After 46 days, an encampment set up on the grounds of UBC Okanagan to fight for Palestinian liberation has concluded.
Youth advocates in Kelowna joined the global movement of the People’s University for Gaza which is calling on universities to divest from companies that are profiting from or are complicit in the Israeli, “oppression and genocide of Palestinians.”
"Every day that we sustained the encampment was a day where we strengthened our organizing capacity beyond this university campus," said protest organizers, after maintaining the encampment past the end of the first summer term and graduation.
According to organizers, the university has "gone out of its way to tire us out."
Those from the UBCO encampment have consistently requested to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from the public and law enforcement. The group includes students, members of the public, and people from diverse backgrounds including people of Jewish heritage and Palestinian descent, immigrants, international students and Indigenous people.
"Instead of meaningfully engaging with our demands, UBC Okanagan has increased university and private security on campus around the clock," protesters said. "They closed access roads to the UBC Okanagan courtyard to obstruct the influx of community support and donations, surveilled campers, including following them to bathrooms, classrooms and workspaces, and attempted to single out organizers."
Organizers are currently beginning meetings with the UBC administration to state their demands for divestment, condemnation of genocide, campus safety and reaffirming Palestinians' rights to resist.
The decamping of the protest is being done to regroup and focus energies and efforts on "other pressure points."
"We are under no illusions, we do not believe that these meetings are wins," they said. "They are steps on the way towards meeting our demands."
According to a camper at the protest, “This is not the end of the line on this journey to divestment," they said.
We’re committed to continuing this fight until every single one of our demands is met, and the past seven weeks have shown us that we have the willpower, determination and perseverance to see this through. No matter what form that takes."
On May 16, UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon issued an official statement saying “We hope for a ceasefire and a lasting peaceful resolution in the Middle East.” He furthered the statement by explaining that to remain respectful of the broad range of opinions held by students and faculty of the university, the academic institution must remain neutral.
Bacon also said that the UBC Endowment Fund does not directly own any stocks in the companies identified by the movement. However, he said a small percentage of university funds managed by external investment managers have been invested in companies that were named as being “complicit in Israel’s numerous violations of Palestinian human right,” by the People’s University for Gaza.
Bacon says that UBC is willing to engage in divestment, but its endowment fund does not directly own stocks in companies identified by the movement.
Kelowna Capital News has reached out to UBC for comment on the conclusion of the encampment and more information regarding the meetings between the university and the protest organizers.