News

Protester dons graduation gown to honour the non-existent graduating class of Gaza

Around 300 students and community members arrived at Tabaret Lawn around 3:30 p.m. as part of a moving protest — which began at the Human Rights Monument in Centretown — to join the U of O’s encampment in calling for disclosure and divestment from corporations with direct ties to the Israeli government.

Now entering its second weekend, Saturday was marked by rain, leading organizers to postpone certain planned events in the evening. The rain held off long enough for the moving protest to direct chants at the university administration (“Jacques Frémont you will see, Palestine will be free”) and at a broader audience (“Brick-by-brick, wall-by-wall, apartheid has to fall”).

Following the chants, a protester donning a bright blue graduation gown spoke to the crowd. He first drew attention to the destruction of Palestinian universities, before referencing the death toll of 5,479 students, 261 teachers, and 95 professors, which the United Nations had calculated last month.

The speaker then noted the collapse of the entire education system in Gaza. “The class of 2024 is zero — no one is graduating.” He then thanked the crowd for joining in solidarity with U of O students as they called upon university administration to divest.

Following the chants and additional speeches, the children of Jerusalem Community Services of Ontario (JCSO) sang songs in Arabic — including ones about Gaza — as part of a choir on the steps of Tabaret Hall at 4:30 p.m.

After CBC reported police used shields, batons, and later flash-bangs to forcibly remove protesters from an encampment set up on the campus of the University of Calgary on Thursday night, Edmonton police followed suit at the U of A two days later after the university released trespassing notices.

Social media videos from the U of A campus taken Saturday morning emerged showing police using batons and arresting protesters; furthermore, police confirmed to the The Edmonton Journal that they were using “special munitions”. The dismantlement in Edmonton comes the morning after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith spoke favourably of the dismantlement in Calgary.

Though initially The Gateway had reported from a source that U of A protection services (UAPS) told protesters that they were banned from campus for a year, the school’s media relations later clarified “no members of the U of A community who were involved in the May 9 – 11 encampment have been banned from campus and no students were suspended.”

The Canadian Association of University Teachers have started a boycott and called for a censure of the two Alberta universities. The boycott includes not accepting appointments or speaking appearances at the schools. At time of publication, just under 1000 professors have signed the petition.

Meanwhile, at the U of O, police have appeared for the purposes of closing off streets, guiding moving protests, and addressing sporadic complaints from protesters. On May 1, INSAF organizers reminded protesters that “[police] are not allowed on campus without a court injunction. The further away we get away from peaceful protest, the closer we get to an injunction.”