At noon on September 12, Palestinian solidarity protestors gathered on MacInnes Field before marching to Koerner Library to call on UBC to meet their demands.
Rally organizers, which included encampment organizers and Student Strike for Palestine UBC, demanded UBC divest from companies organizers say are complicit in Palestinian human rights violations and condemn the genocide and scholasticide in Gaza.
These demands have previously been made by encampment organizers and other Palestinian solidarity groups on campus.
- Palestinian solidarity group holds silent sit-in outside Koerner Library
- Palestinian solidarity protesters block intersection, demonstrate outside Chan Centre
Protestors criticized UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon for refusing to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza.
According to a United Nations-appointed independent expert, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. UN experts are also “deeply concerned” regarding the scholasticide in Gaza.
Organizers said Bacon wrote in a September 3 statement “that geopolitical conflicts and humanitarian crises in Gaza, Ukraine, and other parts of the world are of grave concern for many in our community and around the world.”
“Calling the genocide in Gaza a geopolitical conflict is an insult to the people of Palestine, and it reflects a refusal to confront the truth,” one protestor said at MacInnes Field.
RCMP and Campus Security were present during the protest, and some Campus Security officers were seen filming protesters. When The Ubyssey asked RCMP why it was observing the protest, an officer said the RCMP was “just doing a patrol.”
In a statement to The Ubyssey, then-Acting Senior Director of UBC Media Relations Matthew Ramsey wrote “Campus Security were present to ensure community safety as is standard process.”
“The safety and security of our campus community is our foremost priority.”
Protesters chanted “Liberation is our mission, no more war with our tuition” and “UBC is painted red, over 50,000 dead” as they marched to Bacon’s Koerner Library office.
A few protesters spoke while one member passed out chalk for the gathered crowd to write messages on the ground in front of the library.
“Why do the students have to be out here in front of your office when they should be continuing their education, [getting] ready to make the world a better place?” said Matt, a leader of Student Strike for Palestine.
Another protester spoke about how the destruction of universities in Gaza have negatively impacted the mental health of Palestinian students.
“To sit at a desk and read [is] no longer a possibility, but a symbol of a past life that feels increasingly out of reach,” they said. “It is unfathomable that an institution like the University of British Columbia is remaining silent in the face of scholasticide.”
Protesters offered no comment to The Ubyssey other than to encourage students to join their cause.
Protesters chanted “Liberation is our mission, no more war with our tuition” and “UBC is painted red, over 50,000 dead” as they marched to Bacon’s Koerner Library office.
A few protesters spoke while one member passed out chalk for the gathered crowd to write messages on the ground in front of the library.
“Why do the students have to be out here in front of your office when they should be continuing their education, [getting] ready to make the world a better place?” said Matt, a leader of Student Strike for Palestine who helped plan the UBC walkout for Palestine.
Another protester spoke about how the destruction of universities in Gaza have negatively impacted the mental health of Palestinian students.
“To sit at a desk and read [is] no longer a possibility, but a symbol of a past life that feels increasingly out of reach,” they said. “It is unfathomable that an institution like the University of British Columbia is remaining silent in the face of scholasticide.”
Protesters offered no comment to The Ubyssey other than to encourage students to join their cause.
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