Student-led demonstrators who organized a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto cleared the site after more than 60 days of protest, ahead of a court-ordered deadline to leave Wednesday.
The move came a day after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the school an injunction to tear down the encampment on its property and gave Toronto police the authority to remove and arrest anyone who didn’t comply with the 6 p.m. deadline.
At a news conference just before Wednesday’s deadline, Mohammad Yassin, an encampment organizer and recent graduate, told reporters the decision was made in order to avoid police violence. Violent arrests have been a common sight in various cities across North America as universities have grappled with what to do with encampments on their campuses.
“We refuse to give the Toronto Police Service any opportunity to brutalize us. We are leaving on our own terms to protect our community from the violence the University of Toronto is clearly eager to unleash upon us,” Yassin said.
As he spoke, the crowd broke out into a chant, shouting: “We will not stop. We will not rest. Disclose! Divest!”
Approximately 300 demonstrators took to the streets marching in and around campus after the deadline.
U of T president Meric Gertler said in a statement on Wednesday that it was good news that the students left on their own accord.
“I am pleased that the protesters have ended the encampment peacefully so that front campus can be restored and returned to the entire community. Members of our community continue to be free to exercise their right to free speech and lawful protest at the University of Toronto,” Gertler said.
Negotiations frozen for now, organizer says
Protesters set up tents at U of T’s downtown campus on May 2. Organizers demanded that the university divest from companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza and end partnerships with Israeli academic institutions they say are complicit in the war.
The encampment was part of a massive wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at post-secondary institutions in Canada and the United States.
Asked if discussions with the university continue, Yassin said negotiations have been frozen for some time now. He said the protestors sent a settlement offer in court and the university replied with a counter-offer, but that the offer was worse than the deals previously offered during the negotiations.
“Let us be clear — the university will disclose its investments, divest from companies profiting from Palestinian suffering and deaths, and cut ties with academic institutions tied to the Israeli war machine. The question is not if, but when?” Yassin said.
Yassin said the encampment may have ended, but was still a win for demonstrators.
“Our continued occupation through the summer convocation period was a massive victory. We showed every U of T graduate and their families that the institution they were celebrating has played an active role in this genocide. We prevented the university from convocation-washing its complicity during what should have been a time of reflection on its moral responsibilities.”
Sara Rasikh, a graduate student at the school, said the students will continue their fight through other means.
“We are just getting started. This encampment is one of many tactics. The status quo of impunity can no longer stand. We demand action, not lip service. And as we’ve said from the very beginning, we demand commitments, not committees,” she said.
She said the students have asked the university for the past eight months to do what she called “the bare minimum” by keeping its divestments neutral. She added that its investments serve Israel at the expense of Palestinian deaths.
“As a student at this university, I refuse to stand idly by as I watch my tuition money be invested into bombs and murder,” Rasikh said.
‘We are evolving’: organizer
Rasikh said the students will carry out “targeted outreach” to alumni, and this fall, every new student will hear their call for action.
“Make no mistake, we are not leaving this fight. We are evolving. Our campaign continues stronger,” she said. “We have built relations at this encampment with people across social movements. These are the relations that will help us achieve our demands. Our achievements are undeniable. We forced U of T to come to the table and negotiate around Palestine for the first time in its history.”
Demonstrators have now cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto’s downtown campus. CBC’s Shannon Martin takes us through more than 60 days of student protest — and where things go from here.
Rasikh said the students said the encampment has been the longest held in the school’s history and one of the largest around the world.
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, demonstrators had packed up most of the tents, leaving bare patches on the grassy lawn of King’s College Circle on the front campus. On the grass in the middle of the encampment, a message was visible in large, painted letters: “WE WILL RETURN.”
On Tuesday, Toronto police said on X, formerly Twitter, that they would enforce the court’s order and “hope that protesters will leave voluntarily to avoid police action.”
Police said they wouldn’t disclose “operational details” but that “police action is at our discretion.”
On Wednesday, they followed up with several posts urging demonstrators to leave the encampment voluntarily before the deadline.
Protest allowed, but no structures or blocking entrances
Erin Mackey, a spokesperson for UofT Occupy Palestine, the group leading the encampment, told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Wednesday said Gertler should have met with demonstrators before seeking an injunction.
“The least they could do is, you know, meet with their students and listen to our demands,” Mackey said. “Unfortunately U of T, instead of divesting, has called the police on their own students. That’s appalling.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Gertler had said the school “welcomes vigorous debate and protest.”
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that pro-Palestinian protesters must take down tents on the University of Toronto campus by Wednesday at 6 p.m. Erin Mackey, spokesperson for U of T Occupy for Palestine, told Metro Morning guest host Molly Thomas “it’s appalling” that the university has “called the police on their own students.”
In a ruling issued Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen said the encampment was not violent or antisemitic, but its presence took away the right of the university as property owner to control the space it occupied.
Under the ruling, protesters are still able to demonstrate on campus, but cannot camp, erect structures or block entrances to university property. Per the ruling, protesting on campus will no longer be permitted between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Israel launched its attack after Hamas led a surprise assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, which left roughly 1,200 dead and saw around 250 people taken hostage. Israel’s offensive has left 37,000 dead in Gaza, according to Palestinian tallies.
In January, the top United Nations court, when ruling on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, concluded that some of the actions alleged to have been committed by Israel in Gaza “appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the (Genocide) Convention.”
It ordered Israel to prevent and punish any public incitements to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and preserve evidence related to genocide allegations. Israel has strongly denied that any of its actions constitute incitement of genocide.