Police move in on UBC pro-Palestinian protesters escalating action
Posted May 29, 2024 8:40 am.
Last Updated May 29, 2024 4:50 pm.
Police officers moved in on pro-Palestinian protesters taking part in the encampment at UBC after they ramped up their actions against the university’s administrators Wednesday morning.
Dozens of protesters gathered in the area of University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall around 7 a.m. and created problems for buses getting in and out of the area.
A rally organized by the People’s University for Gaza at UBC began at 11 a.m., and RCMP and Vancouver Police Department officers quickly moved in, threatening arrests, around 11:10 a.m.
As of 11:30 a.m., at least one protester had been arrested, with police also threatening to arrest members of the media.
On Tuesday night, the activists gave the university’s president until 8 a.m. to give in to their demands, including divesting from companies that have links to Israel and stopping any research projects with Israeli universities.
According to the UBC People’s University, president Benoit-Antoine Bacon’s recent comments at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in Ottawa on Monday show that the “university is not acting in good faith.”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!“He reiterated ex-President Santa Ono’s rejection of the BDS movement and expressed continued opposition to it. He also spoke in favour of possibly adopting the IHRA definition, which has been widely criticized by scholars, academics and human rights groups globally for conflating legitimate criticism (sic) of the state of Israel with anti-semitism. Bacon’s recent statements on Parliament Hill have unequivocally affirmed his opposition to the BDS movement, which we see as a blatant disrespect of our demands,” the statement released Tuesday said.
“These recent actions have cast doubt among students, faculty, and community members regarding the sincerity of his invitations to ‘constructive’ conversations,” it stated.
“We believe our demands represent the minimum actions necessary in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Bacon’s statements in Parliament come a day after an Israeli strike hit Teh Al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah, massacring 45 people, mostly women and children some of whom were burnt alive,” the activists stated.
“As violence continues to escalate in Gaza and Rafah, we will continue to escalate our efforts. Unlike the university, our concern is not our public image, but the lives lost and violence against Palestine facilitated by the capital and complicity of our institutions. We will not stop until Palestine is free.”
At a press event, Premier David Eby was asked abut the day’s events.
Eby says he understands that students have the right to protest, but warns those protests must be balanced with campus safety.
“People need to be safe going to school. They need to feel comfortable in their classes. They need to comfortable on campus, and everyone needs to feel welcomed there,” said Eby.
“There’s a difficult balance, I think, for our post secondary institutions. One is respecting that free speech right, and recognizing that universities and colleges are places where people do engage in free speech, the exchange of ideas.”
He added that that he expects police to conduct themselves “appropriately and professionally.”
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, UBC security said “classes, events, conferences and graduation ceremonies are proceeding as scheduled unless stated otherwise by the organizers.”
CityNews has reached out to UBC for more information.
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–With files from Catherine Garrett, Cole Schisler and Dean Recksiedler
