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Andrea Freedman, CEO and President of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, said she applauded Hillel and the student activists.

“Boycotting Israel denigrates the very identity of Jewish students,” she said. “On this basis alone, no responsible student government should ever endorse BDS. Every student has a right to feel welcome and safe on campus, and we will continue engaging the university at the highest levels to express our concerns about the damaging effect of anti-Israel activism on campus.”

Attempts by Canadian student unions to pass BDS resolutions in support of the Palestinian cause have failed at universities including Winnipeg, Waterloo and British Columbia, but succeeded at York and Concordia.

However, University of Ottawa Students for Life posted on Facebook that a motion had been passed declaring that the SFUO “affirms a person’s right to choose. No SFUO resources, space, recognition, or funding will be allocated to enhance groups/individuals with the primary/sole purpose of pro-life activities.”

In an earlier post, the pro-life group called the measure a “deliberate attempt to censor discussion they find distasteful” and said an official pro-choice stance ” would limit our ability to fight for club status.” According to the National Campus Life Network, the group was “censored and stripped of its club status” last month.

Rachel Leistra, secretary of University of Ottawa Students for Life, confirmed that the resolution passed Sunday and said that the group was working with lawyers at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom.

“We’re going to have to see what the next step is,” she said.

A SFUO vice-president confirmed the results of the two motions, conducted by secret ballot.

Leila Moumouni-Tchouassi also said the pro-choice resolution was needed “after seeing the effects of anti-choice work … for the rights of our students.”