By The Eyeopener

Following another Students Supporting Israel (SSI) event off-campus which again saw an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier in attendance, some Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students and community members are urging the administration and students’ union to take action.

The first SSI TMU event to host an IDF soldier this academic year took place on Nov. 5, 2025 where six people, including TMU students, were arrested and charged following a pro-Palestinian demonstration, as previously reported by The Eyeopener.

The second event was part of the same ongoing tour in North America titled “Triggered: From Combat to Campus,” and was set to take place on March 26 at an undisclosed location, according to an Instagram post by SSI TMU, which has since been deleted. The post stated further details would be provided upon registration.

Jenin*, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at TMU, said she believes the university and the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) have enabled these events.

“It keeps happening because the TMU administration refuses to take accountability or implement any policies that ban foreign war criminals from coming and TMSU [is] attempting to absolve themselves from guilt and refusing to [take] material action as well,” she said.

TMU President Mohamed Lachemi said in an email to The Eye that the university has not approved SSI events that “host soldiers” on campus and cannot comment on “why they are choosing to host events off-campus in their own time.”

According to the TMSU website, SSI is a registered group under the students’ union. However, a statement posted to Instagram and their website on March 24 said the TMSU has “not provided any funding or support for SSI.”

The statement also claims the TMSU does not have the authority to ban a student group’s event. They referenced the two independent investigations by TMU and the TMSU into the Nov. 5 incident, where six people, including TMU students, were arrested by Toronto Police Services, as previously reported by The Eye.

In the post, TMSU said they do not endorse this event and under their Issues Policy #9, oppose, “the aggressive use of force by police or military against protestors or any civilians in an attempt to repress dissent.”

Prior to last November, SSI had previously held similar speaker series involving IDF soldiers. According to an October article by The Grind, IDF soldiers visited Toronto in April 2025 for another “Triggered” event which was initially planned to be hosted at TMU by SSI. SJP has also posted on Instagram, claiming Hillel TMU hosted the event after the university denied campus space to SSI.

In an email statement to The Eye in November regarding the fall SSI event, the university said the event was not sanctioned by TMU. “SSI’s request to host the event on campus was denied due to a lack of transparency about the topic and guest speakers,” the email read.

However, some TMU students like Emily*, who is also a spokesperson for the Student Mobilization Committee (SMC), said this sparked questions amongst students.

“A question that came up is ‘why is there no policy for the TMSU to ban war criminals from campus groups’,” she said.

According to a video posted to SJP’s Instagram, 12,000 emails have been sent to the university’s administration demanding action against SSI for hosting IDF soldiers. The video showed students outside president Lachemi’s office leaving printed copies of the emails.

Many student groups and course unions released statements on social media condemning this event and expressing their support for SJP, such as TMU Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), MedBloc TMU, International Centre of Justice for Palestinians and Faculty for Palestine TMU.

“It wasn’t a surprise that this was happening, it was just a lot of sadness, disappointment and anger…I know students here have family in Palestine, who are directly affected by this,”
said Emily.

Abdelrahman Elkazaz, a second-year aerospace engineering student and vice-president of Islamic education with the MSA, echoed this sentiment.

“Especially after the incident with the security guard at TMU and how they handled one of our students very violently, [there is] definitely a mixture of shock, intimidation and disappointment [towards administration],” he said.

All promotional material regarding the event is no longer available on the SSI Instagram account. The Eye is unable to confirm if and when the event was held.

The Eye reached out to SSI and Hillel TMU for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.