Last updated: Aug. 18, 2025

Safaa Alnabelseya

Safaa Alnabelseya celebrated terrorism while leading multiple protests at the pro-Hamas encampment at UofT in May 2024. She has also expressed support for Hamas terrorists in other activism.

On May 22, 2024, Alnabelseya led a protest at the encampment. She was featured chanting [00:00:20]: “We won’t rest, till UofT divests!”

On May 11, 2024, Alnabelseya led [slide 4; 00:00:01] an anti-Israel protest march, titled: “76 YEARS OF NAKBA / RESISTANCE UNTIL RETURN,” which joined the UofT encampment. The march was organized by PYM Toronto and Toronto4Palestine.

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.”

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” is a euphemism for nationalistic terror and is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.

At the rally, Alnabelseya led [00:00:50] anti-Israel activists in chanting: “Viva, viva intifada!” and [00:00:01]: “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!” and [00:01:35] “Long live the intifada!…We are the intifada!…”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

Alnabelseya said in a speech [00:06:48]: “...Under this occupation, the so-called ‘State of Israel’ has no right to self-defense against the territory that it occupies.”

On May 7, 2024, Alnabelseya led a protest march, where she gave a speech in support of Hamas. The march began outside the Israeli consulate in Toronto and joined the UofT encampment. The march was organized by anti-Israel activist groups, including Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Toronto4Palestine.

At the rally, Alnabelseya said [00:00:04]: “Remember that our resistance on the ground [Hamas] is strong and steadfast. They will not back down…They will continue to fight against the evil murderous treacherous Zionist entity [Israel] with their entire might, and here we salute the resistance in Gaza and beyond…” She then led protesters in chanting [00:00:57]: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture. Zionism is a core part of the identity of most Jews.

From February 17, 2024, to May 11, 2024, Alnabelseya led at least seven anti-Israel rallies in the Toronto area.

UofT is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Safaa Alnabelseya Celebrated Terrorism as a Speaker at the Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto (UofT)

Safaa Alnabelseya - Instagram - Feb 27, 2024

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.”