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United in Action: Lessons for Collective Change

Campus organizing has always played a critical role in the gains achieved by broader social justice movements - in the case of Palestine, campuses have been the primary space of Palestine organizing. Last year, one student encampment at Columbia university sparked hundreds globally including in Canada that pressured complicit universities to divest from apartheid Israel. The results varied from campus to campus - but greater than that was the solidarity both on and off campus and between campus that was formed and clear message of no business as usual in a genocide. These sites were hubs of strategic organizing and community building.

This panel with share reflections from recent student organizing to explore how movements, on campuses and beyond, thrive when diverse capacities come together. From student organizing to labour solidarity, and political and media engagement, the panellists will share their experiences in their unique role, the practical limitations of their work, and how these roles intersect to amplify campaigns and sustain momentum across contexts.

The discussion will explore:

• How students, workers, and academics can collaborate effectively across spaces.

• Practical strategies for organizing, communicating, and maintaining movement momentum.

• Lessons learned from challenges, successes, and cross-sector collaboration.

By centering both the strengths and limits of each role, this panel highlights how collective action relies on networks of power and solidarity.

Panellists:

• Sara Rasikh, PhD student at U of T, community organizer

• Marianna Reis, PhD, President CUPE 3902

• D2, Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) - UAW 2710 member

• Mohammed Yassin, U of T student organizer, PYM

• Joshua Sealy-Harrington, Chair in Palestinian Human Rights in Canada, Windsor Law

Copresented with: Occupy Toronto, Tkaraonto Student Solidarity with Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement

Sara Rasikh (she/her) is a community organizer and PhD student based in Tkaronto. She was a spokesperson and organizer for the People’s Circle encampment at U of T. She has over seven years of experience in gender justice and Palestine solidarity organizing and her research at the University of Toronto focuses on anti-colonial social justice movements and transnational feminist theories.

Joshua Sealy-Harrington is an Associate Professor, Chair in Palestinian Human Rights in Canada and the Chair of Equality Law at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. Before joining Windsor Law, Joshua supported TMU Law students who were attacked for a letter in support of Palestine. Joshua also was a Law Clerk at the Federal Court and Supreme Court of Canada, as well as an Assistant Professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, where he was awarded “Professor of the Year” by the student body and “Person of the Year” by the faculty association for his steadfast defence of academic and Palestinian freedom. Joshua’s research (as a doctoral student at Columbia Law School) and advocacy (as Counsel at Power Law) apply critical legal theory to questions of socio-legal identity and justice, with a particular focus on Black and Palestinian solidarity/resistance.

Marianna Reis is an organizer, researcher, and educator living in Toronto. Her doctoral research examined urban planning, infrastructure, and the materialities of settler colonialism for ‘48 Palestinians. She is the current president of CUPE 3902, which represents more than 10,000 contract academic workers at the University of Toronto.

D2, Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) - UAW 2710 member (identifying information not included for their protection)

Mohammad Yassin is an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement and an alumnus of the University of Toronto. As a student, he worked to push UofT to divest from and cut ties with institutions that propagate the genocidal Israeli regime. During OccupyUofT's encampment at the People's Circle for Palestine, he took on the role of media spokesperson and was a member of the negotiation team that met with the university's administration.