On November 21, the sound of whistles, clanging and chants of “free Palestine” and “divest now” could be heard as students made their way to class in Buchanan.
Starting at 10 a.m., the protest organized by Palestine Strike Action encouraged students to boycott class and demand UBC divest from companies protestors say are complicit in Palestinian human rights violations.
According to a report issued by a United Nations-appointed independent expert, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
On November 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and a Hamas military commander Mohammed al-Masri for alleged war crimes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will abide by the ICC’s ruling.
Protesters had set up two tents in the centre of Buchanan’s courtyard and had people near door entrances walking in circles, handing out flyers while blowing whistles, hitting tin plates together or banging plastic boxes. The flyers had the groups demands for UBC on it, which included terminating Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (AMNE) archeological evacuations on Palestinian land, keeping police off campus and cutting academic ties to complicit Israeli universities.
While the protestors were attempting to deter people from attending classes, before the protest began one organizer told the crowd that “we're not preventing people from entering” and that there should be no pushing or shoving of any students.
Also present were a few protestors wearing reflective yellow vests. These people were called ‘anchors’ and each group had one to ensure everyone’s safety.
The strike lasted until 2 p.m. and multiple Campus Security officers were present both around and inside the building. RCMP cars were also present.
Director of UBC Media Relations Matthew Ramsey wrote in a statement to The Ubyssey that “the university upholds the right to peaceful protest and the safety and security of the campus community is our first priority.”
May Lim, Palestine Strike Action’s media liaison, told The Ubyssey in an interview that the protest was part of a larger international day of university action organized by National Students for Justice in Palestine.
Similar strikes happened at other post-secondary institutions like Concordia and Dawson College.
Lim also said “we have been in conversation with … the administration since mid-June. They're very well aware of our demands … So far, we've not been able to get to something that we think [is] worthy of an institution of the caliber of the University of British Columbia.”
Lim said it’s important for UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon to release a statement on the matter, since UBC set a precedent when former President Santa Ono released a statement on Russia and Ukraine.
“[UBC has] used words that have spoken about atrocities ... [But now] they cite neutrality as the reason why they can't. And it's not neutral if you speak about one group, but you don't speak about another,” Lim said.
“There are days when I'm just so shocked that the administration is pretending that nothing is happening … the fact that as a university, we are putting our heads in the sand is a source of embarrassment for me.”
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