Canadian universities’ requests for court orders and police enforcement to clear Palestine solidarity encampments raise questions about the legal status of encampments and the use of injunctions.
A student protester with a banner reading ‘Hind Hall’ at a Harvard University building. Student protesters at several universities have unofficially renamed campus buildings in response to the war in Gaza.
(Frank S. Zhou/The Harvard Crimson)
Students renaming campus buildings during ongoing protests follows years of campus renaming controversies. A study of campus naming policies proposes how to make naming more inclusive.
Police in riot gear formed a line to face student protesters at the University of Calgary campus on May 9, 2024. The university said protesters were trespassing and asked for help from police to disperse the groups.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Noah Korver
Recent student protests are attempts to humanize the Palestinians in desperate need of a ceasefire. Students deserve a dignity-affirming dialogue, not the continued use of police brutality.
Each side is righteously sensitive to any perceived hate speech from the other, but seems unwilling to limit their own punitive strategies or inflammatory language.
A pro-Palestine rally at the University of Melbourne on May 15, 2024.
James Ross/AAP
Nothing Hamas has done was comparable to October 7, and nothing Israel has done is comparable to what it continues to do since that day. Student protests, in this context, inspire a measure of hope.
A Palestinian flag flies near the Peace Tower during a march for Gaza rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 4, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
The Canadian government’s refusal to include a description of anti-Palestinian racism sends the message that the struggles of Palestinians don’t matter.
Tents fill the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at McGill University in Montréal, on May 13, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Unless and until student encampments become an unreasonably severe disruption to the enjoyment of university spaces, there is no argument supporting state intervention.
A person watches from southern Israel as smoke rises following an Israeli strike on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Atef Safadi / EPA
The situation in Gaza undoubtedly requires urgent international attention and a peaceful resolution. Yet it is not the only armed conflict or humanitarian crisis in the world.
A student encampment at the University of Bristol.
Jamie Bellinger / Alamy Stock Photo
Australian universities have long been a site of protest. Today’s students join this legacy of activists who helped shape higher education and the Australian cultural landscape.
A protest led by the Black Student Union at the University of Washington at Seattle, 1968.
Emile Pitre Collection
Washington isn’t a state that typically comes to mind in discussions about student-led protests from the Civil Rights Movement. A Black history professor seeks to change that with a new book.
The integrity of the academic project should underscore universities’ work at all times.
xtock/Shutterstock
South Africa’s economic challenges and the high number of students from poor and working class families call for a funding model that doesn’t create an affordability crisis for students and the state.
South African Police Service march to disperse students blocking traffic in Johannesburg, in March.
Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images
South Africans deserve a fuller picture of the extent of police brutality, and the level of accountability, especially when people die at the hands of police.
Professor of Architecture and SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment), Tshwane University of Technology
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State
Chief Director: Tshwane University of Technology – Institute for Economic Research on Innovation; Node Head: DST/NRF SciSTIP CoE; and Professor Extraordinary: Stellenbosch University – Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology., Tshwane University of Technology