Tensions are rising at Canadian universities amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
With seemingly no end in sight to the violence that has underscored the Israel-Palestine conflict for decades, with this latest conflict many are speaking out in support of Palestine and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The controversial phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has become a popular slogan in many pro-Palestinian protests, demonstrations and rallies.
Hamas – whose attack on Oct. 7, which killed roughly 1,400 Israelis, started this latest outburst of violence – are a listed terrorist organization in Canada and are leading the Gazan front. Some see these protests in support of Palestine as supporting Hamas and therefore violence and anti-Semitism.
Natalie Knight, a Langara College instructor, called the Oct. 7 Hamas attack an “amazing, brilliant offensive” in a speech at a pro-Palestinian rally on Oct. 28. She is currently on leave, with The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver calling for her to be fired.
Conversely, Dr. Eva Lonn, a cardiologist at McMaster University, is under review for a comment she made on social media regarding pro-Palestinian demonstrators: “deport them all to where they came from.”
This disturbing tension, and the fear of increased instances of both antisemitism and Islamophobia, are not absent from Canadian universities.
On Oct. 9, McGill University denounced comments made by a group called Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights that used the university’s name amid comments describing the Oct. 7 attack as “heroic.” In response, the group wrote that they were “not celebrating violence,” but “looking at the prospect of liberation.”
At York University, three student unions – York Federation of Students, York University Graduate Students’ Association and Glendon College Student Union – released a statement that supported Palestinian people’s “ongoing fight against settler-colonialism, apartheid and genocide” and labelled the Oct. 7 attack as a “strong act of resistance.”
The university was quick to respond, saying that “Freedom of expression has limits and comes with responsibilities. It must never reach into promoting or justifying violence against unarmed civilians.”
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) called the unions’ statement “incindiary,” saying, “Not only does the statement fail to mention Hamas and its murderous rampage targeting innocent Israeli women, men and children, it whitewashes Hamas terrorists by referring to them as ‘Palestinian people’ and their incursion into Israel to commit terrorism as an ‘act of resistance.’”
Despite being threatened with de-certification, the unions have as of yet refused to retract their statement.
A group called the “Abolitionist Organizing Collective” posted a letter following the Oct. 7 attack with the signatures of over 70 Toronto Metropolitan University students. The letter claimed that Israel was responsible for the attack because of their colonial actions and asserted that “‘Israel’ is not a country.”
Similar to the York situation, TMU released a statement condemning the letter, but despite calls for further action, there has been none.
Tensions boiled over at the University of Toronto as a rally and counter-rally got heated, with a line of police officers and UofT special constables standing between the two groups. According to The Canadian Jewish News, what started as a rally “to mourn the 1,400 people killed in Israel by Hamas” turned into a face-off when pro-Palestine protestors showed up “with a much louder megaphone” and started chanting.
The protest ended with the peaceful dispersion of the pro-Israel supporters as the night came on.
On Oct. 13, Brock released a statement regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict. That statement can be found here.
UPDATE: The Brock University Arabs’ Students Association held a peaceful silent walkout for Palestine on Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. Its Instagram post can be found here. The post highlights that “any form of antisemitism or hate speech will not be tolerated.”