Executives with the Ryerson chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) will hold an emergency meeting Thursday morning to decide whether or not to enforce a motion to boycott Israeli universities.

Angela Ross, staff representative for CUPE Local 3904, which represents about 2,000 part-time and sessional staff at Ryerson, said the union will not decide on a course of action before consulting its members.

“(Local president Don Elder) is calling the emergency meeting with the executive to figure out how to deal with the campaign,” she said. “He won’t be commenting to the media before Thursday.”

CUPE delegates from universities across Ontario voted in favour of investigating links between universities and the Israeli military and encouraging universities to cease research that benefits the Israeli government.

Rebecca Rose, vice-president education of the Ryerson Students’ Union, said the RSU would not be committing to any show of support until Elder and the CUPE executive decide how they will proceed.

Aura Bessin, chair of Israeli affairs for Hillel at Ryerson, finds the motion discriminatory.

“Research is academic. That’s what a university is,” she said.

She expects the RSU and CUPE to ultimately encourage a boycott on campus and said, “Considering what the RSU has put out (in the past), that’s where they’re headed whether they want to admit it or not . . . Jewish students are feeling scared and intimidated by the RSU.”

Ryerson president Sheldon Levy has also condemned the boycott campaign as a suppression of freedom of speech.

“I absolutely believe this is counter to any effort to improve the dialogue to improve freedom of expression for individuals,” he said.