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Community rally passes through protest bringing along community members

Saturday, May 4 marked the sixth day of the U of O community encampment in solidarity with Gaza. As the weekend approaches and the weather warms, attendance numbers from the community — including families and neighbours — has grown significantly.

The community encampment, which began as a sit-in on Monday, April 29, was co-organized by INSAF and the Palestinian Students Association (PSA), with support from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Carleton. 

Since then, the number of tents has grown from approximately 25 to over 50 tents in only a couple of days. The encampment has also become increasingly decentralized, with rotating committees in charge of food and first aid.

This morning, a town hall was held and attended by encampment attendees to discuss and improve upon the encampment experience thus far.

One key point was creating a makeshift shower situation; a portable toilet was also acquired by encampment attendees, following a collective concern for hygiene.

Members of the town hall also discussed consent policies for sexual assault, establishing an isolation tent for co-ordinators, and potential community solidarity encampments also occurring on Tabaret Lawn.

The University of Ottawa Students’ Union (UOSU) published a statement at noon reaffirming “its commitment to advocating for freedom of speech and for the rights and dignity of the people of Palestine”.

The UOSU affirmed solidarity with calls for university divestment from “companies and institutions that are directly or indirectly complicit in the occupation and violence being perpetuated on Palestinian territory.”

The statement continues “As stewards of undergraduate students’ money, the University administration bears a solemn responsibility to ensure that our members’ tuition does not contribute to violence and injustice committed by others, here or abroad.”

UOSU also denounced the university’s April 28th statement, saying that it “not only undermined the values of open discourse and academic freedom, but also dismissed the legitimate concerns and demands of the student body”. 

Community members, including students, neighbours and families, joined encampment attendees on Tabaret Lawn for a rally, bringing the attendance total to over 200 by the afternoon. 

MPP Sarah Jama, who was kicked from caucus by the Ontario NDP for supporting Palestinians in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, made an appearance on Tabaret Lawn to speak to encampment attendees. Jama said she was “very proud” to be joining students and protesters calling for the University of Ottawa to divest.

“It’s important that students are shown support and solidarity,” she said. “There has been no movement that has been instrumental in changing our civil liberties that have not been led by students.”

“The fact that you are holding [the encampment] down, day after day, saying ‘enough is enough’ and standing in solidarity with the millions of displaced Palestinians…  …the fact that you’re here holding it down is really, really important.”

“I’m here to remind you to hold your ground and I will hold my ground with you in the places that we all occupy. It’s important to push against the state, and to remember that we’re not in this alone,” she concluded.

Jama additionally spoke with the Fulcrum for an interview, which you can watch on the Fulcrum’s TikTok page. 

Rabbi Liz Bolton from Rabbis for Ceasefire led a ceremony for people of all faiths at 8 p.m. “We also need times and moments to centre ourselves, to calm our souls, to recognize that while we’re responding to deep, deep challenge of what we’re witnessing, and the pain we’re holding for humanity, we also have to find that spark in the lights we’re about to light.

Rabbi Bolton continued, “Jew, Christian, Muslim — and folks of no faith are not folks of no faith… …there are many many ways to hold hope, and above all we must not allow ourselves the luxury of hopelessness in this moment. We must hold onto hope for humanity … that justice and equality — deep justice, and deep peace — may reign for all who dwell between the river and the sea.

Several attendees took candles and placed them on the steps of Tabaret Hall, paying tribute. Approximately 34,650 Palestinians have died according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and a further 77,900 injured in the 211th day of ongoing siege in Gaza.