Anti-Israel encampment sued for $1.5M by University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is suing the organizers and participants of the anti-Israel encampment on campus for $1.5 million.

Court documents published on the university's website say that the school is seeking "damages in the amount of $1,500,000" for trespassing as well as intimidation and damage to property. It lists "persons unknown" and seven specific people by name, including their emails.

The lawsuit calls on the protesters to stop camping on the main campus and to never do so again.

"Since May 13, 2024, the Defendants have conducted an illegal occupation of the University of Waterloo’s private property. A group of protesters unlawfully took over the green space next to the Graduate House on the University of Waterloo’s main campus, setting up what they call an 'indefinite encampment.' This encampment consists of tents and structures surrounded by wooden barriers, effectively barricading a highly utilized central location on the University’s campus and preventing free access to, from, and through the site," it reads.

Additionally, it instructs the defendants to restore the school's property to its condition as of May 12, including the removal of all fences, tents, shelters, barriers, rubbish, and more.

Participants in the encampment have also been ordered to cease interfering with the university’s Senate and Board of Governors meetings, as well as any other school meetings.

The group representing the encampment posted to Instagram that it was "shameful" for the school to issue the lawsuit and points the finger at the institution for its "complicity in a genocide that's 9 months in and has claimed the lives of over 40,000."

"History will absolve us," the post says, likely in reference to a Fidel Castro speech of the same title. "But you admin, how will you be remembered?"

Protesters demand that the school disclose its investments and that it divest from any connections to Israel.

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