Pro-Palestine encampment set up at Oshawa’s Ontario Tech University

An encampment supporting Palestine has been established on the campus grounds of Ontario Tech University, with tents going up late Monday and protesters demanding the university divulge if it is funding activities in Israel.

Encampments have been going up on college campuses across North America in the past month, with the protesters in each one calling for an end to war in Gaza and for Israel to end its occupation of the lands.

The encampment in Oshawa has some nine tents (many spray painted with the names of Gaza towns) and the vibe has been mostly peaceful, though an appearance at the protest Tuesday by lawyer and video journalist Caryma Sa’d – who has been following the encampments and other protests for the past year and reporting on the activities – did cause a bit of ruckus, with organizers heard to say “no one talks to the media.”

Sa’d was featured in one of Toronto’s daily newspapers this week, where she said many protests aren’t nearly as ‘purely grassroots or organic’ as their organizers would have us believe but is usually careful not to take any sides in the political debates surrounding the encampments.

The protest stems from October 7 when Hamas, a terrorist group dedicated to an independent Palestine, attacked Israeli settlements and killed more than 1,200 civilians.

Israeli’s response since then has swift and ongoing, with independent reports showing as many as 35,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, earning Israel widespread international condemnation.

Ontario Tech did not respond for comment on the situation.