The UBC Okanagan (UBCO) Palestinian solidarity encampment concluded on June 29 after 46 days.
On May 13, the encampment’s organizers People’s University UBCO began an encampment at the UBCO Central Courtyard with demands for UBC to divest from “companies complicit in the Israeli apartheid regime and in the oppression and genocide of Palestinians,” boycotting Israeli universities and institutions and publicly condemning and demanding an end to what organizers and UN human rights experts call a genocide in Gaza.
According to a report issued by a United Nations-appointed expert, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
In an Instagram post, People's University UBCO wrote it is decamping “in order to regroup and focus our energies and efforts on other pressure points” and that the group has “begun meetings with UBC administration to work towards our demands.”
People’s University UBCO wrote that until its demands are met, the group “will not stop fighting.”
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“We built the People's University for Gaza as a model of the world we aspire to create: one that boldly supports Palestinian liberation,” read a press release from People’s University UBCO.
People’s University UBCO said UBCO increased university and private security on campus, “closed access roads to the UBCO courtyard to obstruct the influx of community support and donations,” surveilled campers and submitted incidence reports against students participating in the encampment.
“Right in this moment, Israel's genocide in Palestine rages on. Our fight for Palestinian liberation does not begin nor end with this encampment,” read the press release.
“UBC Okanagan beware: the People's University for Gaza is everywhere.”
UBC Okanagan did not respond to The Ubyssey’s request for comment by press time.
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