Canadian college students are following in the footsteps of their American counterparts by setting up anti-Israel encampments at universities across the country.
Canadian university students set up camps at the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, the University of Ottawa, and McGill University in Montreal, Reuters reported.
“We all saw what was unfolding on U.S. campuses,” said Casey Babb, who teaches courses on terrorism and international security at the McDonald-Laurier Institute and National Security Institute in Tel Aviv. Much of what happened is now happening here in Canada.” she told Fox News Digital from the Norman Patterson School of International Studies in Ottawa.
“While the encampments themselves are alarming, what is even more alarming is the anti-Semitic language and hostile activities that characterize these gatherings,” Bab added.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Thursday that McGill's encampment should be cleared.
A Legault spokesperson said: “We want the camps to be removed. We trust the police and let them do their job.”
University of Toronto students set up a campsite Thursday where about 100 protesters gathered with tents. A university spokesperson said the school was in dialogue with organizers and the encampment “does not disrupt normal university activities.”
“If disrupting the public is the only way to make our voices heard, then we're willing to do it,” Sarah Rasik, a University of Toronto graduate student and camp spokeswoman, told Reuters.
Asked for comment, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office cited him saying in a statement Tuesday that “universities are places of learning and places of freedom of expression…but… , it only works if people feel safe on campus. Now… Jewish students don't feel safe. That's not right.”
Bab said Jewish students are not able to move freely and are harassed on campus.
“Furthermore, the vast majority of students at these universities, students who don't want to be part of this madness, are having their college experience ruined,” he said. It's not just the Jewish community that has to do this.”
To add insult to injury, he added that many of the demonstrators were not even university students.
“We are seeing many people taking advantage of this opportunity for their own thoughtless reasons, and we are also seeing clear support from organizations that have no connection to the universities affected by these activities. We see people receiving (and perhaps being compensated for),” Babu said. .