View this in pdf format Montreal, March 24, 2026 — The Anti-Racism Program of the CJPME Foundation (ARPCF) expresses serious concerns over the decision by Toronto Police to prohibit pro-Palestinian demonstrations on residential streets in the York Centre area. While authorities have framed this measure as a response to safety concerns, the APRCF argues that restricting access to public space based on the political content or location of protest raises profound civil liberties issues. The right to peaceful assembly is a cornerstone of a democratic society, and any limitation on that right must be narrowly justified, evidence-based, and applied without discrimination.  

View this report in PDF format. On November 2, 2023, Hani Alaf, a Syrian-Canadian postgraduate student at Humber College, engaged in a peaceful protest by placing stickers around the Lakeshore campus. These stickers, which displayed the Palestinian flag along with the phrase "Boycott Israeli Apartheid," were intended to highlight and protest against Israel’s systemically racist policies in Palestine.[1] Alaf’s action was a form of political expression rooted in international human rights advocacy. However, the college's response was swift and severe. Two days after the stickers were posted, while Alaf was in class, he was approached by a member of the college's public safety department. He was instructed to leave the campus immediately. Alaf reported that he was accused of spreading hate speech, engaging in antisemitic rhetoric, and vandalizing property.[2] This reaction by the college sparked a significant controversy, as it appeared to conflate his support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Movement and anti-apartheid stance with antisemitism and hate speech, raising concerns about the college’s suppression of political expression and academic freedom. The incident quickly escalated, leading to a broader discussion on the rights of students to engage in political protests without fear of undue penalization. The punishment taken against Alaf, which many perceived as an infringement on his freedom of speech, catalyzed a series of organized protests and expressions of solidarity by other members of the Humber College community.