Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at U of T condemn protest policies, school says rules aren’t new

September 6, 2024 Canuck

Student-led pro-Palestinian protesters returned to the University of Toronto on Friday in their first major demonstration on the downtown campus since they disbanded their encampment in July.

Protesters criticized university policies that they say are newly introduced and restrict all students’ freedom of speech, but U of T said the regulations are not new.

Among the rules posted as a “user guide” on U of T’s website in August, the university prohibits “affixing signs, posters, or flyers (including the use of chalk, marker, paint, and projections) outside designated areas” as a form of vandalism.

In an undated open letter, several student groups at the university, including Independent Jewish Voices for Peace and CUPE 3902 — which represents contract academic workers at U of T — said the school had adopted “a slew of new sweeping and repressive regulations.”

The letter reads: “Simply put, our administration permits protests as long as they remain unheard, unseen, and unfelt by the halls of power at our University.”

Signatories said they were outraged by the regulations and called on U of T to “rescind this policy immediately.”

Policies haven’t changed for fall semester: U of T

But in a statement Friday, the university said the rules in the guide are longstanding, and policies have not changed for the fall semester, which began on Tuesday.

“All members of the U of T community continue to be free to exercise their free speech rights and advocate for causes without erecting structures, blocking building access or occupying property overnight,” the statement reads.

A drone image of King's College Circle at the University of Toronto after pro-Palestinian protesters cleared their encampment. — A drone image of King’s College Circle at the University of Toronto after pro-Palestinian protesters cleared their encampment. In a statement Friday, the university said students ‘continue to be free to exercise their free speech rights and advocate for causes.’ (Patrick Morrell/CBC News)

On their website, U of T said the user guide drew from the school’s policies and the Ontario Court of Justice court order in July, which granted the school an injunction to tear down the encampment.

The court order also gave Toronto police the authority to remove and arrest anyone who did not leave the encampment by 6 p.m. on July 3.

But demonstrators cleared the encampment, which lasted more than 60 days, before the deadline. At the time, student organizers said the decision was made to avoid police violence.

WATCH| U of T encampment lasted more than 60 days:

How the 2-month U of T encampment unfolded

2 months ago

Duration 5:03

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.

U of T’s user guide states that overnight protests are prohibited. It also cautions that “care should be taken” when using megaphones and microphones.

Activities resulting in noise that prevents the speech of people on campus, obstructs U of T activities from continuing or negatively impacts those living in residence are banned.

In a media advisory released before Friday’s protest, UofT Occupy for Palestine said they would continue demanding U of T disclose the university endowment’s investments and divest “from its investments in the Israeli war machine.”

Chants at Friday’s demonstration included one directed at U of T’s president: “Meric Gertler, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”

The university said claims connecting U of T to Israeli military action “have no basis in fact.”

Some Jewish students scared and anxious: Hillel Ontario CEO

Speaking at the university’s downtown campus Friday, the CEO of one Jewish organization said he was in conversation with university administrations across the province this summer about enforcing their policies.

Hillel Ontario CEO Seth Goren said Jewish students are scared, anxious and feel “they are entitled to certain types of protections that are afforded to other groups across campus and aren’t being given to them.”

Photo of a man in a blue shirt speaking into a microphone on campus — Hillel Ontario CEO Seth Goren said he was in conversation with university administrations across the province this summer about enforcing their policies. He said Jewish students feel they are not being given protections afforded to other groups on campus. (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC)

Goren said universities should apply their policies in an equal and equitable fashion.

“Our hope is that moving forward, the university will understand that appeasement of people who are engaged in extreme, dangerous, hateful conduct doesn’t work,” he said.

In the Ontario Superior Court ruling in July, Justice Markus Koehnen found U of T did not make a strong case that the encampment was violent or antisemitic.

“The record before me shows that, apart from the initial seizing and the continuing exclusion of people from Front Campus, the encampment itself is peaceful,” Koehnen wrote.

Erin Mackey, a recent graduate and member U of T Alums for Palestine, said protestors include many Jewish students who were part of the encampment and continue to demand divestment.

Woman wearing a hat that reads: Jews for a free Palestine. — York University student Anna Lippman, who attended Friday’s protest, said she has experienced antisemitism from counter protestors while attending pro-Palestinian demonstrations. (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC)

Anna Lippman, a student at York University, attended Friday’s protest. Over the past 11 months, she said she has experienced antisemitism from counter-protestors while attending pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

“It’s my fellow protestors here who have put their arms around me in sympathy when I experience those things,” Lippman said.

She said it was difficult to “disentangle [her] Jewish identity from the state of Israel.”

“I can’t blame other folks who are having difficulty doing that, too,” she added.

Lippman said students will continue protesting during the upcoming school year.

“So long as Palestinians in Gaza…are being slaughtered in mass numbers, we cannot remain silent,” she said.

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