Pro-Palestinian encampment at U of Winnipeg campus will remain until demands met: organizer

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 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

"Students all over the world [have] been a starter of so many revolutions," Christine Quiah, one of the organizers of the encampment, told CBC News Saturday afternoon. 

"At this point, we believe that our fellow students outside of University of Winnipeg, outside of Manitoba, all over the U.S. are doing so, and we are here as a support," said Quiah.

"We just want to show support to all of our students, but also the people oppressed, and that's why we're here." 

On Saturday morning, an encampment member who declined to be named, citing fear of being doxed (having personal information released publicly on the internet), told CBC that protesters were on campus to show solidarity with Palestinians as violence in Rafah continues to escalate.

Israel ordered new evacuations in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on Saturday, forcing tens of thousands of people to move as it prepares to expand its military operation closer to the heavily populated central area, The Associated Press reported.

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.

"We just want a deceleration that you support the ceasefire and that you condemn genocide against Palestine," said Quiah. "Seeing other situations or conflicts or wars, we know that the university can do it, so that's all we're asking for."

The protesters "are here for human rights," she said.

"We are not saying [anything] against somebody. All we want is war stopped against a particular population."  

The encampment will remain until the demands are met, she said.

"We're not going to rally up or cause any commotion. It's just stand with us, sit with us, and just be here with us." 

Quiah said the encampment includes students from the universities of Winnipeg, Manitoba and St. Boniface, as well as from Red River College Polytechnic, along with community organizers. 

Among the pro-Palestinian signage were symbols advocating for other social causes, including a Pride progress flag and a #SearchTheLandfill banner.

The group is also demanding the University of Winnipeg take no disciplinary action against students, staff or faculty there for any actions they take in support of Palestinians.

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.

Elsewhere in Manitoba, people gathered outside Brandon's Knox United Church on Saturday for a march in solidarity with people in Gaza.

Knox United's minister, Craig Miller, who helped organize the gathering, said it's a chance for people in Brandon affected by the conflict to support each other.

"I think a lot of people are feeling kind of hopeless," he told CBC.

The group is also calling for an immediate ceasefire, for the border to be reopened so aid can be delivered in Gaza and, ultimately, "an end to the occupation so that there's peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis," Miller said.