MFAs Against Genocide announces boycott of Concordia Fellowship

The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art is under fire for its ties with the IDF

NewsChantal Bellefeuille — Published September 30, 2025 3 minutes

Three days after the campaign's launch, over 100 people signed the pledge to boycott the award.

“We call for a boycott of the Fellowship because we refuse to have our art used to provide cover for the Israeli genocide and occupation of Palestine,” said a spokesperson for MFAs Against Genocide in an email to The Link, who was granted anonymity for safety reasons.

“We know where this money comes from, so we cannot afford to accept it,” the spokesperson added.

The fellowship is awarded to two recently graduated or near-graduation students from Concordia and Université du Québec à Montréal’s faculties of arts every year. It derives its funding from cyber surveillance firms working with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to the MFAs Against Genocide collective’s social media.

“We know from speaking with past winners that there is a moral hangover that comes with this funding, and it lasts so much longer than the two years of funding,” said the MFAs Against Genocide spokesperson. 

The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art was established in 2010, and the funds for this fellowship, valued at more than $88,000, are distributed to the winners over two years. The funds are raised and managed by Montreal-based private investment firm Claridge Inc., which opened its parallel firm, Claridge Israel, in Tel Aviv in 2015.

MFAs Against Genocide states on their website that in 2018, Claridge Israel “invested $30 million USD in Cyberbit Ltd., a cyber security, warfare, and espionage company with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as one of their key clients.” The investment is publicized on Claridge Inc.’s own website.

Cyberbit Ltd. was founded as a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd. in 2015 by Adi Dar, who, according to Forbes, “spent nearly 15 years as a decorated officer in the Israeli Army and a key member of The 8200, an elite national intelligence branch.”

The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto discovered in its 2017 investigation of Cyberbit Ltd. that the company was involved in developing, marketing and selling spyware to multiple governments for the purpose of surveilling political dissidents. 

Cyberbit Ltd. claims on its website that its products are “proven in the field,” a claim also made by its parent company. 

In 2023, Al Jazeera reported that Elbit Systems Ltd. “provides up to 85 percent of the land-based equipment procured by the Israeli military and about 85 percent of its drones, according to Database of Israeli Military and Security Export.”

The MFAs Against Genocide spokesperson said they hope that the more student artists know where their awards funding is coming from, the more it motivates them to sign petitions like theirs. 

“This is not only a boycott campaign, but an opportunity for us to strengthen and expand our community of artists, educators, and cultural workers who put action behind their beliefs and refuse to provide cover for the artwashing of genocide,” they said. 

They added that MFAs Against Genocide plans to host multiple events within the upcoming months as part of its campaign to force Concordia to give alternative scholarships to students.

In an email statement to The Link, Concordia spokesperson Julie Fortier wrote that the university is not looking to reduce fellowship opportunities for artists at the moment.

“Applying for and accepting a fellowship is an individual choice, made by each student. Many artists struggle to fund their art and fellowships such as these can be pivotal in their careers,” Fortier said. “We also hope that those who have benefited from the fellowship in past years will not be the subject of attacks for making that choice.”

Claridge Inc. declined to comment for this article. 

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 3, published September 30, 2025.