Early Wednesday morning, York University students set up a Pro-Palestinian encampment on campus and says they’ll stay there until the school meets their demands.
The protest is being held by a group called the York Popular University for Palestine (YPU4P) to advocate divesting, disclosing, and boycotting ties with the genocide.
Students say they will remain at what they’re referring to as the People’s Commons for Palestine, located in front of the York University Subway Station.
“We, the students, are united in our demands to hold the admin accountable. We demand that York University disclose, divest and boycott Israeli apartheid. We will not stop, and we will not rest,” the group said in the post.
The demands are similar to those of University of Toronto’s, where students are requesting York University to disclose financial holdings, divest from military and security goods profitting from the genocide in Palestine, and boycott current and future partnerships with Israeli academic institutions.
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YPU4P posted its first Instagram post early Wednesday morning and has already grown to over 1,000 followers as of publication.
The York Faculty Instagram account (@yorkprofs4encampment) also posted in support of the encampment while detailing their own demands, such as allowing students and faculty to peacefully demonstrate without police intervention or academic repercussions and for the university to negotiate in “good faith” with the students.
“We stand in full solidarity with students’ demands that York University disclose and divest from all funds that enable the escalating genocide in Gaza, the ongoing occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and the regime of Israeli apartheid,” the post said.
YPU4P continues to call for all students, faculty, alumni, and others in the Toronto community to rally in the encampment.
They’re currently accepting financial donations and supplies for the encampment online.
The group has a rally planned for tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Now Toronto reached out to York University for a comment but did not receive one in time of publication.
