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Organizers Refuse to Reduce Size of Encampment; No Progress on Demands

Early on May 7, organizers of the encampment on Tabaret Lawn discussed the university’s demands with Awad Ebrahim, Vice Provost of Equity Diversity and Inclusive Excellence, and Éric Bercier, Associate Vice-President of Student Affairs. 

The demands in the meeting had been conveyed via email sent to organizers the day before: No hate symbols, no check-in points, removal of flammable material, clearance around electrical boxes, environmental considerations, prohibition of open flames, and reducing the area of the encampment to 50 per cent of the Lawn “to minimize disruptions to campus activities.” The last demand was the only one organizers did not agree to.

Organizers tell the Fulcrum that the administrators promised INSAF (Arabic translation: justice or equity) a meeting on May 8 with one senior member of the administration — Annick Bergeron, secretary-general of the university’s Board of Governors — about disclosure and divestment on the condition that the encampment area was reduced. 

Ebrahim and Bercier also urged the organizers to keep the meeting and its details private, which organizers disregarded in favor of a site-wide speech at 7 p.m. Organizers refused this condition, and there are currently no other meetings scheduled with U of O administration. 

“The University of Ottawa administration finds it appropriate to start policing and stalling, while the money that they invest in companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, occupation, and genocide directly bankrolls the violence and horrors unfolding in Gaza,” said an organizer speaking to the crowd.

In the meeting, the administrators also told the organizers to stop people from drawing on the steps of Tabaret Hall with washable chalk. After the speech, a small group of attendees and children started drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.

Israel’s military assault on Rafah, a city at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip beginning on Monday led attendees to join in chants including “Rafah, Rafah, we are here. Tell your children not to fear”, and “Awad, Awad, you can’t hide. You’re supporting genocide.”

In the morning, Faculty 4 Palestine Ottawa sent a letter of solidarity to INSAF organizers. The organization identified themselves as being made up of faculty members, librarians, and staff at the U of O, Saint-Paul University, and Carleton University, and stated they “support the rights of students to peacefully protest in solidarity with Palestine,” recalling a long history of Israeli violence against Palestinians.

The letter further called upon university administration to meet with student leaders and discuss their demands, saying “we, too, call on the University of Ottawa to disclose and divest university funds with arms and other companies involved in the occupation of Palestine and genocide of Palestinians.” 

The signatories also acknowledged the scholasticide in Gaza, writing “While we write from our universities, there are no universities left standing in Gaza, all destroyed by Israel. Hundreds of our Palestinian colleagues have been killed or maimed by the Israeli army.”

161 signees were listed on the letter at time of publication, including 77 faculty members and staff from the U of O. The Ottawa chapter is part of a “Canada-wide network of academics committed to advancing the struggle for Palestinian liberation, justice, and equality through the academic sector”.

The Fulcrum also heard from sit-in organizers that a representative from the Museum of Natural History approached them yesterday, asking for donations of art once the encampment ends. 

The scheduled events for the day included a tatreez workshop and reading circle. The night concluded with attendees gathering to chant “On ne pas fatigue, il y a Gaza a libere” and “Vivra Gaza.”