We must protect journalism and freedom of speech, on campus and beyond
The Strand, as a student newspaper, intends to reflect the conversations happening on campus. Our team felt it would be disingenuous to our purpose not to have a special edition focusing on the central topic of campus dialogue and politics for the past year. Our contributors have been talking about Palestine long before October 7, 2023, and we hope this issue will not be the last time our pages are filled by student writings about this nation, its people, and the ongoing genocide.
After we announced this special edition, I received an email from Victoria University President Rhonda McEwen passing along concerns. I want to make it very clear that The Strand does not publish any form of hate speech. As we have printed in every edition and listed on our website, “we will not publish material deemed to exhibit racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other oppressive language.” Each piece published in this issue, as with every article we publish, was reviewed by multiple copyeditors and members of our Masthead to assure these principles are upheld and all statements of fact are supported by clear and trustworthy evidence. Calling out colonialism and acknowledging the precisely and painfully documented genocide does not violate our principles, but upholds them. Alongside our commitment against hate speech of all forms, we feel a responsibility to uplift the voices of students facing oppressive forces and censorship based on their identities or critical engagement with those in power. As such, we offered honorariums for Palestinian students who contributed to the paper, for both articles and the cover illustration.
Some of the authors in this special edition have asked to be made anonymous due to fears for their safety and futures at this university, following the actions taken by UofT against student activists this past summer. It is gravely unfortunate that the University of Toronto has cultivated an environment where students fear engaging in critical dialogue. In response to the People’s Circle for Palestine, the university created new restrictions on students’ ability to protest. These new limits include a ban on all political actions between the hours of 11pm–7am, prohibition against what they deem to be “excessive noise” from the use of “amplifiers, megaphones, [or] microphones,” and the prohibition of protests on campus without authorization from the administration for fear of trespassing. Potentially their strangest new regulation is that protests are not allowed to disrupt classes, governance meetings, or other proceedings on campus. I personally find this restriction puzzling considering that the history of social action has relied on disruptive protests. The brave acts of social change we are taught about in our classes and that are championed by members of the university would no longer be allowed at UofT.
Free speech and journalism go hand-in-hand. Journalism as a practice has been targeted in the ongoing attacks in Gaza. In September, Israel raided and closed one of Al Jazeera’s news offices. They used explosives to break in, and threatened its reporters to leave as the military confiscated CCTV cameras and broadcasting equipment which aired their raid. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimated that between October 7, 2023 and October 9, 2024, at least 114 journalists and media workers were killed. They have called it the “deadliest period for journalists” since their tracking began in 1992. I truly feel that the voice of students and student journalists is incredibly important during these times to put pressure on local authorities and powers to take action in support of those facing oppression. That being said, it is the journalists on the ground putting their lives at risk to document the realities in Palestine who deserve the most recognition and protection in these times. In the spirit of solidarity, the remainder of this Editorial will list off the names of the journalists killed since October 7, 2023, as documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Abdallah Alwan, Abdallah Iyad Breis, Abdul Rahman Saima, Abdulhadi Habib, Abdullah Darwish, Adel Zorob, Adham Hassouna, Ahmad Jamal al Madhoun, Ahmed Abu Mhadi, Ahmed Al-Qara, Ahmed Bdeir, Ahmed Khaireddine, Ahmed Shehab, Akram ElShafie, Alaa Al-Hams, AlHassan Hamad, Amjad Juhjouh, Angam Ahmad Edwan, Assem Kamal Moussa, Ayat Khadoura, Ayman Al-Gharbawi, Ayman Al-Rafati, Bahaaddine Yassine, Bilal Jadallah, Duaa Jabbour, Duaa Sharaf, Farah Omar, Hamada Al-Yaziji, Hamza Al Dahdouh, Hamza Murtaja, Haneen Kashtan, Hassouneh Salim, Heba Al-Abadla, Hisham Alnwajha, Husam Mubarak, Hussam al-Dabbaka, Ibrahim Al-Gharbawi, Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi, Ibrahim Muhareb, Ismail Al Ghoul, Issam Abdallah, Issam Bhar, Iyad El-Ruwagh, Iyad Matar, Jabr Abu Hadrous, Jamal Al-Faqaawi, Jamal Mohamed Haniyeh, Khalil Abu Aathra, Mahmoud Juhjouh, Majd Fadl Arandas, Marwan Al Sawaf, Mohamad Al-Bayyari, Mohamad Al-Iff, Mohamed Abu Hassira, Mohamed El-Reefi, Mohamed Jamal Sobhi Al-Thalathini, Mohamed Manhal Abu Armana, Mohamed Mouin Ayyash, Mohamed Nabil Al-Zaq, Mohamed Naser Abu Huwaidi, Mohamed Yaghi, Mohammad Balousha, Mohammad Jarghoun, Mohammed Abed Rabbo, Mohammed Abu Daqqa, Mohammed Abu Hatab, Mohammed Abu Jasser, Mohammed Al-Salhi, Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Atallah, Mohammed Bassam Al Jamal, Mohammed Imad Labad, Mohammed Issa Abu Saada, Mohammed Sobh, Mohmmed Abu Sharia, Montaser Al Sawaf, Mossab Ashour, Mostafa Al Sawaf, Mostafa Bakeer, Moussa Al-Borsh, Muhammad Salama, Mustafa Ayyad, Mustafa Thuraya, Nafez Abdel Jawad, Ola Al Dahdouh, Ola Atallah, Rabih Al Maamari, Rami Al Refee, Rasheed Albably, Rizq Al-Gharabli, Roee Idan, Roshdi Sarraj, Saadi Madoukh, Saed Al-Halabi, Saeed al-Taweel, Saher Akram Rayan, Salam Mema, Sameeh Al-Nady, Samer Abu Daqqa, Sari Mansour, Shaima El-Gazzar, Shareef Okasha, Tamim Abu Muammar, Tarek El Sayed Abu Skheil, Wafa Al-Udaini, Wafaa Abu Dabaan, Yacoup Al-Borsh, Yahya Abu Manih, Yaniv Zohar, Yasser Abu Namous, Yasser Mamdouh El-Fady, Yazan al-Zuweidi, Yousef Maher Dawas, Zayd Abu Zayed
