To President Meric Gertler and the University of Toronto Governing Council,

We, the undersigned members of the U of T community and the wider Canadian public, write to express our unwavering support for the demands articulated by U of T Occupy for Palestine’s student encampment at the People’s Circle for Palestine. These demands articulate strong opposition to the University of Toronto's involvement in severe state-sanctioned atrocities—specifically, the ongoing genocide and prolonged settler colonization of Palestine.

The purported mission of the University of Toronto is to cultivate an academic community that upholds "vigilant protection for individual human rights, and a resolute commitment to the principles of equal opportunity, equity and justice". These values, however, are consistently and systematically violated by Israel through its ongoing apartheid policies, ethnic cleansing, illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, and the horrific ongoing acts of genocide in Gaza.

Since October 2023, Israel's military assaults have caused the deaths of over 35,000 people—nearly half of whom are children—and the destruction of entire cities. Educational institutions have been deliberately targeted, resulting in what is being called a "scholasticide". This term is being used to convey the destruction of every university in Gaza, the deaths of three university presidents, 95 deans and professors, 4,327 students, and 231 teachers and administrators. The University of Toronto has been silent about these atrocities, despite 7 months of student protest, and continues to hold investments in the very corporations which fuel this scholasticide and genocide.

In 1988, the University of Toronto materialized its ethical obligation and divested from South African apartheid, setting the precedent for divestment from Israel on similar grounds. We believe in U of T's ability to once again lead by example by immediately and publicly committing to the following demands:

1.    Disclose all investments held in endowments, short-term working capital assets, and other financial holdings of the university hereafter;

2.    Divest the university’s endowment, capital assets, and other financial holdings from all direct and indirect investments that sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine;

3.    Terminate all partnerships with Israeli academic institutions that either:

a. Operate in settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or;

b. Support or sustain the apartheid policies of the state of Israel and its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Meeting these demands immediately is crucial for aligning the University's operations with its declared mission of supporting human rights, equality, equity, and justice. 

In solidarity and hope for justice,

U of T Occupy for Palestine