Protestors participating in the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto (U of T) say there is no firm decision on whether they will disband following a judge’s order to vacate the area by Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Student protestor Sara Rasikh tells CityNews the group makes its decisions jointly and has not finalized a course of action yet.
“We as a community, as students who have put our bodies on the line for over 63 days, are still in dialogue and in conversation. Everything that we do, we ideally like for it to be consensus based,” she said.
“Of course, if we do not or are unable to reach a consensus, we will go with whatever the majority decides to do.”
If the majority decides to leave, the tents will come down. Currently, participants are removing personal valuables and supplies from the encampment.
An Ontario judge granted the university the injunction it was seeking on Tuesday.
“The court orders that the respondents and any and all persons of this order having knowledge of this Order, no later than 6 p.m. on July 3 shall remove all structures, tents, encampments and items of personal property placed or created or imposed by them at Front Campus and King’s College Circle,” read the decision by Justice Markus Koehnen.
Koehnen added that while there is no evidence the encampment participants have been violent or antisemitic, the demonstration has taken away the university’s ability to control what happens in the area known as King’s College Circle.
He said property owners generally decide what happens on their property, and if protesters can take that power for themselves, there is nothing to stop a stronger group from coming and taking over the space from the current protesters.
He said that leads to chaos, and his order gives police the authority to arrest and remove anyone who knows about it and contradicts it.
In a brief statement on Tuesday, police said they would enforce the order, adding that they won’t disclose operational details. However, they noted that the court order states that police action is at their discretion.
The protesters set up camp on May 2 and previously said they would stay put until the school agrees to their demands, which include disclosing and divesting from investments in companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The court ruling said the university has procedures in place to consider divestment requests and has offered the protesters an expedited process.
With files from The Canadian Press