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Concordia Student Union faces legal action after trying to revoke StartUp Nation’s club status
The Concordia Student Union (CSU) is facing legal scrutiny after attempting to revoke the club status of StartUp Nation, a pro-Israel student organization at the Montreal university, following a Dec. 3 event featuring Yoseph Haddad.
StartUp Nation’s legal representatives have filed a demand letter and a provisional interlocutory injunction contesting the CSU’s actions, which they describe as “irregular, illegal and contrary to proper rules of order and procedure.”
Haddad, an Arab-Israeli journalist, pro-Israel activist and former IDF soldier, was scheduled to appear at a tabling event in the Hall Building Mezzanine on Concordia’s campus on Dec. 3.
On Dec. 1, StartUp Nation posted an Instagram reel announcing his appearance and the event’s location. After anti-Israel organizations denounced the appearance online, the CSU cancelled the reservation two days before the event, citing the club’s failure to disclose Haddad’s participation as an external guest.
Despite the CSU’s cancellation, StartUp Nation proceeded with the event in a public area separate from the reserved space, in the same building. “We did not use their space; we didn’t break any rules,” said Michael Eshayek, co-president of StartUp Nation, who pointed out that the CSU does not have jurisdiction over all of Concordia campus.
Haddad’s appearance was quickly met with protests from anti-Israel groups. Eshayek said one protester directed inflammatory remarks at a participant, saying, “I hope your mom will die.” Another video shows a protester wearing a keffiyeh pointing at Haddad and making a throat-slitting gesture.
Other videos shared online show Haddad attempting to engage with Concordia’s dean of students, Kate Broad, who declined to speak with him and left the scene. “You don’t have the respect to speak to me?” Haddad said in the video, addressing Broad, who turned her back on him.
The CSU later claimed StartUp Nation had violated policies. “On Dec. 3, a CSU club violated both Student Union and university policy by withholding essential information in their booking application regarding external guests,” the CSU said in a statement.
The CJN emailed the CSU for further comment on the cancellation of the tabling event and their motion to revoke the club status of Startup Nation, but did not receive a reply.
Legal implications
A demand letter dated Dec. 10, issued by Michael Hollander, a lawyer representing StartUp Nation, accuses the CSU of violating its own policies and failing to follow a fair decision-making process. The letter highlights the CSU’s “Policy on Clubs” and Robert’s Rules of Order, which require organizations to provide fair hearings before making substantive decisions. The letter describes the motion to revoke StartUp Nation’s status as “ultra vires”—beyond the CSU’s authority—and therefore invalid.
“The motion passed on Dec. 4, 2024, was irregular, illegal and in direct violation of my client’s rights,” the letter states. It further criticizes the CSU for citing Concordia University’s policy that governs external guest approvals and is enforceable only by the university, not the student union.
In the letter, Hollander demanded the CSU confirm within 24 hours that StartUp Nation’s club status remains intact, warning of further legal action if this is not done.
Watch a few moments from my visit to Concordia University in Montreal, which is occupied by anti-Israel terror supporters! pic.twitter.com/UcHsyafniL
— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) December 5, 2024
StartUp Nation also filed a legal application for a provisional interlocutory injunction in Quebec Superior Court on Dec. 11, seeking to annul the CSU’s motion. The court filing claims the CSU’s actions breached basic principles of fairness by failing to provide StartUp Nation with an opportunity to respond to complaints.
“These procedural irregularities rendered the motion not only invalid but also a breach of fundamental fairness and equity,” the filing states. The legal team argues these violations undermine the integrity of the decision and calls for adherence to proper procedural norms.
On Dec. 12, StartUp Nation posted on Instagram announcing the CSU had complied with the court order, blocking their attempt to ban the pro-Israel organization from campus. In a video taken during a CSU meeting, Dana Ballantyne, the external affairs and mobilization coordinator for the CSU, read a statement proposing a motion to strike the revocation of StartUp Nation’s club status until a council meeting on Jan. 22, 2025. Ballantyne cited claims that prior motion procedures had been invalid.
‘A double standard’
Critics have accused the CSU and Concordia University of applying double standards to pro-Israel events. “When pro-Hamas students block classes or chant ‘intifada,’ they’re allowed to stay,” Eshayek said. “But when we peacefully protest or hold an event, we’re told to leave.”
Jewish faculty and students at Concordia, who chose to maintain anonymity, have described the revocation of StartUp Nation’s status as part of a larger pattern of marginalizing pro-Israel voices on campus. Similar incidents occurred at McGill University this month, where anti-Israel activists opposed a conference featuring Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas leader turned critic, and Elisheva Ysabella Hazan, the founder of a Jewish empowerment movement. Although McGill cancelled the in-person event, it proceeded virtually.
The CSU has a history of controversies involving Jewish and pro-Israel groups. A November 2023 class-action lawsuit against Concordia and the CSU alleges that a hostile environment has been fostered for Jewish students, citing incidents of antisemitism and growing animosity towards pro-Israel students.
The CJN emailed the Concordia administration for comment on CSU’s recent decisions, asking how the administration balances student union autonomy with the university’s commitment to free speech and inclusivity, but did not receive a reply by press time.
Meanwhile, Haddad has criticized the situation in interviews and on social media, describing it as “an example of the growing intolerance toward pro-Israel voices on university campuses.”
The post Concordia Student Union faces legal action after trying to revoke StartUp Nation’s club status appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.