Pro-Palestinian protesters moved onto a greenspace in the heart of the University of Toronto’s downtown campus Thursday, as the Israel-Hamas war nears its seven-month mark.
The group erected dozens of tents overnight in the recently renovated King’s College Circle. The area was previously fenced off in anticipation of convocation ceremonies set to take place in about a month, according to the university.
The move comes as students at universities throughout North America have established their own protest encampments to demand an end to the ongoing war in Gaza.
In a statement, student protestors at U of T said they are calling on the post-secondary institution to reveal a complete list of its endowment’s investments and divest from assets that “sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine.” They also demanded the school cut ties with Israeli academic institutions that operate within the occupied West Bank.
Pro-Palestinian protesters set up about 50 tents at the centre of the University of Toronto’s St. George campus on Thursday after breaking into the area overnight. The area was previously fenced off ahead of convocation ceremonies. Ali Chiasson spoke to student protesters and faculty members.
The students say the university’s administration has ignored their concerns despite earlier demonstrations and attempts to engage.
“We’re not looking for any empty words from the administration, we’re not looking for any meetings that don’t really get us anywhere,” said Kalliopé Anvar McCall, a student participating in the demonstration. She said the encampment will remain until the demands are met “to the word.”
“We’re not leaving until we get that,” she said.
Student Erin Mackey said the protesters have plenty of provisions and are prepared to stay as long as necessary.
“We have lots of supplies here. There are students and faculty who are supporting this. We will be here, we will continue to be here, we will continue to make these demands until our university divests from Israeli apartheid,” she told CBC Toronto.
A spokesperson for U of T said students could face consequences for their participation in the protest.
“The university respects the rights of members of our community to assemble and protest within the limits of the law and U of T policies, but they must not interfere with the ability of students, faculty, librarians and staff to learn, teach, research and work on our campuses, or disrupt or impede other university activities,” the spokesperson said.
“Our preference is to start with dialogue. Those who contravene university policy or the law risk the consequences set out in various laws and policies such as the code of student conduct, which could include suspension,” they continued.
Part of growing student movement
On Monday, administrators sent a campus-wide email warning students against trespassing on university property.
“U of T’s lands and buildings are private property, though the University allows wide public access to them for authorized activities. Unauthorized activities such as encampments or the occupation of University buildings are considered trespassing,” the email said.
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The encampment at U of T is just the latest to take root in Canada. Students at McGill University in Montreal, Western University in London, Ont., and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver have also established semi-permanent protest sites.
The student movement began at Columbia University in New York City on April 17. That encampment was forcefully cleared by police at the request of administrators earlier this week. Meanwhile, police began taking down makeshift barricades at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Thursday after violent clashes between protestors and counter-protestors.
Participants say they are trying to draw attention to the ongoing humanitarian situation Gaza, resulting from the Israeli military response to a deadly attack on Oct. 7 launched by Hamas and other militants.
About 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7, including several Canadians, while some 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli government tallies. Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.
The International Court of Justice is investigating whether Israel has committed acts of genocide in the ongoing war in Gaza, with any ruling expected to take years. Israel has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and accused the court of bias.
Israeli officials have strenuously denied accusations of genocide, saying the military campaign in Gaza has only targeted Hamas. They have also long denied any official Israeli policies toward Gaza amount to apartheid.
Group of faculty backs protest
A group of U of T faculty issued a lengthy statement in support of the student encampment Thursday morning.
“University students must be allowed to protest one of the central humanitarian crises of our time without fear of disciplinary measures,” the statement said. It also urged against any police intervention to clear the demonstration site.
The statement was signed by the U of T chapters of the Jewish Faculty Network, Faculty for Palestine and Health workers Alliance for Palestine.
Alejandro Paz, an associate professor of anthropology and a member of the steering committee for the Jewish Faculty Network, said that while administrators have made overtures to previous student demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war, it has failed to take any concrete steps toward meeting their demands.
“I think the encampment has been set up because the administration has not listened to students, students who feel very aggrieved by what is happening in Gaza and the genocidal war the Israeli state is waging on the Palestinian people,” Paz said.
“They’ve been trying to get the university’s attention for several months, and the university’s administration has simply ignored them or pushed them off.”
CBC’s John Northcott reports from the University of Toronto early Thursday morning, where pro-Palestinian protesters have set up a new encampment on the grounds of the university’s downtown Toronto campus.
Mackey, who is with the group U of T Occupy for Palestine, said students had occupied a building outside the university president’s office a few weeks ago and eventually were able to meet with him but were not satisfied with the outcome of that discussion.
“I have spent four years here and spent a lot of money on tuition and I’m graduating, which is really exciting. But … there are many, many students who are just like me (in Gaza) who should be graduating and celebrating, but unfortunately they are unable to do so,” Mackey said.
However, Rabbi Seth Goren, the CEO of Hillel Ontario, a group that advocates on behalf of Jewish students, said the organization is concerned some protests in the United States have been the “catalyst” for violence.
“Our concern is that this will escalate here,” he said, speaking to reporters on campus.
Across the province, he said Jewish students have reported mezuzahs — ritual objects attached to doorposts — ripped off dorm rooms and smashed in hallways, and bricks being thrown in windows.
“These things are becoming commonplace,” he said.
Toronto police told CBC News Thursday morning that the university is “leading the planning” for handling the protest, and their assistance has “not been requested at this time.”
But the protest has led to space at the university being “cordoned off” from normal public access, which is “in and of itself” a way of precluding Jewish students from using campus facilities, said Goren.
“The people who are refusing to adhere to university regulations and policies are the people who are the instigators, not the police and not security forces who are simply trying to ensure that the university’s policies and procedures are upheld,” he said.