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Durah Khalid
Durah Khalid participated in a pro-Hamas encampment at UofT in 2024. Khalid has equated Israel with Nazi Germany and spread hatred of Israel on social media.
Khalid posted a photo on Instagram of herself at the encampment with the caption: “So proud of Gen-Z for being the intifada.”
The term “intifada” translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection” and carries the connotation of terrorist violence, including suicide bombings, hijackings, shootings and stabbings.
In the same photo, Khalid posed with a large inflatable watermelon in front of signs that said “FREE PALESTINE,” and “END UofT’S COMPLICITY / ISRAELI APARTHEID.”
The watermelon has been appropriated by terrorists and anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the Pan-Arab colors. It gained widespread popularity and usage following the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023.
Khalid posted a second photo on Instagram with the caption: “‘Little Gaza’ has been the most heartwarming…experience. Thank you students, and @occupyuoft.”
In the photo, Khalid stood in front of a banner that read: “UofT STUDENTS / STAND WITH / PALESTINE.” She held a sign that said “Long Live Palestine” and also had a hand holding a slice of watermelon. UofT is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Khalid appeared [00:03:09] in a May 8, 2024 video posted to Instagram at the encampment with the caption: “Pro-Israel ‘Walk Against Hate’ arrives at @UofT People’s Circle for Palestine encampment. #cdnpoli #Toronto #Palestine #Israel #Gaza…”
In the video, Khalid held a cellphone and filmed an interaction between the police and the protesters, as the protesters behind her were chanting [00:03:24]: “Disclose! Divest! We will not stop! We will not rest!”
Durah Khalid’s Participation in the Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto (UofT)
On May 2, 2024, activists from the UofT Occupy for Palestine (Occupy UofT) group “stormed down” [00:00:24] the fencing around UofT’s Kings College Circle and set up a pro-Hamas encampment, which they called the “People’s Circle for Palestine.”
That day, Occupy UofT called on “community members to…help us defend our encampment” at an emergency rally in the evening. Protesters chanted [00:02:59] for “intifada” and celebrated “resistance” [00:02:45]. Both terms are calls for terrorism. The activists also chanted [00:01:28; 00:02:21] for Israel’s destruction multiple times.
One speaker, Nabil Jalbout, said [00:09:02]: “...we are not fighting for peace, we are fighting for liberation, because ‘peace’ is a white man's word.” Another speaker, Ahmad Jarrar Hajahmad, claimed [00:05:52]: “All these Israeli and Zionist entities fill all these politicians with money in their pockets…we already know who runs this system…”
Signs displayed at the encampment said: “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA” and “LIBERATION FOR ALL REQUIRES RESISTANCE FROM ALL.”
On May 4, 2024, anti-Israel protesters at the encampment assaulted a Jewish man, punching him in the stomach as they forcibly took his Israeli flag. The attackers told the man [00:01:02]: “God bless the armed resistance,” and: “Go back to Europe!” They also reportedly called him “a “dirty Jew.”
Protesters “occupied” [00:00:17] the area from May to July 2024, despite UofT’s warning they were trespassing. The group said they would not leave until UofT divested from companies that “sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine” and terminated partnerships with Israeli academic institutions.
Following the October 7, 2023 massacre of nearly 1,200 Israelis, the inverted red triangle - 🔻- became a Hamas symbol. This symbol appeared on large signs at the encampment multiple times. Erin Mackey, one of the primary organizers, is openly pro-Hamas, having used the symbol in her activism. In addition, pro-Hamas marches that began in other parts of the city concluded at the encampment.
On July 3, 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued an injunction at the request of UofT’s Governing Council, requiring students to clear the encampment. Occupy UofT dismantled the encampment and wrote [slides 5-6]: “We are just getting started…come fall, every incoming student will hear our message loud and clear…Whatever institution you have access to and influence over - you need to take this campaign there!” The statement concluded: “Long live the intifada.”
The encampment was one of over 140 pro-Hamas and anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 more globally, in the spring of 2024. The first began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University. The encampments were unofficially known as the “student intifada,” borrowing a term associated with terrorist violence.
Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians. As of May 26, 2024, 125 hostages remained in Hamas captivity.
For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
On November 6, 2023, Khalid posted on Facebook about United States president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Khalid wrote: “Joe Biden and Netanyahu are literally Adolf Hitler but to Palestinians.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.
As of August 2024, Khalid’s LinkedIn included a statement under “Featured” that said: “I was advised to keep silent on the genocide and ethnic cleaning in Gaza in an effort to please more potential employers. However, it would be wrong of me to be on the side of the oppressor by remaining neutral. The least I can do is say #freepalestine.”
“Free Palestine” is a chant that has been described as a "battle cry for the death of Jews.” In May 2025, two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C., were murdered by a gunman shouting “Free Palestine!” In June 2025, one pro-Israel activist was killed and over 25 were injured in Boulder, Colorado, when a man yelling “Free Palestine” firebombed them.
As of August 2024, Khalid’s LinkedIn profile said she had worked as an activity leader at Jays Care Foundation since June 2024. As of the same date, Khalid’s LinkedIn “Headline” said “Postgraduate HR Management student.” Khalid’s “About” section said: “I am currently…seeking a placement for September, 2024.”
Also as of August 2024, Khalid’s LinkedIn said she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences, population health and sociology from UofT in 2022.
As of the same date, Khalid’s LinkedIn said she was located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
