Sara Rasikh, a graduate student at the University of Toronto, says she is unable to disclose the protest plans of the pro-Palestine student movement of which she is a part.
But she is clear that plans are in the works.
“We are launching a divestment campaign on campus starting in September, using the critical relationships we built at the encampment,” she said, referring to the University of Toronto Occupy for Palestine encampment for which she was a spokesperson in the spring.
The University of Toronto was one of more than 20 Canadian universities affected by student-led, pro-Palestine protests last academic year. Its encampment ended abruptly in early July by court order, leaving unresolved tensions in place. This could set the stage for renewed activism as students return this fall.
“We will continue to apply pressure on the U of T administration until it ceases its complicity in war crimes, genocide and apartheid,” said Rasikh, whose advocacy group is calling for the university to disclose and divest from investments they say perpetuate injustices toward Palestinians. They are also calling for the university to sever ties with certain Israeli academic institutions.
‘That leads to chaos’
The student encampments that dotted campuses across Canada last spring met different fates. Some, such as the large encampment at the University of Alberta, were broken up by police. Others, such as those at the University of British Columbia and University of Manitoba, petered out. Still others, such as the McMaster University and Ontario Tech University encampments, voluntarily disbanded after the universities met protestors’ disclosure demands.
In the case of the University of Toronto, the administration said it was willing to engage with protestors on the issue of financial disclosures. It also said they do not hold direct investments in companies, including those that produce armaments. They rejected calls to sever ties with Israeli universities.
With demonstrators still encamped on campus into the summer, the university sought an injunction ordering them to leave. On July 2, the Ontario Superior Court granted the injunction and gave the demonstrators a day to end their encampment.
In his written decision granting the injunction, Justice Markus Koehnen said the University of Toronto had failed to establish the protests were violent or antisemitic. But he accepted that the encampment interfered with the university’s property rights.
“In our society we have decided that the owner of property generally gets to decide what happens on the property,” he wrote.
“If the protesters can take that power for themselves by seizing Front Campus, there is nothing to stop a stronger group from coming and taking the space over from the current protesters. That leads to chaos.”
In weighing the freedom of speech and assembly rights of the protestors against the university’s property rights, Koehnen concluded that an injunction was appropriate because the protestors would continue to be permitted to demonstrate on campus.
“The only thing the injunction prevents the protesters from doing is camping, erecting structures, blocking entrances to University property and protesting on campus between 11 PM and 7 AM,” the decision says.
Asked whether the university was taking measures to prepare for possible demonstrations in the fall, a University of Toronto spokesperson confirmed that students will remain free to express themselves within the limits imposed by the injunction.
“The University has robust and longstanding policies in place to enable and protect free speech,” the spokesperson added. “No changes have been made to these policies in anticipation of the fall term.”
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who was recently named a special advisor to the prime minister and cabinet on Jewish community relations and antisemitism, acknowledged that “most universities have policies.”
“The problem is when they don’t implement or enforce those policies, which is my number one issue,” he said in an interview with Canadian Affairs. “They have to commit that their written policies are enforced.”
Police play a critical role in assisting universities in enforcing their policies, he says.
“Law enforcement should be available when university administrations ask for law enforcement,” said Housefather, whose outspoken defense of Israel prompted speculation in the spring that he might cross the floor to the Conservatives.
Other politicians, such as NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson, disagree that police should be used to disband demonstrations.
“Student movements have a long history of protesting against injustice, hatred, and war,” McPherson said in a statement published on her X account, regarding protests at the University of Alberta that were disbanded by police in May.
“Student protests like this should be recognized as playing a key role in peace building. The protesters were not a threat to anyone and they were not preventing any university activities. Still, they were met with force and violence,” her statement says.
In his decision granting the University of Toronto an injunction, Koehnen noted police will have the discretion to enforce the court’s order against further encampments at the university.
Housefather says the drastic measure of police engagement can likely be avoided if protestors are simply conscientious about how they express themselves.
“Nobody is objecting to screaming for a ceasefire in Gaza, or ‘Please provide humanitarian aid to Gaza,’ or, ‘We want a Palestinian state,’” he said. “What they’re objecting to are words that they believe call for the destruction of their own community and the State of Israel.”
For her part, Rasikh disagrees that controversial slogans such as “From the river to the sea” or “Glory to the martyrs” are antisemitic or hateful. The court, she notes, acknowledged that the meaning of such statements depends on the context in which they are used.
“Antisemitism is being weaponized by the administration to undermine the pro-Palestine movement on campus,” she says.
When pressed on the movement’s plans for September, Rasikh declined to provide specifics. But she noted, “U of T must disclose its investments sooner rather than later.
“There will be no business as usual on campus until U of T divests.”
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