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Sara Rasikh
Sara Rasikh organized and led anti-Israel protests at a pro-Hamas encampment at UofT in May 2024. She has also expressed support for Hamas terrorists and called for an intifada.
On May 2, 2024, Rasikh gave an interview to CTV News, in which she said [00:00:25]: “...concerning the ongoing genocide in Palestine, our ultimate goal is to urge UofT to be a leader in divesting…we will not leave…until our demands are met.”
Also on May 2, 2024, Rasikh was quoted by Reuters as saying: “If public disruption is the only way to get our voice heard, then we are willing to do that.”
Rasikh also reportedly said: “We spent the last six months engaging in every form of protest at our disposal…The administration has ignored our demands and attempted to intimidate us into silence. We are left with no other choice but to escalate.”
On May 10, 2024, Rasikh spoke at a press conference at the encampment, saying [00:12:23]: “...reducing the Palestinian call for liberation and this very legitimate movement to being hateful, to being anti-Semitic - that is racism…”
UofT is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sara Rasikh’s Leading the Pro-Hamas Encampment at the University of Toronto (UofT)
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.
On October 7, 2023, the day of an unprecedented massacre of Israeli Jews by Hamas terrorists, Rasikh posted on X: “If you’re in Canada and can’t access media about the resistance in occupied #Palestine happening right now, stay updated here…#Fromtherivertothesea.”
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Many Palestinian civilians participated in and supported the attacks, and Gazans working in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.
For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.
“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 October 13, 2023, Rasikh commented: “❤️
✊🏼” on a statement posted on Instagram by The Palestine Forum (TPF), which expressed support for “the persistent resistance efforts of the Palestinian people…the right of Palestinians to defend themselves against settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.”
On October 18, 2023, Rasikh’s father posted on Instagram a video showing Rasikh participating in a pro-Hamas protest in Toronto.
On October 17, 2023, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Toronto4Palestine held a pro-Hamas protest outside the Israeli consulate in Toronto.
Protesters participated in the pro-terror chant: “There is only one solution! Intifada, revolution!” Speakers at the protest said [00:06:25] people must “understand Palestinian resistance as fundamentally just” and led protesters in chanting [00:07:10] “long live the resistance!” Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to glorify terrorism.
On April 1, 2024, Rasikh led an anti-Israel rally at UoT, which was part of a protest of students “occupying the U of T president’s office.” Rasikh led anti-Israel protesters in chanting: “There is only one solution! Intifada revolution!”
The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.
Sara Rasikh is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of August 2024, Rasikh’s LinkedIn said she had been “Elected Chair, BDS Caucus” UofT’s Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) since August 2024.
In 2024, Rasikh was an activist with the Toronto chapter of the pro-terror group Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM).
As of January 2024, Rasikh was an organizer with Tkarón:to Students in Solidarity with Palestine (TSSP) at UofT.
In 2023, Rasikh was an organizer with The Palestine Forum (TPF), an anti-Israel activist group at UofT. As of August 2024, Rasikh’s LinkedIn said she was an executive member of TPF from September 2021 to April 2022.
As of the same date, Rasikh’s LinkedIn also said she graduated from UofT with a master’s degree in September 2023, reportedly in “social justice education.” She also received a bachelor’s degree from UofT in 2022 in “Ethics, Society & Law & Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity.”
As of June 2024, Rasikh’s LinkedIn said she had been a graduate assistant at the Tkaronto CIRCLE Lab since 2023. In this position, she was “Working under the supervision of” Eve Tuck, a professor who showed support for Hamas after October 7, 2023.
As of the same date, Rasikh’s LinkedIn also said she had been a program manager at Public Outreach Fundraising since June 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
