Kayla Prince // Contributor
Encampments held at the University of Victoria (UVic) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) protesting institutional support of the genocide in Gaza were disbanded in July. According to a study by the Lancet journal, Israel may have killed over 186,000 Palestinians as of July 5, and the remaining civilian population continues to suffer from constant displacement and the mass spread of famine and disease. Students’ activism in support of Gaza following the end of the encampments will assume new forms.
The People’s Park UVic, the student organization that organized the protests, posted a written statement on July 22 via an Instagram post after receiving a trespassing notice from UVic protestors needed to dissolve by that date or the school would pursue legal action against them. People’s Park UVic detail their experience of “[having] been surveilled 24/7 by Campus Security [and] private security” hired by UVic, and being “subject to violent harassment and assault from agitators that the University was unable to protect [them] from.” Despite the “policing and escalatory efforts” taken by the campus against them, the group’s commitment to Indigenous and Palestinian sovereignty has not been swayed, and they are “reorienting to a new set of strategies and tactics, that [they] anticipate will be more effective in bringing about action on [their] demands.”
In a statement, the University of Victoria posted on July 30, the institution cited, “safety concerns, ongoing property damage,” and “complaints about experiences of antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate” from protestors as reasons for the shut down. UVic states that they respect students’ “right to protest and to criticize and challenge the institution,” but that they require students “to act in a responsible manner that respects the rights of… the university community.”
In Vancouver, student protestors at UBC gathered in the MacInnes Field starting in late April. The Instagram account @peoplesuniversityubc made a post listing safety tips and community agreements to be followed by all involved with the encampment, ensuring protestors agreed to “not talk to cops… campus security… agitators or counter-protestors,” that masks would be provided and required in the camp, and that they have “no tolerance for discrimination” of any kind.
People’s University UBC posted on July 7 that they “decamped on [their] own terms – just like [they] will win on [their] own terms. Campus organizing did not begin and will not end with this encampment.” They state that they’ll employ “a variety of tactics and strategies” going forward with their public action. Encouraging students to “not let the encampment be the last time you engage with student organizing.”
People’s Park UVic and People’s University UBC have also posted in solidarity with Vancouver Island University (VIU) students, their encampment in support of Palestine still going strong as they fight a lawsuit that VIU filed against them. Courtroom hearings were held in Vancouver in early August, despite their protesting taking place in Nanaimo. The case is still on-going as of publication.
The public outcry from protestors at UVic, UBC and VIU has not gone unnoticed by their respective administrations, and has succeeded in bringing communities together in support for the human rights of Palestinians. Capilano students that wish to organize, can fill out a google sheet linked in the Instagram bio of @capstudentsforpalestine to join the cause. “It’s a very new group …pushing for disclosure, divestment, and student support,” a leading member that wished to remain anonymous states.
Public action has been taken by others in the greater Vancouver community. 80 or so autonomous, queer pro-Palestinian protestors interrupted Vancouver’s Pride Parade in a peaceful demonstration, following similar protests that have interfered with pride marches across the country. An attendee of the protest who wished to remain anonymous, described the objectives of the interference: “[a] big goal was blocking off the road so [MPs participating in the parade] couldn’t pass and had to listen.”