Mohammad Yassin
Mohammad Yassin’s Leading the Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto (UofT)
Mohammad Yassin organized and served as a spokesperson for a pro-Hamas encampment at UofT in May 2024.
On May 3, 2024, Yassin reportedly told the press at the encampment: “This is not just some childish thing…we’re standing firm and we want our demands to be heard.”
On May 16, 2024, Yassin said [00:00:16] in a press conference at the encampment: “...Yesterday was the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the tragedy that started all this struggle…” At the same press conference, he also accused [00:00:39] Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”
On May 26, 2024, Yassin reportedly told the press at the encampment: “We are planning to stay here until we get a commitment to our demands…the pulling of funds from companies that support these [sic] Israeli government…”
On May 16, 2024, Yassin said [00:00:16] in a press conference at the encampment: “...Yesterday was the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the tragedy that started all this struggle…” At the same press conference, he also accused [00:00:39] Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
On May 26, 2024, Yassin reportedly told the press at the encampment: “We are planning to stay here until we get a commitment to our demands…the pulling of funds from companies that support these [sic] Israeli government…”
On July 2, 2024, Yassin was named [p. 1] as a respondent in an “ORDER” and injunction brought against him and 10 others, plus an unspecified number of “PERSONS UNKNOWN” by UofT’s Governing Council.
The order, issued by a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, instructed [p. 2] the respondents to “remove any and all structures tents, encampments and items of personal property” and “vacate” the encampment by “no later than 6 pm on July 3, 2024.”
The order further stated [p. 3] that the respondents were “restrained and enjoined from directly or indirectly…physically preventing, impeding, restricting or in any way physically interfering with…access to University property” and “erecting any fences, tents or barriers of any type on University property” or “using, entering or gathering at Front Campus, King’s College Circle between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.”
On July 2, 2024, Yassin reportedly said during a press conference at the encampment: “We’ve said from Day 1 that we will not leave this campus until UofT discloses, divests, and cuts ties. That commitment stands firm…We will not be intimidated. No amount of police presence, no threat of legal action, no Zionist threat, and no attempt to smear our movement will deter us from our mission.”
On July 3, 2024, the final day of the encampment, Yassin claimed [00:00:53] that Israel was committing an “ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide,” while speaking at a press conference.
Yassin also said [00:02:51]: “Our continued occupation through the summer convocation period was a massive victory. We showed every UofT graduate and their families that the institution they were celebrating has played an active role in this genocide. We prevented the university from convocation-washing its complicity…”
Yassin continued [00:04:02]: “Let us be clear. The University of Toronto will disclose its investments, divest from companies profiting from Palestinian suffering and deaths and cut ties with academic institutions tied to the Israeli war machine…”
UofT is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto
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.
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.”
Background on Pro-Hamas Encampments
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.
Mohammad Yassin’s Anti-Israel Activism, Work and Education
Mohammad Yassin is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Yassin reportedly graduated from UofT with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2024.
As of July 2024, Yassin’s LinkedIn profile said he graduated from UofT with a bachelor’s degree in statistics in 2024.
As of the same date, Yassin’s LinkedIn said he was located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Social Media and Weblinks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m7md.yassin1/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-y-21405b202/
LinkedIn 2: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-yassin-21405b202/ [Deleted]
- Status:
- Unknown
- University:
- Toronto
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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Infamous Quotes
“...we will not leave this campus until U of T discloses, divests, and cuts ties…No amount of police presence, no threat of legal action, no Zionist threat, and no attempt to smear our movement will deter us from our mission.”
“Our continued occupation through the summer convocation period was a massive victory. We showed every UofT graduate and their families that the institution they were celebrating has played an active role in this genocide. We prevented the university from convocation-washing its complicity…”
