More Pro-Palestinian Camps Emerge at Canadian Universities

May 3, 2024 Hour: 7:12 am

On Thursday, hundreds of students and faculties set up an encampment at the University of Toronto as a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at U.S. universities continued to spread.

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The latest protesters on the campus of the University of Toronto have been told they have to leave by 10 p.m. but they are staying onsite. If the protesters’ activities remain peaceful, it does not intend to remove them from campus this evening, the university said.

“The Toronto Police Service is monitoring the protest. Please encourage others to remain peaceful… Hate speech, threats, and other discriminatory language or behaviour do not constitute peaceful protest,” it said.

In Canada, encampments started with 20 tents at the McGill University in Montreal on Saturday. University of British Columbia in Vancouver followed on Monday and tents appeared on the campus of the University of Ottawa on Tuesday.

University of Toronto students establish Gaza solidarity encampment, echoing nationwide calls for peace amid Israel’s conflict with the enclave ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/yIOcwEvCwp

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency)
May 3, 2024

Protesters began setting up tents on Wednesday at three other universities, namely Western University in Ontario, University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University. The protesters are demanding that their schools divest from companies with business ties to Israel.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said that the encampment must be taken down. “It’s an illegal encampment. I expect police to dismantle these encampments,” Legault said.

Previously the McGill University declared the encampment on its campus illegal, saying that the growing encampment violated the university’s policies and the law.

Meanwhile, a Quebec judge rejected an injunction request from two students at the McGill University to move a protest camp further away from school buildings, citing limited evidence of potential harms to students if the encampment remained in place.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | The member of the political bureau of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ihsan Ataya denounced the United States’ attempts to change the aid crossings to Gaza and put an end to the Palestinian resistance. pic.twitter.com/FOmYxKhWFI

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
May 2, 2024