Virtual Teach-Ins November 12 and 13

On Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th November, Scholar Strike Canada (SSC) together with faculty, students, librarians, alumni, and activists from many of the universities that launched encampments on their campuses will lead a two - day labour action. On both days we will not labour for the university and instead, will deliver/or attend teach-ins and gather for a day of protest “In Defense of Academic Freedom, Against Anti-Palestinian Racism, Surveillance, Policing and Militarization of our Campuses”.

As the genocide in Gaza enters its second year and as Israel is invading Lebanon and engaging in mass slaughter and displacement of people across the region, universities across Canada are choosing to abet settler colonialism and genocide by suppressing those speaking out and organizing on campuses. University administrations have circulated policies warning faculty and students about possible sanctions for protesting on campus and expressing condemnation of the Israeli genocide in Palestine. This is a direct attack on our right to dissent which undermines our academic freedom.

Over the summer Jewish, Palestinian, and Pro-Palestinian faculty, students and librarians
launched encampments on the grounds of their universities including the University of Windsor, McGill University and Concordia, the University of Toronto, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Island University, University du Quebec a Montreal, Queen’s University, Ontario Tech University, Dalhousie University, University Laval, University of Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, Western University, York University, University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, McMaster University, University of Ottawa, Carleton University and the University of Guelph. Protesters demanded that their university administration declare its holdings and cut ties with Israel’s academic institutions and with companies providing military support to the Israeli army and those profiting from Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

During these protests, University administrations used intimidation, surveillance, lies, police, and campus security to threaten students who were engaged in peaceful protests. On campuses such as McGill, Calgary, Edmonton, and York University students were violently attacked by police and in the case of Edmonton, Calgary, University of Dalhousie, and York University, police brutally dismantled those encampments.

The racist narrative circulated by university administrators, politicians, the media, Zionists and anti-Palestinian organizations and groups created immeasurable risks to the health and safety of Palestinians and pro-Palestinian supporters. Most encampments on campuses across the country, if not forcibly removed, were decamped before being removed. 
 

In the cases of the University of Toronto and McGill University that sought injunctions to
forcibly remove protesters, the rulings made clear that there was no evidence of antisemitism nor did the encampments pose a danger to the university communities. The rulings also reiterated that students and faculty had the right to protest on their campuses.

The University of Windsor, the Ontario Tech University, and UQUAM universities received
commitments from their universities to begin divesting from Israel’s institutions. The university of Windsor’s deal includes more anti-racism initiatives, support for students impacted by the crisis in Gaza, "responsible" investing, and annual disclosures of direct and indirect public fund investments. The agreement also involves boycotting institutional partnerships with Israeli universities until the "right of Palestinian self-determination has been realized." It is a significant agreement that acknowledges the ongoing genocide and scholasticide and the need for all academic institutions to make efforts to protect academic freedom and human rights across the globe. UQUAM University in Montreal though it did not explicitly commit to an academic boycott of Israel, recognized the violation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the decisions of the International Court of Justice, that noted the plausible risks of genocide being committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. 
 

The University of Windsor administration has since received threats from their funders,
government officials and anti-Palestinian groups for agreeing to meet the students demand for divestment from Israel. Scholar Strike Canada and its members who are faculty, students, and librarians from across the country are in firm support of the agreement made between the University of Windsor and the Liberation Zone Team (LZT) of Students and the University of Windsor Student Alliance (UWSA) to begin divesting from institutions and companies involved in aiding Israel’s occupation and mass slaughter and displacement.

University campuses have been the site of student protests for many decades. We have seen the importance and success of student protests and pressure that has led to Canadian universities divesting from Apartheid South Africa and most recently some universities have divested from fossil fuels. Universities are places for debate, critical thought and activism and have had a long history of protests and solidarity for justice locally, nationally, and internationally.

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Our university institutions continue to remain silent as many of our students and faculty continue to be doxed and listed on racist and Zionist social media sites such as Canary Mission and threatened by the Zionist B’nai Brith and the racist CIJA, and Jewish Defence League.

During the first week of classes in September on the University of Toronto (U of T) campus
some of us who are Black and racialized faculty and students were confronted by members of the vigilante and terrorist groups Magen Herut, Jewish Defence League, and a recent group calling themselves J Force, carrying long umbrellas made to look like rifles. When this was brought to the attention of the U of T administration by Scholar Strike Canada (SSC) we were told to call the Toronto Police Services (TPS). The University of Toronto, like many universities across Canada, have been organizing to have cops removed from our campuses, due to the ongoing racial profiling and harassment they pose to Black and racialized students and faculty. In 2020 following the Black reckoning in The U.S. Canada and globally, Black faculty and students demanded their institutions publish statements (which many of them did), condemning anti-Black racism and declaring their support for Black lives. Many universities have yet to acknowledge the rising anti-Palestinian racism on its campuses and the unbearable loss and
anguish that Palestinians continue to experience as the genocide rages on in Palestine.
 

In a statement to the Conference on Antisemitism in September of this year University of
Toronto president Meric Gertler declared the U of T will no longer make statements on matters of scholarly debate or contentious political issues. He also expects academic units to abide by this decision. President Gertler wants us all to remain silent in the face of racist, colonial, settler colonial and carceral violence on our campuses. The “Surveilled & Silenced” report, created by the Race Equity Caucus at York University showed that since October 2023, the suppression and targeting of students, faculty, and staff, across all levels of the university have greatly intensified. Policing responses to student encampments, reflected a deep-seated anti-Palestinian racism on campus that undermines both academic integrity and freedom of expression.
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/cjpmefoundation/pages/346/attachments/original/1727724783/En_-_2024-09-30-_York_Uni_v02.pdf?1727724783

We must REFUSE the repression, silencing, threats, surveillance in the face of anti-Palestinian racism on our campuses and the ongoing genocide in Palestine and all attempts to stifle dissent and undermine academic freedom on our campuses.

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Scholar Strike Canada (SSC) is sending a strong message to our university administrations around the country that we will not be silenced in the face of anti-Palestinian racism and attacks on academic freedom. Join us in this country wide labour action on 12th and 13th November 2024 which will include teach-ins and a day of collective protest. Teach-ins will include topics on academic freedom, anti-Palestinian racism, scholasticide, genocide in Sudan, boycott and divestment, policing, and surveillance on campus, the university campus as private property, the university as an ever-increasing site of racial, settler colonial and carceral violence and more. We
must refuse the repression of our academic freedom; we must be able to teach, learn and protest without fear of reprisal from our institutions; we must be able to move safely without the presence of militia and vigilante groups on our campuses; we must end Palestinian racism on our campuses and resources put towards supporting Palestinian students and faculty, and our universities must divest from the ongoing Israeli genocide. We urge you to endorse, propose a teach-in or action and spread the word. To endorse this action and for further inquiries contact us at scholarstrikecanada@gmail.com.​

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Scholar Strike Canada (SSC)
Beverly Bain (SSC)
Min Sook Lee (SSC)
Jamie Magnusson (SSC)
Vasanthi Venkatesh (SSC)
Gary Kinsman Professor Emeritius, Sociology Laurentian University (SSC)
Liberation Zone Team University of Windsor
Palestinian Solidarity Group University of Windsor
Irina Ceric Windsor Law (SSC)
Patrick Teed York University Contract Faculty
Jillian Rogin SSC
Sara Rasikh, MA student at U of T (SSC)
Occupy U of T
Tkaronto Students in Solidarity with Palestine
BDS Caucus