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Ontario: Ford urges university students to dismantle protest camps from university campuses

Ontario: Ford urges university students to dismantle protest camps from university campuses

By م.زهير الشاعر

Published: May 7, 2024

Today, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for the removal of pro-Palestinian protest camps from university campuses in his province, although one of these universities indicated that it is making progress in its talks with the protesters.

The Progressive Conservative Premier stated that he "does not support" the camps that have appeared at several university campuses in recent weeks, pointing out that he is receiving messages from parents expressing their concerns about their children being harassed or bullied because of these camps.

"They need to go," Ford said before reporters at the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto, referring to the protesters in the protest camps, adding that "the university needs to move these people" outside.

Ford added that some of what he saw and heard about the protests is "unacceptable." "I can't tolerate some of the bad things I've seen there," Ford said.

Ford's comments come at a time when the University of Toronto is saying it sees "a way forward" after meeting with students involved in the protest camp set up on its campus.

Although the university initially gave protesters an eviction deadline that ended at 10 p.m. on Thursday, the administration later stated that it would not remove the camp if its activities remained peaceful.

The university's Vice Dean for Student Affairs, Sandy Welsh, said in a statement this morning that university officials met with students representing the camp over the weekend and that the talks between the two sides were "constructive."

Welsh stated that representatives of the protest camp and administrators are working together to address health and safety concerns, as well as reports of threats made by protesters or their use of hate speech.

Participants in the camp, which started last Thursday, are demanding that the University of Toronto disclose its relations with the Israeli government and divest from Israeli companies.

Mohammad Yasin, a fourth-year student and one of the spokespeople for the protesters, said he was part of the group that met with administrators over the weekend.

He added that the statement issued today by the administration was disappointing because it "entrenches the lies" about the protest camp.

"On the second or third day of our camp, we held a Shabbat dinner organized by Jewish individuals in the faculty and community in our camp, while we are accused of anti-Semitism," Yasin said, who has relatives in the Palestinian Gaza Strip and in one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

"We have stopped all forms of hate and anti-Semitism, firmly, as they go against our community guidelines, and we have measures in place to deal with individuals who promote this kind of hatred," Yasin affirmed.

He added that the group entered into talks with the administration believing that the latter would soon discuss their demands, but instead, the university continued to focus on "trivial matters" like the fencing around the camp and sanitation.

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