Radical undertones at U of T camp

In the early-morning hours of May 2, a group of individuals pitched tents and set up camp in King’s College Circle at the University of Toronto. As a fourth-year undergraduate student at U of T, I believed that their message was noble: a demand that the university divest from Israel to demonstrate that students do not support the ongoing violence and destruction wrought on the people of Gaza.

Unfortunately, their message has been lost, and it is now time to pack up. Despite their formal demands, the encampment no longer represents the simple request of divestment; like the “Freedom Convoy” movement in Ottawa in early 2022, the encampment is becoming a convergence of various disgruntled movements.

For instance, in a press conference on May 8, the issue of police brutality was strangely prominent, with one U of T professor saying: “we know police are violent.”

It is also attracting unsavoury characters. In a since removed post to r/UofT, the university’s unofficial Reddit forum, people who support the current Iranian regime were spotted outside the encampment with an Iranian flag, purportedly threatening students.

There are signs that members of the encampment support the erasure of the Israeli state. Chalk scrawled on the sidewalk surrounding the encampment calls for Jews in Israel to “go back to Europe.” Banners at the encampment feature a map of Israel and Palestine with the Palestinian flag encompassing the whole region.

Furthermore, signs and banners hung around the encampment suggests that at least some of its members support violence against Israeli civilians. There are banners calling for “intefadeh” — a term its purveyors say that means to protest or resist the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, there’s been two “intefadehs,” which collectively resulted in the deaths of about 5,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israeli civilians.

Worst, there are signs that the organizers themselves, while sternly opposed to violence against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, are not as staunchly against violence perpetuated against Israeli citizens. In a post from Thursday, the “occupyuoft” Instagram page, which represents the encampment, refers to Hamas, a group recognized by the Canadian government as a terrorist organization, and the group responsible for the horrendous Oct. 7 attack as “the resistance.”

While it is possible to support the Palestinian people and be sympathetic to their cause without divulging into antisemitism, the current encampment at U of T has crossed that line.

The issue is not the original message of the encampment, it is the undertones they present with their online messaging and posters they have hung in the area. The encampment has lost its core message and is now supported by radicals.

So, it is time for cooler heads at the encampment to prevail, realize that their message has been lost and dismantle the camp. At the very least, the organizers must strongly condemn the more radical elements of their movement, by taking down the banners and kicking out its more extremist supporters.

Graduation ceremonies begin in June. Convocation Hall, which is located near the encampment, is the location of the ceremonies. U of T will most likely want the encampment gone by then, either by acquiescing to the protesters’ demands, or through police intervention.

If the university concedes to the encampment’s demands while the more extremist elements are present, it is showing support for radicalism and that Jewish students are unsafe at U of T.