UBC group falsely attributed to ‘I (heart) Hamas’ stickers files lawsuit

The UBC Social Justice Centre (SJC) has filed a lawsuit after stickers were put up around the university’s campus in November in support of Hamas.

The stickers, which say “I (heart) Hamas” and displayed the SJC logo and name, were placed on posters advertising a student walkout for Palestinians.

At the time, Jewish student organization Hillel BC said that unbeknownst to them, an independent contractor had participated in the distribution of the stickers, which it called offensive, adding it ended its relationship with that contractor.

On Thursday, a lawyer for SJC announced the group had filed a defamation claim against Hillel BC.

“The last couple months have been incredibly stressful and challenging for myself and for colleagues at the SJC,” said Matthew Cheeseman, coordinator, UBC Social Justice Centre. “We have been harassed, we have been defamed.”

Karen Segal, lawyer for UBC Social Justice Centre, said the information on the stickers was untrue, hurtful, and harmful to the SJC.

“This case is about the harm the stickers cause to our clients and is also about protecting the rights of students to express their views on campus without fearing that they will become the target of untrue, defamatory smears,” Segal said.

In a statement posted to its Instagram page Thursday, Hillel BC says, in part, “We cannot comment on the specifics as the matter is currently before the courts and we have not yet been served with court documents.”

It adds, “At a time when antisemitic hate crimes in British Columbia have surged, including on our campuses, we are deeply concerned that this lawsuit will result in a further reduction of safe spaces for Jewish students.”

While it doesn’t name UBC in its suit, SJC says its also disappointed with how the school handled the incident.

“The university has done nothing about it,” Cheeseman said. “They have not helped us set the record straight and they have not helped us hold those responsible accountable.”

UBC tells CityNews it won’t comment on the suit as its not named in it, but it did say that Campus Security notified the University RCMP about the stickers and UBC provided information to the Mounties.

RCMP say the investigation has since concluded and no charges were laid.

With files from Catharine Garrett.