Pro-Palestinian encampment at Western University into 2nd day

More than a dozen protesters remained at Western University's campus in London, Ont., on Thursday, long past the 12 hours originally planned for the encampment.

After erecting tents and unfurling banners around the university's community centre on Wednesday afternoon, encampment participants said their second 12-hour protest in consecutive weeks is to protest the school not listening to their demands that it divest from companies with business interests in Israel.

Many protesters remained there on Thursday, something Western called "disappointing."

"The safety and security of our campus community is our top priority and will be our focus today as we ensure regular university activities can proceed without interruption," the school said in a statement. "We will continue efforts to communicate with the Western student leaders at the encampment and to set clear expectations for all individuals involved.

"At the same time, we are working closely with London Police Service to seek advice and support as needed."

The demonstration at Western is among numerous other encampment protests at universities in Canada and the U.S. They are a direct response to the mounting deaths in Gaza. A total of 253 hostages were seized in a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which about 1,200 Israelis were also killed, according to Israeli counts. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians over the last seven months, health officials in Gaza said.

"We want divestment. We want Western to be on the right side of history," said Yusef, who said he is a fourth-year student at Western, but didn't want to give his last name out of fear of repercussion from the school.

Originally from Iraq, Yusef said his family moved to Canada because of war in their home country. He said he feels a sense of solidarity with the Palestinian people and wants Western university officials to be transparent with protesters about where their money is spent. 

"We're just protesting for our people back home. We're protesting for the money we give Western not to be spent killing our people, killing our relatives, killing people like me," he said. "That could be me on the other side." 

The student movement began at Columbia University in New York City on April 17 before protesters were forcefully cleared by police at the request of administrators. In Canada, encampments have also sprung up in Montreal's McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, McMaster University in Hamilton and the University of Windsor, Ont., among others.

On Wednesday, a Western undergraduate student spoke to CBC on behalf of the protest organizers, saying they would come back as long as needed to "sit down with the administration and to call for an end to the complicity."

"We will be protesting until full divestment," the student said. "This is our campus and we want to make sure there's no blood on our hands. These are our tuition dollars and we deserve to be consulted about it."