By Luis Ramirez-Liberato
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students held a campus walkout on Sept. 12 to support plans for a potential student strike in solidarity with Palestine.
Following the walkout, students gathered in Kerr Hall Quad at 2 p.m. to discuss their demands for the disclosure and divestment amongst the group, of the university’s alleged investments involved in the conflict between Palestine and Israel.
They then voiced their demands publicly, directing them towards TMU’s Board of Governors (BoG) without direct engagement.
The walkout was organized by the Student Strike for Palestine campaign—a group comprised of TMU students—and members of the Communist Revolutionary Party (RCP), formerly known as Socialist Fightback.
A petition was distributed throughout different organized events including the walkout. “The goal is to get 4,000 signatures and then to hand it to the student union to officially call a referendum on a student strike,” said Connor Bennett, a member of the RCP and a main organizer of the walkout.
A student referendum can be called by the BoG and student societies like the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) to allow students to vote on key issues that affect the student body in an election. Historically this involves decisions influencing student fees and can only pass with at least 10 per cent of student votes according to section 9.2 of the TMSU bylaws.
Bennett said walkouts are a way for students to promote conversations about the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel and to discuss the connection between Canadian universities’ investments and the conflict, alleged in the pamphlet given out for the student strike.
Thursday held the second in a series of walkouts organized by this campaign since the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester. The first was held on Sept. 6 and gained over 250 signatures throughout the course of the demonstration, according to an Instagram post by the TMU Student Strike for Palestine.
The petition, as of Sept. 14, has over 1,200 signatures according to the strike committee. It includes support from student figures like the TMSU’s vice-president student life and events, Koby Bia, who spoke at the following walkout on Friday.
“We have a [student] body that believes in justice. We have a body that believes in having a voice and using it,” said Bia at the walkout. “The day we stop talking about [Palestine] is the day it stops being important.”
Azriel Kerbal, a fourth-year RTA media production student, is a member of the strike campaign and RCP. He said he chose to participate in the walkout after watching footage of the conflict in Gaza on Instagram.
“Seeing these horrific crimes against innocent people, like acts of genocide every day on Instagram, has made me really passionate about getting involved in protests on the campus,” said Kerbal.
Kerbal also stated that faculty members have shown support for the campaign. He said some professors allowed students to leave their lectures to attend the event.
The Students for Justice in Palestine—another group associated within TMU community —also held a demonstration outside of the Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre on Sept. 12 as the walkouts were in progress.
The university said in a statement posted on Sept. 5 that in the future it will request “that its investment managers provide a listing of public companies in its holding that TMU is able to make publicly available.”
The statement also reads that the university has invested in a pooled fund where “ethical filters are applied to exclude companies engaged in such activities as firearms, military contracting and more.”
In an emailed statement sent to The Eyeopener on Friday, the university said it “remains committed to maintaining a campus climate that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion, and one that fosters a culture of respect and civility.”
Elliot Frith, a fourth-year film studies student, said members of the campaign—like himself—were already aware of the university’s investments prior to their publication. Frith described the release of the audited financial statements as “vague gesturing” and reiterated that the campaign’s “goals remain the same for full disclosure and then also for full divestment.”
Participation in the walkouts is particularly meaningful for some students who have familial and cultural connections to Gaza.
A TMU psychology student* at the walkout linked the Palestine demonstration to other global struggles as a collective experience of oppression. The student is also a member of the Arab community and said the Palestinian fight for resistance is a fight their community is familiar with.
“To see people coming out and just giving their all, even people that don’t look like us, that don’t speak our language…is just very inspiring,” they said.
Frith said he does not see the most recent walkout as the final step in their movement. He is hopeful the campaign will grow and more actions will be taken regarding their petition.
“The angle for the movement is to free Palestine,” said Frith.
*A source’s identity has been kept anonymous due to concerns of personal safety. The Eye has verified this source.
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