, a day after the explosion in the Hospital’s parking lot. The article only cites official Israeli reports and a statement by Joe Biden in defence of the explosion’s cause being conclusively a Palestinian missile failure: 

“Hamas had claimed that an Israeli airstrike killed more than 500 people, including civilians seeking treatment, at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.” 

But Israeli officials refuted the claim and demonstrated that the blast at the hospital was caused by a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).  

The attack marked the deadliest escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas since the terrorist group launched its surprise attack on October 7.” 

Aric Toler, visual investigative journalist for The New York Times, refuted the initial Israeli video evidence by showing that the timelines didn’t match. Israel promptly deleted the video off their official social media accounts soon after. This same evidence wasn’t denounced or mentioned in the New York Post article.  

The article also mentioned audio released by Israel meant to prove the bombing was a result of a misfire by Hamas and PIJ: “Israeli officials used surveillance pictures and audio recordings to prove the blast at the hospital was caused by a misfired rocket the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”  

However, the audio tapes were subsequently recognized to be dubious as the dialect in the audio isn’t accurate according to Muhammad Shehada, communications chief at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Shehada stated that even if the voices in the audio are Palestinian, it certainly is not the dialect of a Hamas member, as Israel alleged.  

As of writing, the New York Post has not issued any corrections or comments on their reporting from Oct. 18.  

No unequivocal proof has emerged as of writing of the hospital bombing being caused by either an Israeli airstrike or a Palestinian Jihadist/Islamist group missile failure, despite the antisemitism workshop presenter claiming the latter were to blame for the hospital explosion.  

A Chabad at Brock spokesperson affiliated with the creation of the workshop presentation who wished to remain anonymous provided an exclusive statement to The Brock Press on the reason for the use of the New York Post story-image: 

“The session on November 2nd was focused on antisemitism awareness and only discussed antisemitism. Part of the session did discuss horrific antisemitic terror attacks that were carried out by Hamas (a federally and internationally recognized terrorist group) on October 7th, and a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (also a federally and internationally recognized terrorist group) that misfired and hit the Shifa [sic] hospital in Gaza, which many tried to blame on Israel.

“The New York Post article displayed on one of the powerpoint [sic] slides and [sic] simply displayed an article discussing the media’s inaccurate reporting of the Shifa [sic] hospital blast in Gaza. The New York Post article did use the term Islamic terrorists in reference to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the context of the missiles they fired that misfired and hit the Shifa [sic] Hospital. When speaking about Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s antisemitic attacks and actions, we made it very clear that we were only referring to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, their antisemitic actions and how this impacts the Jewish community. 

“We were not speaking against anyone’s Muslim identity and we made that very clear. The slide with the New York Post article was not in reference to nor had anything to do with anybody who is not a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” 

As previously mentioned, The Brock Press has found no evidence to conclusively corroborate the claims made by the Chabad at Brock spokesperson that Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Hamas were responsible for the bombing of the Al-Ahli hospital.  

Furthermore, the New York Post article was reporting on the Al-Ahli bombing and not the Al-Shifa bombing.  

No one at Chabad at Brock has issued The Brock Press a correction or clarification related to which hospital they are referring to since their statement was issued on Nov. 17.

Of the two Al-Shifa hospital attacks that have happened this November, one was an airstrike on an Al-Shifa ambulance that took place on Nov. 3 — a day after the workshop — which Israel confirmed was carried out by the IDF. The second was the siege of the Al-Shifa Hospital by Israeli forces that started on Nov. 11, which was nine days after the workshop.    

As of now, Brock University’s Human Rights and Equity department members haven’t responded to requests for a statement.

The University’s Communications, Media Relations and Public Affairs department provided the following statement for The Brock Press when asked for comment: 

“Universities serve society through the cultivation of enquiring minds, but we acknowledge that our freedoms are accompanied by a responsibility to foster civility in critical dialogue. We recognize that members of the University community may hold strong and opposing views on the longstanding conflict in the Middle East and we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a safe and supportive learning and working environment for all. There is absolutely no place on our campus for hate speech, antisemitism or Islamophobia.” 

It has also been discovered that there are two distinct Chabad at Brock organizations, one being campus-based and run by students and the other being a general Niagara community organization of the same name. The latter organization is not BUSU-ratified.  

The relationship between the two organizations of the same name and their respective involvements in the workshop on antisemitism remains unclear.  

The Brock Press also received confirmation from multiple sources that the Brock University Provost and Vice-President, Dr. Lynne Wells, and Associate Vice-President of Students, Brad Clarke, were present at the antisemitism event in question. 

Members of the Brock Arab Student Association (ASA), a club whose ExperienceBU page says they “aim to promote Arab culture and heritage among students and faculty members,” were also present at the antisemitism workshop on Nov. 2.  

The Brock ASA attendees wrote a statement, which was provided to the The Brock Press by the organization’s president, in which they wished to remain individually anonymous, instead asking to be referred to collectively as The Group of Muslim Women.  

The Muslim Women said that they attended the event in the hopes of learning about antisemitism: “We went into this presentation with the sole expectation that the discussion would be historical and in relation to the topics that were advertised on the events [sic] site.”  

They also allege in their statement that the presenter at the event is someone named Perla Zaltzman. However, this is unconfirmed as per the information obtained and allowed for use by The Brock Press thus far. It is also not clear at this time if the named individual in Brock ASA’s statement is a Brock student or not. 

According to the Muslim Women’s statement, the second section of the presentation shifted focus from the Holocaust and antisemitism to the Israel-Hamas war which they felt was upsetting and targeting of their Arab and Muslim culture: 

“… after the timeline slide, the slides were much less polished, almost hastily put together and they all focussed on Israel, Hamas, and anti-Palestinian topics… It truly is unfortunate that a presentation that was supposed to be beneficial – one that was supposed to raise awareness and educate people on anti-semetism [sic] and the holocaust [sic] – was used to fulfill someone’s personal political agenda.” 

The Muslim Women’s statement also says that they felt unwelcome as soon as they entered the room the workshop was taking place in: “From the moment we stepped in, we knew that we were not welcomed and probably not expected. The presenter had her back turned to us (from the beginning) and did not maintain eye contact, only speaking to the side of the room,” said the Women.  

Furthermore, the Muslim Women state they felt targeted due to the focus on the Israel-Hamas war which the Women feel is a non sequitur when talking about the legacy of antisemitism, and that this conflation on the part of the presenter carried Islamophobic and anti-Arab implications: 

“What also frustrated us was that defending Israel and stating that boycotting Israel is itself anti-semitic (as the presenter did), implies that Israel and Judaism are one and the same. Yes, Israel is a Jewish state, however, this doesn’t mean that all Jewish people support Israel. It also doesn’t mean that Israel represents Judaism as a whole. This presentation which is supposed to be about antisemitism made claims and implied that being against Israel and their agenda is in fact anti-semitic. Having this message being perpetuated, makes us fear that any criticism towards Israel – a state with a government – may be read as a criticism of Judaism, which is not the case.

“We have every right to criticize any government. Anyone can criticize Saudi Arabia’s Amir without being claimed as Islamophobic because despite it being an Islamic state, it is also run by a government that does not represent Islam as a whole. It is the same case with Israel. Israel’s government does not represent every Jewish person, so being against Israel is not antisemitic and this presenter should have not added slides about boycotting Israel in the antisemitism presentation. That implication works to make people fear speaking out and acting against the genocide that is happening in Gaza.” 

Additionally, the Muslim Women said that a Palestinian audience member in attendance had relatives in South Gaza who were killed by Israeli airstrikes.  

As of late November, Israel has conducted airstrikes on both north and south Gaza that have killed large numbers of civilians.  

The Muslim Women confirmed that when the presenter said that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) were trying to avoid killing civilians, the Palestinian audience member asked the presenter why her family residing in the southern part of Gaza — the south being where Israel told Palestinians residing in the north half of Palestine to evacuate to at the outbreak of the war due to their alleging that Hamas was concentrated in the north — were killed despite being civilians.  

The Muslim Women said that the presenter replied to the Palestinian woman saying her family died “because they stayed there,” as per their statement.  

In the Group of Muslim Women’s statement, they provide a transcription of “voice memo evidence” of the interaction between the Palestinian woman and the workshop presenter.  

The transcription of the interaction in the statement reads in its entirety as follows:  

PRESENTER: “They [IDF] are making it clear that they don’t want to kill civilians. They [IDF] are calling the [Gazan] civilians and telling them ‘Please get out because we need to bomb your house.’”   

PALESTINIAN AUDIENCE MEMBER: “I’m from [the] South. How did my relatives die? I’m from [the] South.” (Palestinian audience member) 

PRESENTER: “Well, because they stayed there.” 

The Brock Press obtained exclusive voice memo evidence of the event’s open forum portion where this exchange happened and can verify that the interaction as it is transcribed in the Muslim Women’s statement is accurate.  

Due to Gaza being occupied territory by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War, Gaza’s population are not allowed to leave Gaza or to go to the neighbouring occupied West Bank, the other occupied Palestinian territory along with East Jordan, unless for highly selective reasons sanctioned by Israeli officials.  

The Muslim Women’s statement also allege that there were women that cried because of the Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian/Arab sentiments that were then recorded by the presenter and other people attending the workshop. They allege in their statement that they asked Brock HRE to protect their safety and privacy viz-a-viz any recorded material of the incident, as the upset women didn’t want to be recorded. However, the Women’s statement claims that Brock HRE did not answer whether they had obtained or deleted any videos.  

The ASA President mentioned that they are Palestinian in their correspondence with The Brock Press. They also said that ASA feels it is important to mention that they are united and standing strong as a community against Islamophobia on campus: 

“This presentation does not define us or our suffering. It is important to realize that we, as Muslims and as Arabs have been subjected to various forms of hate. We are used to it; we live it every day. We do not need pity parties and sorries [sic] to survive. Our tears during that presentation were not because we felt threatened or because we felt guilty for speaking out. Our tears represent our continued frustration and our compassion for our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are being killed ‘because they stayed there.’

“We are kids who grew up with protests, breaking news, and funerals. We’ve lived in the shadows and we found ways into the limelight. We will not allow anyone to make us invisible. We will not allow anyone to make us feel ashamed of who we are. We are strong people and we proudly stand for what is just. If you want to publish anything about us, please note that we are not defined by conflict, wars and genocide. What defines us is our faith, our compassion, and our existence which in itself is a form of resistance.” 

There have been no apologies issued from the Chabad at Brock that the presenter is affiliated with or from Brock University or its HRE department as of writing.  

UPDATE (March 25): Human Rights Watch claimed that the strike being the result of an Israeli rocket is “highly unlikely.” Still, there has been no conclusive confirmation of the source of the explosion.

This story will be updated as/if new information becomes available. Please email hnawaz@brockpress.com if you have any information, evidence or eyewitness testimony to provide related to the incident that took place at the antisemitism workshop in room 215 of the Rankin Family Pavillion on Thurs., Nov. 2 

Full statements from Chabad at Brock and Brock ASA: 

Statement from Chabad at Brock spokesperson: 

We strongly condemn Islamophobia. No student deserves to experience hate or discrimination and it is our hope that we can ensure an inclusive and safe environment free from hate and discrimination at Brock.  

The session on November 2nd was focused on antisemitism awareness and only discussed antisemitism. Part of the session did discuss horrific antisemitic terror attacks that were carried out by Hamas (a federally and internationally recognized terrorist group) on October 7th, and a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (also a federally and internationally recognized terrorist group) that misfired and hit the Shifa hospital in Gaza, which many tried to blame on Israel. The New York Post article displayed on one of the powerpoint slides and simply displayed an article discussing the media’s inaccurate reporting of the Shifa hospital blast in Gaza. The New York Post article did use the term Islamic terrorists in reference to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the context of the missiles they fired that misfired and hit the Shifa Hospital. When speaking about Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s antisemitic attacks and actions, we made it very clear that we were only referring to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, their antisemitic actions, and how this impacts the Jewish community.  We were not speaking against anyone’s Muslim identity and we made that very clear. The slide with the New York Post article was not in reference to nor had anything to do with anybody who is not a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.  

It is really disappointing to see this be taken out of context, generalized against an entire community, and then used as a reason to attempt to intimidate Jewish students and a Holocaust survivor at a Holocaust education week event and to frame their lived experience with antisemitism as propaganda, which is a form of antisemitism in itself.  

Statement from The Group of Muslim Women/Brock ASA:  

Brock Press Speaking Points Event: Antisemitism – The Longest Standing Form of Hatred – A Socio-Historical Perspective  

Organizers: Chabad at Brock and Human Rights and Equity at Brock (HRE) Date of Event: Thursday, November 2, 2023 (11:30 – 12:45 at Rankin Family Pavilion 215)  

Presenter: Perla Zaltzman  

1. The event itself is advertised as anti-semitism and Holocaust awareness (as part of the Holocaust Education Week Series at Brock University)  

– We went into this presentation with the sole expectation that the discussion would be historical and in relation to the topics that were advertised on the events site  

– Many of us did not learn about the Holocaust, at least not to the extent that it is taught here, we came to educate ourselves  

– Please note that the first section of the presentation was solely about the history of anti-semitism and the Holocaust. However, after the timeline slide, the slides were much less polished, almost hastily put together and they all focussed on Israel, Hamas, and anti-Palestinian topics. 

2. What happened when we went into the presentation 

– From the moment we stepped in, we knew that we were not welcomed and probably not expected.  

– The presenter had her back turned to us (from the beginning), and did not maintain eye contact, only speaking to the side of the room.  

– This was bizarre to us because why would she feel threatened or intimidated by us when we had come to learn about the presentation topics outlined (antisemitism and holocaust awareness)? If this event was open for everyone (as advertised) would she not be more open to us, people who may not be aware of the history? We were not welcomed at all as equals, as academics, or as people who wanted to learn.  

3. This presentation lost all merit because of the presenter’s personal additions at the end  

– It truly is unfortunate that a presentation that was supposed to be beneficial – one that was supposed to raise awareness and educate people on anti-semitism and the holocaust – was used to fulfill someone’s personal political agenda. 

– I think that this is what angered us the most. We know – as marginalized people – what it’s like to be dehumanized and villainized by the dominant culture. So, to come into a presentation where we are the minority, and to be silenced while being berated and called terrorists was hard. We were not just allowing it to happen either, we tried to question her sources (none of which she mentioned), and we tried to gain some clarification (because of her use of overgeneralized pronouns), but we were silenced and shushed.  

– What also frustrated us was that defending Israel and stating that boycotting Israel is in itself anti-semitic (as the presenter did), implies that Israel and Judaism are one and the same. Yes, Israel is a Jewish state, however, this doesn’t mean that all Jewish people support Israel. It also doesn’t mean that Israel represents Judaism as a whole. This presentation which is supposed to be about anti-semitism made claims and implied that being against Israel and their agenda is in fact anti-semitic. Having this message being perpetuated, makes us fear that any criticism towards Israel – a state with a government – may be read as a criticism of Judaism, which is not the case. We have every right to criticize any government. Anyone can criticize Saudi Arabia’s Amir without being claimed as Islamaphobic because despite it being an Islamic state, it is also run by a government that does not represent Islam as a whole. It is the same case with Israel. Israel’s government does not represent every Jewish person, so being against Israel is not anti-semitic and this presenter should have not added slides about boycotting Israel in the anti-semitism presentation. That implication works to make people fear speaking out and acting against the genocide that is happening in Gaza.  

4. How we felt  

– We felt disrespected (this word does not even come close to how we felt)  

– The presenter did not acknowledge us (see next bullet point)  

– One of the girls asked why her family (who lives in the Southern part of Gaza, which Israel supposedly has not been bombing at that point), was killed if Israel humanely asks civilians to leave their homes. To this question, the presenter simply stated that it is her family’s fault for staying in their homes. We do not know HOW to even describe the amount of humanity one must lack to say such a thing to someone who has lost family members as a result of Israeli airstrikes. It is disgusting and inhumane to say such a thing.  

“They [IDF] are making it clear that they don’t want to kill civilians. They [IDF] are calling the [Gazan] civilians and telling them ‘Please get out because we need to bomb your house.’” (Presenter)  

“I’m from [the] South. How did my relatives die? I’m from [the] South” (Palestinian audience member) 

“Well, because they stayed there” (Presenter in response to the above question)  

We have no words. We truly have no words to describe how disgusting this answer is and how it affects us, as a community. This statement alone completely undermines this presenter’s credibility in raising awareness about the largest genocide in human history. How can someone speak about the 6 million Jewish people who stayed in Europe, who did not have the option to leave their homes, and that have been murdered by the Nazis, then minutes later claim that another group of humans was murdered because they stayed in their homes? We cannot understand it. One does not need to be pro-Palestinian to realize how inappropriate it is to tell someone that their family chose to stay in their homeland and thus chose to die. It does not make sense. It is disgusting. There needs to be consequences and a personal and public apology. That is the bare minimum.  

– We felt silenced  

– As aforementioned, the presenter had her back faced to the visibly Muslim girls (wearing hijabs) and only looked at one side of the room  

– Did not acknowledge any hands. If she did not want to answer any questions until the end, she could have stated that once she saw the hands up. Instead, she waited until someone spoke out that they had a question, which was at least a few minutes after the hand stayed raised. It was obvious that she did not want to acknowledge us.  

– In the end, she did not answer most of the questions people wanted to pose. We were expected to passively listen to her, accept whatever political belief she wanted to force on her audience, and swiftly leave. It was clear that she did not want to hear from us Muslims. We felt as though no one was on our side  

– Although members of the HRE were present, they did not step in when the unapproved slides were presented. If they did not approve of the slides, why did they not step in, especially when they saw our frustrations? We feel like the HRE members present did not do their job by 1. Not verifying ALL of the slides right before the presentation 2. Not stopping the presentation when they realized that non-verified slides were being present 3. Not calling out the discriminatory attitude shown by the presenter. We felt displayed.  

– This presentation was held in room 215 of the Rankin Pavillion which had glass walls. There are blinds that could have been pulled down, but the organizers chose not to. In a public place, with a lot of foot traffic, people were staring in at all times. A lot of the stares were due to slides that centred on very eye-catching forms of media such as the New York Post articles. There were also at least 3-4 security officers present by the end of the presentation which was eye-catching.  – There were a few girls who cried out of frustration and their emotions were on full display to anyone at the Rankin Pavilion. Another issue was that some of the audience members and the presenter herself recorded the girls as they cried. This is a complete breach of the girls’ privacy and we have asked for the videos to be obtained by the HRE to protect their safety and privacy. We have not heard whether or not these videos have been deleted or obtained by HRE, which is concerning. Conclusive statements  

– We will not as Muslim and Arab communities (collectively and respectively) allow such forms of misinformation and hate speech to be perpetuated in such a way. We will speak out about it (as we have been doing) and we will be the first to defend our fellow Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims, and humans. No group deserves to be publicly dehumanized in the way we saw on November 2nd.  

– This presentation does not define us or our suffering. It is important to realize that we, as Muslims and as Arabs have been subjected to various forms of hate. We are used to it; we live it every day. We do not need pity parties and sorries to survive. Our tears during that presentation were not because we felt threatened or because we felt guilty for speaking out. Our tears represent our continued frustration and our compassion for our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are being killed “because they stayed there.” We are kids who grew up with protests, breaking news, and funerals. We’ve lived in the shadows and we found ways into the limelight. We will not allow anyone to make us invisible. We will not allow anyone to make us feel ashamed of who we are. We are strong people and we proudly stand for what is just. If you want to publish anything about us, please note that we are not defined by conflict, wars and genocide. What defines us is our faith, our compassion, and our existence which in itself, is a form of resistance. 

Holiday festivities are beginning in and around St. Catharines, the largest being Let it Glow – A Celebration of Light.  

This month-long celebration, occurring in lieu of a Santa Claus parade, will run from Dec. 1, 2023, until Jan. 7, 2024, entailing a variety of activities in downtown St. Catharines and Port Dalhousie. LoveSTC describes it as a time to “dine, shop and explore amongst the glow of twinkling lights.” 

Before the main event begins, two Watering Can Winter Workshops will be held at the St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatics Centre on Nov. 24, with one at 11 a.m and one at 1 p.m. Children between the age of four and 12 can be registered here, giving them the opportunity to create their very own Grinch Christmas tree. 

The free, outdoor Let it Glow Launch Event at Rennie Park and Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie officially kicks off the festivities, running from 5 p.m to 8 p.m on Dec. 1. The thousands of arranged glowing lights will be a great photo opportunity for anyone attending. As an exclusive part of this event, the Lakeside Park Carousel – originally carved between 1898 and 1905 – will be open for rides. Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be in attendance, as well as the Grinch and other characters. 

On Dec. 10, from 12 p.m to 4 p.m., the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines is hosting a free Family Skate. Santa and Mrs. Claus will once again be in attendance with a host of other fun characters, and there will be festive music and hot chocolate for all. 

The celebration will sweep through the St. Catharines Farmers Market for three Wednesdays in the month: Dec. 6, 13 and 20. Winter in the Market will run from 4 p.m to 8 p.m on these days, with sixty local vendors selling a wide selection of gifts for your loved ones or yourself, including wine, preserves, handmade toys, jewellery and more. This event will not affect the regular hours of the market, which currently runs on Thursday and Saturday mornings every week. 

On Dec. 31, Leisure Swims at the Kiwanis Aquatics Centre, which normally costs $2, will be free. Hour-long time slots at 9 a.m., 10 a.m, 11 a.m and 12 p.m can be booked here. 

Two events will be ongoing throughout the month of December and into January. First, Port Dal-icious runs from Dec. 1 to Jan. 7 in Port Dalhousie. Countless foods will be available to try, including European comfort food, specialty coffees and beers, Hungarian chimney cakes and more. There will be various QR codes around Rennie Park that link to enter a contest for a dining experience in Port Dalhousie. 

The Mitten Tree Campaign is a holiday initiative spanning from Dec. 2 to Jan. 6. Run by the St. Catharines Museum and the Welland Canals Centre, those able are encouraged to donate winter clothing to the museum so Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold and Start Me Up Niagara can deliver them to local families in need. Call 905-984-8880 or email museum@stcatharines.ca for more information. 

Let it Glow – A Celebration of Light is sure to be a festive time for students and families alike. Though St. Catharines is not hosting a Santa Claus parade, Niagara This Week compiled a list of parades and other events happening in the Niagara region. To Do Canada has an even more detailed list, including local concerts, theatre shows and more. For those who celebrate, the possibilities are endless. 

Quebec has doubled tuition fees at English universities for non-residents of the province. 

The announcement came during a press conference on Oct. 13, where Jean-François Roberge, minister of the French language, stated that a surplus of anglophone students is one of “the reasons for the decline of the French language in Quebec.” 

He continued to stress his desire to “rebalance our university network [and rebalance] our language policies here in Montreal. By attracting more francophone students to francophone universities, it’s a way to rebalance it.” 

This change will occur starting in Fall 2024. While students already studying at anglophone universities will not have to pay an increased rate, any out-of-province students looking to start an undergraduate or graduate program will. 

The three affected schools are Concordia University, McGill University and Bishop’s University. At Concordia, incoming out-of-province BA students can expect to pay $299.73 per credit, or $10,678.45 per year with additional university fees. For comparison, Quebec residents coming into the same program would only pay $96.03 per credit, or $4,567.45 per year with additional fees. 

Similarly, an MFA in Creative Writing, one of the few such programs offered in the country, is estimated to cost $7,350.15 for Quebec residents compared to an estimated $16,516.65 for out-of-province students, with neither of these costs accounting for additional fees. 

Taylor Adams, a current first-year student at Concordia pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a joint major in data science, believes the decision is “meant to divide francophone from anglophone Canadians. If this was really about promoting French in the province, they would have come to an agreement to include French classes as a requirement for the English universities.” 

“What is ironic is that McGill University may have to halt their $50 million French program because of this financially devastating policy,” Taylor said, referring to an Oct. 18 announcement from the English university. 

While not affected financially by the hike themself, Taylor said that “just under 10 per cent of Concordia’s enrollment [are] Canadian, non-Quebec residents, so I am largely worried about the funding of my school’s organizations, equipment and faculty.” 

Other tensions have risen on campus as well as a result of the tuition hike: “I see posters around campus against tuition hikes, either to get people to sign a petition or in order to organize a protest. Some of these have been partially torn [and] vandalized with phrases like ‘DEFUND ANGLO UNIs’.” At the recent protests, hundreds of those in attendance were students from Bishop’s. 

Taylor may not be a Quebec resident, but they speak French “near fluently” and aims to “work and live in Montreal after [their] graduation as a software developer.” However, this change may affect their goals. “I am willing to attend my second year here, but if this significantly impacts my experience I will try to transfer to another university, like Carleton or Ontario Tech.” 

“It’s a shame,” Taylor said, “because I came here not only to feel the freedom of a lively, accessible metropolis, but to immerse myself in the French-Canadian language and culture. I have been attending both francophone and French immersion schooling my entire life, and it sends a message that I’m not welcome, because I’m from Ontario and French is not my mother tongue.” 

Protests and petitions are ongoing, but as of yet there has been no change to the policy. Recently, the tuition hike has received negative attention from other provinces and countries. With students like Taylor starting to consider other options for schooling, the situation for anglophone universities in Quebec like Concordia, McGill and Bishop’s regarding enrollment and funding is dire. 

The FBI is investigating an incident that occurred on Wednesday, Nov. 22, where a vehicle heading toward Canada from the US crashed and exploded on the Rainbow Bridge. 
 
Between 11:20 and 11:30 a.m., a vehicle accelerated toward the Rainbow Bridge on the U.S. side before colliding with a checkpoint structure. Upon collision, the vehicle caught fire and exploded. The smoke from the blast could be seen from several kilometres away. 
 
An initial search of the vehicle found no incendiary or explosive devices. Law enforcement noted that this was only preliminary information. 
 
The cause of the explosion is still being investigated.  
 
Officials have confirmed that the two passengers of the vehicle died during the explosion. The single border patrol guard inside the checkpoint at the time of the crash was sent to the hospital with minor injuries.   

It is unknown at this time whether there were more casualties or injuries as a result of the collision and explosion. 
 
Mike Guenther from Kitchener witnessed the incident while walking down Main Street in Niagara Falls, New York with his wife. In an interview with WGRZ-TV, Guenther reports that the car accelerated “so fast we could barely even see them… they were fishtailing because they were going so fast.” The vehicle then swerved to avoid hitting another car and hit a fence around the checkpoint said Guenther.  
 
CCTV footage reveals that the fence acted as a ramp, propelling the vehicle into the air before hitting the checkpoint. According to Guenther, the vehicle was then quickly engulfed in “a ball of fire, 30 [or] 40 feet high.”  
 
Video from another CCTV camera at the Rainbow Bridge displays a large fiery explosion that scorched the US border checkpoint followed by a scattering of debris. According to the security camera’s data, the incident happened at 11:22 a.m. 

 
Images taken at the crash show similar wreckage, warped metal and open flames covering the road around the bridge.  
 
The FBI is coordinating with local, state and federal authorities to investigate the cause of the crash. Whether the crash and explosion were intentional or not is currently unconfirmed. 
 
The explosion prompted the closing of the Rainbow Bridge as well as three other border crossings in the region, including the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, the Peace Bridge and the Whirlpool Bridge 
 
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls airports, however, remain operational.   

A statement from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority says that “cars coming into the Buffalo Airport will undergo security checks and travellers can expect additional screenings.” 
 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a statement in Parliament, saying “this is obviously a very serious situation in Niagara Falls.” He eventually excused himself from Question Period in the House of Commons to be briefed further. 
 
The Prime Minister went on to say that “additional measures” were being contemplated and activated additional border crossings across Canada. 
 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been briefed on the situation and said via X, formerly Twitter, that “the New York State Police will be actively working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to monitor all points of entry into the state.” 
 
In a press statement at Niagara Falls, New York, Gov. Hochul stated, “there is no evidence at this time that this was a terrorist activity,” and that the car explosion incident was caused by a “local individual, a West New Yorker.” 

 
The situation is still evolving as more information comes to light.  

For many, the winter season is hard on the body and spirit. The weather becomes harsher as the days pass by, the sun goes down mindbogglingly early and final examinations are quickly due. 

At this time more than ever, it is important to seek out meaningful opportunities for fun and relaxation, all while embracing the weather.  

The following are a few of the events offered throughout November and December at Brock that can serve as pick-me-ups during this gloomy time of the year. Notably, many of these are also great opportunities to get pumped for the upcoming Christmas season along with Brock peers. 

1. Gingerbread Decorating  

Student Life and Success along with the Residence Life Peer Mentor have planned a gingerbread decorating session to get students in touch with their holiday spirit. Throughout the session, students will be provided with pre-baked gingerbread cookies and other cookie-decorating utensils to unleash their festive creativity. 

The event is taking place on Friday, Nov. 24^th, from 6:30 p.m to 9:30 p.m in room WH206. Brock students are welcome to RSVP on ExperienceBU to secure their spot, although walk-ins will also get the chance to stop in for the session. 

2. Canada’s Wonderland Winterfest 

The Brock Winter Club is bringing Brock students to Canada’s Wonderland Winterfest on Saturday, Nov. 25^th. The Winterfest transforms the atmosphere of Canada’s Wonderland into a holiday-themed immersive experience, where attendees can ice-skate and enjoy holiday live shows.  

To attend, students must purchase their ticket, which are priced at $40. This fee includes transportation and entrance to Canada’s Wonderland. As for the itinerary, the bus booked by the Brock Winter Club will depart the university at 1:30 p.m and is scheduled to return from Canada’s Wonderland at 9 p.m. 

3. Holiday Craft Night 

On Wednesday, Nov. 29, the Brock Relay For Life club is inviting the Brock community to gather for a night of craft-making for a good cause. For a $5 donation, students will be provided with supplies needed to complete holiday crafts, and all proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. 

Another perk associated with the event is that the club will be playing The Grinch for attendees to enjoy a holiday movie while they craft.  

The event will run from 7 to 10 p.m, and Badgers can RSVP to secure a spot for the event on ExperienceBU. 

4. Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights 

Brock University Student Life along with Brock SOCS are bringing Brock students on an immersive journey through the Winter Festival of Lights, and an accompanying hot chocolate trail in Niagara Falls.  

The evening promises sightseeing at the “Sparkling Winter Lights” illumination at the Falls, luxurious hot chocolate taste-testing and closing the night by watching fireworks. It is going to take place on Saturday, Dec. 2^nd from 5 to 9 p.m. 

Transportation to and from the event, as well as the activities in Niagara Falls, are covered with the purchase of a ticket, priced at $5. 

The winter season may be tougher on students’ mood and quality of life than usual, which highlights the importance of attending social events fit for the time of the year. 

If you are looking to have fun these upcoming weeks, or if you are thrilled for the holiday spirit to kick in, consider attending the winter events. 

AI Day provided an opportunity for students, faculty and community members to come together and discuss the latest innovations in artificial intelligence. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly engrained in industries, research, education and more, making discussions of ethicality and practicality important as technologies advance at a rapid pace. Such were the conditions that created the first-ever AI Day at Brock. 

Brock’s Computer Science Department held the event on Nov. 9, which promised “to be a confluence of brilliant minds, groundbreaking ideas and the latest advancements in the realm of AI.” 

The day began with some opening remarks and a brief presentation on AI initiatives at Brock, including the proposed Centre of Artificial Intelligence. Following this, Dr. Jad Kabbara gave a keynote speech on human-centred AI and related projects at MIT, where he conducts research for the Center of Constructive Communication. 

Following his speech, much of the day entailed technical presentations on recent advancements in AI in realms such as public transit, drug design and gas wells. 

Research posters were displayed on the upper floor of the conference room, many of which discussed the various usages of Large Language Models (LLMs), the most prominent element of current AI that controls systems like ChatGPT and other budding research assistants. 

LLMs were the topic of the discussion panel, one of the final events of the day, which featured Gina Grossi, a Niagara College professor of computer programming in the Game Design program and current Ph.D. student in the Intelligent Systems and Data Science program at Brock; the aforementioned Jad Kabarra; Rahul Kammar, an assistant professor in the Brock Faculty of Education; and Ali Emami, an assistant professor in Brock’s Department of Computer Science. 

The conversation was moderated by Robson De Grande, an associate professor in Brock’s Department of Computer Science. 

Prompted by questions from both the audience and Dr. De Grande, the panellists discussed a myriad of topics about AI and LLMs, but the conversation mainly revolved around the strengths and weaknesses of LLMs, the use and ethicality of AI in education and what it truly meant to create an artificial intelligence. 

It was made clear that LLMs like ChatGPT are not always factually accurate. They are merely programmed to create plausible conversation that could be coming from a human. 

A system like Google is made for retrieval, meaning if a user searches for books on journalism, for example, the search results will be factually accurate. An LLM, on the other hand, does not have the same requirements. The same search could call up a list of books that all seem real but may not actually be so. As long as it sounds plausible, the system has done what it was programmed to do. 

This makes its use in education rather tricky. Many Canadian school boards have unclear policies when it comes to the use of AI in the classroom, and in the US, some are integrating it into curriculums and others are outright banning it. The same arguments can be seen at Brock and other universities – some professors encourage its use while some consider any usage academic misconduct. 

The predominant opinion coming from the panel was that AI isn’t going anywhere and banning it will not prepare students for their futures, but rather the ‘pasts of their teachers.’ Examples were given of pre-existing evolutions of education, such as when teachers had to adapt to the creation of the calculator in the form of word problems. 

Importantly though, AI cannot replace education. The act of learning is meant to be a struggle: one that creates enduring intelligence in students that allows them to thrive in the world. Increased access to information does not render education moot, the panel agreed, for this was not the case when the Internet was invented. 

The panel discussed how when tools like the calculator and the Internet were invented, the standard for education needed to be raised; now, it needs to be raised again to accommodate AI. As technology advances, so does intelligence. Humans learn when more elaborate tools are created, like how modern programmers have become more efficient than the original coders, who needed to input ones and zeroes rather than strings of text and commands. 

This begs an important question, however, which the panel discussed at length: what is the standard for artificial intelligence? They described how the thresholds for programs to be declared intelligent are constantly being surpassed. In the past, if a program could play a game of chess it was considered intelligent. Recently, it’s been about emulating human language and now even that has been accomplished. 

A recurring topic throughout the day was whether bias belongs in AI. Bias could be problematic for a system meant to deliver facts, but as the panel discussed, everybody has a bias, no matter how objective they try to be. So then, what is true intelligence? And as AI becomes more advanced, what becomes artificial about it? 

Does the artificiality of AI mean it could be more intelligent than people? If yes, would humans even be comfortable creating such a thing if it meant surpassing the limits of humanity? The panellists could not definitively answer these questions, but they said that if they could, there would be no need for all their combined, continuous research. 

AI Day ended with a speech from Donald Ziraldo, a leading figure in the Canadian wine-making industry. He discussed how large businesses are paying close attention to AI and implementing it where they can. It can make mundane tasks easier and accelerate productivity, and it even has uses in gene sequencing and combatting climate change, to name a few examples. 

Dr. Lynn Wells, Provost and Vice-President Academic at Brock, gave the official closing remarks. After her speech, Dr. Betty Ombuki-Berman, a professor at the Brock Department of Computer Science, shared her desire for AI Day to be an ongoing event—especially if the proposed Centre of Artificial Intelligence comes to fruition. 

While this event covered a lot about AI and LLMs, there was simply not enough time to cover everything, especially with the technology progressing at the rapid pace that it is. ChatGPT took the world by storm this past year. Should this event return next year, there will be plenty more to discuss. 

The living wage in Niagara has increased, showing just how drastic the gap is between it and the current minimum wage in Ontario. 

According to a report released on Nov. 6 by Living Wage Niagara, the living wage has jumped to $20.35 per hour from last year’s $19.80 per hour. This 2.8 per cent increase was decided from an “aggregation of three household types” and accounts for the average cost of housing, transportation, food, childcare and other necessities like medical, clothing, internet and more. 

A living wage, as described by Living Wage Niagara, “is calculated as an evidence-based hourly rate at which a household in Niagara can meet its basic needs.” People who are paid less than this amount often have to sacrifice day-to-day essentials like recreation, continuing education, clothing or even food. 

When people have considerations like children or medical issues, a living wage becomes increasingly important.  

However, the current minimum wage in Ontario, which increased from $15.50 per hour on Oct. 1, is only $16.55 per hour. This jump is the largest seen since 2020, but so is the living wage increase, and it’s still $3.80 per hour less than what’s required for people’s basic needs.  

This number is lower for students under the age of 18, currently sitting at $15.60 per hour. Expenses may not be high for these students, but they can increase if they choose to go to university, considering tuition costs and the rising prices of food and housing. Some students even start their first year of university at the age of 17. 

In the report, Aima Khan, the Living Wage Program Coordinator at United Way Niagara, says: “As [the] cost of living continues to increase across Canada, Ontario’s recent efforts to raise the minimum wage falls short of what is needed for individuals and families to live a sustainable life. 

“The living wage is not perfect but it is one step closer to supporting our working people who are struggling to make ends meet… Currently the living wage program is one of the most effective ways to reducing poverty for working people in Niagara.” 

Businesses can become living wage certified through Living Wage Niagara, placing themselves on the interactive map and list of certified employers, a useful resource for Brock students looking for work in the region. 

The minimum wage has been a discussion point for many years in Canada as inflation and poverty rates rise, but a living wage ensures people can live their lives without sacrifice, regardless of what the legal minimum rate is.  

Living Wage Niagara’s home page and more resources that educate about the living wage can be found here. 

A temporary housing-focused shelter is being set up for in-need St. Catharines citizens. 

Since the turn of the century, Canada has seen steadily rising rates of homelessness. These rates skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing the country into a nationwide homeless crisis. 

The combination of the lack of affordable housing, the increasingly rising cost of living and the staggering increase in average housing prices – rising by more than 30 per cent from 2019 to 2021 – was magnified when shelters were unable to house as many people due to safety restrictions during the pandemic. 

Now, municipalities are trying to cope with this increased number of unhoused people who need shelter, food and other help, such as addiction support services. 

St. Catharines is struggling with these same issues. In 2021, according to The Homeless Hub, 645 people in the city were experiencing homelessness, with 41.5 per cent of these cases being chronic. Chronic homelessness entails unhoused people who have been so repeatedly or for longer than a year. Of those 645 people, 75 were living without any shelter and 67 identified as youth. 8.4 per cent self-identified as 2SLGBTQ+ and 22.6 per cent identified as Indigenous. 

The proposed temporary shelter in St. Catharines will be built at 29 Riordon Street, a site chosen based on “zoning, access to transit and support services, [and] safety and distance from other vulnerable populations.” It will be a full-day establishment, with 50 beds and indoor accommodations to “allow clients to stay inside during the day and work toward their goals.” Niagara Region Homelessness Services will operate the shelter. 

This decision comes after a Shelter Capacity Review conducted by the region that pointed to a moving away from seasonal shelters – emergency shelters operating exclusively during the wintertime – and toward “all-year, full-day shelters.” It will operate for roughly two years before a permanent site is opened, at which point these modular units will be repurposed somewhere else in the Niagara region. 

Niagara describes this shelter as “low barrier,” meaning it will be easier for unhoused people to access it. With this phrase, however, they make it clear that “safety is a top priority. Policies, procedures and practices are set up to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone at the shelter.” This includes staff and clients, but also community members living near the shelter. 

The site will have a security camera, a fence, and will be staffed accordingly, with “exterior site walkabouts… every 15 to 30 minutes.” Niagara also clarifies that there is “zero tolerance” for any violence – sexual, threatened or otherwise – including theft, arson, property damage or drug dealing. 

In the face of a nationwide housing crisis, shelters such as these will help some of the most vulnerable citizens in Canada. The shelter on Riordon Street is expected to open sometime in early 2024.