October 8 student rally for Palestine stops traffic

 

Student groups demand that U of T divest from Israeli post-secondary institutions

At 4:00 pm on October 8, the U of T Occupy for Palestine, the Palestinian Culture Club, the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) Caucus, and Tkarón:to Students for Palestine (TSSP) student rally marched from Sidney Smith Hall to Simcoe Hall, stopping traffic on St. George St. and Hoskin Ave. along the way. 

The student groups are demanding that U of T cut ties with Israeli post-secondary institutions such as the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Tel Aviv University, and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. 

The rally was one of four events held during TSSP’s “Week of Rage,” which took place from October 7–10.

Campus security arrived on the scene at 4:41 pm and followed the rally from St. George Street to Convocation Hall. Organizers led the procession with a banner that read “U of T Partners with Genocidal Universities – Drop HUJI,” while students carried signs such as “Jews for Palestine” and “Stop Starving Gaza.”

In an opening address at Sidney Smith Hall, TSSP called on the University to divest from Israeli academic partnerships. 

“Research partnerships, donor money, exchange programs — they’re not just academic footnotes, they are part of an infrastructure that legitimizes and nourishes occupation and violence. If our schools remain partners with these institutions, they become part of the problem.”  (more...)

October 8 student rally for Palestine stops traffic