Protesters have set up a pro-Palestinian encampment in front of the University of Winnipeg’s downtown campus.
More than a dozen tents could be seen on the front lawn in front of the school Saturday morning. Protesters arrived on school grounds on Friday.
The University of Winnipeg said in a statement on its website that the school’s security team is monitoring the situation. Spring classes and other campus activities are continuing as scheduled.
On Saturday morning, an encampment member who declined to give their name, citing fear of being doxxed, told CBC that protesters were on campus to show solidarity with Palestinians as violence in Rafah continues to escalate.
Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern part of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million who fled other parts of the enclave during the war, the Thomson Reuters news agency reported Friday.
Israel says it cannot win the now seven-month old war without assaulting Rafah to root out thousands of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there. Hamas says it will fight to defend it.
Health authorities in Gaza say the conflict has killed almost 35,000 people since it began with an attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, which left some 1,200 people dead in Israel and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
The conflict has sparked protests at universities across Canada.
At the U of W on Saturday, Palestinian flags, a sign reading “Faculty 4 Palestine” and a series of placards that lay out demands of the protesters — including cutting “all academic and economic ties with Israeli institutions” — were on display at the encampment.
The group is also demanding the university take no disciplinary action against students, staff or faculty at the U of W for any actions they take in support of Palestinians.
Among the pro-Palestinian signage were symbols advocating for other social causes, including a Pride progress flag and a #SearchTheLandfill banner.
The university says while community members are free to protest on campus, camping is not allowed.
“Setting up tents, temporary structures, or overnight encampments on [university] property without approval from the university is prohibited,” its statement says.
The protest comes after students at the University of Manitoba started a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on its south Winnipeg campus last week. That encampment was still standing as of Saturday morning, an organizer told CBC News.