Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies Establishes Academic Scholarship Program

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 9, 2010) - In response to a Master of Arts thesis published by the University of Toronto that has been widely criticized for its slanderous assault on Israel and the Jewish community, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is establishing a new scholarship program to support Master and Ph.D. candidates focused on publishing academic papers on the legitimate rights and aspirations of Israel and the Jewish people.

"I have serious questions about the academic integrity of granting a Master of Arts degree for a paper which calls Holocaust education 'racist', and believe we have to enhance and support legitimate academic inquiry at the graduate level in order to lead to greater understanding and appreciation of Israel's right to exist as a free and democratic state that promotes tolerance, justice and human rights in a troubled region of the world," says Avi Benlolo, human rights activist and President and CEO of FSWC.

Application guidelines for the scholarship program will be posted on www.fswc.ca in the near future. Canadian students from any university across the country will be encouraged to apply for a scholarship to support rigorous academic research in this field.