Support Canadian University Encampments for Gaza and Call for Schools to Divest from Israel

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

Canadian university students have established peaceful solidarity encampments on behalf of the people of Palestine under persecution.

It is critical that we support encampment efforts and do our part to help students demand universities end complicity in the genocide and 76-year occupation of Palestine.

Send a 1-click email to the following schools, urging them to agree to student demands;

McGill University (Follow @sphrmcgill on Instagram)
University of Victoria (Follow @peoplesparkuvic on Instagram)
Vancouver Island University
University of Ottawa (Follow @insafuottawa on Instagram)
University of British Columbia (Follow @peoplesuniversityubc on Instagram)
Western University (Follow @westerndivestmentcoalition on Instagram)
University of Toronto (Follow @occupyuoft on Instagram)
McMaster University (Follow @mcmasterapartheiddivest on Instagram)
Ontario Tech University (Follow @otu4palestine on Instagram)

Email Text Template below:

As a Canadian who cares about our country’s institutions not being complicit in global atrocities, I was heartened to see students at your campus in protest of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. These students are actively demanding complete divestment from Israeli institutions involved in the occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people.

A wonderful example of a university cooperating with students can be seen at Brown University, where productive discussions between university leaders and student representatives resulted in an agreement to end an encampments by a specified deadline. Their agreement outlined students' commitments to comply with conduct code, and simultaneously, the university agreed to engage in dialogue with student representatives regarding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Calls for divestment have historical roots in movements such as the South African anti-apartheid struggle, a legitimate pressure tool for policy change. Palestinian civil society has advocated for the international adoption of divestment strategies since 2005 to enforce Israel's compliance with international law. We stand with efforts from Canadian faculty associations and student unions joining this call for divestment, aligning with broader civil society movements.

After witnessing the violent suppression of student activists across encampments in the United States, I would be shocked and disappointed if your administration resorted to the same brutal tactics. Non-violent political expression does not merit police brutality and mass arrests. Please respect students’ right to freedom of expression, especially on behalf of Palestinians under persecution.

I urge your management to heed the students’ call for complete divestment and condemnation of Israel’s occupation and genocide of Palestinians. I have taken the liberty of echoing student demands below;

1. Disclose all investments held in endowments, short-term working capital assets and other financial holdings of the university.
2. Divest the university’s endowment, capital assets, and other financial holdings from all direct and indirect investments that sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine.
3. Terminate all partnerships with Israeli academic institutions that either operate in settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or support or sustain the apartheid policies of the state of Israel and its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Lastly, my mention of ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide’ in this email is consistent with ongoing ceasefire calls from human rights groups including Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and international legal bodies including the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).