Universities endorsing anti-Israel encampments while barring opposing viewpoints is a dangerous double-standard, activists say
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As anti-Israel encampments at Canadian universities grow in both size and vitriol, some are accusing the schools of harbouring double standards when it comes to banning dissenting viewpoints from campus.
The now three-week-old encampment occupies a lawn at King’s College Circle in the university’s downtown Toronto campus — and despite other schools requesting police to forcibly remove the activists from school property, the U of T has so far allowed the encampment to continue.
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Police cleaned out campus encampments in Calgary and Edmonton last week, while two attempts to invoke a court-ordered end to encampments at McGill have so far gone nowhere.
Police in Montreal ordered two pro-Israel demonstrators to leave the McGill encampment on Friday, furthering accusations of double-standards at Canadian universities.
Rudy Rochman, one of the pro-Israel protesters and a well-known Israeli activist, was seen being escorted off campus by two police officers, each holding one of his arms.
“I was told that if I stayed on the campus, I’d be arrested, and I told them I’m not resisting arrest, but I should not have to move,” Rochman said. “They said, ‘We’re going to have to physically force and remove you.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”
Rochman added, “They have a right to be here. I should have a right to be here as well.”
It was a similar response at the U of T camp in Toronto last week when the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism (CMAA) rented a video billboard truck and tried to park it adjacent to the encampment and play messages of peace from Palestinian-born activist Hamza Howidy.
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“(Howidy) was not saying things against Palestine or the Palestinian movement, he was just condemning terrorism,” CMAA director Mohammed Rizwan told the National Post.
“His message was ‘I don’t support Hamas, don’t support terrorism‘ — that’s all.”
Rizwan said the truck was immediately and repeatedly turned away by university security.
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In a letter sent to the university administration, Rizwan said their intention was to provide a peaceful but dissenting Muslim perspective to the encampment.
“Every day the encampment is trespassing upon campus grounds with no action of the U of T administration,” he wrote in the letter.
“We hope and expect to be admitted and allowed to amplify this strong message among the protesters, most of whom appear to not understand Hamas, its pervasive ideology, its weaponization of antisemitism, the atrocities it committed against Israeli civilians of all religions (including Muslims) on October 7, (and) its misappropriation of aid and subjugation of Gazans.”
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The letter, Rizwan said, garnered no reply from the university administration.
When asked for comment on the accusations and the CMAA’s letter, the University of Toronto instead directed the National Post to comments posted on its website last Thursday outlining their ongoing negotiations with organizers.
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Despite repeated assurances that university encampments are organized by students, Rizwan’s observations during his visits have made him agree with others who say they’re far too well-equipped and well-organized to be purely spontaneous actions.
Encampments are typically guarded by activists questioning anybody who wishes to enter, and only allowing entry to those they deem are aligned with their values.
A UBC lecturer attempting to enter an encampment at his school was turned away after he responded that he believed Palestinians could coexist peacefully with Israel when asked whether he supported “Palestinian self-determination.”
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“With what I’ve witnessed, and from being a long-time journalist, this was not a spontaneous demonstration,” Rizwan said.
“These are well-planned and organized encampments; they are really well protected by a security cordon.”
A Montreal police spokesperson confirmed their presence but denied using physical force to remove the two pro-Israel demonstrators last Friday, stating that the police had invited one of the protesters to leave and the others left voluntarily.
The pair were carrying signs reading “We witnessed Oct. 7, ask us anything” and accompanied by private security guards, when they were ushered off school property by police, the Montreal Gazette reported.
They relocated outside McGill property, positioning themselves just beyond the Roddick Gates, which were subsequently shut.
When asked why the pro-Israel protesters were removed and not the pro-Palestinian protesters, the police spokesperson said, “I don’t have an answer. I know that there was tension between the two groups.”
Police say no charges were laid.
Activists established the McGill encampment late last month, which has so far survived two attempts — one by students and another by administration — to force its closure by a court order.
National Post, with additional reporting by The Montreal Gazette
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