‘As long as it takes’: University of Ottawa encampment now home to dozens of tents

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Protesters at the University of Ottawa continued their demonstration on the front lawn of Tabaret Hall on Saturday, with organizers vowing to remain on the grounds for “as long as it takes” until the university to address their demands.

The protesters began a pro-Palestinian sit-in on the lawn on April 29 and later set up tents on the site. Organizer Ayham Hakimi said protesters remain dedicated to the cause of demanding “full transparency for where tuition money is going.”

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The group is asking for the university to disclose the companies it invests in, and to divest its pension fund from corporations and institutions associated with Israel and its army, among others. Among the demands is for uOttawa to divest from Scotiabank, which is invested in an Israeli arms firm known as Elbit Systems Ltd.

The university had previously warned against encampments taking root. But so far, neither the university nor police have intervened.

“While peaceful protest is permitted in appropriate public spaces on campus according to our policies and regulations, encampments and occupations will not be tolerated,” wrote Eric Bercier, the university’s associate vice-president of student affairs, in a statement posted on the university’s website on April 28.

As reported by the Associated Press, the death toll in Gaza has risen to more than 34,500 people since Oct. 7, when Israel launched an offensive following a Hamas attack. About five per cent of the occupied territory’s population has been killed, and millions have been displaced in what the U.N. calls a humanitarian crisis.

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More than 200 local community members have lost family members in Gaza, Hakimi said. 

“A lot of people are affected by this, and it’s just horrible, horrible, horrible. And we can’t stand for it,” he said. “As students, if our money is going toward funding companies doing stuff like this, we can’t stand for that.”

Hakimi says organizers have attempted to schedule meetings with university administration, but the meeting was cancelled.

“There is contact, of course,” he said, “but they’re trying to tire us out.”

Those in the encampment, though, show no signs of tiring. With signs declaring Tabaret Hall’s lawn a “liberated zone,” the encampment is now home to dozens of tents, and about 60 people are sleeping on the grounds overnight, with more joining during the day. The movement has formed into something of a self-sustaining community, with food, drinks, a first-aid tent, art station and more, fuelled entirely by community donations.

Hakimi says he feels the university is attempting to placate the students by ignoring them.

“They’re not trying to escalate significantly here,” he said. “They’re giving us a false sense of, ‘You guys can do what you want, speak your mind, do what you need to do.’ But again, we’re going to do what it takes until they respond to us.”

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On Saturday afternoon, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the Humans Rights Monument in front of Ottawa’city hall, marching down Laurier Avenue to the encampment and furthering the call for the university to divest.

“Not a nickel, not a dime, we won’t pay for genocide,” the crowd of approximately a few hundred chanted. “Money for health and education, not for war and occupation.”

At Tabaret Hall, Independent Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama addressed the crowd, saying similar youth-led movements have historically been key in enacting significant social change, including ending apartheid in South Africa.

“History will repeat itself,” she said, “because of the work students are doing here and across Canada, I believe the Zionist lobby will crumble and Palestine will be free in our lifetime.”

The MPP encouraged students to “hold their ground” in the face of threats from police or the university. Deep Saini, president of Montreal’s McGill University, has said the encampment at his university “must be dismantled,” calling the situation “non-negotiable.” The university asked for the police to clear the camp.

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Meanwhile, at Carleton University, metal fencing blocks access to the campus’s quad. As first reported by student news organization the Charlatan, university administration said barriers were in place for safety purposes ahead of planned construction projects.

While there isn’t a similar demonstration at Carleton, the Carleton University Students’ Association has called on the institution to divest from “companies and institutions deemed to be in violation of international law, deemed to further the plight of Palestinians or deemed to be involved in activities relating to Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” according to a motion passed on April 8.

With files from the Montreal Gazette

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