U of T says pro-Palestinian protesters rejected the latest offer

TORONTO — Negotiations between the University of Toronto and protesters behind a pro-Palestinian camp appeared deadlocked Monday, as the school said its latest offer was rejected and protesters accused administrators of not taking the talks seriously.

In a letter posted online, the university said the proposal sent last Thursday offers expedited processes to consider protesters’ demands for divestment of companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza and greater transparency on investments.

Administrators also confirmed that the school has no direct investments in such companies, including any that make weapons, U of T President Meric Gertler wrote.

U of T said it would not cut ties with Israeli universities, however, as the protesters had demanded.

“The proposal we have made is proportionate or more comprehensive than the agreements that have resolved the camps at similar institutions,” he said. “Unfortunately, the camp participants rejected this proposal.”

Gertler said the university has met with protesters about twice a week for the past month and is open to meeting with camp representatives again “when there are productive reasons to do so.” U of T will also continue to pursue an ordinance to allow police to clean up the camp, he said.

Organizers of the protest noted that despite regular meetings between the two sides, Gertler himself did not attend or meet with any of the students involved.

Instead, the university president “sent proxies without decision-making power in his place,” Erin Mackey said at a news conference Monday.

“How can there be dialogue when there really is no dialogue?” she asked.

Mackey suggested that negotiations could not take place in good faith given the university’s request for an injunction. “These negotiations have a severe power imbalance,” she said.

Demonstrators also took issue with Gertler’s comments about what he called “escalations of online rhetoric and imagery, vandalism and other disruptive behavior” related to the camp.

Sara Rasikh, another spokeswoman for the group, said the university’s portrayal of the camp as hateful and disruptive is untrue.

“Portraying our camp as a source of hatred or disruption not only makes us less safe, but also attracts agitators — the very agitators that U of T claims to oppose,” Rasikh said.

The students set up the camp on May 2 to demand that the university cut ties with Israel because of the ongoing war in Gaza.

The protesters said they joined students from other universities in Canada and the United States to set up encampments to demand their schools disclose ties to the Israeli government, divest from Israeli companies and end partnerships with Israeli academic institutions that were operating according to the parameters they opposed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press