“And if we don’t get it - SHUT IT DOWN”: University students rally for a new world
Published in The NB Media Co-op
(*artwork: ‘Goodbye, Ivory Tower’ by Incé Husain)
“Please keep going because you are our only hope. And we promise we will hold our ground and tell you the truth, always,” says Bisan Owda, a Palestinian journalist who has reported live from Gaza, fled bombs, held children, flocked to and from tents, sobbed, and starved for over 200 days of genocide. She is in a dimly lit tent, a keffiyeh around her shoulders, her dark curls pulled back. Her face is strained. The bags beneath her eyes are deep and hollow out her cheeks. Her gaze is fierce, emboldened by the student encampments raging across American campuses. The encampments mark the first time that Owda has felt hope for an end to the 75-year illegal occupation of Palestine.
“I’m twenty-five years old. I’ve lived my whole life in the Gaza Strip, and I have never felt hope like now. Never. It’s a magical feeling running in my veins right now, in my head… These universities around America and the world are stronger than the last occupation in history. And for the first time in our lives as Palestinians, we hear a voice louder than their voices and the sound of their bombs, and even stronger than their control in all aspects of our lives.”
The encampments began at Columbia University on April 17th. Students demanded that their university divest from companies that fund the Israeli military’s international law violations in Palestine.
Footage shows encampments crammed on the university lawns. Keffiyeh-clad students chant, sing, hold signs and Palestinian flags. Two days later, the Columbia University President authorized the New York Police Department to “clear out” the encampments, stating that the peaceful protests “violated a long list of rules and policies”. The police arrested over 100 students and the university suspended them. Law faculty from Columbia penned a letter to the administration condemning the crackdown. They stated a “lack of transparency about the University’s decision-making” on student suspensions and that the university provided “very little public information” on which policies were violated by the student encampments. Over a thousand members of the Barnard and Columbia community signed a petition condemning the arrests. The petition was released by the Barnard and Columbia chapters of the American Association of University Professors following an “emergency meeting”.
Ten days later, Columbia’s student encampments still flourish. The tents have been described as “a village built overnight”. The communal identity of the encampments, though formed by the call for divestment from genocide, stretches beyond. Life within the tents shows an open-hearted, peaceful, organized, and fiercely humanist community. It has been called an “experiment in true actual democracy”. There are morning assemblies by the encampment leaders; lectures and guest speakers; a first aid tent; meals and snacks; movies and pets; Passover celebrations and Shabbats for the Jewish students; and spaces for Muslim students to pray. A student living in the encampments describes them as “shaping our collective future together as students.”
“It’s children and youth who are leading the movement now for a free Palestine, putting everything they have on the line to demand justice and end of the genocide and a new era of the world not based on oppression or exploitation or colonialism,” says Owda in the Instagram video.
Encampments in at least forty other American campuses followed Columbia. Students across the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and France also launched university encampments.
In the United States, violent police arrests ensued. An economics professor from Emory University was assaulted by a police officer. The officer twisted the professor’s arm behind her back, threw her to the concrete, and held her down with a knee as he yelled for handcuffs. Students screamed from the sound of rubber bullets; coughed from tear gas; lay on the ground tasered; and were swarmed, grabbed, shoved, and aggressively arrested by police.
“Students of color were significantly targeted throughout the process,” said a senior at Emory University. “There were Black students that were being tased, there were Black students that were being teargassed. I got teargassed as I was trying to leave the protest.”
Yesterday, student encampments for Palestine spread to Canadian universities. The Palestinian Youth Movement in Montreal shows footage of McGill University and Concordia University students forming a human chain, chanting, and marching towards “indefinite encampments”. The comments section overflowed with solidarity and urged students to stay safe.
In Toronto, police brutality was rampant during a Land Back protest for Palestine on March 30th. Police pinned peaceful protestors to the ground, bloodying some enough that they required medical attention. Some officers rode into the protests on horses, nearly trampling demonstrators.
On March 28th, Western University students at a boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) march prophesied that protests would escalate to massive interruptions, chanting “SHUT IT DOWN” with every unmet divestment demand.
“What do we want? DIVESTMENT. When do we want it? NOW,” chanted hundreds of protestors. “And if we don’t get it - SHUT IT DOWN.”
Students marched across campus beneath a blazing afternoon sun, their voices reverberating through the buildings.
They called for Western University’s administration to consult students and faculty about its investment policies. A document of Western University’s September 2023 investments shows a 58 million dollar investment in fossil fuels and a 48 million dollar investment in militarism and Israeli apartheid. This financial decision-making is done by the investment committee of Western’s Board of Governors.
A student protester said the university administration claims “there is no precedent for community consultation on investments”, but that “this is a lie” because Western University held community consultation that led to its 1985 divestment from the apartheid in South Africa. The 1985-1986 report from the President reads: “After soliciting submissions from the University community… the Board accepted that the University direct that its operating and endowment funds not be invested in any Canadian firms that are active in South Africa”. The report also divested from firms in the United States that were active in South Africa.
Since March, the faculty associations at four Canadian universities voted to divest from all corporations and institutions complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Palestine. Faculty associations are unions representing faculty, librarians, and archivists on campus; they meet routinely with administration to discuss university matters and influence decision-making.
Nineteen student and community groups signed a letter addressed to Western’s Board of Governors and administration demanding community consultations on investments. The letter is open for signing by individuals. Its divestment demands target Western University’s current investments in fossil fuels and companies funding the Israeli military. These demands were echoed by the march.
As the march unfolded, a protest unaffiliated with the divestment demonstration had leaflets fall from the ceiling of the University Community Center, imitating those sent by the Israeli military to alert Palestinians of imminent bombings. In their flight, the leaflets circled a banner drop that read “WESTERN INVESTS $33.6 MILLION IN COMPANIES COMPLICIT IN OCCUPATION. DIVEST FROM GENOCIDE. FREE PALESTINE”.
“Occupation - SHUT IT DOWN. Israel - SHUT IT DOWN. Genocide - SHUT IT DOWN. Apartheid - SHUT IT DOWN,” students, faculty, and community members chanted.
The march was premised by statements from student and community groups in London. Students spoke on behalf of Western University’s Palestinian Cultural Club, Muslim Student Association, NDP Western, and the Climate Crisis Coalition; faculty spoke on behalf of the newly-formed group Western Faculty for Palestine. These speeches were complemented by those from community groups - Independent Jewish Voices London, Council of Canadians London, LiberAsian, and Food not Bombs. The speeches were swift, impassioned, and woven with chants. All speeches are posted in an online video by the Canadian Palestinian Social Association of London.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Cultural Club began. They read the testimony of a Palestinian woman tortured by Israeli forces. They read it first in its original Arabic, then its English translation.
“The sniper put a gun to my head,” the spokesperson read. “They asked me to take all my clothes off. And he kept hitting me and kicking me in the stomach when I was pregnant. He told the soldiers “now rape her”.”
They declared that “BDS has to exist”, referencing the university faculty associations that have already voted to divest from genocide.
“Western University - we’re not going anywhere. BDS has to exist. Multiple (faculty associations) passed it yesterday and throughout the week. You are next. Western University - shame.”
“FREE, FREE PALESTINE,” the crowd chanted. “FREE, FREE PALESTINE.”
Western University professor of linguistics David Heap spoke about the newly-formed group Western Faculty for Palestine. It comprises current, retired, and Emeritus faculty who stand with BDS and against the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, which equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Heap speaks of the scholasticide in Gaza; all its schools have been shut down and all its universities destroyed. University presidents, deans, faculty, and students have been killed.
“I come to you, friends, in sadness and in rage and in hope and in love. I am sad because of the unprecedented scholasticide. As a linguist, I study new words. I didn't know the word “scholasticide” before this year,” says Heap. “There has been a concerted campaign to kill education at all levels - and particularly higher education - among the Palestinians in Gaza. I am enraged by the lack of response by leaders in this country. On our university campuses, the silence has been shameful.”
He ties the genocide to the fossil fuels industry, explaining that Israel is also committing the war crime of pillaging offshore gas reserves in Palestine.
“DIVESTMENT NOW! FUNDING APARTHEID - SHUT IT DOWN,” the crowd chants. “INVESTING IN APARTHEID - SHUT IT DOWN.”
A spokesperson from the Council of Canadians London introduced the London Council as one of thirty-seven chapters across Canada; collectively, they have over 150,000 members. The London Council calls on Western to immediately divest from destruction in Gaza.
“We work for peace, and particularly right now for the much-needed and prayed-for peace in Gaza,” the spokesperson said. “Western is profiting from the ongoing destruction of Gaza and the mass suffering and displacement of Palestinian people. Is this the example being set for students? We ask that Western declare an intent to divest from such war property shares immediately. And in all cases, Western’s investment philosophy needs community oversight.”
From the Muslim Student Association (MSA), a spokesperson talked about the attacks on Muslim and Palestinian students on campus since October.
“Since October, Muslim students and Palestinian students, among others, have been targeted, harassed, attacked, right here on campus repeatedly - simply for standing for those oppressed in Palestine. Despite all this targeting, the university adamantly refused to take any concrete action for the safety of their students here,” said the spokesperson. “And now we see that they're not just keeping silent, they're actively profiting off the causes their students are fighting against. University of Windsor (faculty association) has stated it will not support companies complicit in genocide. We want Western to join in on that decision. This is why MSA stands here for community consultation with the long-term goal of divestment.”
“THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED,” the protestors cheer.
LiberAsian, an organization committed to pan-Asian solidarity with all oppressed peoples, emphasized the interconnectedness of capitalism, racism, and the climate crisis.
“The climate crisis is one of the most existential, pressing threats to humanity, disproportionately affecting those in the global south. This is not just environmental injustice, it is environmental racism, where the burden of climate change is borne by those least responsible for it. This exploitation is a colonial practice repackaged within the framework of global capitalism,” says the LiberAsian spokesperson. “The struggle for Palestinian liberation is a fight that resonates deeply within the Asian diaspora as we, too, have borne the scars of Western imperialism and colonization. The occupation of Palestine is the manifestation of a global system that prioritizes profit over people, sovereignty, and the sanctity of life. Western University investments are not mere financial transactions. They are political actions that echo the university stance on issues of global injustice. Western University is actively upholding and participating in oppression that reaches far beyond the confines of its campus.”
They urge all to socially mobilize and become educated to fulfill moral responsibilities to the people of Palestine, Sudan, the Congo, and Turtle Island.
“Don't just be an ally, be an accomplice. Don't just offer solidarity, offer your own struggle. Don’t just march, participate in disruptive, direct action. Otherwise, we are complicit.”
Food not Bombs, a collective committed to direct action, mutual aid, and fighting food insecurity, strives to provide free food to all and has partnerships with social justice organizations. The collective hopes to build a community defined by solidarity.
“As a community with so many diverse and committed groups coming together, our voice speaks louder together than the university can imagine. In institutions that fear change, they want to see us divided,” says the spokesperson for Food not Bombs. “Coming together for collective action makes our voices louder, stronger, and shows us that they will not divide us in times of devastation and grief. This is just the beginning of our divestment campaign with many more steps ahead. We are not free until we’re all free.”
London’s Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) chapter came to the stage with two posters. One said “Free Palestine”; the other, “Stop the genocide”.
An anti-Zionist organization about fifteen years old, IJV London educates the Jewish community about the 1947 Nakba and the destruction of Palestinian life. Since October, new chapters have emerged across Canada.
“Yes, there are Jews on your side,” the spokesperson began. “We try to educate the Jewish community about what the Jews have done in Palestine. IJV is growing, and we are definitely for freeing Palestine.”
The spokesperson encouraged protesters to write to Canadian MPs, engage with BDS movements, and educate others about Palestine.
For the Jewish holiday of Passover - which celebrates Jewish freedom from slavery in Egypt - IJV London held a liberation seder to celebrate the hopeful liberation of Palestine. All were invited, and Palestinian vegetarian meals were offered.
“We take the idea that the Jewish people were freed from Egypt and now people have to be freed, unfortunately, from the Jewish people enslaving them in Palestine.”
NDP Western, a club of young democrats, stated that the NDP is for Palestinian liberation. The spokesperson conveyed discontent with Western University’s refusal to acknowledge student voices. They condemned the Canadian government for sacrificing human rights to the lull of the Zionist lobby.
“I'm just ashamed. I'm frankly ashamed that Western as an institution repeatedly refuses to listen to the voices of students who have called, time and time again, for Western to have a spine when it comes to divestment, climate action, supporting Muslim and Palestinian students on campus and protecting them from Islamophobia,” the spokesperson said. “I’m also ashamed of our federal government that has repeatedly attempted to appease the Zionist lobby and Israel, even watering down a motion calling for something as basic as a ceasefire and an end to the occupation that the UN and countless organizations have called for. They chose to water it down just to make sure that Canada wouldn’t recognize the state of Palestine. There are countless students out there who stand in solidarity - we need to make sure we are holding our leaders at all levels accountable. The students, united, will never be defeated!”’
“THE STUDENTS UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED,” the crowd echoed.
A spokesperson from the Climate Crisis Coalition declared that the corporatization of universities corrupts their knowledge-seeking nature.
“A university is not simply another organization - it holds a significant place in our culture. It creates knowledge, shapes how we understand the world around us, and informs a generation of citizens, leaders, family members, and friends. It creates answers to our biggest questions - and questions most may not even know to ask,” said the spokesperson. “This is why it is so crucial that we resist the privatization of decision-making. Western has centralized its decision-making within committees and subcommittees made up of wealthy alumni or so-called successful business people. We cannot allow the ground zero of knowledge creation to be infiltrated by this exclusionary system.”
The marches began. ♦
This article appeared in The NB Media Co-op on April 29th, 2024: