APUO JOINS LIST OF FACULTY AND ACADEMIC ASSOCIATIONS CALLING FOR DIVESTMENT ACROSS CANADA
The Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) passed a motion on Apr. 30 targeting the University of Ottawa’s cooperation with institutions complicit in “enabling human rights violations, war crimes, and any other breaches of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” and called for “immediate and permanent” divestment during the union’s annual general meeting.
The motion, titled “Motion on Institutional Obligations relating to Violations of International Legal Standards in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, also aimed to develop and implement a plan of action through the University of Ottawa Pension Fund Investment Committee and the Pension Plan Committee to divest from targeted institutions and corporations. Further attention was directed towards the U of O’s academic ties with Israeli academics and institutions, calling for disclosure and review for such relationships.
Initially reported by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and Faculty for Palestine (F4P), the motion comes several months after the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) passed a similar motion in October of last year.
The motion marks an evolution in APUO’s calls to the university. Previous statements by the union highlighted incidents of academic infringements by the U of O related to pro-Palestinian protests on campus in December 2023. The union also published a statement on the right to protest on campus, calling for “transparency and for divestment from corporations complicit in human rights abuses” while also vocalizing support of last summer’s encampment as a “legitimate and peace form of protest” in May 2024.
Additionally, the motion called for academic freedom and demanded protections of peaceful protests on campus from the university. APUO stated that the union “unequivocally supports and defends the academic freedom of its members to teach and pursue inquiry about Palestine.” The motion also defended the “right to assemble and protest peacefully on campus without disruption, surveillance, reprisal or violence from police, security, or other quarters.”
Concurrently, student groups such as INSAF and the Palestinian Student Association (PSA) have been pushing for divestment on campus. Both groups were involved in raising discussion about the U of O’s holdings throughout the year, particularly during the encampment last summer, alongside other protests such as All-Out-For-Lebanon and published statements on their Instagram pages.
The University of Ottawa has yet to publicly comment on the motion as of May 2.
