Yousef Abdo
Yousef Abdo Led Pro-Terror Chants at the Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto (UofT)
Yousef Abdo led chants calling for Israel’s destruction and in support of terrorism at the pro-Hamas encampment at UofT in May 2024.
On May 4, 2024, Abdo led [slide 3] a protest at the UofT encampment. He was featured in a video posted on Facebook, leading protesters in chanting in Arabic [00:00:06]: “Be-ruh, be-dam, nifdik, ya Aza [With spirit, with blood, we will redeem you, Gaza]!”
Abdo also chanted [00:01:10]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” He also led the Arabic version [00:01:38]: “From water to water, Palestine is Arab!”
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” is a chant used [00:02:52] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel.
On May 7, 2024, Abdo led a protest march in Toronto, titled: “Hands Off Rafah,” which ended at the UofT encampment.
Abdo was featured in a video posted on Instagram, leading [00:00:10] protesters in marching while they chanted [00:00:20]: “Intifada, intifada! Long live 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.
UofT is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abdo co-founded the anti-Israel activist group, the Palestinian Culture Club (PCC) at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) in November 2023. In May 2024, the PCC changed its name to the Palestinian Justice Club (PJC).
On December 4, 2024, the PJC hosted its first event titled: “Panel for Palestine.” Speakers included anti-Israel activists David Mivasair, Ghada Sasa and Shatha Mahmoud, who is also known as Shatha Ayman.
As of August 2024, Abdo’s LinkedIn profile said he was slated to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Laurier in 2024 and that had been a data analyst intern at Mackenzie Investments since July 2024. Abdo’s LinkedIn also said he founded Arabs of Ontario in 2022.
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Abdo was featured in a video posted on Instagram, leading [00:00:10] protesters in marching while they chanted [00:00:20]: “Intifada, intifada! Long live 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.
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.
Yousef Abdo’s Anti-Israel Activism, Work and Education
Yousef Abdo is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Abdo co-founded the anti-Israel activist group, the Palestinian Culture Club (PCC) at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) in November 2023. In May 2024, the PCC changed its name to the Palestinian Justice Club (PJC).
On December 4, 2024, the PJC hosted its first event titled: “Panel for Palestine.” Speakers included anti-Israel activists David Mivasair, Ghada Sasa and Shatha Mahmoud, who is also known as Shatha Ayman.
As of August 2024, Abdo’s LinkedIn profile said he was slated to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Laurier in 2024 and that had been a data analyst intern at Mackenzie Investments since July 2024. Abdo’s LinkedIn also said he founded Arabs of Ontario in 2022.
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- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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