The simmering tensions on Toronto Metropolitan University’s campus boiled over last week when anti-Israel protesters disrupted a Jewish student event, creating what many attendees described as a deeply intimidating atmosphere.
According to eyewitness accounts, approximately 100 demonstrators gathered outside the event hosted by Hillel TMU, forcing university security to lock down the premises. Inside, roughly 30 Jewish students participated in the cultural program that had been planned as a safe space amid mounting campus tensions.
“It felt like being trapped,” said Sarah Goldstein, a third-year business student who attended. “We could hear the chanting growing louder. Security told us we couldn’t leave—for our own safety.”
The protesters, many wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags, surrounded the building’s exits while chanting slogans that included “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—a phrase many Jewish organizations consider a call for Israel’s elimination.
Campus police eventually escorted the Jewish students out through a back entrance, with several attendees reporting they were followed to public transit stops afterwards.
TMU President Mohamed Lachemi issued a statement the following day condemning the incident. “Our university must remain a place where all students can gather peacefully without intimidation,” he wrote. “The tactics employed against Jewish students this week run counter to our core values of respect and inclusion.”
This confrontation represents the latest in a series of escalating tensions at Canadian universities since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent military campaign in Gaza. Similar incidents have erupted at McGill, University of Toronto, and most recently at Concordia, where Jewish students have reported feeling increasingly marginalized.
Rabbi David Posen, director of Hillel Ontario, expressed frustration at what he sees as an inadequate university response. “We’ve been warning administration for months that the situation was deteriorating,” he said. “Jewish students deserve the same protections as any other group on campus.”
The Canadian Federation of Students has taken a different position, defending the protesters’ right to demonstrate. “Students have always been at the forefront of social justice movements,” said CFS spokesperson Alicia Rodriguez. “Peaceful protest against government actions is not antisemitism.”
However, B’nai Brith Canada’s Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents recorded a 10% increase in campus-related antisemitic incidents across the country since October, with Toronto universities seeing some of the sharpest rises.
“There’s a fundamental difference between criticizing government policy and making Jewish students feel unsafe in their own campus spaces,” said Michael Levitt, president of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center. “When protest prevents Jewish students from gathering peacefully, we’ve crossed into discrimination territory.”
The incident has prompted renewed calls for university administrators to develop clearer protocols for managing demonstrations that target specific student communities. Student union representatives from TMU’s Jewish Student Association have requested an emergency meeting with administration to discuss safety concerns.
For Eli Cohen, who helped organize the disrupted event, the experience left a lasting impression. “We were just sharing Shabbat dinner, something we’ve done countless times before,” he said. “Suddenly it became this political flashpoint. How did sharing cultural traditions become something that requires a police escort?”
Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop weighed in, stating her office is “closely monitoring the situation” and expects universities to “ensure all students can attend classes and events without fear of harassment.”
Campus security has announced increased patrols around Jewish student events for the remainder of the semester, but many students say the damage to their sense of belonging has already been done.
“I used to wear my Star of David necklace openly,” said Goldstein. “Now I tuck it under my shirt most days. That small change says everything about how things have shifted.”
As final exams approach, both student groups and administration face the challenge of de-escalating tensions while preserving the principles of free expression that universities traditionally uphold. The delicate balance between protest rights and creating safe learning environments continues to challenge campuses across Canada, with no easy solutions in sight.
