The Lincoln Alexander Law School commissioned an external review in response to an open letter to the Lincoln Alexander School of Law’s administration. The School asked Justice MacDonald to determine whether students who signed a letter in October 2023 in support of Palestinian human rights breached the Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct. Deborah Guterman provided submissions to Justice MacDonald on behalf of some of the letter's signatories.
The report is now public. Justice MacDonald concluded that the students’ expression did not violate any university policies. Among other things, the report criticized the law school’s statement labelling the letter as antisemitic and the resulting personal and professional impact of that labelling on the students who signed the letter.
Justice MacDonald quoted Deborah’s submissions directly in his Report, writing:
Deborah Guterman, counsel for several students, submitted as follows:
The Open Letter is not antisemitic, not reflective of antisemitic tropes or stereotypes, nor does it hold Jews responsible for Israel’s conduct. The Open Letter criticizes the government actions and conduct of the State of Israel. This is distinct from targeting members of the Jewish community. Opposition to actions taken by the Israeli government cannot reasonably be viewed as promotion of hatred towards people who identify as Jewish. To suggest that support for Palestinian self-determination equates to antisemitism not only assigns the worst possible interpretation to that support, but also suggests that support for Palestine, Palestinian freedom, or a Palestinian state is somehow incompatible with Jewish life and flourishing.