Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said universities must be trusted to manage their campuses, as pro-Palestinian student protesters set up encampments at several institutions in Canada.
Mr. Trudeau was asked about the encampments Friday as he made a housing announcement in Hamilton, Ont.
According to him, universities are places of learning where ideas can be exchanged and debated, but at the same time everyone should feel safe on campus.
The comments come as an encampment set up on the University of Toronto’s downtown campus begins its second day of mobilization. Camps have also been established at McGill University, the University of Ottawa and on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver.
In Toronto, protesters were working this morning to secure their tents as well as a fence surrounding an area of campus known as King’s College Circle, in anticipation of windy weather.
The encampment – one of several established on Canadian university campuses in recent days – was set up early Thursday morning after students reported breaking through the fence.
The university said the tents, banners and flags were a security concern and asked students to leave by 10 p.m. Thursday.
However, as the deadline approached, the university added that it did not intend to expel the protesters if their activities remained peaceful.
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Erin Mackey, one of the organizers of the protest, said protesters were joining students from other universities across Canada and the United States to set up encampments in an effort to call on their schools to reveal their ties to the Israeli government and to divest from Israeli companies.
“We are all united and in solidarity, and we demand that the university, which we attend and of which we are a part, is no longer complicit in this genocide,” she said.
The International Court of Justice is investigating whether Israel committed acts of genocide in the ongoing war in Gaza, and a decision is expected to take years. Israel has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and accused the tribunal of bias.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 men, women and children hostage. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
The war has caused widespread destruction and resulted in a humanitarian disaster with several thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza facing imminent famine, according to the United Nations.