Western University protesters targeting student-led campus tours: School officials (2024)

An afternoon meeting between Western University administration and protesters Tuesday failed to hammer out an agreement to end the pro-Palestine campus encampment that began May 8 and is now into its fourth week.

Protesters who say they want the London university to sever economic ties with Israel or companies doing business there have dug in on campus in a protest, akin to others across North America, over Israel’s months-long military offensive in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

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The protesters, calling themselves the Western Divestment Coalition, issued a Tuesday night statement saying school officials promised to offer “an update” on what the school “is considering . . . with a view to bringing about resolution to the encampment.”

But the group added:“Regrettably, the updates proposed by the administration fall significantly short of the students’ expectations.”

In its own statement, the university said it will continue to meet with student representatives but safety issues are growing. School officials said some protesters “scale(d) several storeys of a building to post a flag, putting themselves and others beneath them at serious risk of injury.”

School officials said protesters have also started targeting student-led campus tour groups, “following them closely and chanting at them.”

High school students felt “frightened and shaken by this aggressive behaviour” during the tours, the statement from school officials said.

Although most Western students have left for summer break, the campus is busy with summer classes, school tours and upcoming convocations. The encampment began May 8, echoing similar protests at universities across North America amid the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Israel’s attacks were triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas militants in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage. Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have died since Israel’s military offensive into the Hamas-controlled territory began, according to Gaza health officials.

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