During 2008–2009, Israel lobby organizations made concerted efforts to block a planned conference on statehood for Israel and Palestine at York University.

So begins the narrative of a new book just released by CAUT, No Debate: The Israel Lobby and Free Speech at Canadian Universities. The book reports the investigation by author Jon Thompson, professor emeritus of the University of New Brunswick and one of Canada’s leading experts on acade­mic freedom, over the controversy that erupted at York soon after the Israel-Palestine conference was advertised, and which intensified over the ensuing months.

The event was repeatedly denounced, and university administrators were bombarded with irate phone calls and emails. York, as the host university, was attacked in full-page ads, and warned of boycotts and of donations being withheld.

Gary Goodyear, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, took the unprecedented step of contacting the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the academic funding agency that helped finance the event. In response, SSHRC acted outside of its policies. CAUT made a public issue of the unprecedented move and, in the end, the conference was held as planned.

This book establishes the facts of the case, provides a context for understanding it, and explores the meaning of academic freedom in Canada. It also offers measures that universities and academic staff members can take to reinforce their ability to discuss and debate ideas that make some uncomfortable.