Press Release

U of A Encampment Charter Challenge Begins

On April 10, 2026, two recent alumni and a professor from the University of Alberta filed a Charter challenge against the University. The challenge asserts that the University of Alberta, in dismantling the “People’s University for Palestine” and forcibly removing student and faculty protestors, violated their rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association, which are protected under sections 2(b), 2(c), and 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The People's University for Palestine was established in response to the University of Alberta’s efforts to ignore, silence, marginalize, and punish students, faculty, and staff horrified by Israel’s brutal atrocities against the Palestinian people and by the University’s refusal to publicly disclose and withdraw its massive investments in these crimes. Following the University’s repeated refusals to engage in dialogue, beginning on May 9, 2024 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members set up a temporary protest encampment on the Main Quad –  a historic and recognized place for protest at the University, including various forms of direct action over numerous decades. The encampment’s goals were to raise public awareness of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, convey solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and across the world, and to demand that the university divest from institutions and companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine. 

Less than 48 hours later at dawn on May 11, 2024, the University of Alberta, rather than engaging with the community’s concerns, directed the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to forcibly remove protestors from Main Quad and dismantle the encampment. Following the police’s violent descent on the encampment – where they used batons and smoke on protesters, threw chairs, and blocked exits – the University of Alberta released a statement claiming that protesters “peacefully dispersed.” The administration responded with police force despite no violent incidents or threats to public safety from protesters. 

While this lawsuit addresses the Charter violations related to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, the student-led movement continues to demand: 

• Full disclosure of the University’s public and private investment holdings;

• Complete divestment from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, genocide, occupation, and war crimes;

• Reform of relevant University investment policies to ensure alignment with international law and human rights standards. 

As the case proceeds, the plaintiffs and their supporters will be standing up for the right of students and staff to dissent and enact their constitutionally protected rights to expression, assembly, and association on University grounds without facing intimidation, police repression, or institutional retaliation. The originating application can be found here.

Free Palestine.

Any questions or requests for comment can be addressed to co-counsel for the plaintiffs, Mustafa Farooq <mustafa@nandalaw.ca>.