Organizers of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus say more than 100 tents have been set up as demonstrators protest the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinian flags have been hung on surrounding fences, along with banners calling for “Freedom for Palestine” and for Canada to “stop arming the genocide,” referencing the sale of Canadian arms to Israel.
Protesters have stockpiled food, water and other supplies in preparation for a prolonged stay.
Demonstrators say they’re focused on creating a safe space and hope their camp on MacInnes Field will remain peaceful as protest camps at Columbia University in New York and the University of California-Los Angeles have resulted in clashes, either between attendees and police or counter-protesters.
Camp spokesperson Sam Gupta says those types of confrontations have been minimal at the UBC encampment.
“We’ve been holding strong, lots of support and no form of escalation from security or RCMP yet, but still we send a lot of strength and support to the students who have been attacked,” Gupta told CBC News.
Organizers say their goal is to create a safe space for people of all backgrounds.
A member of the Jewish Faculty Network, a group of professors across Canada concerned that legitimate criticism of Israel is being labelled antisemitic, has offered his support.
“For us as Jewish faculty, we just want to come here and do some myth-busting,” said Avi Lewis, an associate professor at UBC’s department of geography.
“There’s a lot of smears, there’s a lot of characterizations of this movement that are frankly false.”
Hillel B.C., a group representing Jewish students at seven post-secondary institutions in the province, said in a statement that it had asked UBC for “proactive measures” to prevent “disruption to student life and the educational process.”
In a statement on Monday, UBC said it was monitoring the encampment and is liaising with RCMP.
“Any actions that create a health and safety risk, impede the university community (students, faculty and staff) from continuing learning, research, work and other activities on campus, or damage university property will be taken very seriously and investigated,” the statement said.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have also been set up at the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University.
The protests at North American colleges are in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which came after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages, according to the Israeli government.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in its offensive to stamp out Hamas.
