The University of Toronto’s President Meric Gertler announced on Monday that the university’s lawyers requested an injunction order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to end pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

The encampments started on May 2, 2024, with demands from student protesters including the university’s disclosure of its investments, divestment from weapons manufacturing companies complicit in Israeli apartheid and severance of its ties with Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in the ongoing occupation of Palestine.

On May 23, Gertler presented an offer to the student representatives of the encampment protesters to convince them to end the encampment. The offer promised that the university would work with student representatives from the encampment to establish an “expert working group” for “increased transparency related to the [u]niversity’s investments.” Gertler would have acted after receiving the advice from the “expert working group” around mid-July to early August. The offer also promised that the university would allow the representatives to present their divestment demands to the “Business Board of Governing Council” on June 19, and have their demands reviewed by an “Advisory Committee” established by various university officials and the students.

The committee would have to provide a recommendation by the end of October for Gertler to have acted within a “timely manner” after receiving the recommendation. Finally, the offer provides that “[t]he [u]niversity rejects calls for cutting ties with international partner institutions or engaging in academic boycotts because these actions would be at odds with our commitment to academic freedom, the unfettered global circulation of people and ideas, and advancing understanding by fostering collaboration and dialogue.”

The student representatives did not accept the offer within 24 hours, and in response, the university issued a trespass notice to the protesters the next day. The notice demanded that the protesters vacate the Front Campus at King’s College Circle by 8:00 AM local time on Monday. The protesters did not end the encampment at King’s College Circle in time, resulting in the university seeking an injunction against the protesters of the encampment.

There have been other encampments at universities across the world protesting Israel’s participation in the Israel-Hamas War following Hamas’ October 7 attacks, where fighters killed around 1,163 people and took 20 hostages. On April 22, a group of 120 protesters were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment in front of New York University’s business school. The arrests came as Columbia University shifted its classes on its Morningside, Manhattan campus to a hybrid online/in-person format after a protest encampment there became the subject of controversy on April 18 after New York Police Department officers were invited onto campus to disperse demonstrators.

Ongoing protests at both universities—and other campuses across the US, such as Yale, where 47 student demonstrators were arrested Monday morning—have been fueled by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik’s decision to allow police to campus to dismantle the student encampment, resulting in the mass arrest of 108 protesters. The demonstrations have sparked concerns about antisemitic incidents and the safety of Jewish students.