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Protesters at U of T clear pro-Palestinian encampment before 6 p.m. deadline
Protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto have cleared the site before the 6 p.m. injunction deadline granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. As CBC’s Dale Manucdoc reports, organizers say the fight is not over.
Student-led demonstrators who organized a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto cleared the site after more than 60 days of protest, ahead of a court-ordered deadline to leave Wednesday.
The move came a day after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the school an injunction to tear down the encampment on its property and gave Toronto police the authority to remove and arrest anyone who didn’t comply with the 6 p.m. deadline.
At a news conference just before Wednesday’s deadline, Mohammad Yassin, an encampment organizer and recent graduate, told reporters the decision to leave was made in order to avoid police violence. Violent arrests have been a common sight in various cities across North America as universities have grappled with what to do with encampments on their campuses.
“We refuse to give the Toronto Police Service any opportunity to brutalize us. We are leaving on our own terms to protect our community from the violence the University of Toronto is clearly eager to unleash upon us,” Yassin said.
As he spoke, the crowd broke out into a chant, shouting: “We will not stop. We will not rest. Disclose! Divest!”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the main campus of the University of Toronto are pictured on July 3, 2024. Demonstrators cleared the encampment on the university’s grounds before the 6 p.m. deadline to avoid confrontation with police. (Alex Lupul/CBC)
U of T president Meric Gertler said in a statement on Wednesday that it was good news that the students left on their own accord.
“I am pleased that the protesters have ended the encampment peacefully so that front campus can be restored and returned to the entire community. Members of our community continue to be free to exercise their right to free speech and lawful protest at the University of Toronto,” Gertler said.
About 300 demonstrators took to the streets marching in and around campus after the deadline. They went west on College Street to St. George Street, north from there to Bloor Street West, then east to Yonge Street, before they dispersed.
Negotiations frozen for now, organizer says
Protesters set up tents at U of T’s downtown campus on May 2. Organizers demanded that the university divest from companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza and end partnerships with Israeli academic institutions they say are complicit in the war.
The encampment was part of a massive wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at post-secondary institutions in Canada and the United States.
Asked if discussions with the university continue, Yassin said negotiations have been frozen for some time now. He said the protestors sent a settlement offer in court and the university replied with a counter-offer, but that the offer was worse than the deals previously offered during the negotiations.
“Let us be clear — the university will disclose its investments, divest from companies profiting from Palestinian suffering and deaths, and cut ties with academic institutions tied to the Israeli war machine. The question is not if, but when?” Yassin said.
Yassin said the encampment may have ended, but was still a win for demonstrators.
“Our continued occupation through the summer convocation period was a massive victory. We showed every U of T graduate and their families that the institution they were celebrating has played an active role in this genocide. We prevented the university from convocation-washing its complicity during what should have been a time of reflection on its moral responsibilities.”
Sara Rasikh, a graduate student at the U of T, told reporters: ‘Make no mistake, we are not leaving this fight. We are evolving.’ (CBC)
Sara Rasikh, a graduate student at the school, said the students will continue their fight through other means.
“We are just getting started. This encampment is one of many tactics. The status quo of impunity can no longer stand. We demand action, not lip service. And as we’ve said from the very beginning, we demand commitments, not committees,” she said.
She said the students have asked the university for the past eight months to do what she called “the bare minimum” by keeping its divestments neutral. She added that its investments serve Israel at the expense of Palestinian deaths.
“As a student at this university, I refuse to stand idly by as I watch my tuition money be invested into bombs and murder,” Rasikh said.
‘We are evolving’: organizer
Rasikh said the students will carry out “targeted outreach” to alumni, and this fall, every new student will hear their call for action.
“Make no mistake, we are not leaving this fight. We are evolving. Our campaign continues stronger,” she said. “We have built relations at this encampment with people across social movements. These are the relations that will help us achieve our demands. Our achievements are undeniable. We forced U of T to come to the table and negotiate around Palestine for the first time in its history.”
WATCH | CBC’s Shannon Martin explains how the encampment unfolded:
How the 2-month U of T encampment unfolded
Demonstrators have now cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto’s downtown campus. CBC’s Shannon Martin takes us through more than 60 days of student protest — and where things go from here.
Rasikh said the students said the encampment has been the longest held in the school’s history and one of the largest around the world.
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, demonstrators had packed up most of the tents, leaving bare patches on the grassy lawn of King’s College Circle on the front campus. On the grass in the middle of the encampment, a message was visible in large, painted letters: “WE WILL RETURN.”
Under the ruling, protesters are still able to demonstrate on campus, but cannot camp, erect structures or block entrances to university property. Per the ruling, protesting on campus will no longer be permitted between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Some Jewish students relieved encampment now gone
Roey Stav and David Gurov, two Jewish U of T students who founded a student-led initiative called United Against Antisemitism on campus, said they felt relieved that the encampment was taken down.
“We can finally be openly Jewish on campus without being harassed. I’ve walked here and people have spit at my feet and swore at me. It’s nice to see that we’re getting our campus back,” Stav told a reporter.
“But on the other hand, the court did not acknowledge the inherent antisemitism present at the encampment. And that’s a disappointment.”
In a ruling issued Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen said the encampment was not violent or antisemitic, but its presence took away the right of the university as property owner to control the space it occupied.
WATCH | Representative of Hillel Ontario speaks about the end of the encampment:
U of T encampment created ‘hateful and intimidating environment’ for Jewish students, organization says
Jay Solomon, the chief advancement officer at Hillel Ontario, says the court decision that granted the injunction allowed the university to do ‘what they should have done a long time ago.’ Solomon, whose organization supports Jewish university students in the province, says the encampment protesters created a ‘hateful and intimidating environment’ for Jewish students on campus.
Stav said shutting down the encampment was one step, but the university has to take responsibility for allowing antisemitism to fester on campus and to take concrete actions to stop it.
Gurov added some Jewish students have been afraid to wear a kippah or wear the Star of David and to speak in Hebrew because of the antisemitism. He said the university also has to look into the departments and student unions that he feels foster antisemitism on campus.
Some Jewish organizations that intervened in the injunction case said Tuesday they were disappointed with the court’s ruling and supported the students’ right to protest.
In a statement Tuesday from Independent Jewish Voices Canada, the Jewish Faculty Network and the United Jewish People’s Order, Karen Spector, a lawyer for the coalition, said the court’s ruling confirmed “the legitimacy and power of collaborative nonviolent resistance to bring attention to the devastation on Palestinians in Gaza.”
Israel launched its attack after Hamas led a surprise assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, which left roughly 1,200 dead and saw around 250 people taken hostage. Israel’s offensive has left 37,000 dead in Gaza, according to Palestinian tallies.
In January, the top United Nations court, when ruling on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, concluded that some of the actions alleged to have been committed by Israel in Gaza “appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the (Genocide) Convention.”
It ordered Israel to prevent and punish any public incitements to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and preserve evidence related to genocide allegations. Israel has strongly denied that any of its actions constitute incitement of genocide.
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