A number of pro-Palestinian protesters breached a fenced area and set up an encampment on the University of Toronto campus early Thursday, vowing to stay there until their demands are met.
The protesters moved in at around 4 a.m. and set up a few dozen tents on the lawn at King’s College Circle.
The university had erected fencing to prevent an encampment there but the protesters got around it. Several police vehicles quickly arrived on scene but there have been no clashes so far.
The protesters are calling for the university to divest from companies with military ties to Israel and cut ties with some Israeli universities.
“So we’ve seen a recent wave of encampments go up across the U.S. and now in Canada,” one protester told CP24. “We were inspired by the Columbia (University) encampment, which just ended two days ago. We wanted to ride this wave, now that there’s finally a lot of energy.”
Another said they want to send a message to the university.
“Our message to the University of Toronto is that we want them to divest, we want them to be transparent with their finances, and we want them to cut academic ties with Israeli universities on occupied territories,” they told CP24.
Israeli academics argue that they are among their country’s most fervent advocates for peace, and that cutting ties with their institutions would be counterproductive.
In a statement, the university said the campus remains open and that protest is allowed as long as laws and rules are not violated
“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 statement read.
It added that its preference “is to start with dialogue,” but that protesters could face consequences for flouting the rules.
“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,” the statement said.
Leaflets distributed to protesters Thursday morning laid out a number of expectations for peaceful protest, including no structures of any sort, no hate speech, and no disruption of scheduled university activities.
“U of T’s grounds and buildings are private property. Unauthorized activities such as encampments or the occupation of University buildings are considered trespassing,” the leaflets read.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have cropped up at numerous universities in the U.S., along with several in Canada, such as McGill and UBC. Some protests in the U.S. have resulted in clashes with authorities, with some protesters refusing to leave until their demands are met and some police services responding by forcibly removing them.
A Quebec judge on Wednesday rejected a request from Jewish students for an injunction to stop the encampment at McGill, citing concerns about free speech.
The campus protests are the latest incarnation of protests which have gone on for months around the Israel-Hamas war.
The war erupted after Hamas, a militant group deemed a terrorist organization by the Canadian government, killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in a surprise attack in Israel on Oct. 7. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza, killing more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
With files from The Canadian Press