By Zanoah Plummer and Amira Benjamin

The university released an external review on Aug. 14 into two incidents involving the arrest of pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and community members at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) late last year. 

The review, which was conducted by retired Ontario Justice Mary Lou Benotto, found that the university failed to “consistently and decisively” apply policies capable of addressing the conduct that occurred at these events. 

In response to the review, the university has created an implementation task force to address recommendations outlined by Benotto. The task force will be chaired by former Ontario premier and Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae. 

The university first commissioned the review on Oct. 7, 2025, following the arrest of a student during a pro-Palestine demonstration on Sept. 19, 2025. Justice Benotto was appointed by TMU on Nov. 4, 2025 and the review was later expanded to include a Nov. 5, 2025 off-campus event involving Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Students Supporting Israel (SSI).

The nearly 200-page report claims the “absence of clear enforcement, combined with ambiguity around free expression and protest, “have contributed to escalating tensions on campus and a perception that “disruption carries few consequences.”

The report also contains several passages redacted in order to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the proceedings, according to the document. The review saw over 100 oral and written submissions by university community members, including staff, faculty and students, as well as external community members.

Security guard’s use of force at Sept. 19 event was found to be “reasonable”

The report claims force used by TMU Security during the detainment of a student protestor on Sept. 19, 2025 was lawful. The student was detained during an SJP demonstration at a Dais event featuring minister of AI and digital innovation Evan Soloman, as previously reported by The Eyeopener.

The report alleges that when security was directing the student out of the auditorium, she   “flailed her arms and her phone made contact with the security guard’s face.” The review says it is unclear whether contact was intentional or accidental. Following this, the student was restrained and arrested using what the report calls a “takedown” maneuver. 

Benotto’s review concluded that TMU Security was lawful in their use of force. 

Security guards in Ontario are permitted to use force, as long as it is not excessive and the security guard has use of force training, according to the Private Security and Investigative Services Act.

Benotto alleges social media footage shared after the event “omitted important context and portrayed the incident as “brutalization,” contributed to hostility toward the security guards involved.”

The section on the incident, titled “A fair, accurate and impartial account of the events of September 19 inside the auditorium,” is also partially redacted. 

TMU did not shirk responsibility for Nov. 5 event by denying on-campus space

On Nov. 5, 2025, SSI hosted an event featuring former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier Jonathan Karten as part of SSI’s “Triggered” speaking tour. The event was held off campus in a private venue after TMU denied SSI’s request for on-campus space, as previously reported by The Eye. 

SJP organized a protest of the event, in which they entered the venue. During the protest, a glass door was broken, injuring Karten. It is unclear who broke the door. After police arrived, five protestors were arrested and a sixth was charged later that week.

The review concludes that TMU did not avoid responsibility for the event by not permitting SSI to host it on campus. 

Benotto writes that “TMU anticipated significant disruption and security risks surrounding the event and denied SSI permission to host it on campus in part because of this.” 

The report states this should not have necessarily resulted in the cancellation of the event, but rather “the preferred institutional response should be mitigation – stronger security, clearer conduct expectations, and enforcement of rules.”

The review claims TMU expressed concerns about controversy prior to when the event took place and had “early administrative back and forth” with SSI regarding the event. TMU was concerned about SSI omitting information about the event because they had not initially disclosed key information, such as the number of speakers and the structure of the event. 

The review states that TMU allowed the event to proceed without proper mitigation risks “undermining viewpoint neutrality” and TMU’s responsibility to protect freedom of expression.

Students say their support for Palestine has led to scrutiny, discrimination

The review also included context for SJP’s demonstrations and the broader Palestinian solidarity movement.

Students participating in pro-Palestine activism who were interviewed for the report repeatedly expressed how they have received public scrutiny because of “their identity, advocacy, or association with Palestine solidarity efforts” the report reads.

In a written submission to the review from Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, the organization wrote, “Pro-Palestinian expression is increasingly restricted on Canadian university campuses, with individuals facing punishment or threats of discipline for showing solidarity with Palestine.”

The report also states one of the reasons SJP feels ignored is because the university has not adopted the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association’s definition of anti-Palestinian racism. 

“For many Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim participants, advocacy on campus was described as a deeply personal response to loss, displacement, and concern for family members affected by the conflict,” the report reads.

Jewish participants said antisemitism isn’t being addressed on campus

According to the review, some Jewish students interviewed said TMU has not fostered an inclusive environment for Jewish students. The review also states that many Jewish students, faculty and staff no longer feel comfortable publicly identifying as Jewish.

One Jewish staff member who was interviewed for the review said they “just stopped talking about anything Jewish.”

“Several stated that they had been told that Jews were not considered an equity-deserving group and believed this contributed to a lack of targeted support and recognition of anti-Jewish discrimination,” reads the report.

Report makes recommendations to university

Benotto provided the university with eight recommendations which are to be addressed by the task force.

The first of which is a revision of the university’s 2010 Statement on Freedom of Speech to “expressly prohibit” intimidation, harassment, discrimination and conduct that interferes with the expressive rights of others. The report recommends this be done alongside “a comprehensive campus free expression framework and a review of the relationship between academic freedom, faculty political advocacy, and professional responsibilities.”

Benotto also called on TMU to apply more consistent enforcement of the Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct. Furthermore, she recommended the university implement “stronger accountability mechanisms” for recognized student organizations, timely misconduct actions,  and “[TMU] review where collective conduct violates University standards.” 

The review also recommends TMU adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism as an “educational policy and framework” in recognition that “discrimination against Jews manifests through opposition to Zionism” while “affirming that criticism of Israeli government policy remains protected expression.”

In 2023, the IHRA definition found itself at the centre of backlash when over 100 advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Jewish Voice for Peace, wrote to the United Nations asking them to reject the adoption of the definition, claiming that in practice, it “has often been used to wrongly label criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and thus chill and sometimes suppress, non-violent protest, activism and speech critical of Israel and/or Zionism.”  

In the press release, the university called the recommendations “complex,” but said they will carefully review each of them.

Nine academics and community consultants will sit on the task force, including six TMU professors and the director of TMU’s Centre for Free Expression, James Turk. The task force will also include student members who will be named at a later date.

The task force will provide a blueprint for implementation to the university by March 2027.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.