Conspicuously absent from your post, Professor, is the fact that Mr. Noble is himself Jewish. I think that's important because it shows that Noble is not just some anti-Semite (as the sarcasm at the end of your post seems to suggest), and may in fact (we don't know without the original pamphlets) be making a legitimate criticism of, or commentary on, the degree to which York's leaders' personal affiliations have affected their professional judgments (e.g., whether to permit protestors with a message contrary to that of the leaders' personal affiliations)... Just a comment.

Are Walt and Mearsheimer proud that they've encouraged guys like this to come out of the closet?

I guess when you have an axe to grind, time ceases to have meaning. While it's unlikely that Walt/Mearsheimer's 2006 paper was what caused this guy to pass fliers around campus in 2004, and while people have been accusing the Jews of controlling this and that since the days of Moses, I guess Walt and Mearsheimer are reviled figures, so why the heck not take a shot at them?

From the linked article:

"A York University professor has lodged a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, alleging that the school discriminates against non-Jewish students because it cancels classes for three days annually during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

David Noble, a Jewish professor at York, filed the human rights complaint with the quasi-judicial commission after failing to convince university administrators that they should either cancel classes on all religious holidays or eliminate the practice."

Seems like a reasonable stance to me, whether one agrees with it or not. I fail to see how it suggests hostility to the Jewish community.

David Noble, a Jewish professor at York, filed the human rights complaint with the quasi-judicial commission after failing to convince university administrators that they should either cancel classes on all religious holidays or eliminate the practice.

See a York U. calendar here. It seems that the university notes the High Holidays, and also note Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.

Is there an issue?

As always, one has to ask why the question of religious accomodation is only being asked now, but never came up when (for instance) Christmas is a holiday but significant non-Christian holidays, with significant impact on the student body, were not.

I understood that the Canadian model was generally about practical accomodations for actual members of the student body, rather than a normative separation of school and religion, at least as far as elementary and secondary schools.

I'm trying to understand the issues: It seems like Professor Noble is suing the Israel Lobby over its control of York U. for saying that Noble says there is an Israel Lobby that controls York U.

Taking a more careful look at that calendar, for Christmas (Eve, Day, Boxing) and Good Friday, one star, "University Closed".
For the High Holy Days, two stars, no classes, university offices open. For Passover (less Chol Hamoed) three stars: no exams, but classes held and offices open.

The York relgious accomodation policy is here and their calendar of all possible religious holidays is here.

Article on Prof. Nobles conflict here.

Jewish holidays policy affirmed
A York University Senate committee has recommended the school continue its long-standing practice of cancelling classes on Jewish holidays, despite some professors' concerns it violates the school's governing law, reported the Toronto Star Sept. 21. York's Senate will receive a report Thursday from its committee on curriculum and academic standards that concludes it would be disruptive to hold classes on Jewish holidays on a campus where an estimated one in 10 students is Jewish.

However history Professor David Noble, who is Jewish, says he intends to teach on the three days in October usually cancelled for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, despite York's policy, because York is a secular, public university. It was Noble's complaint last year that prompted the Senate to seek a report on the 30-year-old practice of cancelling classes each October. Noble says the practice violates a section of the York University Act of 1965, which states no "religious observances...be imposed" upon any member of the University community.

York spokesperson Nancy White disagreed with Noble's interpretation, reported the Star. "This section was intended to protect members of the University from being forced to comply with another religion as a condition of employment. But no one is making anyone go to any religious service," White said. She said suspending classes for all on Jewish holidays is a practical solution because of the number of Jewish students who would miss classes.

Canadian Jewish News quoted Chris Morley, a spokesperson for Premier Dalton McGuinty, who said cancelling classes on holidays "is a decision the University has the authority to make," adding that "it seems the York policy is reasonable." White told CJN that the Senate and administration reviewed the policy about 10 years ago and decided to continue with it. "In no way does this practice undermine the York Act. "

Prof. Martin Lockshin, an observant Jew who teaches humanities in York’s Faculty of Arts and is a member of the University’s Senate, told CJN that although the school has taken Noble’s complaint very seriously, he would be surprised if the practice changed. He said the University is entitled to make rules about when classes are held. He added that the holiday policy follows a general York principle of respecting religious diversity, but more importantly, it avoids problems that would be created when many students and faculty can’t attend class.

Does Prof. Noble teach class on December 25?

Commenterlein, et al,

I don't think the objection here, on the part of DB, is to the perfectly reasonable demands made by the Profesor, but instead to the manner in which he sought them - insinuating an ill-intentioned cabal of Jewish organizations, seeing a boogeyman conglomerate where there is none. He comes perilously close to employing stock anti-semitic talking points, that all Jews are in alliance with each other, pursuing a sinister agenda.

It strikes me as pretty obvious that if the government decides that all non-statutory religious holidays must result in canceled classes, or none, that the result will be none. I acknowledge that one can advocate for this position without being hostile to anyone, but I can also see how one can see at least the possibility that someone who files a grievance, then an appeal of some sort, and then a lawsuit to effectuate this policy, and threatens to meanwhile defy the policy while canceling classes specifically on Muslim (but apparently not Christian, Hindu, etc.) holidays, may just have some hostility to the Jewish community.

David Bernstein:

I can't imagine how anyone could ever interpret any remarks made by the plaintiff as insinuating that Jews control York University.

In one of the stories you linked to they had this quote:

“This… was all engineered by the Israel lobby,” Noble told a campus newspaper. “They got York University to defame one of its own professors.”

He's saying 'the Israel lobby' (in reality a Jewish collegiate foundation) engineered the university's actions and got the university to do the Jewish organization's bidding by defaming one of their own professors. So on one hand we have Jews and on the other hand we have a statement that those Jews make the university do whatever they want it to do. Are you sure that you can't imagine how that could possibly be construed as saying that Jews control the university?

What I find to be the most salient points are these.

"Students of any faith can be exempt from classes on their holidays without penalty if they speak with their professors in advance."

"About 10% of York’s 50,000-member student body is Jewish."

Christians already have their religious holidays off so we are only talking about whether non-Christian gentiles are being harmed by being able to have excused absences but still having to miss classes on their holy days.

Is it unreasonable for the university to create a blanket policy not to have classes on those two days rather than have up to 5,000 students make special arrangements with their professors and then miss a couple of days of instruction? The disruption to the university's pedagogical mission is minimal and possibly less than not having the policy.

Is it unreasonable for the university not to make a similar policy for dozens of other religions whose combined representation in the student body is probably less than 5,000? Now instead of having to make up two days of instruction, the university will have to make up entire weeks worth of instruction. That seems like a major disruption to the school in order to accomodate only a few students.

Asked whether he is a secular or religious Jew, Noble said: “Those are not categories that interest me. I have a certificate of my circumcision… if you want to see it.”

I got yer certificate. I got yer certificate right here.

Do remember that Canada isn't the US, especially with respect to religion. The Supreme Governor of the Church of England is also Queen of Canada and "Defender of the Faith" is part of her Canadian title in both official languages, so obviously the separation of church and state is a little less operable (also remember why there is a First Amendment... just a tiny bit of reaction against the British tradition of Establishment). Further, Ontario has a fully funded Catholic school system that provides JK to 12 education complete with mandatory religion classes and fairly decent Catholic indoctrination.

As to the issues with recognizing Jewish holidays and not others... Practically there are significant advantages to rcognising Jewish holidays. In the Fall term there is usually no effect to cancelling classes broadly, as the school is just ramping up when the High Holidays tend to occur. This year was aberrational with them so late, but even still there would have been minimal to no effect on assignments, midterms, etc. Passover is also well behaved, running close to Easter and usually being outside of the exam period. York and other Ontario Universities run from the first or 2nd week in Sept to late April/early May for the end of Finals (whole year or Winter Term). There's a week off for Christmas, and a week off in February/March for reading week (yes Spring Break is in the depth of winter).

To give similar treatment to other religions would be very problematic, as it would eat up a large number of instructional days in the heart of Fall Term (or a roving amount of days, for Muslim festivals) for Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and other religions. There would be substantial problems caused by Chinese/Korean/Japanese festivals in the Winter as well. Given the demographics of York especially and large metropolitan Ontario universities in general, the basic list of religions to accomodate would be Sikh, Muslim, Ismaili Muslim (lots of Ugandan refugees in Canada), Jewish, Chinese Buddhist, Japanese Shinto, Korean Buddist, Eastern and Western Christian. The Buddhist/Shinto holidays would mostly be cultural celebrations, as so many students from those background are VERY Christian but still celebrate "ethnic" holidays. This basic list would paralyse the school, and the no celebration option wouldn't work. Universities will accommodate any students religious holidays that conflict with assignment due dates and exams, as well as authorizing absences for any required attendance class (they have to make accommodations by law).

York could easily treat Jewish holidays how many other schools do, by treating it as every other "minority" religion and granting accomodations without the entire university getting time off. It likely doesn't do this out of a respect for the traditions that make York what it is (my personal abysmal opinion of it excepted).

York is convulsed by a large number of Jihadist and Jewish Leftist Anti-Zionist ("don't dare call us anti-semites") cranks as well as a large proportion of Jewish faculty and students (neighbouring communities are very, very, very Jewish, with streets in suburban developments near the university being named Chabad Gate, Esther Crescent, Crown Heights Cresecent, and New Israel Way). This is just a continuation of this depressing conflict.

The school district my children attend has a curious "Fall Break" that starts on Columbus Day (second Monday in October) and runs the entire week. In most years, by an amazing coincidence, Yom Kippur falls within that week, but not this year. There is also two weeks off in the spring instead of just one, since Passover does not always track the same as Good Friday/Easter.

It's not just students missing class, but teachers as well, and therein lies the problem. Attempting to line up substitute teachers for half of the faculty would be a logistical nightmare and not a whole lot of actual instruction is going to take place, so why bother?

Crunchy, FWIW I think if you check a Hebrew calendar you'll find that it isn't the case that "in most years" Yom Kippur falls during Columbus Day week.