Last night’s AMS Council meeting was a more lively one than usual.
The majority of the meeting was spent deliberating the contentious referendum question that — if passed by students — would commit the AMS to calling on UBC to cut ties with what they describe as “Israeli Universities that Uphold Apartheid.”
The referendum defined "cutting ties” as “the full termination of all academic, research, and institutional collaborations with Israeli universities, and refraining from entering any new partnerships, programs, or initiatives that could support or legitimize these institutions.”
The referendum follows in the wake of anger from pro-Palestinian groups around the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies’ past global seminars in Israel and Go Global’s current partnership with universities in Israel.
Academic relationships between UBC and Israel have been repeatedly contested by pro-Palestinian groups on campus. In a 2024 Senate meeting, a similar motion was proposed and failed with 16 votes in favour and 49 opposed. During the meeting, a vigil was held by protesters from the Palestinian solidarity encampment.
Over two dozen students representing pro-Palestinian and Jewish student groups on campus, who had announced their attendance over social media, began filling the gallery seats in Michael Kingsmill Forum. Many in attendance wanted to speak to the referendum, two of whom had registered their interest before the publication of the meeting’s agenda. Over the course of the meeting, students actively put themselves forward to speak.
The AMS Code limits student speakers to three per meeting, but Graduate Student Society (GSS) representative Bryan Buraga moved to suspend code to allow more speakers. After multiple votes from Council, six students were allowed to speak.
Carmella Gray-Cosgrove — a self-described Jewish-Canadian graduate student — said “the Israeli state has developed laws and policies that are intended to fragment, dispossess and segregate the Palestinian population, to maintain control over them and deprive them of economic, social and political rights. Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Technion University are active participants in this system of apartheid.”
In 2025, a United Nations commission released a report that found Israel’s attacks on religious, cultural, and educational sites constituted war crimes.
Yara Ahmed — a PhD student in the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice — followed with saying, “holding our universities accountable for their roles in the apartheid regime in so-called Israel is a small step toward politicizing and raising awareness of the injustices of the world and our complicities in it.”
In reply to Ahmed, Arts Councillor Kevin Nicklin shared that Ahmed was a former TA of his and made a point about the significance of education in Palestinian culture. “As university students, it's so important that we use our privilege to speak and speak with power. As we know now, every single university within the Gaza Strip has been destroyed, and something that's so instrumental to Palestinian culture is no longer there.”
Nicklin said he didn’t view the referendum as controversial. Rather, “it just asks if we as a student body want to advocate to UBC whether we support apartheid or not, and I think we as a council do have an obligation to let our students decide what their student union wants from them.”
Alexa — a Palestinian-American graduate student — said that “being pro-Palestine is not the same as being antisemitic, and believing otherwise is wilful ignorance …Every day I live in fear that someone from my family will be arrested or killed by IDF attacks for simply being Palestinian.” Alexa, who did not provide a last name, aimed her speech at the AMS, saying, “It is our responsibility as young scholars to stand with oppressed populations, and that includes Palestinians living under apartheid in their own land.”
Buraga said the AMS “should continue to amplify the voices of our students that have been fighting for this year after year, and not stand in their way when they ask us are in our fiduciary responsibilities to advocate for them on their behalf.”
“There's so much power that we have in this room,” he said.
After Buraga, Rachel — a second-year student — spoke against the referendum. She said, “speaking up as a Jewish student comes with consequences that hinders our safety and makes us targets. When this is the type of campus environment that AMS is fostering, we need to pause and reflect on our values as a student body as a whole.”
“Academic freedom must protect the rights of students who do wish to study in Israel. This referendum does not affect Israeli leadership or have any effect on the conflict that is happening overseas. It affects UBC students.”
Rachel’s speech did not receive any response from councillors or executives.
Dayla Hart, speaking in favour of the referendum, said “we owe better to our fellow students” than to permit arrangement within Israel’s “racist system.”
Amnesty International, the International Court of Justice, and the United Nations — among other human rights organizations — have all used the word “apartheid” to describe Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. The UN Human Rights Council report cited in the referendum says, “In Israel, universities – particularly law schools, archaeology, and Middle Eastern studies departments – contribute to the ideological scaffolding of apartheid.”
Hart said UBC students participating in a program in Israel risk facing racial discrimination, referencing the Government of Canada’s travel advisories that state “individuals of Palestinian or Arab descent may be subject to increased scrutiny, detention, or arrest.”
“I'm white, I'll be fine, but my Arab-Canadian friends will not have that same opportunity without facing incredible discrimination and literal threats to life. So we, by having this relationship with these universities, are extending that apartheid racism here to our fellow students.”
Solomon Yi-Kiernan — VP External — spoke in support of the referendum. Student movements have been critical to social change throughout history, they said. They asked “why Palestine should be any different,” when students have “overwhelmingly shown that they care about this issue year after year.”
Board of Governors representative Jasper Lorien pushed Council to take a “yes position” on the referendum, committing the AMS to Policy 94 GV5, which states, “The Society shall be neutral in all referenda unless Council decides by resolution to support a side. Council may only support one side in a referendum.”
“It's time that the AMS and UBC as a whole stand up and have some moral clarity on these issues,” they said.
After Lorien spoke, Parolin — who confirmed the referendum had received over 1,000 verified signatures — motioned to move in-camera. Council spent over 90 minutes discussing the referendum. When it reconvened, only students supporting the referendum were still there.
After a secret ballot vote on whether to endorse the referendum, Council Speaker Josh Bradbury confirmed that “with 14 votes in favour and 10 against, with one abstention, the motion is agreed to.”
With the referendum on the ballot with the AMS’ support, voters will have their say on March 9 when voting for this year’s elections opens.
