Hundreds of UBC alumni, workers issue letter of support for pro-Palestinian encampment

Almost 800 members of the UBC community issued an open letter Monday, stating their support of the pro-Palestinian student encampment at the university.

The open letter, sent to seven of UBC’s leaders, states that as alumni members and current and former workers and staff of the university, “we unequivocally support the UBC student encampment on Musqueam lands in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people.”

“The students join a global student movement pressuring universities to disclose their investments and divest from Israeli genocide,” the letter read.

Iman Baobeid did her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the university. She says she felt compelled to help draft the letter because she wants to see UBC divest from war companies (such as weapons manufacturers), cut ties with certain Israeli institutions, and condemn the “genocide” in Gaza.

“We know that we stand on the right side of history and I’m hopeful that UBC can meet us there,” she told CityNews.

Baobeid says her alma mater invested $16 million in war companies in 2023, including weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Airbus and Northrop Grumman.

Israel uses those companies to “massacre” people in Gaza, she says, adding that it’s “unconscionable for students in any university to sit by while their institutions fund these war crimes.”

The letter claims that UBC is linked to three universities in Israel which conduct research on behalf of the Israel forces, and are “complicit in Israel’s violation of international law.”

Baobeid says every university in Gaza has been destroyed and called the bombardment a “scholasticide.”

“The struggle continues until we see every university in Gaza rebuilt and until Palestine is free,” she said.

The letter states that student have “exhausted” all means at their disposal, including petitions, letters, and meetings.

“Their escalation is necessary. We recognize and celebrate students who have created a welcoming and safe encampment for all those seeking liberation for Palestine. As alumni and workers of UBC, we join the students in urging UBC to take a moral and immediate stance to end the genocide,” the open letter stated.

The encampment was erected a week ago, with community members from across the Lower Mainland coming together on MacInnes Field on April 29.

The action being taken at UBC was organized alongside thousands of students across Canada and the United States who are demanding institutions of education pull their financial investments in Israel.

The letter comes as on Monday morning, Hamas says it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal to halt the seven-month war with Israel.

Details of the ceasefire were not immediately released.