Eva Guo (10) | STAFF REPORTER
In the spring of 2024, waves of Canadian students rallied on university campuses. Their goal? To show solidarity for Palestinians affected by the Israel-Palestine conflict, a push for greater awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza resulting in… zero meaningful change. While these protest encampments generated media attention, and the passion of these students is undeniable, such demonstrations are ineffective in furthering their cause and can even deter others from lending their support.
The protest encampments resulted in the disruption of everyday student life, not just for the protesters, but for the entire campus as well. On many campuses, the encampments set up by students blocked off key spaces, forcing students and faculty to navigate around the protest areas. The disruption went beyond physical space, creating tension within the students.
The interference with student life led to the main issue of the protest encampments. A general issue with such encampments is their radicalism, which often leads to the alienation of potential supporters. While there is no denying the passion and pure intentions of these students, the radical nature of their protests may have turned away those who might have been more sympathetic but were disturbed by their methods or annoyed by their disruption of everyday life.
Another key issue with this specific set of encampments was their lack of clear demands. While the cause of showing solidarity and raising awareness was demonstrative, the students involved in the encampments did not present a coherent set of goals that could lead to more concrete outcomes. What, specifically, had they hoped to achieve? Were they hoping to increase foreign aid to Palestine? More Israeli repercussions? The lack of a clear set of demands combined with the fleeting nature of protest encampments weakened their potential for creating real, lasting change.
As touching and noble as the intentions of the students and their goal may have been, their method of protest through encampments ultimately fell short of creating any meaningful change for their cause.