U of T sees ‘way forward’ after meeting with student protesters behind encampment

The University of Toronto says it sees “a way forward” after meeting with student protesters behind a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

The encampment set up in an area known as King’s College Circle last Thursday is calling on the university to disclose ties with the Israeli government and divest from Israeli companies.

Though the university initially gave protesters a deadline of 10 p.m. last Thursday to leave, administrators later said they wouldn’t remove the encampment if its activities remained peaceful.

Sandy Welsh, the university’s vice-provost of students, says in a statement this morning that members of the administration met with student representatives for the encampment over the weekend and the discussions “have been constructive.”

She says the representatives and administrators are working together to address concerns about health and safety, as well as reports of threatening or hateful language.

Toronto police say there were two reports about encampment-related occurrences at the university over the weekend that the hate crime unit is investigating.

On Saturday around 4 p.m., two men attended King’s College Circle to counter-protest. It’s alleged people from the encampment began yelling at the two men, they were assaulted and had their flags and scarves taken. U of T Special Constables were contacted and escorted the two men out of the area.

Later in the day, around 10:20 p.m., a group of people were walking near King’s College Circle when they became involved in an argument with people from the encampment. The group continued walking when one person was allegedly assaulted from behind, had their hair pulled and was punched.

Special constables from the university attended once again.

Premier Doug Ford commented on the demonstrations, saying he was not against protests, but the university needs to move them along for safety reasons.

“I want to make sure all the kids feel safe and some kids aren’t feeling safe when I’m hearing. That’s not the place, it’s up to U of T to move them along. I’m not against demonstrations. I’m not against protests. That’s private property, U of T’s property and they need to move along,” said Ford.

Pro-Palestinian activists have also set up tents at McGill University in Montreal, the University of Ottawa, McMaster University in Hamilton and the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver.