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Under pressure, Canadian school lifts ban on Israeli students

February 1, 2017 at 7:51 pm

Canada’s Island School of Building Arts (ISBA)

A Canadian school has been forced to reverse its decision not to accept an Israeli student based on his nationality, reports have said.

The Island School of Building Arts (ISBA), a trade school, denied Israeli Stav Doron admission on the basis that he is Israeli.

The Jewish organisation, B’nai Brith Canada, said the student was told the institution is “not accepting applications from Israel” due to “the conflict and illegal settlement in the region”.

However, after the school was inundated with complaints and inquiries regarding the matter, including from Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the institution retracted its decision.

On its website it said: “After significant thought and listening to all interested parties, ISBA has decided to rescind any restriction placed on accepting students from Israel and apologize for any impact or inconvenience. ISBA remains acceptant to all and will continue to do so without restrictions.”

The school, which is based on Gabriola Island in Canada’s British Columbia province, specialises in the design and construction of timber structures.