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Robin Rice
Robin Rice Spoke at the Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto (UofT)
Robin Rice spoke at the pro-Hamas encampment at UofT in May 2024. The encampment was in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
On May 7, 2024, Rice also participated in an anti-Israel march in Toronto that ended at the UofT encampment.
On May 7, 2024, anti-Israel groups, including PYM Toronto and Toronto4Palestine, held a protest march titled: “HANDS OFF RAFAH!” outside the Israeli consulate in Toronto. A PYM Instagram post promoting the protest said: “We demand an end to the genocide, an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and the full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea!”
The protesters marched to the U of T encampment, where they continued protesting. During the march, protesters chanted [00:00:01]: “Long live the resistance! Long live the intifada!”, and [00:01:08]: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.” They also chanted [00:00:11]: “Intifada, intifada! Long live the intifada!”, as well as [00:00:19]: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
One speaker said [00:00:04]: “Remember that our resistance on the ground is strong and steadfast. They will not back down and they will continue to protect and defend our lands and our people. They will continue to fight against the evil murderous treacherous Zionist entity with their entire might, and here we salute the resistance in Gaza and beyond…”
UofT is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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.
In 2024, Robin Rice engaged [slide 1] in activism with the pro-terror group Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). In November 2023, following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, Rice participated [slide 1] in multiple anti-Israel rallies [slide 1] in Toronto.
As of August 2024, Rice’s Facebook page said she was studying for a degree in “Specialist Indigenous studies” at UofT since September 2022.
Also as of August 2024, Rice’s Facebook said she was the creator and coordinator of the Wiingashn youth mentorship program since November 2019. As of June 2020, Rice was listed as the Program Facilitator for One By One since December 2019.
On July 24, 2024, Rice promoted on Instagram a flyer that said she could be booked for: “wellness sharing circles; Jingle Dress Dancing & Teachings; Writing Workshops, Art Workshops” and was available as a “ …Spoken Word Storyteller, Poet, Artist…”
As of August 4, 2024, Rice’s Facebook said she was located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
