A young Israeli man rejected by a tiny trade school on B.C.'s Gabriola Island over Israel's settlements in its occupied territories says he does not accept the school's apology and will instead be studying in the United States.
Stav Daron, a fourth-year civil engineering student from the Jewish-Israeli town of Binyamina, said he was saddened and angered last week when the Island School of Building Arts cited the settlements as grounds for refusing his application for admittance to a $2,500 woodworking course in the small community just east of Nanaimo.
"That's not a behaviour you expect from a Canadian school," he told The Globe and Mail in an online message Tuesday.
"It's wrong, I think our situation is super-complex."
The school, which offers short workshops on building log and timber frame homes, initially cited Israel's history of conflict and "illegal settlement activity" in the region as grounds for the rejection.
The school rescinded the ban Tuesday after Mr. Daron's rejection was covered by the Jerusalem Post and his cause championed by Canada's Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B'nai Brith Canada.
Patricia Rokosh, the school's executive director, said in an e-mailed statement that the private trade school apologizes for the ban on Israeli students.
"After significant thought and listening to all interested parties, ISBA has decided to rescind any restriction placed on accepting students from Israel, is posting that on our website tomorrow and apologize for any inconvenience," her statement read.
"This was a misinterpretation of a UN declaration and a mistake on the part of ISBA."
Last month, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israel's settlements in lands the Palestinians want to include in their future state as having "no legal validity." It demanded a halt to such activities for the sake of "salvaging the two-state solution."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office rejected the motion, saying his country would not abide by its terms and instead hopes to negate the resolution with the help of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Despite the school's apology, Mr. Daron said he will not reapply and is now set to follow his passion for woodworking at one of several U.S. schools.
"I'm happy they changed their minds about accepting Israeli students, but I don't accept it," he wrote.
As a private institution, the school receives no operating or capital funding from the provincial government, according to a Ministry of Advanced Education spokesperson.
The school does not fall under the rules of B.C.'s new Private Training Act, which covers designated private career training institutions, because it charges a tuition of less than $4,000 for its various workshops, which typically run 40 hours.
The industry spokesperson said Mr. Daron could file a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal if he wants official redress over the incident.
Mr. Daron did not say Tuesday whether he would file such a complaint.
With a report from The Associated Press
Mike Hager