Al-Awda U of T, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, is protesting what they are calling the university’s “blatant trampling on students’ right to organize.”
Al-Awda had booked space at OISE for the Toronto Palestinian Solidarity Conference, which was to take place last Saturday and Sunday. On Friday, organizers received a call from Student Affairs saying their booking had been cancelled.
The conference had a six-point political basis of unity which conference participants must support in order to attend. The administration brought up two points they specifically objected to: unconditional support for the Palestinian right of return and the principle that a two state solution is not a viable option for the Palestinian people.
According to Susan Bloch-Nevitte of the department of Public Affairs, the conference’s basis for unity was exclusionary and therefore the university delivered an ultimatum: either abandon the basis for unity or abandon the booking.
Conference organizers felt this basis of unity would ensure a safe space, and were unwilling to compromise. They felt that wielding to the university’s demands would set “a horrible precedent for all other student groups, because the university would be able to dictate the conditions under which [groups could] organize,” said Hazem Jamjoum, U of T Al-Awda and Arab Students Collective member.
Mughir Hindi, Canadian Chair of Al-Awda, emphasized that no students had objected to the conference and that Student Affairs was succumbing to off-campus pressure. “Just drop the agenda, and no one will bother you,” he wished to say to Student Affairs. He noted that the university has refused to provide them with anything in writing.
One of the major off-campus groups opposed to the conference was B’Nai Brith Canada, who, in a press release, accused the group of “endorsing all forms of violence including terrorism.”
Organizers and would-be participants gathered outside OISE at noon on Saturday, as speakers from various organizations stepped onto the soapbox.
“The basis for which they banned us is all bullshit!” said Jamjoum.
Hindi delivered the message that “ultimatums one hour before five o’clock do not work,” and said it was unacceptable that U of T would not provide them with a safe space. He “leaves it now to students to speak up.”
A representative from OCAP explained that her group is prioritizing their relationship with Al-Awda and hopes to make it a strong one, especially after witnessing this “overt cancellation that happened in a very underhanded manner at the last minute.”
Rafeef Ziadah, a Palestinian refugee, said that the cancellation shows “how scared shitless they are of us gathering and organizing.
“I don’t need U of T to acknowledge that I have a right to return-I will return,” cried Ziadah. “This entire week will be hell for [U of T Student Affairs]-we will have our conference,” said Ziadah.
The conference would have included sessions on the refugees’ right to return, the current situation in all of historical Palestine, women’s involvement and solidarity with feminists, and queer activism. Sunday would have been dedicated to a session on strategies for resisting what conference organizers called the “Israeli apartheid.”
Conference organizers are demanding an apology from U of T, as well as compensation in the form a comparable space in which to hold the conference next Sunday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.
Student Affairs was unavailable for comment.
