EXCLUSIVE: Mississauga university October 7 event honoured Hamas terrorists

A University of Toronto Mississauga student union event titled “honouring our martyrs,” which took place on the second anniversary of the deadly October 7 massacre.

A University of Toronto Mississauga student union event titled “honouring our martyrs,” which took place on the second anniversary of the deadly October 7 massacre, included death toll numbers from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between Hamas combatants and civilians.

When student union leaders were asked whether Hamas combatants were included among the “martyrs” the group was honouring at the event, Se Chan (Andrew) Park, the president of the student union and organizer of the event, denied that the group ever brought up Hamas during the ceremony.

The Vice President of University Affairs similarly refused to answer any media questions.

The student union did not respond to requests for comment when True North asked the group on Monday if they included Hamas terrorists as “Palestinian martyrs” that they were honouring, and why they chose October 7, a day when over 1,200 Israeli civilians were massacred. More than 250 Jews were taken as hostages, and an estimated 50 are still held by Hamas.

At least two of the speakers referenced Hamas death toll numbers, saying that over 65,000 Palestinians were killed when speaking about the martyrs they were honouring. Still, the student union leadership did not denounce these claims.

“According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 66,000 Palestinians have been killed and 168,000 injured since October. And these numbers are likely not accurate, as they are worse,” Sabrina, a spokesperson for the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council, said.

A lone counterprotester interrupted her speech, yelling that she should blame Hamas for the devastation.

The Gaza Health Ministry death toll numbers consistently do not distinguish between Hamas combatants and civilians killed. An unidentified spokesperson for the UTM Campus Muslim Association, who helped organize the event, similarly claimed that nearly 68,000 people had died from the “genocide in Gaza.”

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, the UTM student union also referenced Hamas’ numbers of Palestinians dead in what they call a “genocide” conducted by “Israeli occupation forces.”

“Since the beginning of the genocide in 2023, the Gaza Ministry of Health has reported at least 67,139 killed and 169,583 others injured during attacks on Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces,” the post reads.

The student union also references the “lives lost” on October 7 without noting that it was Hamas and the “resistance” that they promoted throughout the event, who conducted the largest slaughtering of Jewish people since the Holocaust on that day.

The CMPAC spokesperson also received backlash from the counterprotester during her speech, booing her when she claimed that Canada is “shaped by ongoing colonialism and white supremacy.”

“The very foundations of this country, a nation built on stolen land, the genocide of indigenous people here, the legacy of residential schools,” she said before receiving a loud boo from the crowd.

Sabrina from CMPAC ended the ceremony by saying, “From the river to the sea, free Palestine.” Many Jewish Canadians have said that the phrase is a call for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel.

Several speakers claimed that Israel was allegedly intentionally starving the people of Gaza, but did not mention that Hamas has been caught on video several times seizing aid trucks meant for the people of Gaza.

Although organizers of the event instructed the media not to interact with any students, one unnamed student wearing a keffiyeh in support of the event approached True North while they were recording. At first, the student claimed that no one mentioned Hamas, but when confronted about the death toll numbers used at the event, including Hamas, she admitted that she personally views Hamas as martyrs.

She also said that Hamas’ attack on October 7 wasn’t justified but that she “understands where the anger and hatred come from,” claiming that it was resistance due to being “occupied by Israel for 70 years.” She ended the conversation saying that Hamas was “doing their best.”

Conservative MP Roman Baber condemned the event during a statement from members in the House of Commons on Tuesday, calling the event a “celebration of murder.”