University of Calgary Encampment Demands Divestment from Israel
An encampment was established at the University of Calgary by the Calgary Student Movement on May 9 protesting the university's ties to Israel. In solidarity with the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Calgary Student Movement demands complete and permanent divestment from all corporations involved directly and indirectly in the surveillance, occupation, and murder of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. The encampment, which the students have labeled the Mohkinstsis Liberated Zone, will stay in place until the university meets the group's demands.
The student-led group says its intention is to draw the university's senior leadership's attention to their demands after a letter sent to the university's President Edward McCauley and Interim Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Penny Werthner, received no answer.
The students' demands are:
1. That the university fully disclose all of its direct and indirect investments, as well the sources of donations made to the university.
2. That the university fully disclose its decision-making process for choosing investments.
3. Complete and continued divestment from corporations that develop military technology in order to profit from wars globally, all corporations that play a role in suppressing Indigenous Peoples globally, and all corporations that have links to regimes under investigation by the International Criminal Court.
4. A full academic boycott of institutions complicit in the occupation of Palestine and oppression of Palestinians.
5. The provision of academic and mental health support for Palestinian students.
6. That the university adopt an Anti-Palestinian Racism Definition on campus with a zero-tolerance policy.
7. Recognition of the Palestinian genocide and a public statement condemning the atrocities committed by Israel.
"UCalgary should be a place of learning and community and not be invested in genocidal violence. There are no functioning universities left in Gaza and students just like us are being killed everyday. This has to stop," Ryn LaRoux of the Calgary Student Movement said.
Universities around the world such as Trinity College Dublin and the University of Barcelona have agreed to divest from Israel following student protests, the group informed, and Evergreen College in the U.S. will vote on divestment in October.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 32 - May 9, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS543211.HTM
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