The University of Guelph has committed a blatant act of anti-Palestinian repression by targeting the People's Conference for Palestinian Solidarity with their last minute cancellation of the conference. This cancellation was issued without warning, explanation or any transparency in their reasoning. This represents a direct attack on academic freedom, human rights advocacy, and the Palestinian community.

This is a major academic conference-months in development, fully booked with 400 attendees, involving speakers traveling nationally and internationally, complete with panels, workshops, community programming and childcare-has been shut down by an opaque letter sent to organizers four days before its opening. Despite its commitment to the principles of academic freedom, the University of Guelph has undermined scholarship, community engagement, and freedom of expression on its campus. This is anti-Palestinian racism masquerading as administrative authority.

This timing is also not accidental. As Israel continues its more than two-year genocide and scholasticide in Gaza, documented by major human rights organizations, Canadian universities should be protecting spaces of inquiry and learning. Instead, the University of Guelph has chosen to silence Palestinian voices, dismantle community education and punish those who organize in solidarity with an oppressed people.

We therefore issue the following non-negotiable demands:

1. A full public accounting in writing of how this decision was made, who authorized it, what external influence (if any) was applied, and why no rationale was provided.

2. A detailed explanation of how this politically motivated cancellation aligns with the University’s professed commitments to academic freedom, equity, human rights, and non-discrimination.

3. Concrete corrective measures to ensure that anti-Palestinian racism is not embedded in the University’s administrative practices, including transparent procedures for event review and guarantees of equal treatment for Pro-Palestinian academic initiatives.

4. A formal written apology to the organizers, speakers, attendees and the broader Palestinian community for the discriminatory cancellation, for the material and academic harm it caused and for the breach of trust and academic integrity.

The damage caused by this decision is already immense—financially, academically, and emotionally. But the deeper damage is to the University’s own integrity. If the University of Guelph intends to be taken seriously as an institution committed to equity, justice, and academic freedom, it must reverse course immediately and publicly.

This decision will not be forgotten. The academic community, the public, and the global movement for Palestinian liberation are watching closely. The University now has a choice: correct this discriminatory abuse of power, or cement itself in the growing record of institutions that attempted to suppress Palestinian scholarship—and failed.