Tents, banners and flags appeared in the center of the University of Toronto’s downtown campus Thursday as students set up camp to call on the institution to cut ties with Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza.
Students said they broke through a newly installed fence around an area of campus known as King’s College Circle early Thursday, around 4 a.m., to set up an encampment in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
They said they were joining students from other universities in Canada and the United States in setting up encampments to pressure schools to reveal their ties to the Israeli government and divest from Israeli companies.
“We plan to stay as long as necessary to achieve our demands. What we are doing here is basically nothing compared to what the Palestinians are going through,” said Mohammad Yassin, a fourth-year student with relatives in the Gaza Strip and a refugee camp in Lebanon.
“It’s not something childish. We are here simply to make our voices heard. We remain firm and we want our demands to be heard. We want the university to recognize that students do not agree with what it is doing. »
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents on campuses across the country in recent days, including at McGill University in Montreal, the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia. The demonstrations continued Thursday on these three campuses.
“Accomplice to the genocide”
In Toronto, Erin Mackey, among the protest organizers, said students “from all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of religions” were there, as well as a number of professors.
“We are all united, demanding that our university, which we all attend, to which we all belong, is no longer complicit in this genocide. »
The International Court of Justice is investigating whether Israel committed acts of genocide in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, and a decision is expected to take years. Israel has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and accused the tribunal of bias.
Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip was launched after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 men, women hostage and children. 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.
Erin Mackey, part of the Occupy for Palestine group at the University of Toronto, noted that students occupied a space outside the university president’s office a few weeks ago and eventually were able to meet him, but that they were not satisfied with the outcome of this discussion.
“I 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 like me [à Gaza] who should just graduate and celebrate, but unfortunately they can’t do that,” argued Erin Mackey.
By late Thursday morning, dozens of tents could be seen in the center of King’s College Circle – which protesters said they were now calling the People’s Circle for Palestine – with a few police cars and private security vehicles parked near.
Protesters were told they had to leave the encampment by 10 p.m., but the group has no plans to leave.
In a statement released in the evening, the university reminded protest organizers that they “do not have our permission to be here after 10 p.m..” “However, if your activities remain peaceful, we do not intend to expel you from campus this evening,” the school said, adding that “our concerns regarding security are increasing.”
Start with dialogue
Earlier in the day, a written notice given to protesters said the university respects its members’ right to assemble and protest, but that unauthorized activities such as encampments “are considered trespassing.”
The university stressed that protest activities “must not interfere with the ability of students, faculty, librarians and staff to learn, teach, research and work.”
“Our preference is to start with dialogue,” the University of Toronto wrote in a media statement Thursday. Those who violate university policy or the law risk consequences outlined in various laws and policies […] which could include suspension. »
Chandni Desai, an assistant professor at the university, attended Thursday’s protest to show her support. She said many of her students have been affected by the conflict.
A protest encampment at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has nearly doubled in size since Monday, with the perimeter of barriers on half of a soccer field now occupying almost all of it.
A spokeswoman for the group said Thursday that up to 80 people planned to spend the night there. Protesters appeared to be preparing for an extended stay, with a small garden of potted plants and an art station popping up among the tents.
Elsewhere in British Columbia, the University of Victoria announced in a press release that the institution would close campus buildings from 5 p.m. until 7 a.m. daily due to the presence of the encampment.
The university said it would also keep some building entrances locked throughout the day “to minimize disruption” and ensure the safety of the university community.