Toronto student sues university over antisemitic climate on campus

A Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) student has filed a claim alleging that the school failed to protect Jewish students from a “poisoned” campus environment marked by intimidation and harassment following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

The lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court, seeks $300,000 in general damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Plaintiff Liat Schwartz alleged TMU allowed “intimidating, offensive, demeaning, threatening” behavior to worsen over time.

“TMU’s self-proclaimed TMU Commitments and TMU Conduct Policies are mere platitudes, and the TMU Conduct Policies are not applied equally to those in the university community,” the claim states, citing the university’s failure to enforce or apply its own policies.

It points to statements by TMU and by Mohamed Lachemi, president of the university, released in the weeks following Oct. 7, against antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric, that “did not provide any guidance on what rhetoric TMU considered problematic.”

The claim describes rhetoric used on campus, including “Globalize the intifada,” “Only one solution, intifada revolution” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as well as interference with pro-Israel events, including one instance where attendees required police assistance to enter after demonstrators blocked access.

It highlights an off-campus event in November that was allegedly infiltrated by protesters who shouted slogans and shattered a glass door, injuring attendees. It also included an incident in February, when a masked individual threw a liquid at Jewish students staffing a table on campus.

The claim states that Schwartz had to hide her identity and ultimately leave the university. “The environment at TMU pushed me to a place I never thought I’d be—feeling like I no longer belonged on my own campus,” she said.

Richard Marceau, senior vice president and general counsel for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said that “no student should have to choose between their safety and their education.”

He stressed that “policies mean nothing if they aren’t enforced.”